 I am James Swanick and today we are talking to Lonnie Gordon Aldenick who is the founder and CEO of Gordon Wealth. He's 44, he's a father of two based in Miami. He is the host of the OG Money podcast and the author of the book Heart of a Beast. He is currently a, how he would describe himself would be a social drinker, but did a year alcohol free a year or so ago and he's here to share his experience. Lonnie, great to have you here. Yeah, my pleasure. Tell us a little bit about you and what you do and where you live and your relationship with alcohol leading up to the point where you gave up for a year. Yeah, so I probably had my first drink as an 11th grader in high school and I was a wrestler so I never really drank too much. College was a complete disaster. Every single night we partied social chairman of the fraternity. It was a wild time. That was then proceeded after college with the same crazy maniacs from the fraternity in New York City partying. I was a stockbroker in 1997, 98 with a few dollars in my pocket, so it was a good time. That rolled into meeting my wife, having drinks, partying with friends, couples, what have you. We take a turn. I got invited to move down to Miami with the CEO of my company at the time, partying, having a good time. The markets are getting a little bit volatile. My business is getting a little bit strained. I'm taking on a little bit too much risk and I'm drinking too much as well. I decide that I have to scratch this itch that I always wanted to write a book that if I ever got out of this place right after college where I was a little bit depressed and in a bad head, if I ever got out of that place, I'd write a book and try and help someone that got out of college. Right as I was about to start that book, I strolled through my Instagram feed and that was about two, I would say two and a half years ago. Right then and there, I was writing the book. I just started it and I took the 30-day challenge that you gave me. It was a 90-day challenge, right? It was a 90-day challenge on Instagram and I literally said to myself, oh my God, when was the last time I went 90 days without having a drink? Can I do this? Is this even possible? So after the 90 days was up and I'm writing this book now so I'm clear, I'm sharp, I'm feeling good. I can't go backwards, right? I'm losing weight, I'm working out every day, I'm getting shredded. My wife's like, oh my God, I haven't seen you look this good in years since I first met you. And then that 90 days went into 120 days went into six months, went into a full year. I went a full year with no alcohol. And then I think at the year mark, I celebrated with a drink and I just was like whatever, like didn't need it, didn't want it. And now I would say I'm much more of a, you know, if a client's in town, I'll have a cocktail. If there's a special event, a wedding, I'll have a cocktail. But by no means, I've adopted my philosophy as if I don't feel good after I do it, I don't do it. And alcohol doesn't make me feel good. And I can't sleep. So I kind of, you know, just have a drink every now and then. That's where I am. Yeah, great. And you mentioned you've got clients coming into town. So are they all wanting to go out and party and get drunk? And have you feed them alcohol? Like how do you navigate those? Well, how did you navigate that experience during the year that you were completely alcohol free? And then how do you navigate it now that you have the occasional drink? Yeah, good question. So when I was actually doing the year, it was kind of like, hey, man, I gave up drinking for 90 days and I feel so good that I'm just not drinking right now and I'm going for a year. And there was so much respect. You know, at first, people didn't really understand what I was doing. They didn't, you know, really, they were trying to get me to drink because Lonnie the party or was the fun guy at the party all the time. But I found that a lot of people ended up respecting me a lot by doing it, you know, like the day after like, I can't believe Lonnie's not drinking because most people in society kind of just go with the group think the herd mentality and they don't want to be the black sheep. And then once you put your flag in the ground, like I'm not drinking, they respect you, some people follow your lead, right? And then you realize no one even cares that you're not drinking. You're not that important. Yeah, it's amazing. All the people who go through our Project 90 program, you know, the new members, I'm always saying that to them. Nobody cares that you don't drink. Nobody really cares. But everyone thinks they do. Because society has had us believe that for so long. But like when you get into it and you actually just share, you know what? I'm not drinking. I'm going a year. I'm not drinking at the moment. Maybe you get like a little bit of pushback for like five seconds. And then after that, it's like, ah, let's move on. Like everyone's so busy thinking about themselves that they don't have time to think about worry about the fact that you're not drinking. And that seems like that was your experience. Yeah. And as a leader, as a financial advisor, if you put your flag in the ground like I don't drink, I mean, they respect you more, right? You try to tell Jaco willing to have a drink, you