1000 Days Sober Podcast

Episode #138: The Signal

In this episode, Lee Davy, shares his thoughts on the way the Russian government control the minds of the nation, and how I believe alcohol advertising does the same in the UK. Masha Gessen is a Russian-American journalist, and an outspoken critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sam Harris recently interviewed Gessen on his Waking Up Podcast, where they talked about Putin’s Russia, immigration and the #MeToo movement. There is a moment in the podcast, where Gessen, struggles to get her point of view across to Harris, that Russia’s public opinion doesn’t exist. When responding to Harris’s question on the status of public opinion towards Putin and America, Gessen responds: “I wouldn’t describe public opinion in Russia. In a country where they have no ‘public’ or ‘opinions’ it is very difficult to talk about public opinion and I mean that literally.” Gessen then states that you can’t have public opinion without a public sphere. For some of you (it was for me) the phrase public sphere may be a new one. If it is, let me explain. The public sphere is the environment in which people can come together and talk freely about societal issues and problems, and through those discussion influence political action. “Without a public sphere, there is no public opinion, and Putin has destroyed that public sphere.” Said Gessen. A few minutes pass, and Harris once again returns to the question of public opinion. A clearly irritated Gessen reasserts her view. “I am saying people don’t have views.” “How is that possible?” Asks Harris. Gessen proceeds to explain to Harris that the most recent polls show that you can predict with 86% accuracy that Russians will say exactly what they have learned through television. If the TV is saying that US is the enemy then this is what Russians will believe. “It’s a matter of survival in a totalitanairiam state to actively mirror the signal that comes from above.” How Alcohol Fits In As I listened to Gessen talking to Harris my mind wandered to alcoholism and the view that it’s a byproduct of people known as alcoholics who drink too much alcohol. That is the signal from above. That is the signal we in the UK actively mirror. Believing that life on TV is real life is a theory known a Cultivation Theory. The average person in America will receive between 5,000 + 10,000 adverts per day. The alcohol industry is one of the biggest spenders in marketing. In addition to the branded alcohol marketing, if you watch TV, you are subjected to a minute by minute viewpoint that drinking alcohol is normal and pleasurable. I contend that alcoholism is not the byproduct of alcoholics drinking to much alcohol, but instead, it’s an invisible, violent and dominant belief system that kills more than 3.3 million people per year and is one of the causal factors in over 200 illnesses and diseases. This powerful belief system destroys the public sphere when it comes to discussion on this topic in the same way Putin has destroyed the public sphere in Russia. The Russians don’t dare criticise Russia out of fear of reprisal from the Russian government or supporters of Putin. It’s no different when it comes to alcohol. People who choose not to drink alcohol are afraid of talking about it in the public sphere because of the fear of ostracisation, ridicule and shame. It’s for this reason that Strive and the Truth About Alcohol Life-Changing Experience is vital. We are the protectors of the public sphere when it comes to this discussion. We are not alcoholics. We refuse to be anonymous. We do not drink alcohol. We refuse to actively mirror the signal that comes from above. And we spend every waking moment helping people do the same. Find out more at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk. The Truth About Alcohol We Are Not Alcoholic, And we Refuse to be Anonymous

Episode #137: On Being A Zealot

In this episode, Lee Davy, shares his thoughts on the benefits of talking openly, honestly, and proudly about our decision to be people that don't drink alcohol. Find out more & sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk today.

Episode #136: Status

We often think of status from an external perspective. How do people perceive us? The answers can be damaging or liberating. But that’s chicken feed. What’s more likely to drag your brain along the sharp edges of a cracked glass is thinking of status from an internal perspective. How do you perceive yourself? Tony Robbins talks about decisions being made to avoid pain or to produce pleasure, but you can also say that all decisions either increase or decrease our status. What school will I go to? What football team will I join? Who will I marry? What house will I buy? Where will I live? What career should I choose? Should I drink alcohol or not? Of course, you only utter the final question after becoming addicted to alcohol, by which time, your status is already enshrined in your social commune. It’s a question you now ask frequently. It’s a question that brought you here. The new question is: “Will my decision to be someone that doesn’t drink alcohol increase or decrease my status.” Some of you are answering “decrease” and others are saying “increase” right now. But I am here to tell you that there is only ONE answer, right now. Decrease. You can try and big up this non-drinking lark if you like. You can picture the rainbows, and grab hold of the rock hard horns on top of the unicorns, but you know it, and I know it, when you stop drinking alcohol your status will plummet rapidly. And here’s the thing. You can only become someone that doesn’t drink alcohol by accepting this notion. Not because I said so, because you believe so with conviction. Only when you do this. Only by siding with the resistance will you see the truth. It will be so clear the sight of it will knock you off your feet. Join me at 6pm (BST) on Saturday 30 June as I deliver an exclusive webinar on Resistance including what it is, how it manifests and how to beat it. Sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk today.

