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A Life Without Alcohol | Don’t Count the Days, Make the Days Count

by | Stop Drinking Alcohol | 16 comments

‘’Don’t count the days, make the days count’’ from Muhammad Ali who died lately.

Today, I just wanted to do a video about the legend that was Muhammad Ali, and some of his more inspiring quotes.

The guy had a good mouth on him, that’s for sure, but he wasn’t just about dishing people, he was about motivation and being the person that he wanted to be.

When you see where he came from, you see the colour of his skin and what he did and the time that he did it…he’s a big hero of mine.

So the first quote is – I’m going to read this one because it’s a pretty long one –

‘’I run on the road long before I dance under the lights. I hated every minute of training, but I said ‘don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life like a champion’’’

That’s what I’m always saying: put up with the shit now.

Stop giving into your instant gratification, for that immediate, needy self that is always there, wanting to grab a slice of the life that you’re only going to end up paying for later.

TAKE THE MOMENTARY DISCOMFORT

When you go through your life, and you chase after your long-term goals, you’ll suffer now in this moment, but the cost of not doing that, the cost of taking the easy way out, taking the pleasure now, is pain later on, and you’ll suffer greatly for what you’ve done to yourself.

But if you take pain now and go through that discomfort now, that is going to take you to go away from alcohol.

You’re going to reap the benefits later on.

Forget the alcohol.

Don’t focus on the alcohol.

Don’t focus on what you’re leaving behind, focus on what you’re going to achieve by getting that alcohol out of your life, getting it out of your system.

It won’t take long. Once you get over the initial few days, it gets easier and easier… and then you’re moving towards something great.

This next one is about your desire for life, your dreaming and visualizations, and it says:

‘’champions aren’t made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision’’.

I talk about this a lot, visualizations.

I’m not talking about sleeping dreams, but waking dreams, when you sit down and deliberately, systematically, consciously visualize what you want your future to look like.

If you can do that hard enough, if you can do that well, really visualize, see yourself in a position that you want to be, hear yourself and all the things that are happening around you, see the things that are happening around you, smell what it’s like to be there, physically trained.

Be there as much as you can in your mind.

Imaginations are great too.

You can use them to do all these things, to use all your senses.

You can get all your senses running and helping you along.

If you can do this, you can make that vision strong.

The stronger you make that vision, the easier it would be to follow it.

It will create its own momentum, it will pull you forward towards it, so dream big.

Have a passion about your dreams and visualize what it is that you want in your life.

Stop looking at the alcohol and thinking ‘oh, I wish I could have a pint now. I wish I could down that’.

That’s bullshit; you’re wishing for something that is going to kill you.

It’s not good for you.

It’s crap.

You’re putting crap into your body.

Wish for things that are going to help you.

This is not fairyland where you can wish for all the self-gratification that you want, and then you can use your second wish to make everything better again.

You can’t do that, whatever you take now, there are long term consequences.

Dream big, go for it.

HAVE DIFFERENT AFFIRMATIONS

Chase after the things that you want, leave the shit behind.
The next one is about affirming yourself, being what you need to be in your life, affirming yourself.

There’s a few quotes in this one, and I think he just nailed it.

He was the master of this affirmation stuff. He said

‘’float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Nobody can beat Muhammad Ali’’.

He also said ‘

’it’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen’’.

He also said

‘’if you dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologise’’,

and he said

‘’I’m the greatest of all time; it’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am’’

.

He just kept saying that over and over, not just to himself, but out loud with strength and conviction.

This is what I did in the beginning, I had a lot of affirmations that I wrote down.

Some of them I made myself, some of them I got from the internet, and I can’t remember them all.

I think I got some from the back of Allen Carr’s book: ‘’A way to control your alcohol, or to trip your own ass up’’.

These affirmations, I think there were 15 of them, I had them written down.

So what I did was, every morning I’d wake up, I’d copy these affirmations, and I’d say them out loud and I’d say them with conviction.

Then I’d repeat them again, and then I’d do them a third time, and before I went to bed in the evening, I did exactly the same thing. Some of them were: I’m never going to drink alcohol again. I am now a teetotaller, I hate alcohol. Alcohol is an enemy of mine and I can’t wait to see the bastard die.

You know, stuff like that.

And I did that over and over and over again for maybe six weeks. By the end of it, I didn’t even need to look, I could copy it down word for word from my mind, and I was just going through these in my head whenever I felt weak or felt the need for it.

That’s the power of affirmations.