know, Jaco's the Navy Seal, complete animal. He drinks water. That's it. You know, he's a good role model. And there's other people in my life that are very good role models and they don't drink. You know, I prefer to be that guy. Yeah. So did it compromise your ability to do any business by telling people that you you didn't drink? No, absolutely not. In my business, you know, honesty, trust, making people money is what they care about. What I would say to you is that if I'm out to dinner with a client and they happen to really love red wine, I'll have a glass of red wine with them, you know? If I said no, they'd be perfectly cool with it. But I also like, you know, I'm not completely, I would say I'm okay with having that occasional drink. If a client is in town and his favorite drink in the world is an old fashioned and he wants me to have one with them and I could tell, I'll do it, you know, with the client because I think, you know, even though I could say no and he'd have respect for me, I just sometimes will have that drink and I'm okay with it. If it's a Friday night or a Saturday night and I have no responsibilities the next day other than taking my kid to a soccer game, I'll have that cocktail once in a while, but never during the week, Monday through Friday is non-negotiable. And why have you created a non-negotiable around that? I have a very, very serious game plan, right? Like I'm going to bed at 10 o'clock if I can't fall asleep, 10 30, right? I'm waking up in the morning and I'm working out at 6 or 6 30 in the morning. I'm doing my, my steam, my cold plunge, my sauna. Well, now I can do the sauna finally, but I have a very regimented plan because I got to be sharp in the morning for my clients and I manage money. So if my mind isn't like a sword, I think my mind is a sword. It's got to be sharp. It can't be dull. Alcohol dulls the sword. So it's non-negotiable Monday through Friday. Saturday night, we're out with the wife. We're having a date night. I got nothing to do on Sunday. I might bend the, bend the tree a little. And what results have you found then from living that lifestyle, whether it was the year without alcohol or whether it's now non-negotiable Monday through Friday? Like what noticeable changes have you seen compared to the old Lonnie, which was, was drinking midweek? So I left New York city at 30 years old, right? I was 179 pounds. Okay. I was fat. I had a belly. I was disgusting. I was known as the skinny kid who turned fat, right? When I, I would, I was slowly losing weight. So 179, I'd say I was 169. When I stopped drinking alcohol and I got very serious in the gym and I think it was, you know, one and two together, like those two combinations of not drinking and getting onto a dead serious 6am workout regimen, I dropped down to my goal weight of 150 that I wrote down when I was like 25 years old as a goal. I hit that at 40 when I stopped drinking and worked out every day. And then when you do that and you look good and you feel good, why would you ever go back to that old guy that was drinking, partying, eating like crap? So I mean it, it's, it's a game changer. What did your wife and other loved ones maybe say to you as you embarked on this alcohol-free lifestyle, whether it was during that year or whether it's now, like what have they verbalized to you about any changes or things that they've noticed in you? Well, my wife, I remember vividly one night, she actually, I was drinking scotch, you know, I was in that scotch phase where you'd taste scotch, you know, everyone's about this single malt scotch and, you know, McCallan's and Glen Libet's and I went through that whole phase and I couldn't drink a drink at that time. I'd have half the bottle or the bottle and it got to a point where she went downstairs, my wife, and threw every single bottle of alcohol that I had, which I had a nice alcohol. I had a good bar, right? She threw it all out and was like, if you pull that again, it's over. Like it was getting to the point where she was just like, what is wrong with you? You have kids and when you're going through that, you don't really see it, you're just like feeling good, it tastes good, what have you. And now when I see people who are acting that way after I have a bottle of scotch, you know, you scratch your head, you can't believe you were actually like that at one point. So my wife, my marriage definitely was the main benefactor. And then I think my business is just taken off, right? So from the book that was launched. I was clean, I was healthy. I spun out into Gordon Wealth, which was an independent broker-dealer. I started the OG Money podcast. My life is really just taken off and there's without a doubt that the fact that I stopped drinking alcohol and was able to focus all of my energy, all my positive energy into just what I'm good at doing and not dulling the sword. I mean, it's been life-changing. Yeah, amazing. And this journey was really triggered by, or in part, I guess, by seeing an Instagram post that I had put out back in the day, apparently. I'm sure it was a accumulation of a number of things, but now it was an Instagram post. It was solely a double take. I'm scrolling. I see the 90-day no alcohol challenge by James Swannock. I read your story. Like I swapped past it and then I swapped back