Bright Days, Clear Nights, Better Sleep - w/James Swanwick
Welcome to Journey to the Sunnyside, the podcast where we have thoughtful conversations to explore the science of habits, uncover the secrets to mindful living, and, of course, inspire your own mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunny Side, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. I'm your host, Mike Hardenbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. On this episode, we're joined with James Swanick as he shares his journey from choosing an alcohol free lifestyle to becoming a sleep evangelist.
Mike:Learn about the strategies that he uses for going to social events without alcohol, but still having just as much fun. James also shares the science of blue light blocking glasses, their role on improving sleep, and the negative side effects of alcohol on rest. Get ready for practical tips on achieving better sleep and embracing a healthier, more fulfilling life. Okay. Today on journey to the sunny side, we have James Swanick.
Mike:James, thanks for coming on the program today.
James:Mike, you're so welcome. Thank you for having me.
Mike:Great. You have such an impressive background. You are an investor, a speaker, a journalist, a sleep evangelist, and a former ESPN SportsCenter anchor and Hollywood correspondent. So it's really an impressive background. Give us an idea how you got there and where you are from, and what led you down this path.
James:Well, I grew up in Australia. I'm Australian American, and I grew up in a pretty socially acceptable drinking culture and that you would have a couple of drinks most nights of the week, and then you drink heavily on the weekends. Then I moved over to the US in 2002, and I became a Hollywood correspondent where I interviewed movie stars on red carpets. I went to the Golden Globes and and, the Oscars and interviewed Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, and there were lots of open bars in in California and in at these parties, and so I drank heavily because there were there was free booze there. And then I stopped.
James:In 2010, I realized that drinking wasn't serving me, and, everything in my life changed. I got my dream job hosting the most iconic sports TV news show in the World Sports Center on ESPN. I lost £30. I started exercising, focused on my sleep, healthy habits, great relationships, and then I ultimately ended up, creating a sleep company called Swanic Sleep. We produce these blue light blocking glasses, and then I created a a stop drinking coaching company called Alcohol Free Lifestyle.
James:And we help mostly high achieving driven business owners and executives to have a better relationship with alcohol, and now my life is, you know, mostly filled with healthy habits. Doesn't mean that I don't have challenges and problems, but I like to create businesses out of healthy habits that really support people.
Mike:Yeah. No. I love I love your story, and I've been following it for a long time. And I thought it was an interesting comment about, you know, growing up in Australia, which I think we can get into the culture, around alcohol a little bit later. But I do remember all my time backpacking across, like, Central America and also in Europe.
Mike:You come across a lot of Australian backpackers, and and drinking was definitely something that they were very skilled at, when it came to traveling with them, and they were a lot of fun. But, definitely, it's an interesting take that I think we should discuss. I'd actually love to learn a little bit about more of your programs, how you help people with alcohol. I know you have a 30 day challenge. You have project 90.
Mike:You told us a little bit, but maybe more in-depth. Who is it for, and why does it work?
James:Yeah. Well, our flagship program is called project 90, and it helps mostly high achieving and driven entrepreneurs and executives to stop drinking for 90 days, and we rewire the mindset, and we help folks to stop for 90 days. So when they get to day 90, they can then choose an alcohol free lifestyle, and that for some people is just they don't drink ever again. For other people, it's they gently bring moderation back in, but they now have power over over alcohol. The University of Washington conducted a scientific study on our process, in q 1 2023, and the results came out, just a couple of months ago, which showed a 98% reduction in drinking of clients who go through that 90 day process, a 98% reduction in drinking.
James:And, you know, it's pretty amazing, I think. And not to kind of, you know, toot my own horn, so to speak, but it's wonderful that there is a process out there and, that involves community and like mindedness and support, and it's fun and it's aspirational that can generate such incredible results. I know most people who've tried willpower and motivation alone, they've probably realized that that's an ineffective strategy. But just like with with Sunnyside, you guys have got a great community. There's great support.
James:There's accountability. I know that does tremendous work. I think that's really the secret ingredient. It's well, not even a secret ingredient, but the most powerful ingredient, I think, is community, because that community creates accountability, and that accountability creates breakthrough, and that breakthrough creates results, and those results create a much more enjoyable life. Yeah.
James:You referenced our 30 day program. We do have a it's kind of like an introductory program, which is at the it's called the 30 day no alcohol challenge that's been going since 2015. That's more for anyone who wants to, you know, dip their toe in the water, so to speak, and just try 30 days without alcohol, without process. But really our flagship process and program is called project 90.
Mike:Yeah. I love it. And, you know, you've been at this for a long time, and those stats are really impressive, to be honest, as far as the results you go. And, your dedication to this mission is very apparent. Like, this isn't something that you just showed up and decided to do and kinda, you know, over time, maybe you weren't so excited.
Mike:You've stuck with this. And I remember, you know, when I really got serious about changing my habits coming across your program, and it was it was really novel at the time because now you see more because there's, like, kind of this, movement going where the sober, curious, whether or not, you know, somebody wants to stop or just maybe, change their relationship with alcohol, whether it be cutting back or some other version of that. And I think, you know, to Sunnyside members, they often use tools, whether it's a book, a personal coach, fitness, meditation. How do you think, maybe this could fit in with what you're doing? How maybe Sunnyside members could benefit from your program if they wanna layer it on top of their journey with alcohol health?
James:Yeah. Well, I'll talk to our project 90 process. Reason I think that or one of the reasons why I think it's so effective in in reducing drinking by 98%, is because of the like mindedness of the community. So I would submit that most people listening here would not consider themselves an alcoholic. They're probably just drinking too much and they wanna have a either wanna reduce or they wanna stop.
James:The the challenge with, some programs or let's just say AA for example is that if you're a 45 year old, well educated, articulate, you know, person, say, and then you go into an AA meeting and you're sitting next to a 19 year old meth addict who's holding up gas stations on weekends, there's no relatability there. Like, it's very hard for you to relate to that, and it sounds all doom and gloom, and it's not really fun and aspirational. Whereas I would submit if that if you feel a a kinship, so to speak, if you can relate to other folks who are just like you, similar backgrounds, similar age, similar mindset, and you guys just have a challenge with alcohol. Like, you're drinking too much and it's compromising your life. And you guys start this journey together and you support each other and you encourage support and you've got some, you know, some coaches who are who are supporting you along the way and guiding you along the way, then you really wanna stop drinking for fun.
James:Not because you have to or you need to, but because you get to and you want to. And it's actually is really fun aspirational way of doing it. So we provide, you know, a 90 minute group coaching call every day for 7 days in our program. Right? We make it available different, on different days and different time zones because everyone's busy.
