10 Lessons From Quitting Alcohol For 500 Days

The pros and cons of sobriety + I'm hosting 12 events in August!

Aug 08, 2024

👋 Friends,

Today marks 500 days without alcohol.

It’s the best decision I’ve made in recent years. I truly believe that I wouldn’t have gotten this far with my career, relationships, and self-development if it weren’t for quitting this habit.

But I don’t recommend it for everyone. In fact, I’d probably recommend it to fewer than 10 people I know. Quitting alcohol cold turkey has massive downsides and is an extreme step that isn’t right for most.

Today, I share the full picture. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Btw, there is a week left to get tickets to join me and 500 founders at The OOO Summit on August 17. We are sold out of VIP tickets but have a few GAs left. Hope to see you there!

If you don’t want to purchase a ticket, you can always sign up to volunteer to be a part of the conference!

I started going to clubs at a really young age.

Not engineering clubs or arts and crafts, but full-fledged nightclubs with dance floors, DJs, and bouncers.

I spent my formative years in Shanghai, and back then, it was normal for kids to hang out with friends at clubs and meet the kids from the other schools - every single weekend. Sometimes weeknights too.

The clubs in China were wild. They even served one-dollar tequila shots which we later discovered were “fake” alcohol. Yikes!

Looking back, I realize how harmful it was, both for obvious reasons and because it led me to develop an early drinking habit that I mistakenly thought was normal, even though it was fun at the time.

Throughout college and my early to mid-twenties, I was a binge drinker. Weekends often meant having about two dozen drinks, and although I wasn’t drinking to cope with anything—I was a pretty happy person—it was still detrimental.

But last year, I had a moment of clarity.

I realized I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life.

I despised all the mornings I wasted in bed hungover and felt I had the potential to achieve more—more in my career, relationships, and self-development. I began to wonder what would happen if I made changes to allow for that.

So slowly, one by one, I eliminated the habits I saw as vices.

I deleted Netflix, cut out unhealthy food, and stopped drinking.

It resulted in immediate benefits for my mood, happiness, and health, but there were many life changes I was unprepared for too.

Here are the 10 lessons I learned from quitting alcohol for 500 days.

1. Mornings are great again:

I used to justify weekly binge drinking by convincing myself that its negative impacts were limited to just one day, but in reality, it’s closer to 3-4 days, including the day of drinking and the days after spent dealing with a hangover.

Since quitting drinking, my sleep quality and duration have improved drastically.

Now I wake up feeling energized and excited to start the day. Mornings are amazing again.

2. Fitness is easier:

Going sober makes it feel like you’re playing the health game on easy mode.

You lose fat quickly because you consume fewer direct and indirect calories (e.g. alcohol-induced McDonald’s runs). I can work out 4 days a week because I have more time. And those workouts are more intense because I have more energy.

Since quitting drinking, I’ve been in the best shape of my life.

3. I’m always in a good mood:

When I used to drink, I’d feel the euphoric highs that were hard to replicate while sober. This was simply the nature of the substance.

These moments were followed by equally intense bouts of anxiety and agitation, and I realized that drinking the night before was just “borrowing” happiness from the next day.

But when you’re sober, you’re more grounded and stable. Lower highs and higher lows, with a higher average baseline.

I’ll take the latter any day.

4. I saved a TON of money:

Not just on drinks. But Ubers, late-night food runs, and impulse purchases.

If I had to guess, I’ve probably saved around $20k since I quit drinking 500 days ago.

I’ve reallocated that spending into things that make me happier, healthier, and wiser. Like books, healthy food, courses, events, and gifts for the awesome people in my life.

Instant ROI on happiness.

5. But I feel like I have less fun:

My weekends were packed with socials that often included drinking (or drinking before drinking… we called this pre-gaming).

It was chaotic but fun, providing a release from my monotonous daily routine.

When I stopped going to parties, I lost my release. I filled the void by working Friday nights and weekends and did this for a year before I realized it was burning out.

My life became work and my work became life.

It took me a while to recalibrate. I started playing basketball again, going to concerts, and hosting board game nights with friends. These were my new forms of release.

6. I’ve missed out on opportunities:

Last year, I went to Summit at Sea. which was an enormous, four-day party on a crew ship.

Famous entrepreneurs, athletes, and musicians like Sergey Brin (Co-founder of Google) and Joakim Noah (NBA player) were there. Mike Posner even led a meditation class and serenaded a dozen of us.

Everyone would drink and party until the early morning—except me, and because of that, I missed out on countless opportunities to meet new people that night.

Although I'd like to say otherwise, going to parties, staying up late, and having adventures with strangers can lead to new, life-changing relationships.

7. I’ve also become more introverted:

Like most, I’m a lot more social and outgoing after a drink. It’s much easier to say hello to a stranger and make friends in unfamiliar environments.

After a few glasses of beer, I could talk to anyone. And I was pretty damn good at it too.

But what I realized is that I didn’t actually want to talk to everyone. Booze made me form new relationships with people who weren’t fundamentally aligned with my values, goals, and ethics, but I couldn’t tell in the moment… because of, well, booze.

8. I had a bit of an identity crisis:

That led to me having a bit of an identity crisis.

Was I extroverted or introverted? Was I social or reserved? Did I like to people please or was I more self-assured?

It took me a few months to calibrate to my new, sober self, and figure out who I really was.

I learned more about myself during those few months than in the past few years.

9. My values became clear:

After the adjustment period, my values became clear. I had a higher bar and lower tolerance for the people in my life.

I knew exactly how I wanted to spend my time and who I wanted to spend it with.

As a result, all the toxic relationships and energy in my life were instantly eliminated.

It’s the most freeing feeling ever.

10. I feel like a beast:

I just feel sharper, wiser, healthier, and more energetic.

It feels freeing to remove the dependency on alcohol and be part of the minority that doesn’t participate in the drinking culture.

After 500 days, I find myself asking: “If I have the discipline to do this, what else can I do?”

***

Sobriety isn’t for everyone. In fact, it’s not for most people.

If you can do so, I recommend drinking in moderation. There are special occasions—birthdays, weddings, award ceremonies—that are much more fun with a drink or two.

A wise friend once told me: “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”

📌 Andrew’s Bookmarks

Fascinating internet things I’ve come across…

What's Your Time Preference? – A great mental model from Cedric Chin on how to think about your career journey in three distinct segments over four decades: Early Game, Mid-Game, End-Game.
THE INDIE MAKER HANDBOOK – A short PDF on how to build and monetize side projects. I believe the author has multiple side projects grossing him $200k+ a month…
How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You) – Not sure if I’ve shared this before but worth a re-read. A longer essay on how to find your calling.

💼 Job Board

Lead Product Manager, ResortPass
Head of User Acquisition, 1v1 Me
Founding Engineer, Superpower
Chief of Staff, Eniac Ventures
Head of Growth Marketing, Rho
Product Marketing Manager, Rho
City Launcher, POSH
Senior Full-Stack Engineer, Cal.com
Software Engineer, Cassidy
Founding Full Stack Engineer, Micro
Founding Full Stack Software Engineer, Plymouth Street
Have a job to share? Please reply to this email.

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🖼️ Behind the Scenes

Each year, I want to be stronger and wiser, but also kinder.

A small act of kindness can cost you nothing—yet change everything for someone else.

I made shirts and hats to remind us all to be kind. Wear them and I guarantee you’ll be a kinder version of yourself

Snag one here. I guarantee it’ll start conversations.

A bunch of people have bought some already so you’ll be able to find each other on the street.

Maybe I’ll even bump into you!