it's been 442 days...
Photo by Matt Hoffman on Unsplash
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So I haven't had a drop of alcohol in 442 days...
Unless you count mouthwash or NyQuil, and I'm assuming you don't.
That's roughly 10,608 hours of not drinking -- which makes me an expert in "not drinking" according to Malcolm Gladwell, right?
Anyway, when I mention this to people, they are sometimes impressed. But here's the reality (and I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this):
Not drinking isn't too hard anymore.
Yes, there are moments when I want a glass of bourbon or a vodka soda (with lime, obvi)...
And yes, there have been times where I almost caved...
But the reality is:
At this point, I've built up so much "not drinking" momentum that it's become the norm. I can say "no thanks" without too much effort most of the time.
Now, I know myself well enough to know that I will probably have alcohol again at some point in my life. But I know that day won't be today.
It could be tomorrow, though, who knows. Maybe I'll make one of them "Quarantinis" people on Facebook are talking about.
But what does all this have to do with anything?
Well, this actually ties into another thing I learned at TCCIRL last week.
There was a guy there named Mike Kim. Maybe you've heard of him. He has a podcast called "Brand You" that I believe is doing pretty damn well.
Anyway, one of the things Mike said that really resonated with me was this:
"Success is sequential, not simultaneous."
In fact, I'm pretty sure Mike said that, if we took nothing else away from his talk, we should remember that one thing.
His point was that "overnight success" is a facade.
It's not about one moment of hard work or self-discipline. It's about all the little moments that add up to make the whole.
So it's actually easier for me to turn down a drink than it might be for someone else...
Because I have built up the momentum of saying "no" for 442 days now.
Here's another important point--
People who are successful work hard to get to where they're at. But here's the thing:
They're not working mindlessly.
In Mike's case, at least, he thought very intentionally about where he wanted to go and the specific steps he needed to take to get there.
He's very successful now. But it happened because he didn't just "put in the work..."
He recognized he was playing "chess, not checkers" and put in the right work.
So, when you're thinking about the next steps you want to take in your business...
Make sure you're taking those steps intentionally.
And make sure they actually get you closer to the end result you want, instead of just "feeling productive" in the moment.
As with most things I write about, this is something I could use work on too. Just wanted to share.
Robert
P.S. Mike also suggested putting dog pictures in your emails. So here you go.
Photo by Joel J. Martínez on Unsplash