Hello, ladies and gents. Welcome to another episode of The Genius life. I'm your host Max Lou Guevara filmmaker health and science journalist. And the author of The New York Times best-selling book genius Foods in this episode of the show. I'm super excited to introduce you to my good friend James swannack. James is an Australian American entrepreneur who helped social drinkers reduce or quit. Alcohol swannack is the creator of the 30 day. No alcohol challenge co-founder of swannack sleep and he hosts the James Swan Lake Show podcast a former journalist who's interviewed world leaders like Al Gore Champion athletes and movie stars like Bradley Cooper what a stud in this episode of the show. We're going to talk about all things alcohol you're going to discover why you might consider quitting drinking alcohol if being a high-performance human is something that is of import to you. Jim's going to give you the specific mindset and tactics that you can use to diffuse social pressure, which you can use not only for abstaining from booze. But when your friend co-worker or family member offer you junk food. These tips are going to come in really
Handy as well. And James is going to reveal how merely quitting alcohol can help all your wildest dreams come true. Well, not really but he is going to share how his journey which included quitting social drinking led to the manifestation of the idealized life that James had always desired. This is a super fun and enlightening chat. And so I'm excited to get into it. But before we do, I want to give a shout-out to the sponsor of this episode of the show and that is for Sig Matic for somatic has really stuck with a genius life for many months at this point, and I'm glad that they have because I'm a big fan of forcing Matic products everything from their lion's mane infused coffees to their ratio elixirs to their cha go which purports to have immune system supporting properties for stigmatic allows you to easily and inexpensively exploit the medicinal properties of certain species of mushrooms. If you want to check out anything that for somatic makes head over to for somatic.com / Max or use promo code Max and you'll get to save a whopping 15 percent off of everything in there.
Online store that is a robust discount that you can then use to put towards James Swan x 30 day. No alcohol challenge, which we're going to talk a little bit about over the course of the next hour. All right guys. Well, we're are seconds away from getting into this chat with mr. James swannack. Please take a moment either now or as you listen to spread the word about the genius live take a screen grab posted up on your Instagram stories help spread the word about what we're doing here. And also, please leave that rating or review on iTunes. I earnestly hope that I've earned that five-star rating from you, but if I haven't let me know why in the reviews I would really appreciate that and finally, please join my newsletter at Max leave your.com. You can head over there and enter your first and last name and we will be in touch in a very intimate but non-creepy way. It allows me to email you guys about my latest projects science and I think you ought to know about products I'm digging books that I recommend and the like again, that's Max look of your.com. I would love to hear from you. They're all right guys without further Ado here is
My good friend. Mr. James swannack. Mr. James swannack. Thank you for being here man. Great to be here Max. It's good to have you it's always good to have friends on my show. I like that. I like one thing that I like about having this podcast is that I get to interview whoever I want and that there's a range, you know, like I have phds and MDS and and then just guys like you was that like an
egg. That's what I call it in the pickup game right when you make someone make a girl that you're attracted to that was like you just gave you a backhanded compliment.
So nosy term and egg.
No. No, it was like in that in that book The Game by Neil
Strauss. It's like nagging interesting. But I like I like the humor. I like
that you kind of gave me a gentle slap on the face.
Yes. Well, but no, I mean that's not to say that you don't have lots to offer my audience you do and so I'm excited to get into it because you are I wouldn't have you on my on my show if I didn't think that you had a tremendous value to my life and therefore could potentially add
Value to the lives of you The Listener listening to this to this episode. Thank you. Yeah, appreciate that. Yeah, dr. Max Lugar V. Oh wait, you're not a doctor, but I'll but I thought you write that New York Times best-selling book genius Foods. I did but no doctor. Yes. I just need your rotten egg me right back man. I guess you know, they say if you can't stand the heat get out the kitchen. Yeah.
I want to tell you what we say in Australia. It's a lot more crude and crass
you you ours is a pretty tough. They raised you pretty tough. Yeah, you don't like hugging.
You know, it's funny. I in 2000. I went to a Tony Robbins seminar in London and I walked in and he was saying high-five the people next to you. I give him a big hug and I was like get me out of this cult. I want nothing to do with it and I grew up in an Australian culture where you shake hands with people like even with my father. I he stopped hugging when we were like 9 or 10 years old.
But it was only last year where I actually asked asked him if I might hug him for the first time in 30 30 something years and it was so hard. It's so awkward for me to ask him and I could see it was awkward for him to respond. But he did he said yeah, okay, and we stood up in the middle of the Queen Street mall in Brisbane Australia and we hugged for the first time in 30 years and that was pretty wonderful moment for me and I hope it was for him as well. But it's so it was so tough. Because 30 years Australian culture male culture Don't Hug just shake hands. It was it was a lot.
Yeah. What is it about how they raised you as a boy in Australia that makes you so, you know such a calm with such a hard shell. I mean, I think it's just
stiff upper lip. It's kind of like just get on with it. It's like we don't need to say I love you all the time. We show our love through, you know, attentiveness of a gas or attention or you know presence and I don't know it's just so kind of like, it's just the culture. It's just kind of
Manly man, and we don't talk about feelings and we don't show emotions. We just get on with it we go out and kill the bear and we deal with that but you know what all of the studies now and all the science and you know, it's coming out of it is showing that that's not healthy. It's actually not healthy to not express your emotions or to be vulnerable and this time last year. I had a bit of a midlife crisis and got very sad for about six weeks and question everything and who am I what am I doing? And you know how a lot of that was not expressing myself not telling people that I love them not telling not sharing with people my what I was scared about my insecurities hiding myself. It was challenging, you know, I did a couple of self development programs where I broke down in front of, you know, 15 to 30 people and cried in front of them and I had to have healing conversations with my brother and my mother I mean I didn't have to I got to as I should check my language but you know in one of those things was hugging hugging my father.