James:And sometimes we'll have, 6 people on a call, sometimes we'll have 24, sometimes we'll have 35 people on a call, and it's just amazing when you get a group of like minded people who are all doing this one thing together. They love getting to know each other. Then we have this this, private video messaging group, which is private and confidential, where members can send little selfie videos to each other to support them, or they can show do a little selfie video of them drinking a soda water, ice, and a piece of lime at an airport lounge, and they do a little 32nd video saying, 2 months ago, I'd be drinking vodka and soda here at the airport lounge. Now I'm drinking soda water ice and a piece of lime. Here's a video of me doing it.
James:They got a big smile on their face, and they post that in this video group, And all the other clients and members get to see that, and then they get inspired and motivated by that. Like, they go, wow. It's incredible. If Mike can do that, then I can do that. And that's where the fun community aspect creates momentum as opposed to lone wolfing it, trying to use, you know, white white knuckling it, brute willpower, motivation.
James:Come on. You can do it this time. That, I would submit, is is is ineffective by comparison.
Mike:I love that. And it to be honest, part of that that you're saying is really about reframing it. Like, you're changing habits doesn't mean that you need to to frame it in a way of I'm restricting myself from not doing these things. It can be fun. It can be these are all the things that I'm now doing as a result of that.
Mike:And so I love that. And another thing that's sort of like you know, when you wanna change habits around alcohol is is in the traditional kind of, old school method is really about placing labels and identifying yourself with a label. And I think you have an opinion on this. I know I've written about this in my book. I'd love to get your take on what do you think about labels?
Mike:Do you think that they're limiting? Do you think that they're necessary? Tell me a little bit about that.
James:Limiting is my answer to your question. I I think this term alcoholic gets thrown around far too easily, and there are probably millions of people around the world who are mistakenly believing that they're an alcoholic because somebody told them that they are. And I would submit most of those millions of people who are thinking that they're an alcoholic are not alcoholics. They just drink too much. They're drinking too much at the moment, and it's been causing problems.
James:And with a few simple techniques and some supportive coaches and community, you can very quickly live an alcohol free lifestyle. I also don't like this frame sober, sobriety. We avoid using terms like that in our organization inside of project 90 and and the alcohol free lifestyle. Yes. Because sober implies that you have to stop drinking.
James:Like, people go, I'm 2 years sober. Well, listen, I'm I'm thrilled that that that person who's saying that has not drunk in 2 years. That's great. It's terrific. But the word sober implies that, woah, man, under under normal circumstances, you would drink, but now you haven't you've you've not drunk for 2 years because you can't drink.
James:Because if you drink, everything's gonna go to hell. Whereas I like to use the term alcohol free lifestyle. I'm choosing an alcohol free lifestyle. It's what we're choosing. We're choosing a healthy habits lifestyle.
James:We're choosing to live alcohol free as opposed to I'm sober or I've been sober for 2 years. When you say you're sober for 2 years, it kind of feels like you're in a prison, at least it does to me. I'm sure this isn't the same for all people, but for me and our clients, we don't like the term sober sobriety because it implies, like, we have to stop drinking. Because if we drink, everything's gonna go to hell. Whereas if we're choosing an alcohol free lifestyle, we're choosing to have soda water ice and a piece of wine, we're choosing a mocktail, We're choosing to focus on our sleep.
James:We're choosing on, conscious communication. We're choosing amazing relationships, and we're doing it with a smile on our face That feels a lot more free, a lot easier, a lot simpler. They've done a lot of studies of the human brain and neuroscience that shows it's a heck of a lot easy easier to achieve a goal if you tell yourself what to do as opposed to tell yourself what not to do. And most people are walking around saying, don't drink, I need to stop, I can't I can't drink, I shouldn't drink, I'm sober, I've had 3 years of sobriety, I can't drink, it's awful. So we're telling the brain what not to do.
James:Whereas in this version I submit, we're telling the brain what to do, which is choose soda water ice and a piece of lime. Choose a healthy lifestyle. Choose great relationships, then very, very easy to create. Not easy. I'm sorry.
James:Very, very simple to create that breakthrough because the brain goes, yep. You're telling me what to do. I'll do it.
Mike:Yes. Definitely. I'm if you think about it, what the saying goes, what what you resist persists. So if you're sitting there saying you're not gonna do not gonna do something, the brain doesn't really hear the word not. And just like, I'm not gonna drink tonight.
Mike:I'm gonna drink tonight. And when I started reframing, it is when I really started to see the change in in especially at times when I'm tempted. So, for example, like, I'm not gonna drink tonight turned into tomorrow. I get to wake up bright and early, fresh with clarity. I'm gonna enjoy my coffee.
Mike:I'm gonna plan out my day. I'm gonna have more done before lunch than I ever would if I had a drink tonight. And so I think it's really important just how you frame that, whether your goal is to cut back, have a couple dry days, whether it's just to give it take a extended break or maybe even more ambitious than that. But I think it's really important that you approach it in that way. And in my mind, the whatever method speaks to you and you can relate with and get you excited and sounds like fun, it is the right way for you because there's more and more methods out that are coming here.
Mike:Because before, it was just so hard to identify with the old alternatives, especially around those labels. And so one of the questions I have is, like, part of the strategies with Sunnyside users is to plan out their dry days. So these are the days that they don't drink, and then they plan out the days that that they say it's okay to have a drink. Social events can be very difficult to navigate. How have you navigated social settings without alcohol and still enjoyed yourself?
James:Before I walk into that social setting, I just say to myself, I'm gonna have the most fun. I'm gonna connect with the most people. I'm going to make healthy choices. I'm gonna do it with a smile on my face. If anyone asks me why I'm not drinking, I'm gonna smile.
James:I'm just gonna share candidly. I'm not gonna walk in there and start, you know, like, trying to convince others to stop drinking or have a better relationship. No way. I'm not gonna get on my high horse and be smug and be patronizing and go, I'm so clever because I'm not drinking and you're not clever because you are. No.
James:I'm just gonna go in there and smile and have fun. And when someone comes up to me and offers me a drink, I'm just gonna smile and say, no. Thank you. But I'd love a soda water. You got any soda water?
James:You got any, I don't know, pineapple juice, cranberry, whatever it is. And that and I commit to being light hearted about it. I think most people who struggle with alcohol, they they go into those social situations feeling embarrassed or awkward about the fact that they're not drinking. They're worried that people are gonna think they got a drinking problem if they're making an alcohol free choice as opposed to an alcohol choice. And I've studied a lot of, influence and NLP and human behavior.
James:And what's interesting, what keeps coming up in a lot of my research is that influencing people comes down to only 7% what you say, but 93% how you say it. In other words, it's very hard to convince someone with just words alone, but how you deliver those words is what really influences people. So I would submit this. When your listener goes into a social situation, let me give you 2 scenarios. The first scenario is, oh, jeez.
James:I hope I don't drink tonight. Oh, there's all this free alcohol. What am I gonna say when Mike offers me a drink? Oh, god. This is gonna be awkward.
