You’ll Never Unlock Your Business’s Full Potential If You Keep Drinking (Here's Why)

I want to start with a truth that makes many people uncomfortable, especially high performers. If you keep drinking, even moderately, you are leaving a significant amount of your business potential untapped. I am not talking about addiction or rock bottom stories. I am talking about the socially accepted, professional, celebratory drinking that has been woven into business culture for decades. That version of alcohol is rarely questioned, yet it quietly erodes clarity, motivation, and leadership.

For years, I normalized drinking the same way most entrepreneurs do. It was part of networking, part of client dinners, part of celebration, and part of how success was supposed to look. I also believed the story that moderation meant harmless. What I did not realize was how much alcohol was costing me, not just physically, but mentally and strategically. Once I removed it, the contrast was impossible to ignore.

This post (and the YouTube video linked here and podcast episode linked here) is not about moralizing alcohol or telling you how to live. It is about performance, impact, and the reality of what happens when you remove a substance that taxes your brain, disrupts your sleep, and dulls your edge. If your goal is to build a business that reaches millions and sustains you long term, this is a conversation worth having.

Why drinking became normalized in business culture

Drinking did not become a business staple by accident. From the very beginning of my career, networking meant happy hours, conferences meant open bars, and success meant expensive wine or whiskey with clients. These environments taught us that alcohol equals connection, trust, and belonging. If you did not participate, you were seen as different or even difficult.

I experienced this firsthand when I explored working for large accounting firms early in my career. Every firm hosted networking events, and every single one revolved around drinking. It was marketed as culture, camaraderie, and reward. I bought into it completely because that was the model presented to me.

Over time, this normalization extended beyond networking into client relationships, gifting, and celebration. Deals closed meant drinks. Promotions meant drinks. Wins meant drinks. Alcohol became the universal punctuation mark for business life. The problem is not the intention behind these rituals. The problem is that we rarely stop to ask whether they actually serve us.

Moderate drinking is not as harmless as it sounds

One of the most persistent myths about alcohol is moderation. We are taught that everything is fine in moderation, including drinking. Many entrepreneurs hear this and assume that one or two drinks per week could not possibly matter. I believed this too.

What changed my perspective was paying attention to how my body and mind responded when alcohol entered my system at all. Even a single drink shifted my energy allocation. My body moved into detox mode instead of recovery and optimization. That meant fewer resources available for cognitive clarity, emotional regulation, and physical repair.

The most deceptive part is that the effects are subtle. Brain fog does not always feel like fog when it is constant. Lower motivation does not register as a problem if it has become your baseline. Many people believe alcohol does not affect them simply because they have never experienced sustained clarity without it.

My personal experiment with quitting alcohol

My shift away from drinking began long before it became a firm stance. I remember attending a heated yoga class one morning while hungover and performing well despite feeling awful. That moment sparked a question that stayed with me. How much better could I be without alcohol at all.

I did not quit overnight. I slowly reduced how often I drank and noticed incremental gains in energy and focus. The real turning point came when I began training seriously for ultra endurance running. As someone who grew up with severe asthma, every variable mattered. I decided to eliminate alcohol for several months before a race to see what would happen.

What happened exceeded anything I expected. I trained harder, recovered faster, and thought more clearly. That experiment culminated in winning my first 100k ultra race under brutal conditions. The cheat code was not a supplement or a new training plan. It was removing alcohol.

What alcohol was doing to my productivity and motivation

Once I had a long alcohol free baseline, the effects became unmistakable. After reintroducing a single drink, I noticed brain fog for days. My motivation dipped. Tasks that once felt engaging suddenly felt heavy. I still showed up, but it required more willpower to do so.

This extended beyond physical training into my business. I felt less inclined to record content, less energized during strategic work, and more prone to choosing easy tasks over meaningful ones. Productivity suffered not because I was incapable, but because my internal drive was muted.

What struck me most was how normalized this state had been. I had been functioning at a fraction of my potential while believing I was doing just fine. Removing alcohol revealed what was possible when my system was not compromised.

Alcohol, mood, and the hidden cost to leadership

Mood is one of the most underestimated performance variables in business. Alcohol has a direct and lasting impact on emotional stability, even in small amounts. During my alcohol free periods, my baseline mood improved dramatically. I felt more optimistic, resilient, and emotionally available.

When alcohol reentered the picture, my mood dipped quickly. This mattered because leadership is emotional work. Decision making, communication, and culture building all depend on your internal state. If your mood is consistently lower than it could be, that affects everyone around you.

Many people who drink moderately believe they are happy simply because they have not experienced sustained emotional clarity. Once you do, it becomes clear that alcohol quietly narrows your emotional range in ways that matter deeply for leadership.

Sleep disruption and its impact on decision making

Sleep is one of the most critical inputs for cognitive performance. Even one alcoholic drink disrupts sleep quality by preventing deep restorative cycles. Falling asleep faster does not equal sleeping better.

As an entrepreneur, your brain is your primary asset. Poor sleep impairs judgment, creativity, and strategic thinking. When alcohol disrupts sleep, it creates a compounding effect. You wake up less rested, make slightly worse decisions, and operate with reduced bandwidth.

Over time, these small impairments add up. Missed opportunities, slower innovation, and reactive leadership become more likely. Removing alcohol restored my sleep and sharpened my decision making in ways that were immediately noticeable.

How drinking limits strategic thinking and opportunity recognition

One of the biggest business costs of alcohol is missed opportunity. Many people assume opportunity is about luck. In reality, it is about awareness and readiness. Alcohol dulls both.

When your brain is operating at full capacity, patterns become easier to spot. Conversations lead to insights. Ideas connect more fluidly. When alcohol is present, even intermittently, that signal weakens. You are less open, less perceptive, and less strategic.

Removing alcohol expanded my capacity for long term thinking and innovation. I was better able to build culture, design systems, and see beyond short term wins. This is the difference between running a business and leading a movement.

A practical path to quitting without isolation

Quitting alcohol does not require withdrawing from social or professional life. What matters is replacing both the drink and the ritual. Sparkling water, tea, or non alcoholic alternatives preserve the physical ritual while removing the chemical cost.

Equally important is replacing the social environment. Surrounding yourself with people who prioritize health, clarity, and growth makes the transition easier. You will quickly notice who connects through alcohol and who connects through conversation.

Networking without alcohol is not a disadvantage. It is an advantage. You speak more clearly, listen more deeply, and build stronger relationships. Over time, your circle naturally shifts toward people who operate at a higher level.

Why this matters for your business and your life

Alcohol is not just a personal choice when you are a business owner. It affects your team, your clients, and your impact. Lower energy, reduced clarity, and muted motivation ripple outward.

When you remove alcohol, you unlock more than productivity. You unlock leadership presence, emotional stability, and creative capacity. Your business becomes a vehicle for impact instead of a drain on your health.

I now see eliminating alcohol as one of the highest leverage decisions an entrepreneur can make. It costs nothing and returns clarity, energy, and focus. If you want to unlock your business’s full potential, this is a powerful place to start.

A personal invitation

I share this perspective not as a healthcare professional, but as someone who has lived the contrast. Cutting alcohol helped me win races, build better businesses, and live a healthier, happier life.

If you are ready to test this for yourself, start with 30 days. Better yet, try 90. Replace the drink, replace the ritual, and observe what changes. The results may surprise you.

And if you want support, accountability, and strategic guidance while you elevate both your business and your life, I invite you to apply for my VIP Coaching Experience. This is about building something meaningful without sacrificing your health along the way.