Close Banner

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

|personal story

I Didn't Drink For 30 Days. Here's How I Did It + Why It Changed My Life

Author:

James Swanwick

October 01, 2017

By James Swanwick

mbg Contributor

James Swanwick is an Australian-American investor, entrepreneur, speaker, former SportsCenter anchor. He is the creator of the 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge, co-founder of Swanwick Sleep, and host of The James Swanwick Show podcast.

October 01, 2017

For most of my adult life, alcohol was part of my routine: some wine after work to relax, a few drinks to celebrate special events, wild weekend nights with friends. It was social. Fun.

But as the years passed, I started to notice in photographs taken only a few years before that my face was less puffy and weathered, and there were no lines around my eyes or bags beneath them.

I also noticed that I wasn’t sleeping well and felt constantly tired, sluggish, and irritated. I liked my job but didn’t love it. My relationships were okay but not amazing. At 34, I was surviving, not thriving.

On March 10, 2010, I woke up with a hangover in a hotel room in Austin, Texas. Angry at how I felt, I made a personal vow that morning: quit alcohol for 30 days. Not only did I make it through that month—I’ve not had a drink since.

Today, life is simply better without alcohol: I’m 20 pounds lighter, my skin is clearer, and my relationships are transformed. If you're also looking to reduce or quit drinking, here are the life changes I made that helped me on my journey:

1. Adjusting my social life.

We tend to be influenced by the people we're around the most. So in order to cut alcohol from my life, I reduced the time spent with people who drank a lot.

You don't have to fire all your friends—I didn't. But I did learn that spending more time around moderate drinkers or non-drinkers did make quitting alcohol a whole lot easier.

2. Changing my home environment.

Remove alcohol from your personal space. If your spouse keeps it at home, hide it from plain view in the back of your fridge, a different room, or wrap it in tin foil. Eliminate the eye-level visual cues that invite you to drink—and replace them with healthier ones. These days, I keep a bookshelf at eye level instead. I used to read maybe two books a year; now I read four a week.

3. Finding better ways to manage stress.

Feeling like you “need” a drink is usually a response to stress, boredom, or loneliness. So when I started feeling that "need," I decided to hold my breath for 10 seconds and exhale for 10 seconds instead. I also reminded myself of my "why": I was choosing not to drink to stop feeling sick and tired.

Other times, I'd walk around the block, jump up and down, or drink a tall glass of cold water. I also built resilience through meditation. For example, I attended Vipassana: ten days of silence in the Joshua Tree toughened me up.

4. Replacing drinking with a new healthy habit.

Instead of drinking alcohol, I now work out at least five times a week. How? I decided to create a new habit with visual cues.

Each night before I go to sleep, I carefully lay out my gym clothes at the foot of my bed. When I wake up, I immediately see the shirt, shorts, shoes, socks, water bottle, headphones, and towel. Instinctively, I put my gym clothes on. My chances of going to the gym are now greatly increased, and this healthy habit helps make me feel great.

5. Helping others.

In Freedom from Fear, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi wrote, “If you're feeling helpless, help someone.” So as I cut alcohol out of my life, I started to contribute to others. I offered to take people's dogs for a walk or play with their kids and had wonderful conversations in old folks’ homes.

6. Creating a new go-to drink order.

On a night out, I now walk confidently to the bar and say, “I’ll take an iced water with a piece of lime, please.” That’s it. Water, ice, and piece of lime. It costs nothing, leaves me feeling hydrated and clear-headed, and I never need to hesitate or question what to order while I'm out.

7. Finding a confident response.

People used to encourage me to drink all the time. “Go on, just have one,” they'd say. But over time I learned to smile and simply say, “No, thanks. I’m not drinking at the moment.” Or, “No, thank you. I’ve got to get up early in the morning.”

Whatever I said, I owned it. When people asked why I quit drinking, I'd say, "For health reasons. I had a break from alcohol and felt terrific, so I kept going." It now occupies about five seconds of the conversation when meeting someone new. It's never an issue when they see my confidence and conviction.

8. Making early plans for the next morning.

I'm less likely to stay out late and be tempted to drink when I know I have a commitment the following morning. When I quit alcohol, I made yoga dates for 7 a.m., arranged to meet someone for a run, or made coffee plans. Anything that started early.

9. Finding a buddy to take a break from alcohol with.

You can't always rely on brute willpower alone. In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains that people only change when “embedded in social groups that [make] change easier.” And since I stopped drinking, I've had many others join me in quitting alcohol. Having the support of others will help you keep going — and you'll all love how you feel as a result.