James:I'm gonna have to sheepishly share that I'm not drinking. And then someone asks you why you're not drinking, and they say, go on. Just have one. And you go, oh, no. I wish I could, but I'm doing this 30 day challenge.
James:Thankfully, it ends at the end of the month and, you know, then I'll get to drink. Sorry. Yeah. I know. I know.
James:I wish I could drink, but I can't. Now in that scenario, what are you doing? You're telling yourself that drinking equals fun and not drinking equals pain. You're also telling your guests or the other people at the event that you're in pain because you're not drinking, which further creates this unconscious belief amongst everyone that drinking equals fun and not drinking equals pain. Plus, you feel like you're in a prison.
James:And what do prisoners wanna do? They wanna break out of prison, which is why when we do these 30 day challenges, many people get to day 30 and then they go and celebrate with a drink as if the drinking is the celebration and the 30 days wasn't. Now let me give you scenario b in this going into a social situation, and I just invite the listener. Have a think about you going into a dinner party or a function or a networking event or cocktail night, whatever it is. Instead of version a, you go in with a smile on your face and someone offers you a drink.
James:Hey. Can I get you a wine? Can I get you a beer? What would you like? I go, oh, listen.
James:I'd love a soda water. You got a soda water ice line, mocktails. You got any cranberry, pineapple, or minty drink? What what what do you got with no alcohol in it? Oh, okay.
James:Yeah. I've got some stuff. That's the response that you will most likely get because nobody cares that you're not drinking, they just care that you're fun to be around, that you're a pleasant person to be around. That's it. They don't care if you drink alcohol or not.
James:They just care if you're a pleasant person to be in their company. And when you put on that energy of lightheartedness and confidence, and you're just like, oh, I'm good. I'm good. Yeah. Let me what alcohol free drinks you got?
James:And then they say, oh, you're not drinking. What what what do you mean? Why aren't you drinking? You go, yeah. I was just, you know, I was just drinking.
James:I just realized I was probably drinking too much, and I wanted to take a break, and I've been doing this, like, 90 day thing called project 90 or I've been doing this thing on sunny side app, and I've been cutting back and I've been, or I've been stopping and actually feel really good. I've actually been sleeping well, and I've realized there's lots of, you know, delicious alcohol free alternatives. But I'll tell you what, I will go drink for drink with you tonight for every vodka you have. I will drink a soda water ice and a piece of lime. I will drink you under the table, my friend.
James:Right? Just lightheartedness, playfulness. No big deal. It only becomes a big deal if you make it a big deal. So there are 2 ways of approaching a social situation, you know, like, the the the option a is, oh, Jesus.
James:I wish I could drink. Oh, this sucks. Oh, I'm sorry. People are judging me. Version b is, I'm alcohol free.
James:I'm good. You drink your alcohol. I'll drink my alcohol free drinks. We'll have a good time. Let's go.
James:That's it.
Mike:So good. And I love the the fun part about that. And, you know, I I think one of the things that people really get wrong when they're going into social situations is they overthink or overestimate the importance or the that people even notice. You know? Like, oh, they're gonna they're gonna notice that I'm not drinking.
Mike:Well, people are so wrapped up in themselves that they usually don't even notice. And I also think, and I've written a little bit about this, is understanding what's going on in the other person's mind in the off chance that somebody does sort of challenge you or maybe give you a hard time. And I think it it's helpful to realize that it's not really a reflection on you as much as it is a reflection on them in this idea of cognitive dissonance and that, like, your behavior is making them feel ashamed or a little bit bad about their own behaviors, which is why they're trying to get you on board. That's, like, one of the social reasons why people might wanna convince you. So I think, you know, having those, like, in your tool set as you go into these social situations is really helpful.
James:Yes. And, also, there's a phrase that we use in our project 90 program, which is smiling assassins and smiling assassins is the waiter or the waitress or the friends who are offering you a drink, who are offering you attractively packaged poison, which is how I refer to alcohol because really alcohol is just poison in a very attractive bottle. That's all it is. Like you think about champagne is just toxins put in a very sleek gold silver bottle and presented to the public as being something elegant and sophisticated that we drink when we're celebrating something. All beer is is just a whole lot of toxins.
James:All red wine is it just a whole bunch of toxins, but we put it in this beautiful kind of glass bottle and we, or if we're talking about whiskey, we're, like, we're barreling it in oak barrels for 20 years and all this kind of, like, 8 year old Scotch whiskey. We're putting all these fancy names, and we're talking about the the way that the the the oak soaks into the, mixes with the alcohol and creates this gorgeous thing that we get to savor. I mean, it's all nonsense. I I I submit it is all nonsense. It's just poison in a very attractive bottle and packaged in a very attractive manner, and the market is behind it are geniuses.
James:They do a fantastic job of convincing all of society that this stuff is pleasurable and gives us joy. It's a nonsense. It's an absolute nonsense. And once you've seen it, you can't unsee it because then you start to see billboards advertising it. There's like, George Clooney, the Hollywood actor had a big, had a tequila company sold for $1,000,000,000.
James:And I saw I remember driving along Sunset Boulevard in Los Los Angeles some years ago and seeing a big billboard, and it was a billboard of George Clooney in a leather jacket on a motorcycle driving through, like, sugarcane fields or something. And the inference was this to kit drink this tequila, and you can be free and cool like George Clooney. I'm like, give me a break. Absolutely ridiculous. I mean, look, I like George Clooney.
James:He seems like a good guy. He's very, very good at what he does, but these Hollywood celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, I mean, he seems like a good guy. The Rock Dwayne Johnson, he seems like a good guy too, but they all own liquor companies, and I think they're doing a gross disservice to society in that respect. Ryan Reynolds has the gin company, Aviation Gin. I think The Rock Dwayne Johnson has a tequila company now, and look, no disputing all 3 of those people that I reference have done immense good for charity for people.
James:They're very philanthropic, seem like great people, great family, men, those in at least in those three examples. But in my view, they need to kinda wake up to themselves in this aspect because they are promoting a poison that even modest amounts of can cause lots of damage to people's health, their mindset, and, their families.
Mike:Yeah. I I don't think that that is disputable as far as, like, the health concerns, and I think that's why most of the people that, you know, would pick up Sunnyside is a big part is they just wanna be healthier. Mhmm. And it sounds like in your journey, you know, when you by the time you were at ESPN, you had already made that decision that this was no longer for you. And I assume that you went to quite a few high profile events.
Mike:Mhmm. So not drinking at those events, what was that like? And do you have any fun, memorable stories that you can share from that experience?
James:Yeah. When I joined, ESPN, I was an anchor on the TV show SportsCenter for 2 years, and I remember they sent me to the Super Bowl, Super Bowl week, which is the the week before the Super Bowl took place. And they were just open bars ESPN had a party. I was at the ESPN party. Playboy had a party.
