Steve Jobs succeeded in building an electronic device empire but failed at raising his family.

Against massive odds, Elon Musk succeeded in starting an electric car company, but failed at marriage…twice.

In my early years of internet marketing study, it always shocked me when a marketer code-named Sterling (Jeremy Frandsen), a co-host of a podcast I followed, once said,

“When you commit to your business you’ve got to jump in with both feet and do whatever it takes to make it work. Unfortunately, in my case, that meant that things didn’t work out between by wife and I.”

My perspective is different. Opposite, actually. I want to succeed, first and foremost, in my marriage and family.

If that means I’m never wealthy. That’s fine.
If that means I don’t achieve some of my marketing goals? So be it.
If that means I work three jobs to make ends meet? Alright.

If Steve, Elon, and Sterling’s commitment to their marriages would have mirrored their commitments to their businesses, I see little reason that things wouldn’t have worked out.

If I’m gonna fail at anything, I’ll fail at marketing, not family.

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

Not drinking, to some people, is like becoming a vegetarian. One day they chow down on a Big Mac, the next day it’s a mushroom “burger”. For me, that’s not the case. I’ve never had a sip of any sort of brew. Not only that, I’ve never really wanted to.

In Colorado, a state famous for beer, that makes me a 1%-er. While I know the reasons for such requests or more social, I’ve never been invited to “grab a beer” so much in my life. So, I figured I’d tell you why so you aren’t surprised when I don’t order something at the bar.

Religion
I’m a religious guy. Specifically, I’m a Mormon. One of my beliefs is to not drink alcohol. We all have beliefs that we live by. That’s one of mine.

Control
I like being in control of my actions. It sounds simple, but I prefer knowing that what I do is a result of my choices. Alcohol is a drug that changes behavior. I avoid most everything with that sort of description.

Taste/Small
Like I said, I’ve never even had a sip, but if beer tastes anything like it smells, count me out.

Cost
It’s crazy to me how much drinks cost. And this goes beyond the alcoholic variety. For the most part, I drink water and have never really felt the “pleasure” I get from drinking anything more than that is worth the price I paid.

Culture
There are certainly two camps here. One is the casual, social drinking. The other is the more weekend/party style where destroying your liver, not remembering what you did, and have a horrendous hangover is part of the “fun”.

With drinking, it’s always tempting to say “I just don’t get it,” which is true, but I also recognize that millions (billions probably) of people do, so there’s no reason or room for me to judge or jump to conclusions.

So, that’s the gist. I’m happy to “grab a beer” with you as long as you don’t get wierded out that the guy at the bar next to you isn’t actually drinking. Some people see self-imposed rules like this as fences keeping you away from fun. Instead, I see them as guardrails that keep me from doing things I simply don’t want to do.