Today (June 4) is my 57th birthday. I’m starting this year off much healthier all around than when I began my 57th orbit, as I took my last drink of alcohol June 24, 2023. 

There were reasons, of course, for giving up the habit, in three categories: body, mind, and spirit. In this three-part series, I discuss my reasons for and associated effects of quitting alcohol for each of these buckets. 

In part one, I discussed how alcohol affected my body and the resulting physical benefits. I also dived a bit deeper into my relationship history with alcohol. In this post, I focus on the mind.  

The Effects of Alcohol—The Mind 

For most of my decades-long dance with alcohol, particularly the latter part, my mind ill effects were confined to perceived increased productivity, perceived enhanced professional interaction, flirting with driving while intoxicated, and the wonderful experience of decompressing. The latter spans two buckets, mind and spirit, and was perhaps my biggest reason for the crutch of using alcohol. 

Productivity: I don’t know when I began the habit of working while at a bar. Perhaps it is rooted in my undergraduate days. In grad school (circa 2009) I would regularly work on my assignments while downing a few Sam Adams at an O’Charley’s on the route. More recently, later day typing on my laptop’s keyboard while downing a few pints at one of the local establishments near my office or at my desk taking advantage of Yingling on tap in the workspace café for the taking. 

Why was this predominant? I had convinced myself that I could enhance productivity in the latter half of the day by “lubricating my brain”, tired from the stress of the day. At least, that’s what I told myself. I believe now that any increase in productivity was minimal and fueled by the desire to give myself an excuse to drink. After all, if I was working, then it would be acceptable, right? 

However, in the grand scheme of things, overall productivity suffered. 

Professional Interaction: For my entire career, one constant has been the prevalence of alcohol at conferences and other vendor-funded events. It makes sense—after a long day of sessions, discussions with vendors, and walking, unwinding with colleagues with vendor-sponsored (i.e., free) drinks cam be a welcome event. 

I think many see me as an extrovert, but I consider myself an introvert. I find (or used to find, as I’ll touch on later) initiating discussions with peers intimidating. I think introverts given extrovert appearances is common. Alcohol is a natural inhibitor of that negative feeling, and I found that after a drink or two (usually beer, sometimes red wine, never hard alcohol), I was more willing to have an open discussion, and people seemed more willing to talk to me. 

Yet I can recall many times when I regretted saying something, caught in the buzz, or heard myself slurring a but, or feeling the glazed eye look, either from me or at me. None of this felt too professional. Well before I stopped drinking, I began to pull away from these events. I’d leave conferences before the booth crawl, decline vendor after-hours events, and not accept vendor-sponsored executive networking dinners, where for the price of two or three hours (plus travel time) I could interact with many of my CISO peers while learning about the sponsors product. All that while enjoying a great dinner, with drinks, of course. 

I need to stress, though, that I don’t see anything wrong with these events. I just preferred to distance myself from them, because I didn’t care for the drinking (or the late hours). I learned to adopt a whole different approach to these events, though. More on that shortly. 

Decompress: I’m going to touch more on this subject as part of part three of this series, spirit considerations. However, decompressing more immediately involved shutting down stress in my mind. 

In the middle of my career, I took a chance and accepted a position that proved to be in a toxic situation. I knew it was a mistake by the third month. While my previous position had yet to be filled, pride prevented me from asking for my job back. I was stuck in a terrible environment, and my morale (and health) suffered. 

Often, probably at least three of the five days of the work week, I would stop at some bar on the way home for at least a couple of pints. I had a few favorite watering holes, often dependent on distance from home and the need to de-stress. I don’t believe I was ever physically addicted to alcohol but those days my mind needed the drinks. They served as a firewall separating the ugliness of the day from the home’s sanctuary. 

Driving: I had learned to manage my drinking if I was going to drive later. Generally, for men, blood alcohol content (BAC) increases 0.2% for each 12-ounce regular beer (around 4% alcohol). The body metabolizes 0.2% per hour beginning after the first hour. Therefore, I could have four pints in 3 hours and legally be fine: 4 pints at 16 ounces each equates to 5.333 regular-sized (12 ounce) beers, which produces a calculated BAC of 0.67% (5.333 times 0.2%), then subtract the alcohol metabolized, 0.4% at 0.2% per hour, first hour excluded). This was below the legal limit of 0.8% with a decent margin. 

My decompress stops, therefore, involved time and drink calculations. At least mathematically, I would be below the legal limit. Some would call this rationalization. 

All of this is only playing with numbers while discounting the cumulative effect of alcohol. Impairment doesn’t suddenly go from nothing to significant at 0.8% BAC. Many times, I felt while driving my reaction time was reduced, but I rationalized the habit anyway, so long as I was “legal”. Thank God I didn’t get into an accident, or worse. 

Mind Changes 

My productivity vastly increased gradually the first month I was sober. I attributed this to better rest and more positive body chemistry overall. I found myself getting up earlier, until today I routinely wake up at 4:30 AM and am at the office at 6 AM (as I write this sentence, it’s 4:47 AM). I joke that I get more done by 9 AM than most complete in a day of work. That’s how productive I feel. 

The time before dawn is wonderful, filled with peaceful serenity that many do not regularly experience. I use it to clear my mind for the day’s tasks ahead. I’m blessed that each morning I get to look forward to a day of doing what I love to do, and I want to experience it as fully as possible. These days won’t last forever. 

Professionally, I enjoy the clarity of mind when interacting with colleagues and others. I was put to the test early on when I was invited to a reception welcoming the new dean of the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University last summer. I found myself next to the free drinks bar, a cold, droplet-covered bottle of Sam Adams on top of the portable mini-bar seemingly staring me down, but I did not flinch. That day, cranberry juice became my go-to at events where alcohol is prevalent. Of course, that eliminated any driving concerns as well. My only worry now is if an event is later, as I tend to start winding down by 8 PM since I wake so early. 

Most importantly, I am much less anxious nowadays. A significant part of this is the abstaining from alcohol, but improvements in diet and maintaining regular exercise play major roles. I find the need to decompress much less prevalent because of these changes. 

In part three, I’ll discuss the most important leg of this triad, the spiritual detriments from drinking and the changes abstinence have brought. While body and mind considerations were important and changes in those areas have been significant, it is my spiritual well-being that benefitted the most from this change.