James:I went to the Playboy party. The max Maxim magazine had a party. I went to Maxim magazine party, and it's all free booze, free food, free booze, bands, people having a good time, celebrities, And, I had stopped drinking in 2010 when I first got that job, and I had a fabulous time not drinking. I just went up to the bar. I ordered soda water ice, a piece of lime.
James:I squeeze a lime in my drink, and I walked around, and I enjoyed myself immensely. I met, Mark Cuban, the billionaire, one of the, one of the judges on, Shark Tank. He was up ordering a drink at the bar. I just walked out to him and introduced myself, and we had a great chat for maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Eli Manning, the former New York Giants Super Bowl, winning quarterback was there.
James:I, he was drinking water, and I walked up to him and said, why are you drinking water? And he said, I just I just don't drink. I enjoy drinking water. He said, me too, you know, and we had a nice little chat about that. And then, away from Super Bowl week when I was also, when I was back in Los Angeles, I would go to the Golden Globes after parties at the Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
James:And, I remember I met Elon Musk there, the, the the billionaire Elon Musk who owns Tesla and, SpaceX, and it's quite controversial these days. He was there with his then partner, and I went up to him and introduced myself. When we talked about books, I asked him what his favorite books were, and we had a conversation about books for about 2 or 3 minutes, and I noticed that he wasn't drinking alcohol. I mean, I don't know if he drinks alcohol now. He may, but he certainly, when I had a had a conversation with him, he wasn't drinking alcohol, and I wasn't drinking alcohol, and it was perfectly pleasant.
James:Like, I didn't need the alcohol to enjoy myself. I was just enjoying myself. And, you know, just a slightly more kind of rambunctious or whatever the word is story. I I went to the Playboy Mansion before the Playboy Mansion got shut down 3 times over the years, and I went the first time when I was a drinker in about 2,002, 2 1,003, and I got drunk, and I jumped in the grotto, and I got thrown out. And Pamela Anderson was there, and, the guy from Limp Biscuit, the band was there, and, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the WWE wrestler was there, and one of the guys from the Backstreet Boys was there.
James:I don't know, the blonde blonde guy. Owen Wilson, the Hollywood actor was there. And I was like, oh my god. I'm an Australian living in Los Angeles. I'm at the Playboy Mansion.
James:I've made it, you know. And there was just open bar who happened to came out with these girls. I got photos and all that kind of stuff, and I got drunk. I drank excessively, had a wonderful time, but I got thrown out because I jumped in the grotto when you weren't supposed to jump in the grotto because it was a corporate event at at the at the Playboy Mansion. I think it was the the launch of Spike TV.
James:I think that that was all the way back in 2002. Anyway, years later, I went back to the Playboy Mansion to another corporate event, this time as a non drinker, and I drank soda water, and I drank soda water with cranberry and pineapple, and I had a way better time because I got to take it all in and go, wow. I'm at the Playboy Mansion. I met this, Nicole Eggert who used to be on that TV show Charles in Charge back in the eighties, and she was in Baywatch. And that was a real thrill because I remember growing up in Brisbane, Australia watching Charles in Charge and going, wow, I've got a crush on that Nicole Eggert.
James:And she was there, and I got to talk to her. And I got to have, like, these in-depth conversations as opposed to just slurring my words years years earlier. And that was a big lesson for me. It was like, wow, I can go to these hedonistic parties, Golden Globes after party, Super Bowl week, Playboy Mansion, not drink, and have a far superior time than when I was drinking.
Mike:And so those are such fun stories, so I'm really glad that you shared those. And I think it's really interesting because a lot of people I think it's really interesting because a lot of people will say, you know, when they maybe change their relationship or decide not to drink at, like, a bar or social event, those things sort of lose interest to a lot of people. And there's this concept of, have you heard of the concept of, like, a sober test?
James:Yes. Where you deliberately put yourself in an environment where alcohol is flowing and flourishing. Yes?
Mike:A 100%. Exactly that. So, as you explained, are there in any instances because, like, you kinda explained the one that most people would say, yeah. It's not for me anymore. I'm really curious if there were any instances where you've done, this this sober test where you just decided, I don't enjoy doing this, or or maybe it's a person.
Mike:You know? Maybe it's not an instance, but it was always surrounded around drinking, and then you went and did it, and it no longer has the appeal that it once did.
James:Well, I'll tell you this. When I first moved to the US in 2002, I joined the Los Angeles Rugby Club, and I played 2 seasons with the Los Angeles Rugby Club. And because I'm from Australia, I grew up playing rugby. And rugby the rugby culture is terrific in many ways and quite damaging in other ways. Terrific in the sense of community and camaraderie that it fosters, and I would submit damaging in the way that people are big drinkers.
James:Rugby players are big drinkers, and, it's not just the game of rugby that you play, it's also how drunk you can get at the pub after the game. And so, you know, I grew up in that culture, and I enjoyed myself post rugby games in the pub, and you drink with the with the opposition players, you drink with your players, you chat. You know, you've just gone into battle where you're beating each other up, and then afterwards, you can come together and have a beer together and everything's fine. Right? And especially as an Australian arriving in California in 2002, my identity was very much tied to, oh, James is the Aussie guy.
James:He must be a big drinker. Oh, the Aussie guy. He's a character. And candidly, the Americans loved it. They lapped it up.
James:Like, they were like, Swanny. My last name is Swannick, but the the nickname they called me was Swanny. And so I was like, ah, Swanee, the Aussie, the crazy Aussie. Oh, he's, like, he's a big drinker. And and I saw them with big smiles on their face and kind of giving me that persona.
James:And so I I kind of, like, drank to be liked. Like, I drank to fit in. I drank so I didn't disappoint them. Imagine if I, like, showed up and I didn't drink and I was all health conscious in this rugby club back then in 2002, they'd be like, what? What?
James:That makes that makes no sense because 99% of the the rugby team were drinkers, were beer drinkers. And so because there was this this this, this culture of drinking and because there was this culture or this perception that all Australian rugby players or all Australian men must be big drinkers, then I felt this pressure to live up to that. So just to answer your question, when I became alcohol free in 2,010, what I what I used to enjoy or what I used to to do was go to pubs and drink and play that kinda Aussie larrikin kinda role. And I'd go and watch NFL games with my American friends. I'd go and watch soccer games with my British expat friends, and I would do the drinking, and I would live up to that.
James:And then when I stopped drinking, I wasn't as excited about going to a bar to watch a game. I wasn't as excited about going into a pub and watching the game. I was still excited about watching the game, but I didn't get too excited about going to a typical American sports bar and sitting at at the bar and watching a whole lot of people get hammered and speak, in my view, in a like, in an in an inane manner, like and and eat terrible fried food, like chicken wings and burgers and fries and oh my goodness. So it was interesting for me to be in those scenarios being alcohol free, but it was not as enjoyable as maybe I'd convinced myself it was when I was drinking. I'll just give you one more anecdote if I may.
