365 Days of No Drinking

Quote of the Week: 

"To be lame in the eyes of somebody I would never want to be like is an absolute success" - William Scott

Content of the Week: 

I'm giving up alcohol for 365 days and it started this week! The most popular response I get is "why would you do that" so I figured I'd share with everyone. The main reason I'm taking a year off from drinking is I have a crazy hypothesis… Overall my life would be better without alcohol. I know crazy, but hear me out.

Let's look at a weekend. The Friday "post work" cocktails are always fun but then it leads to worse sleep and not feeling my best the next day. If I start drinking again on Saturday, the afternoon and night might be a blast but then I wake up with anxiety, I don't get my weekly planning done, and I am already in catch up mode going into the next week. 

My hypothesis is that while a day might be better with alcohol, over the course of the weekend/week the pros of drinking do not outweigh the cons. This coupled with the long term benefits of not drinking, like better overall sleep, decreased risk of disease, increased memory, and improved energy, leads me to think that my life would be better without alcohol. The only way I know how to test this hypothesis is to go without alcohol across every season, event, holiday, etc. The year timeframe also allows me to look back on not just the short term benefits, but also the long term benefits of being alcohol-free. 

While testing the hypothesis is the main reason for my alcohol-free year, I'm also excited for the side benefits:

1. Having more time to focus on coaching and provide better and better content

2. Sleep! I love my sleep and the prospect of having a better night sleep every night was almost enough to make me tackle this challenge alone

3. Being outside more. I'm excited to replace indoor drinking, sleeping in, and hangovers with early morning skiing, running, hiking, etc.

4. Lastly, I'm excited to see how this effects my training and time in the gym

Big Questions of the Week:

Would you like to be updated on my alcohol free year? If so, how often (e.g., monthly, quarterly) and in what medium (e.g., newsletter, videos)?

Photo of the Week:

I created a cold plunge, which turned out to be fairly easy considering mother nature cools the water for me in the winter! My goal is to start at one minute a day, and build up to 10 minutes a day within a couple months. 

Till next week, be kind, be curious and work hard. 

Tanner