How to Fill Out Your Play Card: 6 Steps to Your Next Play
A Play Card is a written plan for one specific moment when drinking has been your go-to answer. You build it while your head is clear. Then, when 5 p.m. Friday hits, you don’t have to think. You look at the card and run the play.
Work through these six steps. Your first card doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be specific.
Step 1: Pick the Moment
Choose one situation where drinking has become part of the routine, and narrow it down. Start with one you can realistically win. You’re looking for a first down, not the Super Bowl.
Not this: “I drink when I’m bored.” This: “After the kids go to bed, when the house gets quiet.”
Step 2: List the Triggers
Replay the moment like game film, and start before the first drink. Check five things:
Where you are: Are drinks nearby? Is everyone else drinking?
Your body: Are you hungry, tired, restless, or empty-handed?
Your feelings: Are you stressed, lonely, bored, or celebrating?
Your routine: Is there a time, place, or habit that always comes with a drink?
Your thoughts: Are you telling yourself “I’ve earned it,” or have you been looking forward to it all afternoon?
Write down every one that applies.
Step 3: Map the Old Play
Write out the chain of events that usually ends with a drink. Then circle the earliest point where you could change it. The earlier you spot it, the easier it is to stop.
Kids go to bed → house gets quiet → I sit in my chair → “I’ve earned one” → I pour a drink.
Step 4: Build the New Play
First ask: What job was drinking doing for me here? Helping you relax, rewarding you, filling the silence, or just habit? Your new play has to do that same job another way, and it should give you something to look forward to, not just something to resist.
Write actions, not intentions:
Not this: “I’ll stay busy.” This: “I’ll head to the garage and work on the project.”
Not this: “I’ll drink something else.” This: “Sparkling water with lime, already cold in the fridge.”
Not this: “I’ll call someone.” This: “I’ll call my sponsor. He knows I might. Backup: my brother.”
Step 5: Set It Up Ahead of Time
List everything that has to be in place before the moment arrives: drinks bought, your teammate told, an alarm set, an activity planned, and a way out if things get hard. If the play depends on you figuring something out in the moment, it isn’t ready yet.
Step 6: Run It, Then Review It
After the moment passes, take five minutes and answer three questions: What worked? What didn’t? What will I change next time? Adjust the card and run it again. Small wins count. Every time you run the new play, you prove there’s another play worth calling.
Keep your card within reach. Print it, put it in your wallet, or save a photo on your phone.
If you drink heavily every day, talk to a doctor before you stop. Quitting suddenly can be dangerous.
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