Breaking Free: The Lies Alcohol Told Me | Dr. Dustin Dunbar on The CJ Moneyway Sh$w

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Happy holidays! Want to give your host a gift? Consider subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show this holiday season. It really helps the show grow. From all of us at Believe, have a Merry Christmas everyone and a happy holiday. Welcome back to the CJ Moneyway Show. Where we build truth, purpose, and transformation brick by brick. Today's conversation is for anyone who's ever questioned a party, the patterns, or the quiet pain hiding behind what society calls normal. My guest Dr. Dustin Dunbar is a best-selling author, mindset coach, and the voice behind the powerful book, You're Doing Great and Other Lies Alcohol Told Me. Dr. Dunbar doesn't just talk about addiction. He breaks down what he calls the alcohol matrix, a system of societal conditioning that normalizes destruction and labels it fun. From personal addiction to full recovery, from Cultural myths to mental clarity. This is a conversation about freedom, discipline, and reclaiming your mind. Together we unpack the psychology, the healing, and the daily work it takes to break free.

Break free. Break free.

Let's get into it. Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show in association with Believe Network, the podcast that brings you stories behind the success Today we'd like to welcome to the show author of the hit book You're Doing Great and Other Lies Alcohol Told Me. Hey, welcome to the show, Dustin Dunbar. How you doing today, Dustin?

I'm doing wonderful, CJ. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.

Oh man, it's all good. Hey, so Dustin, man, tell us a little bit about yourself and about your background, man.

Yeah, so grew up in the Midwest, Oklahoma, and, you know, did the regular Midwest life there. And a little bit later, trying to be a man, trying not to drink alcohol. I saw what it did to my father and my grandfather, and I promised at age 7 to stay away from it for my life. Saw nothing but evil, bad stuff. But then, you know, peer pressure came around in high school and everybody's doing it and you wanna look cool, you wanna get the girl, you wanna seem sexy and all this stuff. And so I started drinking beers and hanging out with the guys and one thing led to another and I started drinking myself. And so then I was like, oh, I can handle it. I'm not like my grandpa or my dad. I'm smarter than them. I'm different. No, you know, all the ads tell me you can drink it socially, moderately, responsibly, and not have any issues. And so that's what I was doing. And I got into sales, started working corporate sales, and that whole world is full of people just drinking, you know, all the time, part of the culture. And at the same time, I was doing my doctorate in psychology and just still really interested in all of that and studying all about, you know, myself and thinking that I broke the chains of how my grandfather and father behaved, you know, whenever they're on alcohol. And when I was about age 40, I started acting just like them, started getting addicted to it myself and being like, man, I didn't break any chains at all. I got a doctorate in psychology and here I am doing exactly what these guys were doing. And so that's when I really took notice and started diving deep into what alcohol is. And I immediately learned that it's ethanol. So when we're talking here today, you're gonna hear me talking a lot about ethanol and joy. Those are my two themes of what's happening. You remove the ethanol from your bloodstream, from your system, and you're gonna start experiencing a lot of joy. There's gonna be a completely different alcohol-free life. And that inner joy that we are at our utmost essence will begin to surface. And it is an amazing thing. It's, you know, it's what Jesus, Buddha, all the saints, all the mystics, shamans, all of them talk about, this inner being, inner joy that you have, that it can never be touched, can never be harmed. And it was never born. It will never die. It is eternal and it is light. And I always was like, you know, researching and hearing all this stuff. I was like, well, maybe that's not for me. Once I started drinking and had it really get out of my system for a long time, I started doing a lot of personal development, yoga, meditation, things like that. I started experiencing these highs, this real joy that's not any kind of like high with substance at all. And it's that, that is what I'm talking about. And that's what the book is about, is to help people do what I did and see ethanol for what it is. See it and get away from it. It's causing cancer. There's tons of new studies out about how much cancer it causes. And there's just every reason in the world to stay away from it and literally zero reasons to consume it anymore.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, man, that's real interesting, man. You know what's funny is I was just working on a project that I'm working on. What my message was, I remember when I used to get high. And so I was talking about how I had to let that go, you know, like 15 years ago because, you know, you go out to certain places and like you say with your corporate buddies and this and that. And so like my thing was you go out to the hood and then you start smoking, then a smoke turn into one blunt turn into two blunts and then now you drinking a gin or fifth of Hennessy, you know what I'm saying? But once you start letting certain things go, you start seeing you know what I'm saying, things different and start seeing things clearer. And like you say, that inner joy, that inner peace, because now you're moving on to something. And I think my main phrase when I was talking about that is the bigger picture, you know what I'm saying? The bigger picture. So to see the bigger picture, sometimes you have to let some of these things go regardless of what other people doing, you know, like, hey, that's your road. I'm not knocking what you doing. I just know for me personally, It was my time to stop because God has something different or a different road for me to go down. You know what I'm saying? And so as I'm listening to you say that, it was reminding me of something that I just did. And I thank you for that because you just gave me confirmation.