Was huge. So I think now we're realizing that vulnerability and sharing and opening up is a far healthier way than the what I at least I was taught which is just get on with it and don't show emotion and you know as a man I'm talking about. Yeah, it's got to be really difficult for
people for men growing up in Australia that are that are not quote unquote like guys guys, you know, like because for example, I'm not like I'm not a guy's guy. I don't play any sports. I don't know anything about sports. I've always been more into culture and art and music and you know every gym class and you know growing up throughout my early school years. I would hang out with the girls instead of the guys, you know, and and so yeah that's got to be kind of frustrating if you are sensitive and empathetic and have you know, cultured tastes as a male growing up in Australia,
you know, it's funny. I went to an old boys private school in Brisbane Australia, and it was a rugby school, right and I play
I'd be in a played Cricket but rugby was like, you know the main sport there and that's a really man's man kind of its kind of sport and I remember I joined the choir the school choir one semester to go and learn and I got ridiculed
like I quote I weigh anchor and your
photo, you know, all this kind of stuff. I was like, okay, that's the end of that. I'm not going to go join the choir and I'm not going to go join the music class, right? So everyone everything was about rugby rugby rugby. The irony of the whole thing. Is that all the women in the world fall in love with the greatest singers the rock stars, right? Like I'm the guy who's like learning guitar and taking the singing lessons at school while all the other guys are playing rugby. They're the ones that go out and be super successful making millions of dollars and having the women fall at their feet true. It's so crazy,
which is what you clearly have now going for your max Romeo falling at your feet and no notnot quite. Well. I mean, you know some butt
No, I do I yeah, I don't know. I think that I was growing up in high school. I was very shy around girls that I was attracted to, you know, like I had a lot of female friends, but if I actually like liked a girl I would get really shy insecure and and that you know, I definitely still have like some of that hmm, but uh, but no, I mean, I mean, I've got a lot of female followers and I love women and yeah enough about me but I am super excited to talk to you about alcohol free living because it's something that you're super passionate about and you've really kind of like hang your hat on this as a you know, you speak about it all around the world. You've got this incredible course on you know, helping people titrate down there alcohol consumption and begin an alcohol free lifestyle. Why is this so important to you?
Well, I was a social Drinker. I mean, I grew up in Australia like we were just talking about where
Drinking is so part of the culture and you know with friends. It's like Oh Come Around and have a backyard barbecue on a Sunday afternoon and have a few beers or you catch up for a drink. Hey, let's meet up for a couple drinks. Oh, yeah, let's go to the sport and watch the ring and I have a few drinks and it was just ingrained in me that that's what you do, right? And so I did I drank like that right up until my mid-30s. I was never an alcoholic. I was just what society would call a societally acceptable Drinker one or two drinks a night maybe a few times a week on the weekends. Sometimes maybe I'd get drunk but for the most part just drinking how most people drink but what I realize is that it was slowing me down. I'd put on a little bit of weight. My sleep wasn't great. I was living life at like a 6 out of 10 wasn't horrible, but it was an outstanding and I remember I woke up one morning. It was I was it was 2010. I was in Austin, Texas at the South by Southwest festival and I went
Industry party on a Friday night. I only had two drinks. I had two gin and tonics to Bombay Sapphire gin and tonics and I went back to my hotel went to sleep when I woke up in the morning. I just tasted the the Gin in my mouth and I looked in the mirror and I was just weathered looking, you know, like I had some wrinkles my bags under my eyes.
I'd put on
some weight. Like it wasn't like it happened overnight. It just gradually crept up over about 12 to 18 months where I put on like 25 pounds and we were looking in the mirror just going you just average you just like a 6 out of 10 like yeah, you got friends and you know, you could make decent money, but your health pretty average and you're drinking and you sleep is not good and you kind of not really excelling at anything.
And I remember just saying you know what I'm going to take 30 days off drinking here just to see how I feel and so I did I committed to taking 30 days off and in 30 days. I lost 13 pounds my skin improved almost over night. I slept better. I had more energy more clarity more Focus. I had an opportunity to audition for a job hosting SportsCenter on ESPN. And because I had the clarity in the focus in the vision and of course because I wasn't drinking I just went for that job and I flew to Bristol Connecticut and I auditioned and I got the job and I became a SportsCenter anchor on ESPN for two years, which was like a dream well and I credit not drinking at that time to really, you know, helping me get that job. And what was really interesting is that I started attracting a much higher caliber of person into my life. Now, I didn't cut off my friends who would who were drinking and when his health conscious, but I just naturally started gravitating.
Todd's a healthier energetically higher type of person and they started naturally just appearing in in my life gravitating towards me. And anyway after 30 days. I just said I feel so damn good. I'm going to keep going and going and going and I literally have not touched a drop of alcohol since then 2010. So you ask me. Why do I do this? Well, because since I quit drinking I got my dream job hosting a TV show. I lost the 25 pounds. I've got the body that nature intended me to always have a sleep grade. I got Clarity Focus energy. I got wonderful friends. I do what I want to do. I create Health Products got Health businesses. I got amazing energy and I have the most fun out on the town with people who are drinking while me drinking soda water ice and a piece of lime. Yeah,
that's amazing.
And now you know now it's it's, you know, I'm inspired to inspire other people to quit either for at least 30 days. I have a program called 30-day no risk.