The next one is change.

He said

‘’a man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20, has wasted 30 years of his life’’

Change happens.

This is a natural part of our lives.

Most of the time, change is going to happen to you, regardless of whether you like it or not.

Whether you try and stop it or not, change is going to happen.

The only thing you can do to alter this change is to grab a hold of the reins and steer where you want the change to go as much as you possibly can.

Don’t let it just happen to you, you don’t have to do that.

People don’t have to grow old in such a crappy, shitty way.

I mean, something can happen to you, a car comes up and runs you down, and you get broken legs for the rest of your life.

There’s just some things that you can’t do anything about.

That’s natural change, it’s change that has happened because it just happened.

Tough shit, but you have to deal with that.

But a lot of change in your life you can deal with yourself, like stopping drinking alcohol, like focusing on the future instead of the past, like getting cigarettes out of your mouth, like changing your diet, like getting out and exercising, like making sure you don’t burn the candle at both ends and getting enough sleep, like making sure you put these positive affirmations in your life, not only about quitting drinking, not only about future goals but about everyday situations, about you personally.

Building your own confidence up, getting yourself to the position where you feel good about yourself, you feel confident about yourself you feel excited about your future.

You’re anticipating tomorrow and the next day and the next.

That’s what these things do for you if you let them. You have the power to do that yourself, so always be on the lookout for change and where you can make the changes.

The next one is ‘’what keeps me going is goals’’.

That’s the same thing I’m always saying to you.

Don’t be looking backwards.

This is negative thinking, you’re not looking backwards on your past, because sometimes you have to look backwards and you have to learn from your mistakes, you have to learn from the shit that you’ve done in the past and then when you learn from that you don’t repeat it.

I’m not talking about that.

I’m talking about, don’t be pining for the alcohol and thinking that the alcohol has anything to offer you, because it hasn’t.

Alcohol has got fuck-all to offer you. Nothing.

Anything that you think you can get from alcohol, you can get ten times better from something else.

If you think alcohol is giving you relaxation, try yoga and meditation, you won’t know yourself after.

You have to give it time, you have to have it as a long term goal.

It’s not something that is going to happen overnight. You’re not going to all of the sudden sit down to meditation and go ‘’oh yeah, I feel at peace with myself, I feel relaxed’’.

More than likely you’re going to feel like a dick when you first do it, but stick it out.

If you think you’re socializing with alcohol, think again.

It doesn’t happen.

Socializing with alcohol is just an old wife’s tale, it’s a fairy tale that we love to tell ourselves.

But it’s not true because

the more alcohol you drink, the more inside yourself you go;

the more internally you take yourself, so how is that anywhere near socializing? Socializing without alcohol, socializing because you’re buzzing and you’re with people that are buzzing also, socializing with people who are all aiming themselves towards the future, that’s the thing that real socializing is, that’s the thing that’s going to pull you forwards into your new life.

Not this bullshit of ‘’meet my buddy, this is my best friend’’. Everybody is your best friend, even trees that are trying to pull your hat off are your best friends when you’ve had a few drinks.

How many times did I go ‘’oh yeah’’.

Somebody that I loved when I was sober and then when I got drunk it was like a ‘’everything’s forgiven, I don’t think you’re a bastard’’

Lots of worse things I called him, but there’re certain things I won’t say even on this. I like saying some words but there are some words I won’t say.

Anyway, long term goals are a big thing in my life ad it should be a big thing in your life, because if you’ve got the right long term goals, you’ve got the right motivation to go forward, towards them.

You’ve got the right persistence.

I’m just buzzing now, I’ve just had a pure fruit juice I squeezed and put through my machine this morning.

I took it into my system and that’s natural shit.

It’s a natural buzz right there. Food for the body, food for the mind, food for the soul.

The last one is ‘’the fight is won or lost faraway from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under the lights’’.

I think that was the same as the first one.

You know, you don’t succeed by just wishing that you can succeed, or by affirmations, or by dreaming the big dreams, by setting yourself goals or by anything like that.

You succeed in this life by taking the end action.

All the rest of it is just fairy talk until you get to that stage.

If you can’t take the action, you can’t step across the starting line to your fantastic, brilliant, excellent new beginning.

Your new life is waiting for you if you do all the right things.

If you can’t step across the starting line and take the actions that you need to take in the moment, then you’ll never succeed.

That was just a few of the quotes that I thought were pertinent to what I’m talking about, and the guy was just full of them, so full of them. I know he was 75 and he was suffering in the last stages of his life, and I think he died from…I think it was sepsis that got him in the end.