James:I had a client Absolutely. We were on a group call just yesterday, actually, sales rep in the health care industry, and it was his day 1 in the group. And he was on a group call, and there were about 15 other clients on the group call. And he said, I'm really worried because I'm going on a work trip tonight, and I've gotta leave in 2 hours to go to the airport. And usually when I go to the airport, I go into an airport lounge and I drink.
James:And then when I'm on the plane, because I sit in business class most of the time, they offer me free drinks and I drink. And for me to not do this tonight is a big deal. I'm really worried about it, and I said, I totally get it. And we went through an exercise, which involved him going, going into the wild or or as you refer to it, Mike, the sober test, where I said, I want you to deliberately go in to the airport lounge bar, and I want you to sit at the bar, and I want you to order a a, soda water ice and squeeze some lime in. And I wanted want you to take a little video selfie of you doing it and share it in our community app.
James:And when you're on the plane, when they offer you a drink, I want you to politely decline it with a smile on your face, order a soda water instead, and I want you to take a little video of it and share it. And you know what? He did. He did exactly that, and he is absolutely beaming today because he went and did his sober test, which is how you refer it. I refer to it as going into the wild.
James:Can I go into the wild? And he put himself in a scenario where alcohol is present, and he took a different action. And he recorded himself taking a different action, and then he shared it with the community of the other clients, which to him reinforced the lesson in his mind and enable and was able to demonstrate the lesson to all of our other clients who are now sending in video messages back going, wow, amazing, exciting. I felt, you know, awkward going and watching, the Super Bowl or the NFL playoffs in bars because alcohol is present, but now I'm gonna go into the wild or as you would call it, the sober test. And I'm gonna go there powerfully and order my soda water, ice, and piece of lime, and I'm gonna enjoy myself watching the game being alcohol free.
Mike:Great story. And, yeah, that I mean, and that's good reinforcement of the community. And, you know, one of the other aspects that I really like about the sober test is that not only do you get to learn a little bit about yourself and maybe what the draw was. Like, for you, maybe the draw was more around the alcohol, going to the bar and watching and less about the game. Or let's face it.
Mike:Like, you know, people when they're drunk are kind of annoying, and maybe that was annoying to be around as well. But the other thing is that, you know, the thought of limiting yourself can this can be freeing because you might go and realize, I actually don't like this. And you liberate yourself from from something that you thought you wanted, but when you go, you realize you don't. And the way you can really anchor this is that if you no longer wanna do something, what are you gonna fill that time with? And so it's it's this idea of habit swapping.
Mike:So you're swapping one habit of maybe, like, every Saturday, you go to the bar to watch the game. Well, now you have that time free because you realize you don't like it, and now you can anchor it in with something else more easily with a reward attached to it. Was there any, like, version of that? Did you end up replacing that time of watching it at the bar with something else?
James:Well, it started the night before in the sense that I started creating morning a morning routine that I really liked, which was organizing a friend meet up to go hiking at, say, 7 AM on a Saturday morning. Right? Or I'll meet you when I lived in Los Angeles, it was, I'll meet you at the base of Runyon Canyon, which is, kind of at the base of the Hollywood Hills. There is a very famous kinda hike up through Hollywood. I'll meet you at the base of Runyon Canyon at 7:30, and let's go for a hike.
James:And now because I had that set in stone at 7:30
Mike:Who did this invite go to again?
James:Well, when I when I was a single man, I would do this if I was inviting a woman out on a date, but then irrespective of whether I was in a romantic relationship at the time or not, I would send the invitation out to friends of mine and just say, hey. Let's get a bunch of guys together, 3 or 4 guys, and let's go for a hike. And when they when those hikes got organized and I knew I had to be there at 7:30, which meant I knew I had to wake up at 6:30 just to get ready, It was very, very easy for me to decline invitations to go out on Friday night. It was just so simple. It was like, okay.
James:So if I'm gonna be up at 6:30 tomorrow, then I'm gonna stay in tonight, and I don't wanna drink wine or whatever. Okay. So I'm gonna eat well, have some water and stuff, and be be asleep by 10, 10:30. So I can be up at 6:30 and feel good. And then what happened is I would wake up on a Saturday, feel amazing because I wasn't hungover.
James:I didn't eat crap food. I didn't drink poison, which is alcohol. And I'd get up, and then I'd go and meet them, and then I'd go and get out in nature. And all the science shows that getting out in nature reduces our stress and anxiety, which reduces our cravings for alcohol. And I had community because I was doing it either with a date or I was doing it with a group of friends.
James:And by the time 10:30 rolled around, you you know, you've already done 2 hours of hiking. You've had in-depth conversations. Maybe you've gone for a little, you know, a brunch afterwards when when most people were going out on Friday nights and drinking heavily, right, and waking up at 10:30. I'd already done all those kind of things. So you asked me, you know, did I replace activities rather than watching football?
James:Well, I I don't think I was replacing the activities per se. I still watch the football, but it's just I added these morning routines, which helped me make better and healthier choices at night, you know, which would ordinarily involve alcohol and eating poorly and staying and staying up late. And now, like, it's it's incredible. Like, I just get so much pleasure and joy from that feeling of Saturday morning and Sunday morning going out, exercising, showering, putting on clean clothes, and sitting down for some breakfast or brunch, and having that all done by 9:30:10, and you're like, the whole weekend's ahead of you. And it's like, wow.
James:Now you get to enjoy watching the football in a non hangover state, and you can either choose to go to the bar and watch it there while drinking soda water ice and a piece of line with endorphins flowing because you've exercised and you've already accomplished so much in the morning, or you can just do something else. Meet up with other people and go for an afternoon hike or have a mastermind lunch or something. Every Sunday now at 9:30 AM, I'm involved in a men's meetup group where we meet at the same restaurant for a Sunday morning brunch. And just the end the anticipation of that on a Saturday night so excites me because the conversation is so enriching, and I know that anyone who shows up there at 9:30 AM on a Sunday was not out the night before getting drunk. They were all in a good state and healthy state, and so the depth of conversation is so much more, enriching.
James:So, yeah, there's just a couple little little shifts that I've made that have really created joy in either of those things that I was doing when I was drinking, you know, like watching football or created joy in new activities as a result of not drinking.
Mike:Yeah. I think what you did there is exactly habit swapping because you swapped the pleasure of going out in the evening for the feeling in the morning. So sort of like when I said, do I wanna have a glass of wine tonight, or do I wanna wake up and feel fresh in the morning? Slowly, actually, pretty quickly, that coffee and then waking up early was was the reward. It wasn't the the having the glass of wine in the evening.