Absolutely. No, that's beautiful. Thanks for sharing and thanks for being vulnerable about that. That's the one thing that people have to do is, you know, get in, be vulnerable about themselves and say, hey, this isn't working for me anymore. This temporary pain relief. That's all it is, is just a temporary pain relief. It numbs down your consciousness and all you're doing is hiding and pushing away something inside of you that needs to be dealt with and it's not going to go away. This isn't a broken arm, you know, it's not going to magically heal itself. Psychological issues from childhood and any kind of abuse, things like that, is something that we've got to face ourselves. We got to get in there and be like, what is this anxiety? What is this fear that I'm having? And deal with it head on without substances. And yeah, for me it was painful, man. I went through— whenever I stopped drinking, and this isn't to scare anybody off from becoming alcohol-free because it's the best thing I ever did in my life. But whenever it first happened, you know, it's basically taking a Band-Aid away and all this stuff from my childhood, my dad abandoning me and my mom being abusive, things like that started coming up and I was like, oh, that's what I've been doing. I've been covering this up for years. And then to see it, and then, I mean, there was tears, there was therapy, there was divorce. I mean, you name it, you go through the hero's journey is what I call it. It's whenever you really decide that you're going to go through this and be at the end of the whole journey is the rainbow. There is that magical, beautiful life that is like every day I wake up and I'm like, man, I'm so happy. I don't have to deal with any ethanol or have any cravings at all. I'm definitely not an alcoholic in any way. That's a very old term that's way misused. And what we do now is we say alcohol-free. So I don't have any cravings whatsoever. I think it's disgusting, just like you would like a cigarette smoker, you know, back in the day smoking 2 packs a day cigarette, thinking they're cool and sexy and having fun and everybody's doing it. And then they stop smoking, and they look back and they're like, "Oh my God, it was so disgusting. I stunk all the time. I felt gross." All this stuff. That's the exact same thing that is happening with this alcohol-free revolution, is that people are getting off of it completely and they're like, "Oh wow, I was brainwashed by big alcohol advertising, just like big tobacco. They had me thinking that I was being cool, that I was being sexy doing all this stuff, paying all this money for ethanol." And the whole time you just wake up after you get through it and you see the light and you become alcohol-free, you're literally— I slap my head almost every day saying, how did I get so brainwashed? How did I pay so much money and think I was being so cool drinking this ethanol? And it's just a weird, like, unconscious thing that the collective human right now consciousness is addicted to alcohol. I mean, you look around at how many people are drinking it, what they're doing, what they're paying for it. And you're in this, what I call the alcohol matrix. And it's that collective illusion that alcohol benefits us in some way, that we're having this time of our lives, that we're the elixir of life. And when in reality, all it is, is just big alcohol companies making tons of money off of your body and your mind and your spirit.

Yeah, I mean, I agree with you 100%, Doc. Hey, so Dusty, man, tell us, What inspired you to write, uh, You're Doing Great and Other Lies Alcohol Told Me, and what do you hope for readers to gain from it?

