Alcohol-Free Advantage Podcast with Andy Ramage

Days Left On Earth: 17496“You are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, into a prison that you cannot taste, see or touch - a prison for your mind.” Morpheus then offers Neo (Keano Reeves) a choice, take the blue pill and go back to your “normal” life or take the red pill and see the truth.Morpheus offers one final warning, take the red pill and “See how deep the rabbit hole goes.”If continuing to drink is the blue pill, then going alcohol-free is the red pill.I took the red pill.Once free of alcohol,  the fog lifted and I could see my truth.Life was a thousand times better without it.So what’s it to be, the blue or red pill?

Days Left On Earth: 17497Bede, known as the father of history, wrote:“The sparrow, I say, flying in at one door and immediately out the another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow we are utterly ignorant.”Maybe life is like the sparrow. We get a fleeting moment in the warmth to spread our wings. So let’s seize the day and never waste it on a hangover.

Days Left On Earth: 17498Almost all our instincts favour the short term. The short term is easy. It's easy to eat the cake, it's hard to resist it. It's easy to drink, it's hard not to.It’s easy to be negative; it's hard to be positiveIt’s easy to skip the exercise class today and hard to show up consistently for the next 50 years.Stop the rot It is bullshit to think that I will do it perfectly tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes, we only ever have today.So what will you do today?

Days Left On Earth: 17499I want to create new friendships with people who are on the same adventure as me.I have little interest in late nights and drunk people. If you want to connect let's do it at sunrise!Tara, my girls, brothers, best mates and parents are most important. It’s on me to find different ways to connect in ways that do not involve alcohol.Nurture new friendships and be brave enough to realise that some old ones will no longer fulfil you. Equally, dont give up on friendships.Be proactive and meet on your terms in a way that will create value for you both.A hike or bike instead of a drink.

Days Left On Earth: 17500After arriving back from a break, I was totally unprepared for the day. I woke and my clothes were not ready, I did not have a plan, I stumbled around tired and left the house. I brought the wrong keys and could not get into the office. The day started on the back foot.Why did this happen?I did not prepare the night before.This reminds me of the importance of not going to bed until the following day is prepared.Clothes ready, time set and checklist ready.You can’t change the world today unless you’re prepared the day before.

Days Left On Earth: 17502Imagine there was an invisible line that predicted greatness.Greatness for you might be found in launching an app, writing a book, taking a course, creating a community, a business or product that could make the world a better place. Or maybe your greatness is to raise a loving family or inspire others, quit alcohol or transform your body.Now imagine how many people have battled and struggled their way to the edge of their greatness. Unable to see their toes touching the line and just when they needed one more push, effort, email, phone call or conversation they gave up. They turn around and leave their greatness behind.Here’s the thing:Nothing great was ever achieved easily. It will hurt. You will fail at times. Behind the mountains, you will find more mountains. If your greatness might help you or others, Never give up. Show up when it rains. Keep pushing, moving one foot in front of the other. And refuse to turn back even when it gets hard. The world needs you because you’re different. Keep showing up, and one day you’ll look behind you and notice a line in the distance.  

Days Left On Earth: 17502Well sort of.I love this wisdom, but I have to admit the thought of attempting this in a practical sense scare the pants off me. Now in truth, this feels easier if you have some sort of rhythm.A ginger middle-aged man throwing shapes is a different game.But anything is possible.Because the truth is no one really cares.They are too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks of them.Like a hall of mirrors most humans stunt their growth because they are too self-conscious about what other people think, but no one else is paying attention as they are too busy worrying about what other people think of them.Reflect on this:We stop ourselves from dancing like no one’s watching or making a change, starting a new career, becoming a coach, changing the world, or becoming happy,  because we are scared of something that's not even true.No one is watching.Whether it's dancing, starting a business, losing weight or quitting alcohol.Everyone else is too busy worrying about what you think of them.Hopefully, this wisdom unlocks a secret.Never allow a false assumption that everyone is looking at you - prevent you from dancing your dance.Whether that’s to start a new business, travel the world or write a book.Do like like no one is watching,Because they aren’t.

Days Left On Earth: 17503Imagine there was an invisible line that predicted greatness.Greatness for you might be found in launching an app, writing a book, taking a course, creating a community, a business or product that could make the world a better place. Or maybe your greatness is to raise a loving family or inspire others, quit alcohol or transform your body.Now imagine how many people have battled and struggled their way to the edge of their greatness. Unable to see their toes touching the line and just when they needed one more push, effort, email, phone call or conversation they gave up. They turn around and leave their greatness behind.Here’s the thing:Nothing great was ever achieved easily. It will hurt. You will fail at times. Behind the mountains, you will find more mountains. If your greatness might help you or others, Never give up. Show up when it rains. Keep pushing, moving one foot in front of the other. And refuse to turn back even when it gets hard. The world needs you because you’re different. Keep showing up, and one day you’ll look behind you and notice a line in the distance.  

Days Left On Earth: 17504Here is a poem Eisenhower used to keep him grounded “Take a bucket, fill it with waterPut your hand in - clear up to the wristNow pull it out; the hole that remains Is a measure of how much you will be missed The moral of this quaint example:To just do the best you can,Be proud of yourself, but remember There is no indispensable man”Newsflash the world does not revolve around you. Every great person dies. No one lasts forever. We are all dispensable. Life will go on without us. So don’t overthink it. Show up and make a difference as best you can. And don’t save your best for a tomorrow that might never come.

Days Left On Earth: 17505Social media is run by artificial intelligence or algorithms. These computer programs decide what content you see. And if you play along like a good human, the robots will show your post to others.When someone likes your post, you become like one of pavlovas dogs salivating at the thought of a reward, which encourages you to do it again. And again.What happens next is devastating to humans.The robot's objective is to steal a human's time. The longer we watch, the better. The longer people stay on our posts, the more we are rewarded by views and likes These little dopamine biscuits train us, like good dogs, to give the algorithms what they want. And because we humans are so wonderfully adaptable, we learn how to game the system. So we get great at creating cardboard content that hooks people in but has no nutritional value.More time on my post, more little rewards.Here is the reflection.Right now millions of humans and using up their precious time to create crap cardboard content to steal other humans time!Pretty scary isn’t it?Time is all we have and it's being wasted creating more content to take it away.And so much of what we consume is total dross. It adds no value. But it steals our time. Time to create the dross and time to consume it.I was totally guilty of falling into this trap.On the verge of dedicating hours every day to create stuff to please the robots. I thankfully woke up to the matrix.And I have this journal to thank. In these moments of reflection, I often see the wood for the trees.Yes, I will continue to share, as I love it, and I will get caught in the machine at times, but I have vowed to only share things that hopefully add some value.This is why I love doing LIVEs and now this podcast.Hopefully, this is a minute or two well-invested.And the LIVE’s hopefully provide some extra motivation.The big rub is this - reflect on your relationship with your tech. Is your behaviour being moulded by a machine?Is this serving you?Is it making you happier, more human?If not, maybe it’s time for a change.