Alcohol challenge which helps people quit for 30 days and then another program called project 90 which specifically helps entrepreneurs business owners and Executives quit drinking for at least 90 days and people's lives completely transform completely from just going alcohol-free because what it does is when you go alcohol-free it opens up a Cascade of other healthy habits when I quit alcohol all of a sudden I started learning what paleo was I didn't even know what the word paleo was. So I started eating Paleo lifestyle then I started like why should I try meditation? Okay. I'll try this for passion. ER. All right now, it's like I'll try I'll try bulletproof or you know, healthy fats.
Connecting conversations with people. So when you get rid of one bad habit a whole host of healthy habits open up to you.
I love that. Why do you think people drink?
I mean it's ingrained in us from from day one. It's been around for centuries. And you know what the word alcohol actually means no, it's an Arabic term alcohol and what it means is body eating Spirit. No way body eating Spirit. Wow, so alcohol we know literally eats away at you, right? It's a spirit that's eating away at you. That's why we call, you know hard drinks Spirits while right? Yeah. It's not good for you.
Even moderation it's not good for you. The World Health Organization actually came out. I think two years ago and said there is not one amount.
Of alcohol that is that gives any benefits to you whatsoever and all these people say oh but hang on this study came out in France saying that you know a glass of wine a day is really good for your cardiovascular system. It's really good for the health that has been so debunks now over the last couple of decades that is just it's Preposterous and a very very clever marketer somewhere at one time created the idea that we're going to associate alcohol with fun. We're going to associate champagne with celebration. Now, what do we do at a wedding Max when we toast the bride and the groom? Well, we toast with champagne. Yeah, we have to have champagne. It's a celebration, right? Who says
That champagne is what you drink when you celebrate.
Yeah, a marketer marketer a very clever
marketer some way I said, you know, what we're going to do. We're going to associate champagne with celebration. So now you're in a boat race you want to thank you celebrate your child's born. Let's have some champagne. It's a poison. It's a toxin. It's keeping you stressed and anxious right who created the idea we're going to like, you know, what we'll do. Let's associate beer with with guys and like camaraderie
and having fun and
watching football. That's what we'll do. That's what we'll do so they create this beer and now you see it in the Super Bowl commercials, right or football commercials. It's all goofy guys sitting around drinking cans of beer cause like Bud Light having fun and the idea is that
Drink this product and you'll be part of a tribe and you'll fit in and this is just what blokey blows bookie guys do and then you've got this ridiculous billboard that George Clooney like George Clooney and Randy Gerber created a tequila company and there's this billboard on Sunset Boulevard and it's it's George Clooney on a motorcycle with a black leather jacket kind of looking back looking really Suave really freaking cool and then the bottom right corner. There's like this bottle of his tequila brand and the idea is that if you drink this tequila, you'll be cool and Suave. Oh
George Clooney. Wow, you make it all sound so ridiculous. Like it's just such a farce marketing. I oh my God,
it's a fast. Yeah, it has no nutritional benefit to you whatsoever now no, but bear in mind, I grew up drinking and thinking it was cool to drink and and convincing myself that it tasted good and people say ah, but
But what about it like having a nice glass of red wine over dinner with friends Mike? Well who actually created the idea that you have to have alcohol or drink poison in order to have a good dinner with friends can't you just have a good dinner with friends, right? I call them smiling Assassins, right? Like the waiter who comes over to you. Well the waitress to get you see this. I'll hi. Can I get you started with some drinks? And they're smiling right? I come smiling assassin what they're effectively saying is can I get you started with some poison? Well my I get you started with some lovely poison. That's going to make you sleep poorly tonight Blake make you wake up feeling like crap put wrinkles on your face create Stress and Anxiety and then you know, what we're going to do. We're going to create withdrawal symptoms from this very poison. So later on tomorrow night, you're going to want to have a glass of wine or a beer at the end of the day to seemingly reduce your stress and anxiety. So you feel good and then the cycle continues
Wow, I'm never going to respond to I'm never going to get a waiter the same way after this. Well, what okay, so what about just to play Devil's Advocate a little bit. What about the well-known like disinhibition aspect of drinking the fact that it acts for many like a social lubricant, you know, and we know that loneliness is essentially a toxin and you know, some people that feel socially, you know, whether it's social pressure or wanting to connect and feeling a little bit kind of may be anxious about it. Alcohol is a great way to lubricate those interactions.
What you're effectively saying is that it's a numbing agent.
It's a numbing agent so you don't have to feel awkward or insecure. So rather than you facing your awkwardness or your insecurities or your loneliness, you would rather self medicate or you'd rather poor a poison into you and numb that feeling. So all you are doing is just push it kicking the can down the road. Yeah, right. All you're doing is just numbing yourself. This is what millions and millions of people around the world do every single night. They come home and rather than having a conversation with their children or connecting with their wife or their husband or their friends or whatever and being healthy, they sit down and they pour themselves a glass of wine in the turn on the television set, right? So, can you feel more confident from drinking alcohol? Sure you can write it lubricates you opens up at you lose your inhibitions, right?
But at what cost at what cost and the cost is that you're never going to be happy with yourself. You'll never be able to learn the communication skills that you need to learn in order to have an authentic vulnerable in Integrity relationship with anyone and you'll just continue numbing yourself with this Toxin and this poison for the rest of your life and never really get to know anyone and never really communicate with anyone and never really be able to overcome your fears and insecurities and just hide them in master them and cover them up. I have complete empathy for people who feel like that because I've gone through that myself. I mean at some I could actually argue that I cover up my own insecurities by exercising as much as I do like, I love to exercise. I know it's super healthy for me, but you know, it gives me a body that I like that I want it makes me feel confident.
And you know, I can say that I exercise so I feel good right and so I can present myself well, and so I feel good in my body so I get it but at what cost at what cost the you're going to put this Toxin and poison into you and cover up all the things that are going on in your life.