Yeah, pain. Pain inspired me. Uh, there's no better, no better teacher and motivator than pain. And it was like, number one, I was getting it all out. I was getting this story out about my life and about my family, all this stuff. I was getting it out to my kids. I got two daughters that I want them to know exactly what alcohol has done to our family, to me, why I got divorced with their mother. And so it's all out there. So it was kind of like journaling and it was incredibly healthy on that front. But then it's also, of course, to help other people to be like, okay, I've been down this path, I've researched it all, I've had it in my family like crazy, I've got a doctorate in psychology, I know how to overcome this in a very different way than AA. This is a very different approach from Alcoholics Anonymous. Like I said, I don't say the word alcoholic ever. I say addicted to alcohol. You're either addicted or you're not. And then once you're not and you don't have those cravings anymore, you're cured. You don't have to sit there and white-knuckle it. Like, I see a beer now with real ethanol in it, I'm just like, oh, it makes me burp. Like, literally, I go, oh my God, there's 5% ethanol in that can. Versus alcohol-free beer, I'm like, yeah, that's great, let's go and enjoy it and everything. But it's one of those things where you just, after a while, you just have to give back and you have to go, man, I can help a lot of people not have the pain and to easily overcome alcohol addiction compared to going meetings every day and being in groups and having major sponsors, all this stuff, and having to do all these things. It's really not that way anymore where you can overcome alcohol addiction just like cigarettes, and it doesn't have to be this ongoing thing. You can see alcohol as disgusting, cancer-causing poison. And the people that I work with and everybody in our Alcohol-Free Revolution, that's the way we do it. Annie Grace, who wrote This Naked Mind, woke me up out of my alcohol addiction, and so I'm just carrying the light forward also that she's done too. And I just want to say also with AA, it's not a competition on becoming alcohol-free. If it does resonate with you, AA, then by all means, go do it. Whatever it takes to become alcohol-free, get this stuff out of your system and get the joy that's your utmost essence to come forward, then absolutely do it. And I have tons of family, friends, people in AA, so, and we're all on the same team here trying to help people at the same time.

That's cool, man. That's an inspiring story. So let me ask you, Dustin, man, can you share a moment from your journey that really challenged your belief about alcohol and its role in your life?

There's so many, man. The relationship, it's amazing, the relationship, how alcohol is just everywhere. Like, it's all over our consciousness. I mean, 5 ads per day saying how great it is, things like that. But I remember the first drink I really had, and I was about 15 years old, and it was a summer pool party, and I was in Midwest, and there was the girl with the red bikini on by the pool, and she's having a drink. And that was the girl that I wanted in school, and I was afraid to talk to her, stuff like that. And my big 6'7" basketball player that I played with, he's like, "Hey, Dustin, you can do this. You like her. Here." He stuffed a can of beer in my hand. And we did this shotgun thing where you crack it in the bottom and he shotguns it with me. And I mean, I was choking, I was burning, it was horrible. But I went over and I started talking to her and I related that with getting the girl. I related that moment of like, okay, alcohol is part of the girl because we did started dating right after that. So that's when I started drinking and it was all about, for me, it was really about girls and being social. It wasn't about you know, getting drunk and that kind of thing. But one thing leads to another, and then you deal with an addictive substance, and you eventually get addicted. Some people, you know, get addicted on that first drink. My friends definitely have seen them where— I saw them where they had their first drink and they were just like, this is it for me, this is like put my life straight and forward, where it numbs out all that negative stuff from their childhood. For me, it was a slow drip deal where I was drinking high-end stuff on airplanes, you know, like CEOs flying me around golf courses and doing tequila shots, all this stuff. And after a while, then it started becoming an addiction where I was like thinking about, you know, having it on the weekends and, oh man, if I can just make it to 5 o'clock, I'll make it through my day and then I can have a drink. And if you're having those kinds of thoughts and those things are happening, believe me, you're not in control. And it's— you gotta see this stuff. The cancer studies and things that are coming out right now look exactly like cigarettes. And here in the future, the younger generation is gonna be like, man, you guys drink alcohol every day? That's crazy. You know, we're having our awakening, we're having our cigarette moment. It's just that alcohol has been around a lot longer than cigarettes were, for tens of thousands of years. And so it's going to take a little bit more to get that out of our consciousness. Our collective conscious that it benefits us in any way, but we're doing it and it's gonna happen for sure.