to it. I read the story and a light bulb went off in my head like, oh my God, I think you're challenging me. I think I could do that 90-day challenge. It's been 25 years. Let's see if I could do this. And that was it. It was just that challenge on Instagram. Nothing else. I mean, maybe my wife beating me up telling me she might leave me. But without a doubt, that 90-day challenge is what it was the trigger on Instagram. Wow. And that was 2017, yes? Yes. So we're in 2017, right around when the book, I was writing the book. Yeah. So if you look back on those three years, as we're recording this now, it's the end of 2020, almost 2021. If you look at it in terms of three years, how has your life changed in three years as a result of living this alcohol-free lifestyle? Well, I think that I've really just changed my whole mindset, right? So you're not drinking, you're feeling good, you're working out, you're eating healthy. Your whole life is now on a glide path, which is just in a better place. It's in a better space, right? So the networking that you're doing, the persistence, there's nothing slowing you down, right? If you do drugs and alcohol, it's just like running a race with a giant weight on your back. And if you just take those weights off, you run faster, longer, and you get leaner. So I think you just, if you get rid of the liquor and God forbid you're doing drugs, then ultimately, I think lead to a bad place and a destructive place. That's not good. So for me, I think that the path that I'm heading on, that I've been on now for about three and a half years, I'm doing jujitsu a handful days, three, four days a week, pre-COVID. Now I'm just getting back into it, working out, staying focused on my business, and just trying to continuously grow. I don't ever want to go backwards. Is there anything that you miss from those days of drinking? Like, is there anything that you miss from having alcohol present? There's something that you feel like you're missing out on because alcohol's not there? It's not that I miss anything, but, you know, I went with my wife to California and we went wine tasting, right? So you're in Napa Valley. That's another thing where I say I'm alcohol-free with an asterisk, right? So if it's an experience, I might have a cocktail or a drink. If I can, you know, equate it with something in my life where it's like an experience, but generally speaking, I don't think I really miss anything about not feeling good the next day, right? Even if the taste of the old-fashioned was good with the cherry on top, it still doesn't trump feeling like crap the next day and not getting a good night's sleep. So it gets crossed out, right? It's not good enough for that. Funny you were mentioning going to a vineyard. I remember I was in Mendoza, which is a city in Argentina, which is famous for some pretty spectacular wine. I was there in 2009 and then again in 2010. In 2009, I was still drinking. I hadn't quit drinking at that stage. I did a wine tour on bicycles. So it was like this bicycle tour where you ride around and you stop off at, you know, maybe, I think it was four or five different vineyards and you have a glass of wine there and then you'd ride your bike on to the next one. I remember doing that in 2019 when I was drinking and I was just decimated by the end of the day. Imagine being in the middle of summer of a Southern Hemisphere summer in Argentina, the sun blasting. I had fun, but it was a lot of work. I remember just feeling like absolute rubbish that night and then complete crap the next day. It was still fun. It was like a fun experience. But then I remember going back there a year later when I was alcohol free and doing a similar tour, not the exact same bike tour of the vineyards, but a similar tour and being alcohol free. And I just enjoyed it so much more, even though I didn't even touch a drop of the alcohol this time. I just enjoyed being there in the experience and being with some friends and, you know, looking at the surroundings and just taking it all in while drinking water. And I just felt so much better and riding between the vineyards on the bikes was just such a different experience. So, you know, people often say to me is like, I can't go to a vineyard. You can't do a wine tasting and not drink wine. Well, yes, you can. You can go to a vineyard and go to a wine tasting and not drink wine. You can just be there and experience the ceremony of it and have fun, but just do so without partaking. So any thoughts on that? That was my experience, certainly. Well, I think that this podcast is flickering something in my brain that's like, I don't even want to have that social drink anymore. I might go back to just cold turkeying, not having a drink at all, because I'm just thinking like about having a cocktail and like, I don't like it that much, right? So I'm going to tell you a story with a bunch of clients the other day. And I was at the bar and they're like, I can have a drink. We're having a drink. And I said, I'll have a beer, right? I hate beer. It's disgusting. I really just don't like beer. But I decided to have the beer because I'll sip the beer. I don't like it. I'll have a half or a few drinks just to be as social in that environment. But that's me tricking my brain to just be kind of blending in with them, but