Hello Friend,

Yes, in the beginning I definitely struggled and had problems dealing w/ my emotions.  I think I felt scared & ashamed more than anything. I’m also 35 years old and since the age of 21 I’ve owned my own businesses. I was always in control, highly motivated to succeed and willing to work harder than the guy next to me.  So by the time I hit 30 I was rolling in success..I owned 4 successful bars & nightclubs as well as an IT Staffing Company here in Austin and my life seemed perfect. I thought I had it all figured out and I was convinced I alone was in control of my own destiny.  Well as you probably know, becoming successful often means making a lot of money and making a lot of money sometimes presents you with a lot opportunity…and sometimes that opportunity takes you down a path where you end up lost (this was me).  As my career grew, so did my ego and my desires to party, drink & do drugs. I lived up every moment like a rockstar and told myself “I can quit anytime.” Until one day I woke up on my bathroom floor after a long night of partying and stood up and looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t recognize my own face. 3 & 1/2 years flew by like a blink of an eye and somehow I had become an alcoholic & cocaine addict. I went from being a successful entrepreneur that many people respected to a drugged out alcoholic loser.   I was so ashamed because I thought I had my life all figured out and now I was going to have to start over and figure out how I was going to take my life back.  I was so afraid because there I was battling alcohol addiction and making a living owning establishments that sell alcohol. I didn’t know what to do……………………Now lets fast forward to today (only a year & a half later).  Today I am drug & alcohol free for over a year & a half…I have a beautiful 7 month old baby girl that is my entire world…My businesses are booming, doing the best they’ve ever done…I’m about to open another club in less than a month, I took some classes on commercial real estate investing & made some investments that turned out to be very profitable and I’m in the best physical shape of my life…Oh and lets not forget, I’M HAPPY.  I wanted to tell you this story because the reality is…were never going to have it all figured out…not you, not me, not anyone!  When I thought I had it all figured out I ended up with a bad addiction and in a dark, lonely place; And I knew if I stayed in that place, one day I wasn’t coming back.The first thing I had to do was to find a way to get out of that dark place and then work on not ever going back.  This was all I did in the beginning.  I told my business partner that I needed some time away from our businesses and focus solely on my sobriety. Many times I wanted to dive back into my old exciting successful fast lifestyle, but I knew that if I didn’t put my sobriety first, I would end up back in that dark place. I stayed committed to myself and my sobriety, eliminating any & all distractions that took my focus away from it. As time past, I got stronger and as I got stronger I started to feel like myself again. This is when things really started to happen for me…suddenly I felt re-energized wanting to learn new things and try new things I had never tried. Thats when I enrolled in those commercial real estate investing classes and starting training like a mad man in the gym & hardcore dieting w/ a coach. I trained so hard that we decided I was going to start competing in bodybuilding competitions. I actually won my very 1st competition and placed 2nd in my second competition qualifying for Nationals. As one good thing happened another would follow and with the birth of my daughter I realized what it really felt like to be rich. Anyways, I’ll go ahead and close here…I hope my story can help in some way. Just always remember…were not suppose to have it all figured out, no matter what age you are.  Put your sobriety first, don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t try and tackle all your goals at once.  Pick one, design a plan and commit to it! And last but not least NEVER be afraid to fail…some of my greatest success has come from my biggest failures.

All my best,

David