I'm glad you brought them stats up, man, because, you know, like you say, back in the day, man, you couldn't wait to get off work to go have a drink, a beer, or a Seagram's 7 or anything, you know what I'm saying? Whatever it was, I wanted it. And like you say too, I'm glad that God took that taste out of my mouth, you know, why I didn't desire that every day, man. It make you feel a whole lot better too, man. So yeah, so that's cool. So Dustin, man, tell us, man, you got this thing called the Alcohol Matrix. So tell us about the concept of the Alcohol Matrix and how did you first become aware of this influence in your life and what does it mean for other struggling addictions?

Yeah, that those thoughts and that addiction is not just you, that this is a collective human experience. Alcohol has been around in history, and I go through this in the book, of like tens of thousands of years. It used to be really just slop. It used to be like just kind of a muss, and now they've made it really where you can't even taste it. Like, you got your peanut butter whiskeys, you got your cinnamon drinks, you got all these like seltzer. They filtered it down so much that they've taken the ethanol out of it, you know, where they— where that you can't really taste it. And so That is— just know that this is not a you problem. This is a collective human issue where we've taken this stuff that used to be used by shamans and medicine men and priests and all these things as a pain, a temporary pain relief. And then now we've made it into this social major like party thing. It's like the only socially accepted painkiller really out there even today. Opioids started coming in about 200 years ago, and that was the only commercial painkiller at all before alcohol. So for tens of thousands of years, all we had was ethanol to do that for mental health, for mental pain and psychological pain. So we've got this collective thing in our unconscious that says it's a good thing to do it, to have more of it. And you've got to see that and go, no, this is not a good thing. This is something that was an old human experience that we got to get in, dig out, and say, look, alcohol-free life is the only real reason for ethanol, to consume ethanol, would be like if you're really in major physical pain and you need a temporary relief. Like literally, like you're on the battlefield and you get shot and you're like needing to amputate or something like that right then and there. Okay, and that's all you've got is some kind of— okay, absolutely. Chug it down, have some temporary pain relief, and move on. But to have it on any kind of consistent basis, this is— you're putting ethanol in your system on a consistent basis. And I got tons of friends in Oklahoma with these big, beautiful $100,000 trucks, and they pull up to the gas tank, you know, we go hunting, and they're like, I'm not putting any of that ethanol in my truck, and nothing like that's going in my motor. And then literally that evening, well, they'll be chugging whiskey at 40% ethanol. You know, and I'm like, I tell them this, you know, this is the same exact thing that you just said you're not gonna put in your motor, and you're gonna put it in your brains, your body, your tissues, and you're going to destroy yourself doing that over time. And they have too. They're like, Dustin, how are you in such good shape? Like, what's going on with you? And I'm like, I'm alive, I'm vibrant, I'm just this walking love and peace and joy. And they're like, man, I can't get off the couch in the morning. And I'm like, the only difference Between you and me is I'm not just—

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Drinking every day and you are. Literally, we'll go through the diet, they're working out, they're doing all this stuff, but they're the ones drinking consistently and I stopped. And they're like, they're looking at me with one eye going, hmm, this is interesting, you know, because yeah, and I'm walking proof that it just, it's the, it's absolutely the life that everybody should definitely do.

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Yeah, man, you making me think, making me laugh, because as I was telling you about my project, doing another podcast called Planting Seeds with CJ. And so that's what I'm, you know, saying. So I'm listening to you because a lot of times, even when we're around people, you just planting seeds. Like, I can't make you not do what you don't want to do or whatever, but I'm just here to to plant a seed, you know? And when we plant seeds, whether they water being watered or whatnot, it's just up to us just to be that seed bearer or that waterer, you know what I'm saying? So that people can, as you say, see a transformation through your life and then like, wait a minute, if Dusty can go from doing this and doing that, like you say, he's very vibrant and whatnot. And it's good that one thing I was just talking about, it's good that you have friends that you still go hunting with that don't want you around because people can be like, oh man, here he come, you know, whatever, whatever, because I'm not doing the same things they doing. But you're somebody to me that I'm taking the impression of, I'm not gonna sit here and sugarcoat things with you, I'ma tell you the truth, you know, I'ma speak the truth when this truth need to be spoken. And so we need more people like you in the world, man. So keep doing it, Doc. So let me ask you, Dustin, man, What are your thoughts on breaking down the stigma and shame that often prevent people from seeking help for addiction?