It was something that got into his blood and…you know.
I think it was one of his daughters that said when he was dying, all his organs had shut down but his heart just kept on going and going and refused to give up.

And that was Ali to me, just somebody who was determined to achieve greatness.

He wanted to be the greatest.

He wanted to be the best at what he did, and he achieved that in my mind, and in a lot of people’s minds.

He wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he was mine.

I see a lot of what he does in Conor Macgregor.

He’s a UFC man.

Conor’s a bit more rough around the edges, he’s a young guy but I see that same bravado.

I can see completely Muhammad Ali’s influence on Macgregor.

I think he’s a person that’s going to go a long way because he’s got that same spirit in him, that motivation and that drive to achieve something great in his life.

Again, he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like the man because I’m a Dub and I know where he came from and I’m a big fan of Macgregor.

Anyway, this is about Ali. May he rest in peace, big guy. And, don’t be causing too many fights up there, will you?
Till next time, if you have any comments, if you want to see the transcript of this, or you want the audio, come on over to the website. If you want to become patron of the show, then come visit our patron page, then click the link on the sidebar and it will take you there.

Keep your goals in front of you and the alcohol behind you, especially don’t put it into your mouth.

Stay healthy.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

Until next time…
Onwards and Upwards!

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16 Comments

  1. frank oconnell

    Any opinions on reducing alcohol slowly as opposed to cold turkey.

    thanks kevin
    frank

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      I think whatever works for you Frank… I’d recommend cutting back as part of a good preparation time before you quit.

      Reply
  2. Paul D

    Hi Kevin,

    I can’t find the Patreon link; I’ve searched on http://www.patreon.com too.

    Cheers,
    Paul

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      It’s not up yet, Paul… It’ll be live on Tuesday… I’ll let you know

      Reply
  3. Brad

    Fantastic video once again Kevin! I have been following you for a while now and you are a true inspiration. I quit drinking last year and I definitely agree with you about not dwelling on the past. I have also committed to eating better and exercising as well. I haven’t yet committed to meditating every day (I do so occasionally), but 25 years ago, I did tai chi for about 6 months (practicing everyday) and the benefits were enormous – primarily an increased sense of calm and huge increase in my self-confidence, so I think you are spot on with your recommendations about yoga and meditation.

    Thanks for all your work! And I hope you are able to realize your dreams!

    Brad in Barcelona

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Thanks Brad. I thought about Tai Chi, but that was it… looks really calming…

      Reply
      • Brad

        The Tai Chi is like a walking meditation…since you have to really focus on the movements, your mind doesn’t wander. I see it as brain training, very much like meditation, but perhaps easier. I would like to get back into it, but you do need space to practice in, so if you live in a small flat it can be difficult.

        Onwards and upwards!

        Reply
  4. J

    Hi Kevin

    Thanks for the video, I keep listening to it, particularly when feeling weak and wanting a drink.
    it is helping not to focus on how many days i have gone without alcohol which was what I was doing. at the moment I cant go more then 3 days, but now I am not focussing on the days but what I can gain from the future and where I want to be I am aiming for 6weeks and beyond.

    Thanks again Kevin 🙂

    Reply
  5. tom

    hi Kevin i been following you on youtube and your website, today i was about to get the course:Preparing to Easily Stop Drinking Alcohol, but it does not have the discount now… when can get that?,
    and something el may be sally question, but havent been drinking not a drop for a couple of days, what you think about the options like non 0 alcohol beer or root beer,stuff like that im not asoda drinker so i wold like to know your opinion…

    thanks greta job in deed!

    T.

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      There is almost always a discount on the website Tom

      Reply
  6. Stacy

    Thank you Kevin! Great inspiration.

    Reply
  7. Isabelle

    Thank you for your intelligence
    Thank you for sharing your communication talent
    Thank you for replacing all the bullshit by simple common sense.
    Just thank you !

    Reply
  8. Julie

    Day 3 of listening to you Kevin every day for breakfast. I am loving you and your early morning walks and your refreshing approach to living without alcohol. Thankyou x

    Reply
    • Kevin O'Hara

      Glad you’re getting something from the talks, Julie 🙂

      Reply
  9. peter brooker

    Hi Kevin thanks again.

    Day 5 feeling good with the banana smoothies. Wondering if you know how many bananas are acceptable to eat in one day. I’m blasting through 6 atm

    Reply

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