Episode #134: The 4 Minute Mile

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, clocking in at 3:59.4. My Google Assistant tells me that since that groundbreaking day, athletes have shaved 17 seconds off that record, with more than 1,400 athletes having competed the 1,760 yards in four minutes or less. My name is Lee Davy, I am not an alcoholic, I refuse to be anonymous, I am someone that doesn’t drink alcohol, and I spend every waking moment helping other people do the same. I am a Striver. What is the four-minute mile for a Striver? It’s Resistance. It’s not difficult to find support on the Internet or in a local church basement if you want to quit drinking. Our four minute mile - what makes you a Striver - is your transformation from someone who drinks, to someone who has no DESIRE to drink. No desire = no craving = someone who doesn’t drink alcohol. I have beaten Resistance. Let me be an inspiration to you, as Bannister has been to 1,400+ athletes. I am living proof that you can drink daily, and love it, to suddenly stopping without a single craving. Let me help you run the four minute mile. Let me help you become a Striver. Join me at 6pm (BST) on Saturday 30 June as I deliver an exclusive webinar on Resistance including what it is, how it manifests and how to beat it. Sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk today.

Episode #135: The Strivers

What is a Striver? I am working on the perfect set of words. Until. Then. Steve Jobs nailed it. Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do. Beat Resistance. Be a Striver. Change the world. Join me at 6pm (BST) on Saturday 30 June as I deliver an exclusive webinar on Resistance including what it is, how it manifests and how to beat it. Sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk today.

Episode #133: The Maze

At first, there was me. Angus arrived from Herefordshire. Arthur tuned in from Northern Ireland. Eileen arrived from Australia. Michelle was the first person from America. Then there was Kim. Angus became someone that doesn't drink alcohol and then vanished like a pickle on the table of a deli. King Arthur stayed for 18-months but couldn't crack the code. Kim died. A few weeks ago, Eileen celebrated two years as someone that doesn’t drink alcohol. At the same time, Michelle blew up a few balloons that contained the words “1st Anniversary.” What's the critical ingredient, here? How did Eileen and Michelle move from where they were to where they wanted to be? Firstly, they knew where they wanted to be. Most people get this. Then came the toughest part. They both realised that to find their true essence they had to dispense with their identity. To do this, they needed hope that their essence would be every bit as wonderful as I told them it would be. Hope. At this point, they met Resistance. It wasn't until they both accepted that they LOVED alcohol, and needed every single drop that had ever entered their stomach that they could move on. If we fear our essence, then we cling on to the present. If we are someone who drinks alcohol that means clinging on to the bottle. Faith and hope in your essence and a joyous trepidation of finding it opens you up for the possibility of change. You’re in a maze. Somewhere you will find your essence. Standing in the way of all paths is Resistance. You can’t climb over it. You can’t sneak under it. You can’t squeeze past it. At some point, you have to face it. Join me at 6pm (BST) on Saturday 30 June as I deliver an exclusive webinar on Resistance including what it is, how it manifests and how to beat it. Sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk today.

Episode #132: The Unlived Life

I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to own a business. I wanted to be a multi-millionaire. I wanted to be a world-class communicator. I wanted to be a public speaker. I wanted to write a book. I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to donate millions of pounds to charity. I wanted to be the best dad in the world. I wanted to be the best husband in the world. I wanted to experience complete and utter ecstasy. Instead, I woke up every morning, kissed the foreheads of those I loved as they slept, spent 12-hours surrounded by people who hated me in a job that was killing me; came home, stopped in the pub, drank too much, drove home while drunk, made excuses not to spend time with my family, ate take away, drank some more, went to bed, couldn’t sleep because I was so afraid of the next day, and then I would wake up and do it all again. We all live two lives. The one we want. The one we put up with. In between the two, standing like a Clash of Titanesque monolithic statue is Resistance, and until we bring that statue down, nothing changes. Join me at 1 am (BST) on Friday 22 June, and every four hours after that until Monday morning as I deliver an exclusive webinar on Resistance, including what it is, how it manifests, and how to beat it. Sign up at www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk.