Yeah, the big thing is, like I was saying earlier, is this isn't just a you problem. Like, Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, says, you know, it's a disease. It's like it's only a certain class of people can actually get addicted, and this is so not true. All the science every bit, 100% of the sciences that alcohol is an addictive substance. It is 100% addictive to everybody. I played rugby in England and all those guys are addicted to alcohol. These guys are 6'5", mean, bald-headed rugby dudes, and they can't handle their alcohol. They, at the beginning in college, "Oh, I can handle this. I can drink this and watch this and all this stuff." Oh yeah, it's all fun and games. Until the addiction comes in, and that's what you're dealing with. So just know that you've been brainwashed for— since you've been young. Like, for me, I was watching, you know, like the Budweiser frogs, you know, Spuds McKenzie, all these— Toucan with Guinness. We were brainwashed as kids. We're watching these ads every day going, oh, it looks fun to have a beer, you know, with the frogs and all this stuff. And we grew up with it just absolutely in our culture of you know, you— this is the thing to do, and this is what you do to be cool, to hang out with your friends. And so this is not a you problem. This is a human big consciousness problem that you gotta give yourself a lot of compassion and be like, look, I was in this society that I was born into, this society that is addicted to alcohol, and I came up through it, and this is what you get. This is what happens. And of course you got addicted. You, after you've been told 5 times a day, drink socially, responsibly, and moderately. Yeah, yeah. And when did you get addicted? Everybody's different. Everybody's got their own relationship, own past with alcohol, own family backgrounds, own body. It's gonna be different. Like I said, some people get addicted like right away. It's that hit that just like makes them feel, you know, really balanced. And then another one's like me, it takes 20 years. But at some point, no matter how awesome you are or think you are, you are gonna— you're messing with serious fire and you've got to turn this thing around.

Mm, you brought out some old memories there, D, man, talking about Spud McKenzie. And I remember them frogs, you know, he used to be sitting up there looking at the bill or whatnot, and then they go to it and it was some cool commercials, but You brought up a good point. We was transformed at an early age, like you say, that was cool. 'Cause I think I started drinking with my cousins at 13. You know, we got Christmas parties and stuff like that. You sneaking a drink here and there or whatever. Like you say, man, that was the thing to do. But it never dawned on me what you just said. Watching those Spud Kenzie commercials and things like that, it was just drawing you. Just like we doing with kids now with YouTube and stuff like that. Things just drawing you subconsciously, you know what I'm saying? Time you don't even know. So yeah, I like that point, man. So let me ask you, uh, the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll of alcohol is often underestimated. So what's your perspective on this impact and how can we as a society address these challenges?

