If you’re young in today’s world, you might struggle with addiction issues. You might be totally depressed and completely unproductive, or maybe you’re a functional addict. A lot of us love to spend too much time at places like bars, weed dispensaries, and strip clubs, even though we’re working hard. A lot of self-improvement writers might tell you to stop going to these places. Abstinence is the best policy after all. But what if we just don’t want to? The fact of the matter is a lot of our lives suck. We work hard to make money, and not much else happens. It’s hard to live, and while it’s definitely possible to “make it”, things have gotten more competitive than ever. This leads to a lot of people either working too hard or giving up completely. This is why lifestyle design is the key to achieving sobriety. You need to build a life that you don’t need to use smoking and drinking to cope with.
You drink/smoke because your life sucks
There are some people who are just genetic addicts. They use and they can’t stop using. As soon as they start, they go hard as hell. It’s scary as hell, and in my 10 years of on and off drug use I’ve never seen it. Most people I’ve met are able to quit when they put their mind to it. This means that they aren’t truly addicted. They just aren’t motivated. The difference between these two states of being is subtle but very important. When you’re addicted, you drink/use drugs compulsively. There’s no logic, routine, or reason. When you’re not motivated, you find that there’s nothing to do besides drugs. You don’t necessarily need to use, but you can’t figure out what else you want to do. It can be hard to get out of this state of mind once you find yourself in it.
Figure out how to live below your means
The biggest struggle of life if you’re born in the Western world and are young is to learn how to live below your means. The fact of the matter is, the people who came before you grew up in a different time. You’re a zoomer. Or a millennial. You’re competing on a globalized marketplace. This means that unless you’re doing something specific to your country, you’re competing against the whole world. Learn to live below your means and do it fast. It will save you from a lot of pain in the long run. It will also likely cause you to quit or reduce your alcohol and drug intake. This will allow you to invest time and money into your endeavors.
Find a grind/hustle
When you’re young, you’re often pretty broke. This makes your life more boring than it otherwise should be. What you need to do is find a grind. Something that you can work on day in and day out and occupy your time with. At first, grinding is going to suck. Keep going. The longer and harder you work at it, the more successful you’ll become. When you find success, you’ll be able to do what you want to do. Finding success doesn’t necessarily mean getting super rich. You just want to be able to afford the things that you want to afford.
Talk to women
Talking to the right women is how you end up creating a beautiful life for yourself. The right woman can really change everything for you. If you start talking to women, you’ll like run into a lot of crazy people. This is ok, just don’t embark on any crazy escapades/journeys. Women bring good energy to your life. A lot of them don’t like smoking or drinking. They find it gross. If you hang out with those women you’ll find your life to be full of stuff to do.
Forcing yourself to quit sucks, and often doesn’t work
When you try super hard to quit, you can often abstain for a really long time. The human mind is very powerful and can achieve great things once its set. But there needs to be a purpose. If you’re living a boring, miserable, and lonely life, working hard is absolutely pointless. The same applies to staying sober. Unless you have something big motivating you, sobriety is going to come as a result of you improving your life, not forced abstinence.
Pick up some fun hobbies
You want to do stuff that you enjoy everyday, after a certain point. This is why even though I told you to live within your means, I mentioned having a hustle. You want to get to the point at which you’re able to engage in lots of fun hobbies. By that I mean things like hiking, running, or making music. Things that stimulate your brain and engage your mind. If you can find some things that you enjoy doing, you’re going to want to smoke and drink less. This is why it’s important to make money. You want to be able to afford your hobbies.
Drinking and smoking are bad pastimes. They destroy your body, and they can destroy your life. When you look at who’s unproductive, who’s depressed, or who’s homeless, you often see drug addicts and alcoholics. If you can get off of substances, you’ll do better, and progress further than you otherwise would have. To guarantee that you get off substances, you’re going to need to get creative. You want to create a life that’s worth living but isn’t based on delusion. The way to do this is through discipline and patience. If you work hard and are dedicated, you can live free of vices. The steps outlined in this article were designed to help, but they’re far from the end-all-be-all. Make a conscious effort to build a wonderful life and be creative in how you go about creating that beautiful life. Your desire to drink and use drugs will fall off of a cliff.
Thanks for paying attention.
