A year ago, I learned about a 90-day challenge my good “friends”, Rachel and Dave Hollis, and I knew I needed to jump in this one. The objective of the challenge is to help you uplevel during the end of the year rather than let it all go to hell because you know you will just get back after it again in January. It’s like acting like a number one asshole because there’s a thing called Confession where all is forgiven. But it doesn’t erase the damage done by the asshole behavior and will probably take quite a bit of work to repair all the tattered relationships.

Same goes for the whole “let it go” damage to our health that done during the last quarter of the year. We eat our kids Halloween candy, we drink all the beverages because it’s tailgate season, and we skip out on workouts because we are just “too busy.” I’m not pointing fingers here because this was me not too long ago. All the great work I had done living a healthy lifestyle during the first three quarters all went to hell during the last one and come January, I always had to claw my way out of the hole I had dug for myself.

When I heard about the challenge, I knew I needed to jump in in order to keep me from falling into that same unhealthy pattern. If you are a regular reader here or follow me on social media, you know that not only did I cut out dairy (one of the rules is to stop eating one food category that you know isn’t good for you), I cut out alcohol, too. I’d done it before for cleanses and, of course, when I was pregnant but never would I have dreamed of going alcohol free DURING THE FALL! I means that’s almost serial killer kind of crazy. Or so I used to think.

And you guys…fall is my absolute favorite season. The crisp evenings bundled up on the back patio with a blanket or cozy sweater, the trees are all on fire with their gorgeous color, all the tailgating and Friday night lights, Husker football Saturdays, my wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with ALL THE WINE…you feeling me on this?

I’m not sure what it exactly was that pushed me to give up alcohol but I knew I needed an extra challenge. Whether it’s creatively, in my workouts, learning something new, or a personal development conference, I need to be pushed. So I think giving up alcohol during the fall was a major challenge for me and that it was going to prove to myself that I WAS mentally strong. That I was not my father. That I was able to be comfortable in my own skin when everyone else was partaking in the party.

I found more about myself than I ever dreamed of, during those 90 days and beyond. I started journaling regularly and through that I began to question what I wanted for my life. Where was I headed? How did I want to feel every day? The words that kept coming up for me were

Awake

Well

Empowered.

I don’t think this would have ever entered my mind if I had been drinking. Up until last fall, I had done a lot of dreaming but no action. I was foggy about what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I am a mom and while my family is a huge priority for me, I needed more. I needed to be living according to what made me feel most alive. But up until now, I struggled with knowing who I really was. I felt I was close to finding out but it was always the two steps forward, three steps (or more) back.

January came around and I liked how clear-headed and focused I was more than how I liked numbing out with alcohol so I kept going. I hit 100 days of no alcohol, then 200, and then 300. During all those days, I began showing up in my blog, on social media, and in my personal life with living #intheAWE as my filter. I love sharing wellness information with others, in hopes they get inspired to live healthier, too. But what I realized was that I wanted to make this my job. How was I going to create the financial and time freedom I wanted without giving up on my dream of empowering others in their health?

Again, my daily journaling brought the idea to the forefront of my mind and I took a leap. I decided I was going to somehow create an online program that I could put all my knowledge into one place so that I could deliver in a way that allowed me time freedom. I announced it in public in order to hold myself accountable and so here I am, just a few days away from the launch of my program.

This would have never have come about if I hadn’t participated in the Last 90 Challenge and hadn’t given up alcohol. The daily journaling in my morning pages and in my Start Today journal played a big part as well.

October 1st is around the corner and I challenge you to challenge yourself by participating in the next Last 90 Days. (click the highlighted text to read more). You’ll never regret the results you’ll get when you uplevel rather than nosedive during the end of the year.

I know I don’t!

Sidenote: The day before I launch my program, I will be on day 365 of no alcohol.