It's definitely I think a lot smarter to to challenge yourself to cultivate those skills of social connection and vulnerability Yeah
a hundred percent and one of the things that I that I coach on in my programs is how to go to a bar or how to go to a restaurant with other people who are encouraging you to drink or how to do a business deal or entertain clients. If you're an entrepreneur or business owner when everything is around I'll let's go and have the business dinner and we'll have some drinks all we're going out tonight. Come on, like there's this whole thing of client entertainment, right if you're in a business so I coach
People on on realizing that you're not depriving yourself of anything when you choose to go alcohol-free you're giving yourself a gift and the gift is outstanding health and there's a direct correlation between how much money you make as well. Like if you if you're drinking even one seemingly innocent glass of wine a night that may be costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars in Lost Revenue because if you're drinking just say your normal societally you just say, you're not an alcoholic and you're just a drink it right? You just have a drink or two each night you go out on the weekends have a bit more. No big deal. If that drinking is meaning that you're only a seven out of ten or a six and a half or a 7 out of 10 in your productivity and efficiency and your business or your job and you makes a $100,000 a year. Okay. So let's say you're a 6 out of 10 in productivity and efficiency and you make $100,000 a year now if you go alcohol-free.
And now you're operating at a 9 out of 10 because you have Clarity Focus energy you sleeping. Well, you thinking more you're making an additional phone call each day, you're doing an additional deal. You're impressing your boss a little bit more. So you get a raise and promotion. Now, you're operating a 9 out of 10 from a 6 out of 10 to a 9 out of 10 in a job could be a 2033 $30,000 a year race because your boss goes you've been doing great you get a promotion 30 Grant in a business. Wow, that could mean a hundred thousand dollars or a million dollars if you own a business and you're a 6 out of 10 and you producing a hundred thousand dollars in Revenue. Imagine what you can produce at a 9 out of 10 you do another deal is worth another fifty thousand or a hundred thousand you do another product you start another business now the money starts flowing into you so people don't realize what is actually costing them financially. It's not the money that you hand over to buy the alcohol that you consume. It's the money that you are not generating as a lost opportunity.
Unity because you're not operating at a 9 out of 10,
right that makes sense. So how do we then diffuse or deflect social pressure? Right. So I mean, I think a lot of people drink because when they're at the bar, it's easier just to say yeah, you know order me the wine versus not it's ok. I'm not going to drink tonight and then like facing the the awkward response at your friend gives you because you know, or the or that your coworker co-worker gives you because it's such a socially accepted Norm.
Yeah. This is a number one question. I get in the 30-day. No alcohol Challenge and in Project Nani, how do I navigate these social situations? And what I say is this the the way that you share that you are alcohol free is far more important than the actual words that you say explaining why your alcohol free so I'll give you two scenarios, okay?
Someone says oh, can I get you a drink? Oh, no. I'm not. I'm actually not drinking at the moment. I really why not I cant I'm taking a break and it's just yeah, and now I'm going to going to quit for 30 days. And yeah, I'll go on just have one you'll be okay. I know a conic can't not touching so that in that first scenario. It's all doom and gloom right and you are telling yourself that you're depriving yourself of something fun and pleasurable because you saying I have to quit like I can't I can't drink and your whole body language in the tonality is down. And now the person who's encouraging you to drink is seeing this going why is he depriving himself of something pleasurable and fund go on just have one and now it's his big deal. Yeah his scenario two. Hey, can I get you a drink now? I'm good. Actually, I'm not drinking at the moment. What do you mean and I'm just like I've been feeling great. I've chosen to go alcohol-free bit. I'm going to get drunk on this soda water tonight. In fact, I'm going to go head to head with you. I'm going to drink you under the table for every wine that you have. I'm going to go.
Head-to-head with you on this soda water. I'm going to swing from the Rafters tonight. Watch me dance something like that, right? Yeah. Now the way that you the way that you articulate that your alcohol free and that scenario is fun and light and confident. It's not alcohol Conjuring. I'm not drinking. I don't get to drink. It's like I'm alcohol-free. I'm loving it and I'm going to drink this water and I'm gonna drink this soda water and you know what? I'm realizing. I've lost some weight on this so I'm loving I think I might even go for like 90 days actually might even go. Yeah, but you go ahead keep your drink your wine. Drink your beer. I'm good on this soda
water. I'm good.
I'm good. Yeah, and you say it with a smile on your face and make fun of yourself as well. Like it's okay to make fun of yourselves like yeah, you know
drank too much and I yeah, I'm just taking
a break right now, but wall I'm gonna go crazy on this water watch
me
like just have a bit of fun with it the way
With which you share your alcohol-free is so much more important than what you actually say.
Yeah one sends the message scenario to sends a message that your complete already without the alcohol and scenario one. You're basically telling your friend that you feel incomplete you're doing this sort of like I guess a similar, you know, analog would be your starting a diet as one of the reasons why diets fail so consistently right? It's like I got it. I'm on this diet. I'm like, it's making me really miserable and no empathetic human being that it's bearing witness to that testimony is going to want anything but to improve your scenario by you know, giving you the free pass to break your diet or to have that drink, right? Whereas in scenario 2 or when you make any positive lifestyle change, right like eating healthier and you make yourself sound complete like you're excited. You're enthusiastic about it. I just feel like yeah, it sends a
I
don't know. It's probably speaks to the mirror neurons in the other person in a way that makes them want to support you as opposed to them helping to enable cheating. For example.