Yeah, the big thing for me is people a lot of times like, oh Dustin, it's not that big a deal, alcohol, what, you know, this whole revolution and all this stuff. And I'm like, Okay, then I guess COVID wasn't that big a deal because like you said, physically, what's the physical toll? Well, in 2020, COVID killed 1.8 million people worldwide, right? Which it shut down all of the markets, the schools, everything worldwide. In that same year, alcohol caused 3 million deaths. Okay, so if we really wanna help people and save people, This is the probably the largest way, the biggest thing that's going on on the planet right now. And whenever you see the cancer issues now that they're like, oh, why are we having so much cancer? Well, this and that, all they're trying to point fingers everywhere but alcohol. And what New Zealand just came up with is a major study on women's breast cancer. And this goes for, you know, just as the tip of the iceberg So if you— women who had 2 glasses per week have a 15% increase in breast cancer, and it goes way up every glass after that. And I'm talking about 2 glasses a week, not per day, like what they're saying, oh, you can have 2 glasses of wine per day and it's moderate, social, responsible, right? That's what they've taught us forever. Now, what's all this science is coming out and it's like, no, no, no, man, this is ethanol. You can't be having hardly any of it. Literally zero. It's a carcinogen. It's been a carcinogen since 1989. And if you just follow the money and follow our lawmakers, who's making those laws and stuff, it's coming out. We're going to be pushing hard to get way more things on bottles about cancer, and it's just coming. You can see the writing on the wall, just like the cigarette stuff. And so you're going to be like, in the future, have things on the bottles showing the horrible, gruesome liver cirrhosis, you know, all the things that alcohol really does to people. And then we get into the mental part that you're talking about, and that's a whole nother completely different deal. That's not talking about death, that's not talking about physical, that we're talking about abuse, we're talking about rape, we're talking about violence. The things every time somebody goes in, I, I talk to police and they're like, I go, what if alcohol wasn't really a thing in the world? They go, we, I wouldn't have a job. Literally, I would not. They're like, that's how much whenever I go out to an issue, a family dispute, any kind of like fight, it's every time they're like, there's alcohol. It's alcohol that causes people to do ridiculous stuff and have no filter. It's numbing them down so much that they're out of their mind, literally doing things. And then you talk to people in jail and they're, yeah, I was drunk, I was wasted, I got behind the car, da da da da da. And that's the mental part of it. Spiritual part of it is you will never experience the joys and the highs on a consistent basis in any way, shape, or form that you truly are at your utmost essence if you are consistently putting ethanol in your bloodstream. All it's doing is numbing down your central nervous system. That's what alcohol does. That's the physical effect of it. When people talk about the high they get and the joy or whatever of alcohol, it's not high, it's not joy, it's underneath consciousness. It's underneath joy. It's underneath the real peace and love that you are, and you're suppressing that every time you take a drink of ethanol. So the way to get to the spiritual highs and be what, you know, Buddha and Jesus talks about, how to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we need to be like children. So children, it's funny, they don't drink alcohol. You know, that's part of— they're dancing, they're singing, They're at weddings, they're running around, they're doing everything. When the music comes on, man, they're getting it, right? Well, that is that joy that I'm talking about, that inner joy that you are. Just because you're older, you still— that never goes away. What goes away is if you're numbing it down all the time, like I did for years and years, and I was just like, ah, it's not really real. Well, I'm here to tell you it's absolutely there for everybody. To experience. And that's what I'm screaming at the top of the mountains is just like Jesus, Buddha, all of them just saying, you are that love, you are that peace, and you can do this. And it is the hero's journey.

Man, made me think. I hadn't thought about that in a while until you made a point. You said the cirrhosis of the liver and made me think. I lost two aunties that way, man, my grandmother's sisters. I lost two of them because of the alcohol, and they both died from cirrhosis of the liver, man. So made me think about that and how, you know, vital this thing that you talking about, how strong it is. I never— because to be honest with you, this fit— what you call it that you say is in the alcohol?

Ethanol.

Ethanol. I've never heard of that before, to be honest with you.

That's the thing about the big alcohol, has done such a great job at making alcohol seem like the elixir of life and like this thing that we all need to have so much fun and all this stuff. But if you say ethanol, which is the scientific term for alcohol, it's the exact same thing, it's just got two names, people are like, "Man, ethanol, I'm drinking ethanol?" I'm like, whenever I first heard that too, I was like, "Whoa." So every time on the bottle where it says ABV, alcohol by volume, I switch it to E in there, I say ethanol by volume, and I get literally like grossed out, like going, man, 13% EBV in that bottle of wine. I'm gonna drink 13% of ethanol and I want to pay a lot for it? Why would anybody do that? And it's addictive and causes cancer and cirrhosis of the liver, all these things. So if you put me next to a commercial, like, it would be funny to have me after a big alcohol commercial and do the exact opposite, you know, with what they're saying.

