Success Manifesto

Alcohol as never really made sense to me. First off, I don't like its taste. Second of all, I've seen countless number of people make decisions they later regret and/or throw up repeatedly and feel sick the next day.

In high school I enjoyed drinking at parties because it made me feel more relaxed around girls. However, this never helped me get any girls in high school anyway!!!

I pretty much stopped drinking the night I met Sheena. She can probably count the number of times she's seen me drink on one hand.

The hardest part about not drinking that I've found is the social aspect. I now feel comfortable going to a bar and ordering bottled water or sparkling water. I think it will be difficult for me at business meetings when everybody else is drinking, but I haven't really encountered it yet. And I wouldn't be against drinking a tiny bit.

John Sexton, the president of NYU, has never even sipped alcohol once so this gives me hope that there's ways to get around it.

To me, it feels like the greatest benefit of alcohol is the buzzed feeling. My pesonal feeling is that I'd rather find ways of getting positive feelings that don't cost money, don't have negative health effects, and don't make me need more and more of it to feel its positive effects. Although, I do have to admit that it is difficult to get relaxed quickly in social situations without it, although it is theoretically possible.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 03:08 AM | Permalink

In high school, I didn't really know anything about diet, except that I wanted to be muscular so I could attract more female attention. It's sad, but true. I ate tons of candy, had protein shakes often, etc.

I first started thinking about diet after attending an Anthony Robbins seminar where there was a whole six hour portion on diet. The part of the seminar that affected me the most was watching how the animals are slaughtered and what they're fed. I won't go into that, but I decided to become vegetarian for a mixture of health and moral reasons.

Over the years, I've gone on and off a vegetarian diet. Things went up a level when I decided to go on a 100% raw food diet. In addition, I did a four day fast.

I stopped the raw diet after six months and went back to being a vegetarian. Now, I'm just a vegan. I don't drink and very rarely eat sweets.

Here's what I've learned from this whole experience:

1. I will be very careful to be a part of an "extreme diet" again. After reading many books and attending many meetings on raw food, I saw a lot of circular thinking and putting the ideal experience over people's actual experiences. I still feel that a 100% raw diet can work well for people, if they're very careful, but I don't think one has to be 100%. I probably eat 60-70% raw food.
   
2. Not eating sweets probably has had the largest impact. I very rarely crave sweets and as a result, I don't have ups and downs like I used to. I have a much more balanced feeling, not to say that my mind doesn't throw that off.
   
3. Fasting was interesting. After a day of it, the desire for food became much less and I realized how little food the body needs. However, after the fast, I gorged myself on food. I couldn't get enough even if I was already full.
   
4. I'm a vegan now not because I think meat is innately bad for health. However, after learning how animals are raised, what they're fed, and how they're killed - it doesn't seem like the best choice for me in terms of health or ethically. I think there are other options I could pursue such as open-range chicken and grass-fed cows, but I don't think these things are regulated very heavily and I don't feel like spending the time to research companies.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:46 AM | Permalink