 Hi, I'm Arnie. I am a 99 days alcohol free. Congratulations, Arnie. Well done. What was your drink of choice when you were drinking? My drink of choice was always red wine. So I would come home typically after a day of work and and have a glass of wine or two or three. So yeah. And how was that impacting your life? Well, you know, slowly but surely you become more and more detached. I mean, I looked I would wake up thinking about when I can have my first glass of wine, you know, go through the day and kind of get done with the day and kind of reward myself. And so, you know, it's somehow I, you know, I saw it as a reward and and that became my go to way of of escape, I guess, either from work or anything else going on in my life. That's so that's how I kind of, you know, that that was my drink and my my my reward for getting through a day of work or a week of work or a month of work or a year of work. So that's me. Yeah. And so what was the moment or the situation that inspired you to finally do something about it? You know, I had done the 30 day challenge in 2017. I think January 2017. You know, I tried moderation and I fell back into kind of that process of just, you know, the cycle. And so I I I really kind of really was drinking quite a bit in the last year and a half. And, you know, I kind of woke up one day and it was in September of last year. And I just realized like I really want to stop alcohol. I want to stop drinking. I I had tried a I had done the 30 days and I felt to my I said to myself, I really think I need more than the videos, the daily videos and the Facebook group. And so I'm going to give this 90 day challenge a try. I said it couldn't hurt. It couldn't hurt. So I went ahead and said, I'm going to do that. I need some accountability. The program gave me a little more structure than what I found with the 30 day challenge, which I needed. What was that structure? What was the difference? Well, you know, again, once a week, I have to meet. I mean, I met with the group, a group call on Mondays. We kind of went through what worked, what didn't work with us. We kind of share our own experiences. We kind of learn from each other's. And then the and then the weekly call with the coach. And so with Kevin, again, it kind of helps me set myself for the week. I think the individual coaching sessions just helped me kind of figure out where I was in the process, because the group calls you've got people who just starting from people who are finishing and some people are in the middle. Some some of their struggles are a little different than yours, but you kind of build upon it and kind of identify where where you see yourself and kind of this process. And so, you know, I thought the individual sessions helped me focus on what I thought I needed to work on myself personally. And then the group calls just helped me kind of identify like I'm not alone, I'm with other people are helping. Other people in my court, I'm in their court. And so that helped. But it provided a weekly structure that helped. And so what have been the results that you've generated for yourself in these 99 days? Well, in 99 days, alcohol free. I mean, and that's huge. I have not had I have not been this this long without alcohol since, I think, before I started college. So, you know, that's probably the biggest accomplishment. It's kind of made me a lot more present and more aware of who I am at work with my family, too. Like it's so funny for like a year and a half or two years, I I've been drunk and unclear. And so the biggest I think one of the biggest things for me is like, OK, I've stopped drinking. I've started looking around and seeing what, you know, what I've maybe been ignoring. My professional life is maybe even my personal life. And I just said, I don't need that barrier to help me figure out where I want to go. And so I think that's the biggest thing is that I'm awake, that I'm clearer now than I was 90 days. Do I have a lot more to do? And is there other goals that I have for myself? I do, yes, but my focus the last three months have been really to be that free. Hmm. And so it feels. What? How does it feel to be 99 days? It feels great. I mean, I feel, you know, I have a bad day and it's OK, it's a bad day. Physically, I feel great. And that's, you know, that I haven't felt. I haven't slept as well as I've slept in years. I feel great when I go to the gym. I feel much more than I ever felt when I was, you know, drinking off and on and going to the gym to help recuperate or feel better about myself. I mean, I feel great. So some of the bad days aren't as bad and the good days are really good. And what feedback have you got from people about these past 99 days being alcohol free? I mean, I think physically they see that I'm less bloated or less inflamed, I guess, you know, physically I have changed. My skin looks better. I have lost some weight and so I think people see that. I think they see that I'm clearer at work. I mean, I'm much more responsive. I'm clearer in my directions and and providing feedback and all that stuff that I have to do on a daily basis. I mean, I think I'm just more present. I think that's true in my personal life as well. And what's your intention now post 99 days as we're recording this? Yeah, I mean, I don't have any, you know, it's funny. That's one of the big things you sort of got to think about as you finish the 90 day challenge. And I don't I don't seem I mean, I mean, I I don't see myself drinking right now and I don't I don't have that urge. I don't I also don't have the need to sit there and say another 90 days or I'm sure those