Yeah, and that's what a lot of my coaching is around is rewiring the brain so you no longer think that you're depriving yourself of something by choosing to go alcohol-free you're choosing outstanding health and your outstanding Life by being alcohol-free. Yes and The Smiling assassins. You know who've got your you know many times. I've got your best interest at heart like that is don't understand or whatever and sometimes they don't have your best interests at heart The Smiling assassins. Can't hurt you right The Smiling assassins who are like, oh we can I get you a drink. Let's have some drinks. I'll come over. Let me get you a drink.
You just smile right back at them you just smile, right but you just completely diffuse it and when they see that they drop it and they don't drop it from I like all their butthurt kind of thing. Like the you're not drinking they drop it from a like AA cool awesome. And then you just you just
move on. Yeah. It's one thing to be able to you know, deflect that social pressure when you're hanging out with your buddies or your girlfriend or even maybe a co-worker but how does the alcohol free lifestyle? How is that compatible with dating? Because I feel that for many people alcohol is just a must when it comes to like going on a date and connecting with somebody for the first time because first dates are awkward, right? They don't get less awkward without the alcohol
they can be I think it's a generalization to say the first dates are awkward. They can be like Andy speaking for myself.
Yeah,
I get this a lot as well.
So a couple things let me give you let me let me let me slap around a single guys right now who who feel like they need a drink in order to have a first date with a woman. Okay, if you feel you need a drink to have a date with a woman then you have no natural game.
I don't think I don't have any natural game' I and and I don't actually drink. I don't really drink very often, you know, occasionally, I'll have like a glass of wine, but the proportion of times that I do drink they are First Dates is overwhelmingly when I when I do have that like glass of wine, you know,
so hit so he couple things and I haven't drunk in nine years and you know, I've been I've got going out on dates and I first of all this is almost going to be like a dating podcast episode Now, isn't it? Look how today here's the thing.
A man, right. I realized we're talking to men and women but as a man, I rarely if ever organized a first date to be at a bar or a restaurant. I'm always let's go for a walk and make it a daytime date. Right? So I'm like, let's go for a walk. So if you're in New York is the greatest city in the world to go go on a date if you're in Los Angeles is the greatest City. You just go to Venice Beach or Santa Monica or whatever, but I'll say hey, let's meet let's meet up. You want to go for a for a hike do you want to go for a juice? How about I meet you at the at the juice bar and we can have a little walk around. It's always daytime. I hate the nighttime stuff because what happens you meet at a bar. It's like it's like an interrogation you kind of like it's like a job interview. The only thing worse than meeting in a bar thing is a restaurant for dinner. Just now you're sitting opposite one another. I
hate those those kind of details. They're the worst. Yeah,
so so couple things if you want to go alcohol-free and you're a man and you're looking to invite a woman out on a date organize it daytime date and go for a walk like it's a
Great way to get to know someone there's lots of visual stimuli walking around you're out and Sam is exercise like it's fantastic and that'll take that will remove this whole thing. I need a drink I need a drink and if you're a woman and you get asked out by a man, I'm assuming here that you know, a man's courting a woman and inviting a woman out less than a woman asking a guy out. If you're a woman and you can write it up by a man and he says well, let's let's meet up for a drink then your response can be anything you want. But the truth is always the best and it's like art that's yeah sure. No problem. Just so you know, I like I'm alcohol-free but we can meet at we can meet at the bar. That's okay, but I'll be drinking soda water. Just want to let you know now if he likes is not what what are you talking about and puts pressure on you or feels uncomfortable with that. I would say that he's not an appropriate fit for you, right? You could also suggest that the guy say, oh look. Thank you so much for inviting me out. I'd love to see you. I'm not.
A drinker, so maybe we could do like a daytime thing instead or do you want to meet for a juice or something? Like it's okay for you to come back at him and suggest an all suggest an alternative. Yeah. The other thing is if you're actually on the date and your meeting out for drinks or dinner or whatever and you've arranged to do that and the other person's like I can I get you a drink you just say I'm alcohol-free. I'm actually not drinking at the moment. I don't drink have a soda water but you go, you know you go right ahead. Now if that person who's the other day then is like what are you talking about and feels deflated and his kind of like whatever again I would argue they're not the right right fit for you. You definitely do not want to lecture the other person. You don't want to be smug, you know want to be patronizing as you're so cool because your alcohol free so you want to make sure that they feel comfortable to drink in front of you and you feel comfortable with them drinking right? And also the other thing is that people worry about the other person thinking that they're an alcoholic because
Say they're not drinking because you don't have to be an alcoholic in order to choose to go alcohol-free. Right? But here's the thing people go have I'm worried that this guy is going to think that I'm a heavy drinker because I'm choosing not to drink in actual fact what my experience has been and what a lot of the people I coach tell me is that the people who realize that you're not drinking now want to elevate themselves to a higher level now, they're like trying to impress you because they're like, wow, look at this person who's so health conscious and so confident and so in tune with their own body that they don't need drinking to socialize or to be in this date. Like they're just being them there inside their internal story is not like oh this person must be an alcoholic. What a loser.
I'm not going to date this person their internal story tends to be. Wow this man. I got to step up my game here. I disbursed person's like on another level.
So you are you actually have the power
Yeah, man. So so useful. Thank you for all this really helpful information. Is it is it I mean for people that graduate your course and that you coach is it do tend to promote like an all-or-nothing mentality about it or do you you know, what if somebody like can somebody ever drink moderately or is it you know, like how rigid is the is the mindset that you try to instill in your in your clients?
Yeah. So in a 30 day no alcohol ChalleNGe Program that I've had for four years I say this.
Quit for 30 days and see how you feel from that point on you can go back to drinking and people do but the people who go back to drinking go back at a far more moderate level than when before many people also just say this is phenomenal. I love it. I'm just going to keep on going and they keep on going and they keep on going. I've had one guy who's now I launched 30 day. No alcohol Challenge on Super Bowl Sunday 2015.
