Bank holiday weekends used to mean one thing for me:

Switching off… usually with alcohol.

And for years, I didn’t think it was affecting my leadership.

I was performing.
Progressing.
Delivering results.

From laboratory technician to Senior Leadership Team within 10 years, my career looked strong from the outside.

So I never questioned the habits that came with it.

But looking back now…

Was I really operating at full sharpness?

I’d describe my career journey like this:

• 20’s – Finished my degree, completed a master’s, started building a great career. (And enjoyed a good night out.)
• 30’s – Still living like I was in my 20s. Career accelerating. Opportunities everywhere.
• 40’s – Career plateaued. Focus dipped. Ambition still there… but something felt off.

Not dramatic.
Not obvious.

Just subtle drift.

Like a manufacturing process slowly moving off center, small deviations become normal when they happen gradually enough.

For me, it looked like:

• Slower mornings (despite naturally being a morning person)
• Less patience
• More reactive thinking
• Reduced presence
• Constant mental fatigue I couldn’t fully explain

I became what many would call a “middle-lane drinker.”

Never extreme.
Never rock bottom.
Just consistent.

And that’s exactly why it’s easy to miss.

Because when your career is still functioning, you assume everything is fine.

But over 40, when leadership demands more clarity, resilience, and strategic thinking, recovery starts to matter more.

What happens outside work starts showing up inside work.

Over time, alcohol impacted:

• My leadership presence
• My energy
• My mental health
• My fitness
• My relationships
• My ability to think long-term under pressure

I tried moderation many times.
(That’s a story for another post.)

But when I finally stopped drinking, the shift was bigger than I expected:

• Better sleep
• Clearer thinking
• Stronger decision-making
• More confidence in difficult conversations
• Greater emotional control
• More strategic focus

I wasn’t louder.
I wasn’t more aggressive.

I was calmer.
More deliberate.
More effective.

And in manufacturing and aerospace environments, where pressure is constant and leadership presence matters every day, that changes everything.

This bank holiday weekend, a lot of people will say they “need” a drink to relax.

I used to think the same.

Now I realise what I actually needed was proper recovery.

Most leaders over 40 don’t have a capability problem.

They have an energy and recovery problem.

And sometimes alcohol is quietly sitting in the middle of it.

If you’re feeling like you’re operating at 80% but can’t fully explain why…
It may not be your workload.

It may be what’s happening after hours when you’re trying to switch off.

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced something similar.