Mike:And I I think the other side of that is setting accountability for yourself and planning ahead. So you have to plan ahead. So in a in a nonreactive state, you're saying, this is what I wanna do, and you set the accountability ahead of time so that when you're further along and in that, like, maybe, you know, decision fatigue state in the evening when you're just depleted and your ability to resist is more difficult, you have that framework ahead of you. And for me, I did something very similar. And, you know, as an entrepreneur and we talked about this on your podcast that, basically, I was a lifestyle entrepreneur, so I had no boss, and that meant that every night could be Friday.
Mike:And one of the things that I started to do was get into mountain biking. And so I would set these crazy early, start times with other guys that I was riding and training with because we were doing races. And that also did the exact same thing in a very similar way in that that accountability plus the the satisfaction of getting up early and riding and enjoying yourself far exceeded, you know, that couple of glasses of wine, because it's really hard to get up in the morning, when you have crappy sleep, which actually segues into something really interesting that you also work and are passionate about. And you are a sleep evangelist. And so, you know, you have, you have a sleep company.
Mike:And so first hold on. I'm gonna start that one over. So, James, you're a sleep evangelist. And so tell me a little bit about what that is and what led you down this journey around sleep.
James:Well, I have a sleep company. It's called Swanex Sleep. You can check it out at swanexleep.com, and we mostly produce these orange lens to blue light blocking glasses. And you wear these orange lens blue light blocking glasses in the last hour or so before you desire to sleep. And what they do is that it blocks that artificial blue light, which is triggering our, our brains and our minds, keeping us awake.
James:It's suppressing our melatonin production and and resulting in a in a poor night sleep. So when you wear the glasses, the orange lens blocks the blue light. The blue light does not get through. Your body can then start to relax in the last hour before sleep. And the idea is that you fall asleep quicker, you sleep deeper, and you wake up feeling considerably more refreshed.
James:The University of Washington did a scientific study on these glasses in 2018, which showed that, people who wore these glasses in the last hour before they went to sleep reported an 11% improvement in sleep quality, 12% increase in sleep duration, and a 12% productivity improvement the following day. Now just think about that if you could extract 12% more productivity out of your day as a result of sleeping well, that can add up to 1,000,000 of dollars in your business, performing better in your job, being able to to climb the corporate ladder. You're less irritable, you're less stressed, which means less marriage marital strain. Maybe you've got a couple of kids, and you feel irritated by the kids. Sometimes if you sleep better, then you'll be less irritable, which means you'd have a more present relationship with them.
James:I mean, sleep is everything. The way that this came about was, I was in Palm Springs, California in 2000 15, and I was with a friend of mine named Mark. And he came out to dinner in this hotel restaurant where we were staying, and he was wearing these ridiculous looking orange Uvex safety goggles to dinner. And, there was a table of quite lovely ladies at the table adjacent to us, and they're looking at him wearing these ridiculous Uvex safety goggles in this very nice 4 star hotel restaurant. And I saw them kinda looking at him peculiarly, and I said to my mate, what are you doing?
James:You look ridiculous. And, mate, you're making me look ridiculous by association. And he said, no, man. I'm trying to block the blue light. And I said, block the blue light?
James:What are you talking about? And he went on to explain that blue light from computer screen, cell phone screen, traffic light, microwave light, refrigerator light, reading light, like, all the light, artificial light, I mean, in the world, not all, but most emits this artificial blue light, which suppresses our melatonin production, which results in us having crappy sleep. And I thought, well, I get the science that makes sense, but I don't wanna look like a meth chemist to try to block blue light. Because I said to him, you look like a meth chemist, and and it's ridiculous. So I actually had the idea then of creating a stylish pair of blue light booking glasses.
James:And so my youngest brother, Tristan, and I joined forces, and we got some prototypes of some cool kind of, like, Ray Bans style glasses. And then we researched the technology of the orange lens, and we put this, orange lens technology in a cool frame. And then we launched that business in 2015, and it just just took off. And, you know, not that money matters, but we did a $1,000,000 in sales in the 1st 12 months in 2015. And then it as people's, knowledge has increased about the dangers of blue light and and the importance of good sleep has increased, the the people's understanding of blue light blocking glasses has increased, and so our company has grown from there.
James:These are these glasses that I'm wearing now and for for those who are just listening on the, I'm wearing a pair of the orange lens blue light blocking glasses now. These are affectionately known by our customers as Swanies. You know, my last name is Swanick. They call them Swanies. So everyone's like, oh, I got me my pair of Swanies.
James:I'm wearing my Swanies. Oh, I love my Swanies. And people take photos and share them on social media, which is really fun. But most importantly, they help you sleep better. Just to be clear, you do not fall asleep with the glasses on.
James:You don't wear them to bed. You don't wear them while you're sleeping. You wear them in the last hour before sleep, so your brain starts to quieten down. Your body starts to create and produce melatonin. You remove them once you've switched off the final light, and then you roll over and go to sleep.
James:And all of our not all, but let's just say the majority of our customers, and certainly most of the scientific study participants report that their sleep has improved noticeably.
Mike:You were way ahead of the curve when it was coming out. That's for sure. And I I do remember that. And one of the most under underrated things is sleep. And luckily, like, people are actually starting to pay attention and realize that sleep's really important, especially now in, like, American culture.
Mike:Always go go go. And, so I'm curious, actually, what what what, as far as your own experience, what did you like, any benefits to you that made you just so passionate? Did you, like, immediately say, hey. This is actually working?
James:Well, I don't think I've not worn a pair of Swanee's one night in 9 years. So that that should tell you how passionate I am about this and how serious I take it. If there was one night, I don't remember it. So what's that? 9 times 365 days of the year.
James:That's a lot. That's Yeah. 3000 nights or something. So that's how much I believe in it, and I can just tell you anecdotally, my sleep is so much better than what it was, especially when I was drinking. Like, can you imagine, like, drinking and staring at screens?
Mike:That's what I was actually gonna bring up is because most a lot of people that the one of the biggest benefits to to, like, cutting back or stopping drinking is improved sleep. And and it's a misconception that you think you sleep better and more relaxed when you have a couple drinks.
James:Mhmm.
Mike:Then you're on top of this. I I have to imagine there's some correlation to you just, like, sleeping better at night, feeling so much better, and then finding another solution that can either further that feeling.
James:Yes. Let me just talk for a second about how damaging alcohol is to sleep. And people mistakenly believe that drinking alcohol will help them sleep. It is true that it will help them pass out. It is true that it might may help them to fall asleep.
James:However, the quality of that sleep is going to be so compromised that you're gonna wake up feeling like crap. Right? You're actually better off drinking alcohol for breakfast than you are anywhere close to bedtime. Because at least if you drink alcohol with your cornflakes or your toast or your bagel in the morning, at least then your body would have, you you know, a good 12, 16 hours to get the toxins from the alcohol out of the system to enable you to be able to sleep the way nature intended you to sleep. The problem is people are drinking close to bedtime, pouring toxins into their body, setting sending their body to work to break down the toxins that you've just digested.