ordering the thing I hate the most. But I think I should have just ordered the water or the sprite with the lime, right? That's probably where I'm heading. If you had to ask me right now, I just have no interest. Maybe you're spark plugging my brain to how good I felt for that full year that I'm ready for another full year cleanse. And I think it becomes a lifestyle, right? Like it just becomes who you are. It's not even, now I bet you don't even have like a thought. It's just not even part of the life. It's not even in, it doesn't register to have a cocktail anymore. Yeah. I mean, I was trying to come up with a name for this particular podcast. And in the end, you know, I was playing around with alcohol free or sober. I don't like the word sober myself. I use the phrase alcohol free. And lifestyle kept coming up for me like this is a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle choice. You know, if you say you sober, well, it means that ordinarily you would drink. It's just you got this problem with alcohol. So you can't. Whereas what the way the lifestyle feels to me is like you're powerfully choosing a way of life. You're powerfully choosing health and vitality and energy. And you know, if given the choice, you just choose that you choose clear water or soda water, Pellegrino or Perrier or whatever green juices, you want to know that lifestyle. You want to let my wife likes to have a drink. And I look at her like, why do you need to have that drink? Because I'm now like, sort of like, I'm the one in the family that's like, why would you have a cocktail? Well, you don't need that drink. You know, to think a few years ago, she was the one yelling at me. And now I'm yelling, you know, back at her like, don't have a drink. Yeah. Well, Lonnie, my congratulations on living the lifestyle. And let's see whether you go another year full, full without alcohol. And even if you don't, and you just have the occasional drink, like that's okay. I keep saying to people like, the whole idea of this is not necessarily to completely quit. You can. I've chosen that path. Many people who've gone through project 90 have chosen that path. Some people have, have just have the occasional drink. The whole idea here is, is to get ultimate power over your drinking. So you're not feeling the need to drink because you're in a group of people. You're not feeling the need to drink because you're so stressed and anxious at the end of the day. And you think that it gives you temporary relief. It's to have power over to make your own choices. Now I've chosen just to just live the alcohol free lifestyle, which to me means I'm not drinking for other people that can mean a drink on occasion. That's okay. Where people I think get tripped up is that they think that they can have the drink on occasion. And then that leads into a drink on a Monday night or a Tuesday night or a Wednesday night, a seemingly innocent drink. And next thing you know, they're putting on weight, they're waking up late, the health and vitalities starting to hit in the wrong direction. And it's a pretty vicious cycle that can get out of control pretty quickly. Yeah, I've seen it up close with people I've worked with and been pretty close to firing some people because when you're not in that place and someone else is, and they think that they can stumble in at 10 o'clock, 10 30, 11, miss a day. I mean, for anyone listening to this that are coming up in the workplace, if you're nice like me, you get one or two strikes. But most people aren't as nice as I am, like, it's going to screw your your livelihood up and it's going to screw your career up. And I'll tell you this, the two biggest role models, which, well, the four biggest role models that I have in my life right now, all are alcohol free. They don't drink. Would you care to share who they are those folks? So, Jocko willing is alcohol free. He drinks water, maybe seal, listen to almost every single one of his podcasts from day one. He had a very good trajectory. I interviewed him in the heart of the beast. The valente brothers, Pedro Valente, Rocky and Giva Valente, they live by the 753 code. They're alcohol free. They never drank alcohol in their lives once ever. I did an interview with Pedro Valente on the first podcast that I had in an interview on the OJ money podcast, and it's an amazing mindset. And like, you know, you look at these people that are really just living by this code and they're the most successful people, maybe not monetarily, maybe they are monetarily, but they're the most successful people that I could see in my life right now, like, from a spiritual standpoint, they feel the best. I love it. Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. Well, Lonnie Gordon Oglenick, who is the founder and CEO of Gordon Wealth in Miami, and host of the OJ money podcast and author of the book, Heart of the Beast, which you can find on Amazon. Lonnie, thank you so much for sharing your time with us today, mate. And congratulations. And long may your alcohol free lifestyle continue. Yeah, come visit me in Miami. You're due for a trip back to the States. Thanks, Lonnie. Thanks for listening to the alcohol free lifestyle podcast. I want to load you up with some free stuff right now. 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