Doing your best to show up every day and juggle everything you have to juggle, can feel like a lot.

And even if life’s on track, the urge to break free of routine and blow off steam can still hit.

In seeking freedom, we often choose things that keep us trapped.

Opting for the quickest, easiest dopamine hits can feel good in the moment, but they always over promise and under deliver.

It’s not the feeling you get from drinking, drugs, gambling, porn or any other vice, that you’re really chasing — it’s a yearning for connection.

Destructive habits can be appealing because they offer the illusion of what you think you want, but leave you drained rather than replenished.

Reach out for genuine connection instead.

Next time you get the urge to repeat a pattern you know you’ll probably regret, ask yourself what’s driving that impulse, and try calling a mate or a loved one to connect in that moment.

My question for you this week is...

How do you channel the urge to break free from your self-discipline in a way that's positive?

(Leave a comment and let me know)

Alex Kalliris is a clinical psychotherapist and Program Director at Foundation House, a residential rehab service in New South Wales supporting men from the construction industry to take back control from alcohol, drugs and gambling.

He’s spent the past eight years working with men at rock bottom — helping them break destructive cycles, rebuild trust and rediscover meaning.

In this episode, we talk about mental health in construction, how substance use spirals out of control, and what recovery really looks like. We unpack who rehab is for, how it works, and why change is always possible — no matter how far gone things seem.

This is Alex Kalliris...

I’ve stuck with this podcast for 301 weeks — 2,107 days and 230 episodes.

But outside of the interviews, I still hesitate to share my thoughts and feelings...

The show’s always been about the guests, and that’s the way it should be — but sometimes it feels like I fade into the background and hide behind the role of host.

I’m afraid of making it about me.

I’m so conscious of coming across as cringe and self-centred, that I avoid sharing my personal views.

I think that limits people who follow this page from actually connecting with me and vice versa.

So my question for you this week is...

Where in your life are you holding back?

(Leave a comment and let me know)