James Swanwick's Linkedin Analytics

I quit drinking on March 13 2010. And was shocked by the results. Growing up in an Australian drinking culture, I drank a “socially acceptable” amount – a few glasses of wine over dinner during the week and several cold beers on a hot summer weekend. It was good fun connecting with friends. Nobody suspected I had a problem. But by my mid-30s, I felt sluggish and irritable. My face was puffy. And because I never slept well, my work performance suffered. I even attended an AA meeting, having faith that it would help. But it felt depressing. I wasn’t an alcoholic. Then on March 12, 2010, I awoke with a modest hangover after a fun night at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX. I walked into an International House of Pancakes for a “hangover breakfast.” The menus had bright, bold photos of all the greasy food on offer—and it made me nauseous. I decided on the spot to go 30 days alcohol-free. It was simply a personal bet to test my self-discipline. I didn’t plan to last longer than 30 days. → After 3 nights, I slept better. → After 7 days, I had more clarity. → After 14 days, I woke up a new man, bursting with energy and drive. → After 30 days, I lost 13 pounds of fat, had more money in the bank, and my skin glowed. “I feel great,” I said to myself. “Keep going and see how far it takes you.” Within 90 days, I auditioned for my dream job and became an ESPN SportsCenter anchor for 24 months. Then I started a sleep company that made $1 million in 12 months. My relationships improved – romantic and platonic. I became more considerate and present. All from just living alcohol-free. But sometimes, I craved a cold beer, red wine, or Bombay Sapphire. Especially when friends teased me for being “Un-Australian.” I reminded myself that I was making an empowering choice. I learned how to love quitting drinking by making it easy and fun, not hard and painful. So I kept going. Today, I’m 4,727+ days alcohol-free. My mission is to help 1 million people go alcohol-free. If you want to learn how I did this: Join 55k+ executives, entrepreneurs, investors and other high-performers in The Alcohol-Free Friday newsletter. → GO HERE: https://alcoholfreelifestyle.com/newsletter Join 20k+ high-performers on my self-guided course. → GO HERE: https://30daynoalcoholchallenge.com Join 1k+ executives, entrepreneurs, investors and other high-performers going alcohol-free for at least 90 days. We have a 91% success rate. (Most treatment clinics charge $100k+ with a 10% success rate.) → GO HERE: https://alcoholfreelifestyle.com/project-90