My team won it all – we’re champions! This calls for a drink.

I want to feed that customer piece by piece to sharks. This calls for a drink.

It’s Wednesday. This calls for a drink.

Whether it’s the odd glass of wine with dinner or beers with buddies on weekends, alcohol is the great unwinder and socializer.

Or as Homer Simpson succinctly put it, “Here’s to alcohol – the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems”.

If you’ve contemplated giving alcohol the heave-ho or simply reducing intake, here are some serious incentives.

1: What’s this strange clear-headed, positive feeling?

One of the major benefits of staying off alcohol is the immediate positive effects on your mental state. You will be stunned as to how good you’ll feel after only a few days.

The brain gets straight to work in producing normal levels of serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals provide a feeling of well-being and are initially released with alcohol consumption. However excessive use of alcohol leads to a decrease in serotonin and dopamine which often leads to anxiety, stress and depression.

Once the booze stops the brain is able to start producing chemicals again at a normal, healthy rate.

This not only produces a pleasurable state of mind but helps to improve memory, focus and motivation.

2: Go jogging, then clean the house, make love, then write a book.

Another huge plus without regular booze is the untapped reserves of energy you will now have.

With so much get up and go and so many hours suddenly freed up you can actually start getting things done.

Simple things once overlooked due to hangovers or alcohol-induced lethargy are now immediately.

Returning emails, buying healthy food, cooking, changing underwear.

3: Hmmm, my bank balance seems higher than usual…

This will depend on the individual but obviously now without throwing your hard-earned at a bartender or a liquor store there’s extra cash.

Save the money you’d normally blow on alcohol, spend it on a holiday, enjoy more restaurants. Or just stare at your bank balance and smile.

4: I’ll be happy to make it to 60…well maybe 75…

Eliminating or reducing alcohol not only immediately reduces your chances of heart attack, liver problems and brain disease but will likely improve your life expectancy.

You will be amazed at how quickly your body can reboot after years of being punished.

5: That was the best sex ever, zzzzz

A double whammy year, so to speak. To start with you’re now looking highly desirable due to better skin and a spark in your eyes.

You will have probably lost some body fat, especially around the stomach and face.

This will not only make people line up to make love to you but when you do so it will be of Olympian marathon levels.

Try it for a month, heck – try it forever.

You’ll thank yourself.