Ever heard of Sober October? It’s a challenge that has been mentioned in the Joe Rogan podcast recently. They wanted to help a friend who indulges way too much alcohol. Now I assume that you’re guessing that I’m going to tell you to do the same? This might be fun but I’m going to take this challenge from Zero To Alpha. There are tons of people who’re able to this. Well at least for one month. Why don’t we do things that’ll make your life better? Things that will make sure that you don’t have to make New Year’s resolutions when you’re drunk. I mean would you even take them seriously?
Beware because I’m going to take you straight outta your comfort zone. It’s based on a challenge that I did almost 2 years ago. I completely nailed that one and I had a weaker mindset in comparison to these days. Mine lasted 100 days instead of 30 and it changed my life big time. Moral of the story: you can do it because I did it.
Sober October: let’s start with a cliché
Yes, you’re not going to drink alcohol for a month. Well, it’ll be 30 days since we’re already on the second of October. I have been sober for about 1 year and 2 months so don’t complain that you can drink for a month. You can still go out just without the alcohol. I know that some people say things like: “this is a dumb challenge. I can quit whenever I want.” Well, why don’t you quit now and prove it? It’s easy to talk but it’s a lot harder to take action. Only pussies will avoid the challenge or they’ll convince others to quit. Just do it or admit that you can’t do it. It’s not that hard. The same goes for drugs of course. It’s called Sober October for a reason.
Sober October: read books and forget about the looks
I read at least a book per week. That’s easy for me but I don’t expect the same from you. You have to learn to take time to read. So here’s the challenge. Take a book that you wanted to read for a long time and start reading it. Try to finish it by the end of the month. Seriously it’s not that hard. A book will be around 300 pages so you’ll have to read 10 pages every day to make sure that you finish it. Put your phone on airplane mode or do not disturb mode and start reading. People can’t read these days because they can’t focus on a simple task anymore. You don’t believe me, do you? Read my post on how to be a better listener. You’ll get what I mean.
Sober October: No porn or fapping at all
There was a thing last month that was called no fap September. I completely missed it, to be honest. I only heard about it a few days ago. Anyway, don’t do it for a month. You’ll be a lot more creative. Strange but true. Yes, sex is still allowed off course. Just no masturbation.
I included porn because porn can mess you up big time. There are a lot of guys who’re addicted to porn. Let your shoulder and forearm rest a bit and read a book instead of jacking off all the time. I just gave you some extra time to read how about that. You’ll be surprised how your body reacts to this one. You’ll feel a lot more energetic.
Read The Power Of Now. I believe that it covers this matter. Most people are just horny because they’re bored. They’re not present in the moment and think about having sex with someone in the future or the past. That’s where it all goes wrong. A book recommendation and a tip on how to control your cravings? Damn this blog is the bomb.
Sober October: live a healthy and happy life at least for 30 days
You are what you eat and people eat nothing but crap these days. Why don’t you try to clean up your diet and eat healthy 80% of the time? It’s not that hard. You’ll even lose weight if you’re out of shape. Damn this challenge has everything. But it doesn’t stop there. Try to be more grateful in life. Enjoy the small things and you’ll realize that you’ve got more things to be happy about than you knew. Why should I be more grateful you ask? Because you can’t be grateful and depressed at the same time.
Now let’s do something extremely challenging. Meditate every day for 10 minutes first thing in the morning. You’ll breathe better during the day if you do it first thing in the morning. Most people claim that they can’t do it but you’ll fail with this mindset. I think that it took me 30 days to meditate 10 minutes without being heavily distracted. You have to learn to focus on your breath instead of your thoughts. It’s all about being present in the moment and that’s what most people just can’t.
Sober October: get active
Try to be active every single day. It’s better to do a 30 min walk every day than to do nothing at all. It’s easy to be lazy but you won’t gain anything by doing it. Well, maybe some weight now that I think about it. Getting in shape is hard but staying in shape is pretty damn easy. So why would you ever go out of shape? You’ll feel a lot better if you’re in shape. Besides, you don’t have to look like a cover model. Those look unhealthy. Just look healthy that’s it. So run, lift, swim… I don’t care what you do as long as you’re active. 30 minutes a day is nothing.
Sober October: Ice baby ice
Oh yes, we’re going to introduce cold showers. Now I was crazy enough (or man enough) to start with ice-cold showers right from the start but most people can’t do it. So take your warm shower and end it with a cold one. But I mean cold so that means that you turn the temperature off. Don’t forget to stay longer in the shower every time you’re trying it. 10 seconds is a bare minimum to start with. I went swimming in a cold sea after a while so doesn’t complain about a little bit of cold. I even meditated outside when it was -4 degrees Celsius outside. Oh, fun fact I was only wearing shorts (the picture is on my Instagram). So be a cold warrior instead of a warm worrier.
Tip: try to focus on your breath when you’re trying a cold shower. Slowly in- and exhale. You’ll notice that cold isn’t that cold after all.
Sober October: get out of your comfort zone
I remember that I had 3 things on my list that I wanted to do. Swimming in a cold sea was one of them, doing a neck bridge in a crowded area was the second one. I forgot the third one to be honest. Anyway, do something that terrifies you. I’ve learned that fear lies and that you need to conquer it. Now I don’t encourage you to do dumb things. Be reasonable and use your brain. Do a martial art class, speak in front of a larger audience, try to give a radio interview, go up to someone that you don’t know and start a conversation… that kind of stuff. Things like speeding might get you out of your comfort zone but that doesn’t belong on the streets. Get to a racetrack if you want to drive fast.
Sober October: consume fewer media
Yes, I’m talking about social media but the news as well. People tend to share their whole lives on social media. I don’t even scroll on the Facebook timeline anymore. Just a waste of time. I get conversations like “Hey Alex I’ve been in a relationship for 2 months”. So I’m like “when did this happen”. And they’re like “dude we made it Facebook official, what’s wrong with you? Everybody has seen it”. People will tell you when something important has happened. You don’t have to be on Facebook 24/7.
So what about the news Alex? I don’t watch it at all. Horrible things will happen every day but you can’t change a thing about it. You’ll be miserable after watching the news. I still hear about the important things from others but I win a lot of time by skipping the news and the bullshit that’s in it. I mean who cares that a celebrity has had a baby? There are babies born every couple of seconds. Big deal. I seriously wonder how you can watch the news all day long.
Sober October: no “waking up the earlier” challenge?
This was part of my challenge but I’m not including it for a very simple reason: you’ll have to get up earlier anyway to get all of these things done. Oh yes, the struggle is real but it’s worth it.
Sober October: what’s the point of doing it?
Well, the sober October challenge is a big test of your willpower. I’ll release a post on how to increase your willpower on Thursday. But for now, it’s up to you to make sure that you don’t give in to your “needs”. They’re habits that are formed over time and it’s up to you to make a change.
So what about you Alex?
I’ve turned most of these things into habits by now. I liked the results so much that I kept on doing it. But I’ll try to go out of my comfort zone for sure and I’ll lay off snus for a month. Snus is a Swedish Tabaco that I brought with me from Stockholm. Well, it’s up to you now. Good luck!
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Till next time
Alex