James:It's time to clock off from work at the end of the day, not clock on to work. And when you drink beer or wine or vodka or champagne or whatever poison you choose, even one modest glass, you are putting your body to work at the exact time of a 24 hour cycle where your body does not want to work. Your body wants to rest. So you're mistakenly thinking, this wine is helping me relax. I'll be able to go to sleep.
James:Well, what you're actually doing is you may as well be saying, this wine is ensuring I sleep crappy, wake up feeling worse and irritable and stressed tomorrow. And so I'll give myself a little pick me up with a Kit Kat or a Snickers bar or a sugary drink, and I'll make sure I smash 3 coffees because I'm so lethargic. And then I'll throw in a little bit of irritability and inconvenience and some marital strain. And you know what? Let me just put on another £10 this year.
James:Get a little bit more shoulder fat, just a little bit more beer belly. Thank goodness. I'm drinking this bottle of mediocrity. That's essentially what you're doing. Now I'm sorry if that seems harsh for many people, it might seem abrupt, it might seem crass almost, but some of us need a wake up call.
James:You know, like, I can cuddle folks and I can say it's okay or I can, you know, present something that might come across as tough love. And here's the tough love. If you're drinking any amount of alcohol, you are compromising your sleep and you're compromising your relationship. You're compromising your health. You're compromising compromising your presence with your children, you're compromising your productivity.
James:It's just a reality. This is also not an invitation for you to drink vodka for breakfast. Right?
Mike:Yeah. Why don't you tell what this reminds me of something, that we talked about the last time that somebody took your video where you talked about that concept. What happened?
James:Yeah. I did. I had a video on my Instagram, which is at James Swanwick. By the way, my last name is spelled s w a n w I c k. A lot of people, misspell it because it's a silent w.
James:But on my Instagram, I had a video, that started with, you're actually better off drinking for breakfast than you are anywhere close to bedtime if sleep is your priority. And this video went viral. I think it got maybe 9,000,000 views, I think, on my Instagram. And then about
Mike:3 I had one of my mountain biking buddies forwarded to me, and I don't think it was, you know, in a stream of a bunch of other posts, of course. You know how Instagram can
James:be on
Mike:the on direct messages. But after we talked, it sort of rang a bell, and I went back and I screenshotted it and sent it to you. One of my friends actually did send that to me in the past. Yeah.
James:Yeah. That video then got picked up by some people who are very pro alcohol pro drinking. And they did some very funny memes about it where they, they kind of, they played the video of me saying you're better off drinking alcohol for breakfast than night time, and then they kinda inserted themselves in and said, okay, doc. And they started pouring themselves of vodka, vodka into their cornflakes, stirring it around and then eating it. It was very, very funny, if not, you know, if you took away the humor, it's obviously shocking that people would drink alcohol for breakfast.
James:But the way I did it was very humorous and funny. And look, the way I look at it is if if it helps spread the spread the word and people came to find me and my message about not drinking, I'm all for it. And I think the, the highest form of flattery is to be spoken about, right, or mocked or made fun of. So I I I must admit I laughed hysterically at many of them. I've seen about 20 different, accounts now make fun of me in that video.
James:And I just I laugh almost every time.
Mike:Yeah. I mean, I bring it up because I already know you have a good you have that good Ozzie, sense of humor and just, you know, you do because of your character. And I thought it was funny that, I mean, obviously you're saying that to make a point. And, and you're not wrong in that. You know, it's better to give yourself some more time because I mean, you know, me writing a book around, changing your behaviors and habits around alcohol has people coming up to me more in social events that are just casual drinkers, you know, but they come up and they say, you know, like, tonight, I'm not really having anything or, very little because I've noticed that my sleep when I don't drink is so much better.
Mike:Like, sometimes I wake up, you know, even after 2 or 3 glasses of wine, I'll wake up at 3 AM with my heart pounding and maybe some anxiety or, like, they just feel sluggish compared to the others. So, I mean, no matter where you are, whether you're a casual drinker or not, I think all of us has have really felt the impact that it can have, on our sleep. And and now we're realizing how important that sleep really is in in not only our physical health, but how we like that entire day is gonna unfold.
James:Yeah. It's a great day starts with a great night sleep starts with, great preparation in the hour before you go to sleep. And it's it's like you wanna have a great life. Make that last hour before you go to sleep really intentional. Wear a pair of blue light blocking glasses.
James:I'm biased, so, of course, I'm gonna say Swannies are the best. I mean, I think to my knowledge, they're the the only scientifically proven pair of blue blockers on the market. There's lots of cheap alternatives on Amazon, which you can get for, you know, under $10. But, I've heard I've seen a lot of reviews and folks say that they don't work. Again, I haven't tested them.
James:I I got no idea. All I would say is if you are gonna invest in a pair of blue blockers, do your research, you know, like, be thorough about that. You can find ours on Amazon. You just type in Swanwick Sleep or Swannies, and you'll find us also swanwicksleep.com. But whether you you you invest in a pair of ours or from another company, do your research and make sure that that that the orange lens blocks what, they say it blocks.
James:And then at nighttime, what I like to do as well, I like to prepare my exercise clothes and and put them at the foot of my bed. So when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see are the exercise clothes, and I put them on. And that gets me out the door going to do exercise rather than try to fumble around and look for my water bottle and shirt and shorts and whatever. And then I'm, maybe I just won't go to the gym today. So, you know, a great quality of life starts with really, what you do in that that last hour or so before you go to sleep.
Mike:Yeah. That reminds me, I like the the setting it out before. And I got a friend of mine that said is saying that, oh, he's always stick to me when when my feet hit the floor, I hit the door. So like, you know, to to go to the gym. And I'm actually curious because I I have been wearing blue liking, blocking glasses also.
Mike:But, admittedly, I wear a cheap pair that were given to me at an event that just you know, they look cool and all, but I and I do value it. And so I was just curious about, like, the darkness. So, like, these glasses I have when I went to the I had the option to have I work online. You work online. You know, having them on while I'm reading and stuff, I think I had them put in.
Mike:I questioned the effectiveness, especially since they're not tinted. Is there, like, a reason, behind the the, like, the coloring of those lenses? Because they're you know, I've seen variations of
James:those. Yeah. Great question. So daytime, I wear the the clearer lens Swannies daytime glasses. Nighttime, you must wear a pair of orange lens, blue black blocking glasses.
James:I'll explain why. Okay. But just to so this really resonates and hits in with folks, daytime clear lens, nighttime orange lens, daytime clear lens, nighttime orange lens.