I'll never forget of Super Bowl Sunday 2015 and he joined like two weeks after I started it and he messages me all the time. I'm 40 years alcohol-free. Well, so some people choose to go on and some people go back. Listen. I'm not saying that alcohol is the devil even though it has no nutritional benefit
right has nothing and ethanol is a neurotoxin.
Yeah.
But too much of it does and and one seemingly innocent glass of wine every night that you think is not doing any damage to you just one seemingly innocent glass of wine or one beer or whatever could be costing you your health your finances your relationships.
You happiness level? So to answer your question what I coach is.
Quit drinking for 30 days see how it feels make your own choice from their most people who do the 30 day. No alcohol challenge do go back to some drinking but like it's just it's such an insignificant part of their life. Thereafter people who do project 90 which is more for the business owners Executives and professionals. They have to commit to 90 days alcohol free.
And then they get to choose whether they going to go back and so far all but I think one or two people have just continued to stay alcohol-free well in Project 90 and the idea is again, the idea is not to get to 90 days and go I got to 90 days and now I get now I get to drink by that stage. We've rewired your brain into into looking at alcohol as the complete opposite of something that you desire or want.
Yeah, I love that so it so basically if you want to take 30 days to do this challenge, it's not just about making it to day 30 without having had a drink it's about during those 30 days cultivating the habits and skills that are going to set you up for an alcohol free lifestyle. It's about actually proactively probably right like going to the bars with your friends and cultivating those social skills so that you can totally have a great time without any alcohol going on dates during that 30-day window.
And and cultivating an ability to connect with another person without you know having to use alcohol as a
crutch 100% Well, you said that beautiful? Yeah. It's yeah, like you said it's not like you get to 30 days and you go and celebrate with a drink, right? The celebration is an alcohol free lifestyle. The celebration is that you live the way that nature intended you to live nature didn't intend us to be drinking this alcohol. Yeah, right. It didn't it. This is a man-made thing. Yeah, right and
When I'm finished with you get to the end of 30 days, we get to the end of 90 days and you're like I'm going to keep on going because I love this. Here's the thing. Nobody really wants to quit alcohol people just want all the benefits that come from quitting alcohol. And you know, what the benefits are you lose weight. You got more energy have greater Clarity Focus you get better-looking just a warning you do get better looking when you go alcohol-free because all the toxins leave your skin. Yeah, it's amazing. How many people say wow, you look so good and I what's going on like you just look so much different. The other thing is is that now you no longer irritable like drinking makes you irritable.
You snap at your kids your snap at your wife your husband your friends.
When your alcohol free you just feel good all the time. So you're less likely to snap at someone. So now you relationships improve when you relationships improve your happiness level goes up when your happiness level goes up. All of the studies show that happy people make more money when you make more money, you have more opportunities. You can travel more have greater connection. You get Rockstar dates versus like, you know, yeah crappy dates you just start attracting a higher caliber of person and you know, I don't think that you and I would have met max if I you know, I don't think like energetically you and I
were attracted to each
other in our in our Circle, right? You're in the health. I'm into Health. Yeah, I forget how we met at we met at the bulletproof conference, right? You interviewed me.
Yes, that's right. I was a contributing reporter for Yahoo Health and I interviewed you about this back then and I just thought you were you were such a great voice in the in the space. And you were also speaking at the conference.
Yeah speaking Yeah on this topic. Yeah, but like you and I
Have met like think about everything that happened that needed to happen in order for you and I to become friends. Yeah.
I had to quit alcohol which I did I had to become an authoritative figure on it, which I had become ice was speaking at bulletproof row and then you were a health interviewer who interviewed me about this. It's true now in your life what needed to happen in order for you to be at that conference and to be in the health World? Well in
my life I had to well so many things I basically dedicated my life to teaching and helping others live a healthier lifestyle and and understanding science and nutrition and how to reduce the burden of chronic disease in the risk for chronic disease of the focus on Alzheimer's and Dementia and you know cognitive mediocrity and basically everything that I've done in my life, you know is fits within that constellation. Yeah for the past. I don't know eight years at this point. Yeah and
Oh, yeah, that led to me interviewing you being a reporter a Yahoo Health, which was one of my earliest one of the one of the the earliest things that I actually got paid to do, you know in the health space because for a while I said I had sacrificed my own income. I was like, I'm just gonna like do the work focus on the research, you know, gaining a bulletproof sense of understanding about these topics that I wanted to communicate and yeah, then I was hired for that job and that led me to that conference which you know, I mean definitely fun conference and aside from meeting you it actually had connected me with two other people that have become very close friends of mine. So it's a funny it's interesting that when you and I met I also met because I interviewed him Crosby Taylor Who's another very good friend of mine who's been on my podcast a number of times and Emily Fletcher who is one of my most recent episodes about meditation. So,
Yeah, I mean that's one of the reasons why I love the health and wellness industry so much because I just love the people that it puts me in contact with. Yeah, you being one of them.
Thank you. Yeah, but see how it all came together.
Well, yeah, I think it's like, you know like attracts like, you know, yeah and when you wear your passion on your sleeve and when you're dedicated to a noble aim, I think that it's a
You know doors open and and and there's a magnetism that connects you with people that are similar and that that that see potential in you and want to help you and mmm.
Yeah, and so and even beautiful thing and even if you even
if you're not dedicated to something like right, even if you're just alcohol free and and I guess your health conscious you will naturally attract other people who are either alcohol-free or alcohol is not a necessary part of their life. Yeah who are also health conscious and then you just start that your Universe just starts to shift all of a sudden now, you start attracting people where health and happiness and relationships and vulnerability and connection start to be the norm versus the Rarity. Yeah.