milestones will come. I just don't have that urge right now. So it's prevent it's. Yeah, I don't know how to describe it. I don't feel the need to do another 90 days. I don't plan to drink because I feel great. And every time I have a fleeting thought like, oh, it's Sunday afternoon and the house is clean and I'm, you know, got a few hours. I, you know, I slip right back into like, let's have a glass of wine and just relax. And the other day I was like, absolutely not. Like I got work out. I've got other things I can much much I would rather much I'd much rather do. So, yeah. And what do you think was the difference in in helping you achieve the breakthrough with your drinking now doing this 90 day program that didn't work previously? No, I think I think a couple of things. I think I was ready. I mean, I talked to Kevin multiple times. I did not have the physical cravings and urges that I had when I quit before. So I think it was a combination of me physically and mentally and everything else being so tired that when I gave it up, I didn't have some of those urges, which I normally had had. I had a lot of physical cravings and that inevitably lead to me having my first glass of wine. So so I think it was that I think it was, like I said earlier, the structure. It provided more accountability. I think I needed just that that extra, you know, live, I guess, conversation via Zoom with the group with Kevin on a weekly basis that just helped me kind of structure like, No, this is what I want to do. Here's how I think I want to approach it and what their ideas and everything else I was able to do it. But I do think I was ready. I was I was physically tired. I often say there's a five point formula to the alcohol freedom formula to finally make the breakthrough. And that's accountability, a coach, community, skin in the game as in investing and trying to make it as easy as possible and fun, fun and easy. So did you feel in the 90 day program that you got accountability? I did. I mean, I felt it absolutely with the weekly groups and the individual check-ins. Absolutely. Did you feel like you got a coach and a methodology? Yes, Kevin, you know, Kevin provided kind of the structure, understood what I was probably going through and helped with the various tools. He provided some books that I I actually felt very useful in terms of supplementing kind of this path as you kind of realize like there's lots out there. So, yes, I did feel that community. Did you feel like you a part of the community? I did. I mean, the Monday calls, the the Monday evening calls with Kevin and everyone else I did, I felt that again, some people when I first started were just ending the 90 days. Two or three were right in the middle, and then there was myself and Tim and it helped provide a sense of community and that people were there for each other. Even when there were, you know, some things did happen. People slipped and, you know, they were free to talk about that. And it was it was helpful for me because I know exactly where they were and I've been there. Skin in the game. I believe that when you pay, then you pay attention and to join Project Narni, you have to pay like it is an investment to join it. It's a sizable investment for some people. You feel how did you feel like that helped you to remain up? Well, yes, I mean, there was skin in the game. Yeah, listen, the five thousand dollars is a lot of money, but it's funny. I was to the point I think I would have, you know, I just needed something more. And I was looking at this like it couldn't help. It couldn't be any worse than it already is. And there isn't a free ride. And so it did help. I did have skin in the game. And yes, I'm OK with that. I'm one hundred percent OK with that. And then the last thing is it has to feel easy or easier and that includes some fun. So did it feel fun and easy for you? Yeah, I don't know if it was fun. I mean, I enjoyed. I did enjoy meeting with Kevin and the people in the group. I don't think it was, you know, I don't know, fun. That's an interesting word. I maybe easier. I mean, you have to try to make it easy. So rather than relying on brutal power and why not? I don't think I didn't feel negative. I didn't feel like, oh, I'm irony. I'm an alcoholic. I've been drinking for 25 years. No, I didn't feel like there wasn't a, you know, I do think language has a lot. And I think one of the things that we've talked about in the group is language and that, you know, we don't say sobriety and we say we're alcohol free. And it's as funny as those little nuances are. I think they mean a lot. I mean, I don't think I think there was a there was a much more positive energy with this than and maybe that's where you say easy or more fun. Because it's pretty serious. And so, yes, I do think from that standpoint, yes, it's more positive. Wonderful. Well, thank you, Arnie. And I just want to thank you as well, particularly for being on the cause and supporting others and part of the process for learning anything is to coach it and you coached it by just showing up and being vulnerable and sharing what was going on. And I know that people who came after you have been inspired by that and it's helped them move along as well. So I acknowledge you and thank you for that. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, congratulations. So, Arnie from Chicago, 48 from Chicago. Correct. Yeah, well done. Congratulations. 99 days alcohol free and we don't have to count from here. I just live the alcohol free lifestyle. I'm living the alcohol free lifestyle. Yep. 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