Episode #131: Identity & Essence

I got out of bed and fell asleep in the back of the car with a plastic puke bag in my back pocket. It was 4 pm. Duran Duran were on at 7 or 8. The world wouldn’t stay still. Canadian Club something or other. We reached the restaurant. I ordered nothing. I drank water. I puked in the toilet. Red. Yellow. Not much left. I got back in the car and fell asleep on the back seat. “Selfish bastard.” “I don’t no way you bother.” By the time Girls on Film kicked in I was feeling good enough for another beer. The thing with wanting to be someone that doesn’t puke in plastic carrier bags is you focus on the wrong thing. You slap “alcohol” in the bullseye and empty your quiver, but in truth, you’re shooting at the wrong thing. I became someone that doesn’t drink alcohol in 2009. Back then people used to ask me how I had managed it. My response surprised a few people. “I quit my job.” It remains by far the most difficult decision of my life, far more complicated and nuanced than the cessation of alcohol. Here’s the thing. If you want to be someone that doesn’t drink alcohol, you have to aim all of your firepower at your identity. Unload hell. What is life if it isn’t a myriad of internal struggles. These struggles have been ongoing since your teenage years, and what you choose to struggle with (and you do choose) constitutes your identity. If you want to become someone that doesn’t drink alcohol then kill your identity. Can you see why this thing we do is so hard? We can’t kill our identity. If we do that who do we become? We will look into the mirror and see nothing. But this is what we have to do. Status. Stuff. Identity. Love. Once you stop holding onto these attachments, you are left with your true essence. When you find your true essence, there is no desire to drink alcohol, because it no longer provides you with value. I tell people that I lost everything, but maybe I need to change that battlecry to the more apt I gained everything. I gained a new love. I gained new relationships. I gained meaning and purpose. I gained insight. I gained confidence. I gained truth. When you say, “I don’t know who I am anymore,” you’ve nailed it. And what stops us finding our true essence. Resistance. Join me at 1 am (BST) on Friday 22 June, and every four hours thereafter until Monday morning as I deliver a special webinar on Resistance, including what it is, how it manifests, and how to beat it. https://www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk/

Episode #130: Emily Ann Peterson on Bare Naked Bravery

In 2013, Emily Ann Peterson was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological hand tremor, which forever altered her two-decade livelihood as a cellist/cello teacher. Refusing to lose her life's love of expression, she knew she’d have to be brave. In an act of neurological defiance, she expanded into wider mediums and broke through her creative glass ceiling, opening the door to limitless possibilities through songwriting. Her book Bare Naked Bravery: How to Be Creatively Courageous helps people from all walks of life understand what bravery really is - allowing them to step into it by creatively using vulnerability, imagination and improvisation. Her podcast, Bare Naked Bravery, features conversations with everyday heroes and creative entrepreneurs about the quiet successes and loud failures required to do the brave things for which we know and love them. Emily Ann's community of fans, listeners, and readers offers a welcoming, safe place for creative misfits to finally find belonging and acceptance. Emily writes for people who struggle to remember what hope feels like and sings to those who yearn for something secret. She speaks to those who are done being bored and crave all things beautiful, strong, sacred, and sensual. Her goal is to inspire a global resonance and magnanimous community through the marriage of art and whole-person development. Learn more about Emily and hear her music at www.emilyannpeterson.com.

Episode #129: Ricky Siegel on Lust, Love and Libido

RICHARD M. SIEGEL, PhD, LMHC, CST, is the Director of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes, a postgraduate continuing education institute which trains sex therapists and sexual medicine specialists at multiple sites throughout the country. Dr. Siegel is a Florida-licensed mental health counselor and Board-certified sex therapist, and is certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) as a sex therapist and supervisor. He has a rich experiential background, including over 20 years working in sexuality education and addiction treatment, teaching on college campuses, and maintaining a private sex therapy practice. He enjoys a reputation as a seasoned and in-demand workshop and conference presenter, in addition to his work in training and supervising sex therapists. Dr. Siegel completed his Doctoral dissertation at the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists in Orlando, FL, with research on Sexuality Issues in Addiction, Treatment & Recovery. He has worked enthusiastically to integrate traditional sex therapy into the emergent specialty of sexual medicine, as well as the addiction treatment field.