Do you drink kombucha?
I mean no, I don't drink kombucha and I
because of the because of the alcohol. No, I mean, maybe
maybe I don't know why I just don't drink it. I don't know how much alcohol is in it
is like 2% 2% less than that. Probably actually
yeah. Yeah.
No, I don't drink enough that now you get carded really? Yeah. I think it's higher than 0.5% I don't actually know I know it's very small. I mean, I've never get buzzed
from drinking kombucha. Yeah, but nah, I drink 11.50 green juices from are one
people talking in Venice. It's ridiculous. Ridiculous have a
$20 smoothie there now. Yeah, this is Supermarket called are one which is like the world's healthiest Supermarket Riders one in West Hollywood is one in Venice Beach where I live things got It's called The Green Goddess.
It's $18. And then you add taxes like 20 bucks. What
the hell are they putting in that thing?
It's pretty good to be fair. Yeah, but when you have it at the group because it's so green is got so much green stuff in it when I see other people drinking it their teeth girl crying. Oh God,
so it's not a good look after. Well. Yeah,
but the yeah now I tell you what, I do drink, I drink a ton of water and there's some orders better than others and I drink a ton of soda water and then I like Lacroix which is like a canned kind of flavored water and the Z is z via zvi a is a brand. These are all brands that are really good. Like the they taste good. Yeah, they're flavorsome and my favorite drink when I go to a bar restaurant is always just water ice and a piece of lime. I get the piece of lime and I squeezed it and stir it around and it's a delicious drink and it's refreshing. I tend to have the most fun of anyone I'm engaging. I just commit to having the most fun of
And then the good thing is is that well, if other people are drinking so two or three glasses over dinner and you drink two or three glasses of water, you're hydrating yourself when you go home and you go to sleep like your skin loves you for that and when you wake up in the morning, they've actually done a study. It was study in the UK, but showed people who drank had a 42% more visible signs of wrinkles on their face the morning after than those who didn't which is why I joked before like you do get better looking.
Yeah. I don't doubt it. I don't drink like if people I probably drink I try to quantify probably once or twice a month. And and if I drink I will drink, you know, either like a glass of red wine ideally organic or you know, maybe I don't know I was going to say maybe some tequila, but that to me is like once or twice a year. Like I really don't I drink very
Mmm, and there was actually a recent study that came out finding that even in organic beers and wines. There is there are significant levels of glyphosate glyphosate could have a nation in beer and wine. Mmm, which is obviously no bueno. It's a it's a it's an herbicide potential endocrine disruptor very frequently used on, you know, conventionally grown produce.
Yeah. Got it
them. Yeah. I'm I definitely noticed in college and in my in most of my 20s, I would drink pretty liberally. I mean I was I was also never an alcoholic and I was always very health conscious people people know that but but yeah come on Thursday Friday Saturday night.
You know, two three four drinks easy and that's been I haven't, you know drank at that level for phone. We got over a decade at this point now I barely I barely drink. I mean I'm and I actually prefer not drinking. I don't like the way I'll call makes me feel. Hmm for me alcohol is
It's it can be kind of a coin toss, you know, sometimes it doesn't even make me like sometimes it can punctuate I find, you know a moment for me, but most of the time it actually acts like a depressant like it makes me tired. It actually reduces. It makes me feel worse and I've learned that that's something that I've like accepted as true. And that's I just I think about that, you know aside from the fact that alcohol is a toxin, you know in and of itself but that most of the time it doesn't make me feel good and I can't really predict when it's going to make me feel good and I certainly hate having hangovers. I've you know, I much prefer to wake up early in the morning and get to the gym, you know work on a project be creative. I mean, you know hangovers are the worst.
Yeah when you drink it actually creates a temporary illusionary feeling of pleasure. Yeah, and you mistake it for think you mistake it for pleasure, but is actually all it's doing
Is reducing your withdrawal symptoms from alcohol. So let's just say you drink then you wake up the next day and now you're trying to get through to 5:30 6 o'clock when the days over so you can have your ended a drink you think this it's relieving your Stress and Anxiety, but it's not it's it's it gives you this you drink the drink and if you feel a little bit better, right but it's temporary and it's illusionary. Yeah, right. All you're doing is satisfying your withdrawal symptoms from
from alcohol. Yeah. It's on and it's also not guaranteed like, you know, you might not necessarily feel better.
You know some people do but some people I think alcohol I don't know. I mean just speaking for myself alcohol does not always make me feel better. Sometimes it makes me feel really crappy.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, like look, I'm somewhat of become somewhat of a sleep expert recently as well and I can tell you that alcohol people think oh, I have a drink it helps me relax helps me go to sleep. Yeah. Now that may actually be true in the fact that it does. It might actually relax you a little bit. However,
It's severely compromised has the quality of your sleep. So you don't spend as much time in that deep REM restorative phase which is why you can sleep 7 or 8 hours, which is what they say. We should sleep but you'll wake up still feeling tired and lethargic. Yeah, a lot of it has to do with you know, just having that seemingly innocent drink the night before compromises you sleep.
Yeah, no, not good. Not good, man. You make me want to give up alcohol forever.
Don't give up alcohol forever choose to be alcohol free forever. Yes, that's a big distinction as well as part of the coaching. It's like over these project 90 members and they're always like oh I got it. They start off in like week one. Yeah the like I got a queer. I'm going to quit. I'm like no, let's eliminating this language. We're going to change our language, right? We are choosing to easily only drink water ice and a piece of line. I easily only drink soda water. You don't even say the word alcohol. Right? Right. I think the quit smoking campaign has it all wrong like they do great work. They try to get people to quit smoking right? But if they just stop saying quit smoking and started saying I only easily breathe fresh air
Yeah, clean fresh beautiful. Delicious are
the how everyone would everyone would quit right
not everyone but like
Yeah, 10 times more people would quit right. I'll give you I'll give you an example. Can I give you an
example right now? So this works? Yes.
