"Five minutes each week that might change your life."

1,000 days sober. What started as a two-month break in summer 2022 has turned into a lifestyle I don’t plan on leaving.

I started drinking as a teenager because of crippling social anxiety and codependency. In college, I discovered I could out-drink most people and still stay standing. In a society that places status on how fast you can chug a beer, I saw drinking as my superpower.

So for the next 20 years, I was “the party guy.”

I could hold my liquor, stay functional, even thrive while drinking multiple times a week. Book tours, conferences, speaking gigs—it was all fueled by booze. I was a happy drunk. Funny. Outgoing. Completely uninhibited.

That’s a terrifying place to be.

As I got deeper into my 30s, that “party guy” identity started to crack.

“Is alcohol really serving me?” was the comfortable question I’d ask myself.

“Is my social life really just an alcohol-fueled mirage?” was the uncomfortable one.

So finally in 2022, I decided to take a two-month break.

Sobriety didn’t feel glamorous. At first, it was boring—like someone turned the volume knob on life from 10 to a 5. Dinners tasted dull. Trips felt muted. Parties seemed like a waste of time.

Then, slowly, the benefits started creeping in.

I lost weight. I slept better. I had more energy. I became more focused and ambitious, less emotionally volatile. I discovered which people, hobbies, and habits actually mattered to me—without the dopamine haze.

In hindsight, I spent so much of my life with alcohol at the center of my identity that I didn’t truly know who “Real Mark” was. Once I stripped away the crutch I’d been leaning on for decades, I started to meet the real me.

Quitting alcohol has brought me more peace, happiness, and presence than any shot of tequila ever did.

If you’re considering taking a break from alcohol, stop asking yourself:

“What will I miss out on?”

Instead, try asking yourself:

“What part of myself have I never met?”

See you Monday,
Mark

P.S. These days, I’m no longer the “party guy.” I’m the guy who believes in the life-changing power of small daily actions and a supportive community—the kind that peer pressures you into a better life instead of beer chugging contests. The kind of community our member Debbie has been craving:

“I have been craving a community like this. A community that dives deep and doesn’t cause stress. A community of people who are looking to improve in similar areas I am.”

Ready to meet "community guy" Mark? Learn more about The Solved Membership and how it's built to help you solve life's toughest problems with evidence-based strategies that are simple to implement every day, right here.