Sobriety gives me the mental edge

Successful people always have that “thing”. The thing that gives them the edge in their personal and professional lives.  How often have we heard about the executive who wakes up at 4am, or the entrepreneur that takes a crazy cold plunge every day?  I’m a morning person, but I’m definitely not that much of a morning person… and sorry I love my hot showers.  Because I don’t need any of those.  

Sobriety is that thing for me.  It gives me the mental edge.

When I’m sober, I’m clear-headed and focused.  As any athlete knows, there are a certain set of elements that you need to reach peak performance.  One thing is crystal clear to me after 700+ sober days… my peak performance happens when I’m sober.  

In success I’ve found that the advantage comes when you’re willing to do something that most people will not do.  It’s that simple.  Trust me, it’s much harder to live a sober life and go against the grain on something so integral to our society and culture.  Following the crowd will always cause less friction.  But in order to change the world at the velocity and intensity that I want to, I just can’t afford to follow the crowd. 

Before I stopped drinking, I probably read 100 books on success, leadership, and personal development.  None of them have come close to changing my life in the way sobriety has.