Mike:Got it. Now
James:here's why. It is an a physical impossibility in the universe that we currently occupy that a pair of clear lens blue blockers can block enough of the damaging blue light at night that destroys our sleep, destroys our melatonin production. The only way to stop blue light from messing with melatonin production, which is connected to sleep, is by ensuring you have a scientifically proven pair of orange lens glasses Right? Now in the daytime, it's not as it's not as important to wear the orange lens glasses because we don't want melatonin during the daytime. We wanna be energetic and have clarity and focus and energy.
James:Right? So the clear lens glasses really just filter the blue light and give your eyes some relief from being blasted by the blue light. So in actual fact, the clear lens glasses gives you clarity and energy and focus and productivity. We don't wanna be blocking all of the blue light during the day because we wanna be energetic. It's only at nighttime where we wanna be blocking the blue light because we want our body to start resting.
James:Does that make sense? Right? Yep. So so clear lens, daytime, orange lens, nighttime. And please, I I absolutely am begging your listener.
James:Do not fall for marketing from blue light blocking brands that are selling on producing the clear lens version and claiming that they help you with sleep. It's true that blue blockers help you sleep, but only if it's this big thick orange lens. I see a lot of companies out there selling the clear lens glasses with a little bit of a tint and claiming that there are sleep benefits. They're putting mayonnaise on that story. I promise you.
James:They're putting some sugar and spice on their claims right now if they if they've got orange lens glasses and they're claiming sleep, great. I'm all for it. Go go for them. Even if you don't go with our company, go go for them. But if they're if they're showing off these glasses with the clear lens and they're claiming their sleep benefits in the in the universe we currently occupy, it just ain't true.
Mike:That's really helpful because that's actually what I was always curious about. I mean, just by default, you would think, okay, dark is better at night and light is during the day. So, yeah, actually, this so this is actually a really serious question, and it probably depends on if other people are listening to this. But if you remember, there was a very famous commercial around rapping about blue light blockers.
James:There was. Are you planning
Mike:to bring that rap back?
James:Yeah.
Mike:Bring that back?
James:Yeah. Venice Beach, California back in the I think it was the late eighties or early nineties. Yeah. And it was funny. Yeah.
James:They they didn't know the benefits of of the blue blockers back then. They were selling them as blue blockers for daytime use. They didn't quite fully understand the benefits of it at the time. But, yeah, you can find that on YouTube. You can go back and see there was a guy rapping, and he's talking about the blue blockers and he's
Mike:got a sombrero on maybe. Yeah, that's right.
James:Yes. Yes.
Mike:Yeah. Alright. So enough of my bad jokes. Looking into the future, this is like the final question I really want to know is looking in the future, what projects or ventures are you currently most excited about?
James:Well, in terms of our stop drinking services, I'm most excited about the fact that we're having we're able to help increasing numbers of mostly business owners and executives, physicians, dentists, anesthesiologists, real estate investors, wealth advisers, vice presidents, executives, entrepreneurs to stop drinking for at least 90 days and possibly for good and have a better relationship. Like, that's really our core demographic, the people that we we like to help the most and where we seem to get most of our of our traction. So that's really exciting. And, we had our annual event in Sedona, Arizona just a couple weeks ago, and we had 40 clients fly in for that. And we did a big business mastermind, and we did some cold plunging in a in a frigid, creek, in Sedona.
James:It was freezing cold, and there's a lot of health benefits to spending 2 and a half, 3 minutes in cold water. We did some breath work, some yoga, some Pilates. We went hiking through the mountains. It was just gorgeous. And so, I've been I've been pondering doing these kind of things more on a quarterly basis, potentially bringing clients in our community to Medigy and Colombia where I like to spend a lot of time.
James:And it's only 2 and a half hour flight from, Miami, 5 hours from New York, and you come down for 3 days 3 nights and do really healthy things and do some business masterminds and workshops. I'm excited to grow that out, and and I'm really excited by our alcohol free lifestyle podcast. We have a podcast called alcohol free lifestyle. We're up to, like, 400 episodes, and we're interviewing a lot of neuroscience export experts now around how to reduce drinking and healthy habits and things like that. That's been exciting.
James:And, I think just to keep getting the word out there, I'm up to almost a 100,000 followers on Instagram, 160 on TikTok, and, you know, social media. I got a not a love hate relationship. Like, I love that it reaches people, but I'm very careful about how much time I spend on that. But I think the fact that that, we are I am being mocked somewhat with these, in these videos is a good sign that that that we're on the right track and especially you, Michael, over at, Sunnyside as well. Like, I see you guys out and about more, and I see other people helping people.
James:And I think, you know, I think I think it's it's all it's all good stuff. And I think we just keep supporting people with what we know and creating really fun communities rather than, like, painful meetings or painful rehabs or whatever it is. Like, we can just get people to reframe being alcohol free in a really fun way. I think we're gonna make a lot of great impact in the world.
Mike:I love it. And, I mean, one of the things that I know and like about you is just how genuine genuine you are, and also that you're just passionate about helping people in a way that doesn't guilt them or make them feel bad about it just in a in a very, like, helpful, supportive way. And so, if anyone here has been listening that really wants to connect with James, James, what's a good place for people to connect with you? I'll link it up if it's your website. But is it email?
Mike:Is it your website? Is it social media? What's a good place?
James:I'll give you 3 ways to do it. If you'd like to to download and read a guide that I put together here it is here. It's a little bit beat up because I take it around the world with me. But there's a guide here which outlines our stop drinking process. And you can go to alcohol free lifestyle dot com forward slash guide.
James:It's called the Alcohol Freedom Formula for Entrepreneurs and Business Professionals. Your guide to restoring relationships, health, and productivity by getting rid of alcohol. So if you go to alcohol free lifestyle dot com slash guide, I'll send a free copy of that out to you. The podcast is called Alcohol Free Lifestyle. You can hear that on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.
James:You're always welcome to send me a direct message on my Instagram at at James Swanick. Just tell me that you heard me on the sunny side with Mike, and I'll pay particular attention to you. And I'd be happy to send you a guide or any free resources we have to support you. And then the website just in general is alcohol free lifestyle dot com where you can find out more.
Mike:Well, James, this has been incredible. Thanks for sharing that, and, thank you for coming on today.
James:Mike, you're so welcome. Thank you so much for having me, sir.
Mike:Thank you. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform, having helped 100 of thousands of people cut out more than 13,000,000 drinks since 2020. And in fact, an independent study showed that Sunnyside reduced alcohol consumption by an average of 30% in 90 days. And as one of our members shared, Sunnyside helps me stay mindful of my drinking habits. It's not super restrictive.
Mike:So if I'm craving a glass of wine with dinner, I just track it and I move on with my week. If you could benefit from drinking a bit less and being more mindful of when and how much you drink, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free 15 day trial. You'll get access to everything that we offer, including tracking and planning tools, coaching from our experts, a vibrant community of people just like you, and the motivation and advice to stay on track with your health goals, all with no pressure to quit. That's sunnyside.co.
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