How Quitting Alcohol for 18 Months Changed My Life

Hello, Ladies and gentlemen, James Blackwell. Here in today's video, I'm going to reveal why I quit alcohol over 18 months ago. So I quit alcohol in May 2023 and I sound like I was an alcoholic, but I actually wasn't. I actually didn't really enjoy drinking. And one thing I noticed, I actually being here in Dubai for almost four years now, I, I was just socially drinking maybe once, twice a week, maybe just having one glass of wine or one espresso martini or two maximum. But I got to the point where I was like, I didn't really enjoy it and I was thinking, what is the actual point of doing this? And I thought I'm going to do an experiment and test myself just to be disciplined, to actually say no. Because when you're with friends or doing business meetings, it's always like, yeah, I'll just, just have a glass of wine or whatever it is. And I thought, I'm just going to say no, I don't drink alcohol. So I decided to do three months, no alcohol. And that was probably the hardest time because it was May. So this was coming into summer season where I was traveling across Europe a lot and I said no to everything. So not even one sip. And then I got past three months, I got to six months. And that's when you create like that greater resilience and self control and you start to not feel more superior, but just like, I don't know, you have that inner belief of proving to yourself that you've still got that self discipline. So over your journey as an entrepreneur, as you grow, obviously you start very, you have to be very disciplined, whether it's getting up early, eating healthy, going to the gym, working on your mindset, hustling in your business. Like there's a lot of discipline that needs to happen. And as you get more successful and you get more wealth and money and you can be free to work when you want, where you want. Sometimes it's harder to test because you back in your silk robe and you're in your comfort zone. So like doing this was more just for showing that resilience and self control and really to rediscover myself. So for those of you that know me well, like I, I am very big on spirituality and wanting to get to these higher vibrations of consciousness. And I don't think you can do that even if you have an alcohol maybe once a week or whatever. I just don't think that is possible. So that was, that was another reason as well. And then, yeah, so then may of this Year I got to 12 months, so I was like, I want to kneel down, I want to just do a year. And then after you do 12 months, then I'm like, I don't even fancy having a drink anymore. And one thing that I noticed was you build really solid relationships and friendships with, with people when you're going out now because you can actually have deeper layer conversations. And you sort of see, like when you see people and you're around them and the they drink alcohol and they're getting a bit drunk, you start to see different sides of people and you start to see the probably states that it can make people. And I think one of the other things I learned was having just total clarity and mental clarity and focus in everything that I do in terms of my goals and work as well. So normally what you tend to find on a weekend, if people were having a drink on a Saturday, for example, recording this on a Sunday, people would feel groggy, they would make maybe less good decisions. They would probably skip whether it's meditation or what have you and just have a lazy day. And that like reduces the energy flow. And yeah, people get stuck in that cycle. Like I said, like, it really deepens connections with friends as well. So what I found was one of my good friends, I'll give you a shout on Justin, he's actually never drank alcohol and he's a very successful entrepreneur here in Dubai. And I was really surprised that I just didn't even notice. And yeah, so that sort of like opened my eyes up to it. And you are who you surround yourself with. So then I started doing that. And so when I would go on, I would just order a ginger beer or a diet Coke and. And then, yeah, then other friends followed. So like one of my other good friends started to not drink as well because they're seeing me not drink. So success leaves clues. And when you look at some of the successful people in the world right now, Donald J. Trump, for one of them, he's never touched any alcohol ever. And then you look at other billionaires, so Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, all of these people have never drank alcohol. And I feel like it's like in a superpower now. So I feel this inner strength in my core just because I refuse to say to have a drink. And I feel like the new generation coming through. So like the 18, 19, 20 year olds of this next generation, it's actually cool not to drink anymore. And I feel like there's a big shift and wave of people not drinking alcohol anymore. So I just Thought I'd share that journey because I haven't really mentioned that on social media. And if you've ever considered doing it, I'd highly recommend doing it. And you'll tend to find your friends will follow you. If you're in the right environment with the right type of people, the smart people, they won't force you to drink or peer pressure. And the more you build up that muscle and discipline, it's honestly just a superpower and it's not like elitism as it were, but you feel like, I don't know, you feel like you are. Yeah, it's just like a superpower that you have like when you say you don't drink and people are like often taken back and then they respect it and they're like, oh, that's very interesting because it does show a lot of self discipline. And one thing I noticed as well, I'm a lot more calmer. So you have, yeah, you were definitely more in touch with your authentic self. More obviously you don't get any anxiety and ebbs and flows of the up and down. And again they talk about that in reality transurfing of the pendulum. So like if you have an alcohol and a high, you're gonna have to pay for that with a big load the next day in a crash. So it's very important to try and be consistent. So like without alcohol, that's, that's obviously been one of the key things that's, that's definitely made me feel more fulfilled. It's also helped me have higher productivity, so really higher energy, more time to focus on higher value tasks. And it's definitely been strength to helping me make more money for sure. And I would definitely recommend everyone to try it. So I would love to see in the comments just down below if anyone else has been in that position where they've decided to quit alcohol, how long they've been going for and what benefits they got. But also if you are wanting to be accountable, pop a message in here to say like from today that you're going to try it. So what I would say is just try it for one month and try and go three months and try, try and go six and then try and go 12. And the more you build up that discipline muscle, trust me, it gets easy and easy over time. And I actually don't even think a lot of my friends think ask, are you ever going to drink again? I don't say that I'm never going to drink again because that would be harder by saying that. I just say I'll see how I feel. Like I still maybe picture myself on a vineyard one day enjoying a nice glass of red wine for example. So I'm not going to say never say never but yeah definitely I would never be drinking any spirits or anything like that ever again. Would probably just be wine if I choose to do so but definitely not in the near future. I think I could easily go 2, 3, 4, 5 years without any alcohol. So because I'm feeling the benefits for sure I have more clarity, more focus, more energy and yeah you have this. It just gives you this superpower within. It's hard to explain until you've been through it. So hope you enjoyed the video. Let me know in the comments. Like I said, if you're in a mode where you've actually quit alcohol how long it's been for and if you are just wanting to start it's hold you accountable from day one.