Be like, okay, Yeah, I mean, because like you say, you know, because back then the Spud McKenzie commercials, as you were saying, now, you know, you got the celebrities and, and everybody doing it, you know. And it's interesting, and I always say this too, like, uh, me and my wife used to watch reality shows all the time, and I tell people, I say, have y'all ever noticed that in the reality shows that they always had to feed the women drinking Alcohol, it's like you gotta do it because not only are they doing it for they self, but this is the impression that they're giving me and you, like you were saying, that this is the thing to do. You know what I'm saying? This is how you be cool. This is how you be Atlanta housewife or whatever. You know what I'm saying? So they steady always radio commercials, drink Ciroc or Hennessy or whatever. It's always being pushed out there. And I didn't think about that either until you just, brought up the Spuds McKenzie commercial.

So much brainwashing. And those Spuds McKenzie commercials were made for kids. They weren't made for adults. I mean, adults giggle at them, but kids are really like, oh, that dog is cool and having fun, and I want to drink with that dog, you know?

Yeah, that's exactly how it was. That's exactly how it was. So I only got one more question for you, D, man. I'll let you go, man. I appreciate you coming on today. So for someone listening who is struggling with addiction or knows someone who is, What advice would you give them to take the first steps towards healing?

Yeah, getting out of denial, you know, just that number one step for me was going, hey, I'm having these cravings. I can't go to parties really without having it around. And I wasn't the big, you know, what we would consider old school addicted to alcohol where you're reaching under the kitchen sink for the paper bag bottle, stuff like that. It was more, you know, that slow drip, high, you know, wine and nice stuff. And so once I realized I'm actually addicted to this stuff, how did that happen? And I told people, I said, hey, I'm addicted. I started researching everything I could about it, and that's when that ethanol stuff came out and all the stuff that, oh man, this stuff is so addictive. And then I started having compassion for myself, saying, of course I got addicted to it. I was born into the world where we got brainwashed. I mean, just absolutely blitzed with this substance that is so addictive, and everybody telling us it's okay to drink it every now and then. You're fine. Your 21st birthday, they're going to celebrate it with you, and like, you're now able to do this. No, you're not. Nobody— the human body is not designed to consume ethanol on any kind of regular basis. And so just start researching it. Get books. Get my book. Get Annie Grace This Naked Mind. And what you'll see is it's a whole different approach to AA. This is an approach that makes you go, just like cigarettes, this is disgusting. Why did I ever do this? And it will— the light, the alcohol-free light will come on. And once that alcohol-free light is on, it doesn't go off. It's there. It's planted. Just like you're talking about with the seeds, that seed does not go away and it starts growing. And then you start feeling better and better and better. And dealing with your issues that you have to deal with at some point anyway.

Anyway. I got to deal with it.

Yeah, go there. And I just want to thank you so much for being that seed, being that light. I know you've been through it too, and it's just awesome to have you, to be able to talk to you about it.

Oh man, I appreciate it, man. And this is something for the audience, for some of you who want to take steps today to better support your loved ones or yourself. In creating a life free from harmful habits? Let us know your thoughts, man. Let Dr. Dustin know your thoughts, man. Hey, Doc, man, thank you for coming on, sharing your story and insights with us today, man. Your vulnerability and wisdom are a gift to everyone facing addiction and seeking a better path, man. So I really appreciate you coming on the show today. If there's anything that you would like to leave us with, man, you know we appreciate it. Matter of fact, first of all, where can we find you at, Doc, man? Social media handles.

Yeah, so to order the book, uh, get in on that is dustin-dunbar.com. And then for all the alcohol-free stuff, we got tons of scientific stuff and everything, and just a whole community, it's alcoholfreerevolution.org. Is, uh, those are the two websites. And then Instagram, Alcohol Free Revolution, and you'll see a lot of postings by me daily and Get on there and start getting in there and get that alcohol-free light to start shining.

Okay. Hey, so Dustin, man, when you get a chance, send me those links, man, so I can put them in the show notes so the audience can go check them out. But until then, you can go grab the book You're Doing Great and Other Lies Alcohol Told You by my man Dr. Dustin Dunbar, man. Hey, you have been listening to the CJ Moneyway Show with your boy CJ Moneyway. We out of here. Peace.

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