Okay you and the listener. If you're listening to this close your eyes for a second just max close your eyes. Okay, do not think about a pink elephant.
I'm thinking about a pink elephant. Exactly. You can open your eyes
now. I told you not to think about a pink elephant, right and you thought about a pink elephant. Yeah, so when I tell you not to drink or you tell yourself not to drink what you're going to do. You're going to think about drinking right? And so you more likely to drink right? You see what I mean? Yeah, I call this the Pink Elephant Theory. Wow in Project 90 or 30 day. No alcohol challenge, but if you then change that and instead you say
I usually only drink soda water. Yeah, it's all I drink I drink water. Yeah, I only breathe in fresh air Scion fresh air. Yeah
only fluids that are going to nurture and hydrate me and provide health benefits. I actually that's you know, it's funny. It's a that's a mentality that I think use ingenious Foods, you know, it's not a doom and gloom book so much as it is, you know a book that compels you to only easily eat foods that are nourishing and that are going to build your brain and help give you the best tools that your body needs to do, you know repair damaged DNA fend off oxidative stress build healthy new brain cells reduce fat mass on your body. It's a it is powerful. Actually. That's a that's a wonderful strategy.
Mmm. Just choose what you will do. Yeah.
Just choose what you will do choose what you will do see James. I knew that you would add a ton of value to my listeners. You're the
man. Thank you.
Thank you. Sorry, I don't have a doctor in front
of my name. Well, neither do I ha ha it's okay. So I've got one last question to ask you before we run out of time. But before I get to that we're can listeners connect with you online. Thank you. Yeah, so learn more about your work.
Well, if you're interested in quitting alcohol for just 30 days then 30 day no alcohol challenge.com. If you're an entrepreneur executive or business owner and you're ready to commit to be alcohol free for at least 90 days, but but probably for at least six months or a year and even forever. Yeah, then reach out to me at James swanwick.com project 90 that programs called project 90 and then you can get me on Instagram. Send me a DM if you're listening now and you want to ask a question about anything to do with alcohol just send me a DM. I love answering questions there and it's just
At James swanwick. My last name is spelled SWA and WIC K. It's pronounced swannack button Americans never get the pronunciation, right? You got it. Right. Actually, you said James swannack swannack, but most Americans don't understand that that silent W. So I'm they was like, he's it's one week. Is it swanwick unlike its swannack? And then I just gave up and said yes one week just call me swanwick.
Well, we Americans we have a lot to learn about about a lot of things. Is there a discount code that we can offer my listeners. Maybe we can just like come up with a word on the spot. Yeah, you can go and create it. That's that's it's called Max Max want to be Max? Yeah. You don't have you don't currently have a code
Mac not right but done Max Max. Yeah Max. So what no worries at all. We'll do a discount code for Max. So get a 30-day no alcohol challenge input the promo code Max and we'll give you a discount on that. And then same if you just mention Max when you if you're you know, executive or business owner and you're coming to you know, you want to do project 90, which is
Lengthier one just mention that as well and I'll give you I'll give you a discount
Mass. So generous so generous of you James swanwick that thank you. Thank you.
No, that's not right. It's like said the right way - you know, it's funny. I
this is making me remember I used to call you Max Luger Vari. Look of re yeah. I remember that. I don't my I mean people like there's a, you know, people have pronounced my last name and a billion different permutations it actually I like the more exotic we were doing an insta
story. We were talking about my swamis blue live looking glasses. You're wearing him. And I said and we were at Soho House in New York, I think is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So house in New York and you're wearing my swamis glasses. I was wearing mine and I said, I'm here with Max Luke of alright, that was like actually that's probably not the pronunciation of his name and you started giggling and they were recorded and then after which is like, it's Luger
Veer. Yeah, it's if you if you read it and you pronounce it like a word.
English is meant to be pronounced. It's pretty obvious that it's Luke of ear. But because it kind of looks French or Italian people are always like look of RA Luka. I don't know I've gotten look of eerie. Look of yeah. I mean, I've gotten basically any way that you can pronounce it. I've gotten at some point in my life. But yeah, it's a look of fear like beer and alcohol free version of beer. Alright, so thank you for being here and for giving me the last the past fifty four minutes of your life. I really appreciate it. Last question that gets asked everybody in the show. What does it mean to you James swannack to live a genius life
doing what I want when I want with who I want how I want and for me that starts with outstanding health. So everything that I do is the food that I eat and the liquids that I consume and the people that I spend time.
With and the environments that I spend time with those people in a start with that and everything else seems to fall into place pretty well.
Hmm, effortlessly
effortlessly doesn't mean that it's not without some Downs sometimes like I said last year I was you know, had a bit of a midlife crisis. I remember that yeah. I was I got a sad for about six weeks there but for the most part if 80% of the time I'm doing what I just described. It's a pretty damn good life. Yeah.
Couldn't agree more. Well, thank you again to everybody out there listening and podcast land as always. I appreciate your time and your attention share this episode of The Genius life on your social channels. Take a screen grab post it up on Instagram pick out the best line from either James or I tag each of us in it. Tweet it post a link on Facebook. Yeah, we'd really appreciate it. This stuff is so important and yeah, if you know anybody who is struggling or wants to reduce their alcohol consumption. I mean, this would be the perfect episode to literally share with them. So help spread the word and I will catch you guys on the next episode of The Genius life. Peace.
