Digital Social Hour - The Comeback Formula: Turn Your Darkest Days into Profit | Mark Jennison DSH #1087

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

🔥 The Comeback Formula: Turn Your Darkest Days into Profit 🔥 Join Sean Kelly as he sits down with Mark Jennison, founder of "I'm a Comeback" and recovery expert! 💪 Mark shares his jaw-dropping journey from rock bottom to redemption, revealing how he transformed his life and built a multi-million dollar business helping others overcome addiction. 🚀 Discover the power of self-love, the surprising role of psychedelics in recovery, and why traditional AA methods don't work for everyone. 🎧 Tune in now for: • Mark's shocking 7 major relapses and how he finally broke free • The unconventional approach that's yielding a 97% success rate • Why half of your friends might be silently struggling with alcohol Don't miss this eye-opening conversation packed with valuable insights for anyone battling addiction or supporting a loved one. Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets on the Digital Social Hour! 📺 #DigitalSocialHour #SeanKelly #MarkJennison #AddictionRecovery #Entrepreneurship #SelfLove #Comeback #ceocomebackstory #mentalhealth #drugaddiction #personalgrowth #alcoholicsanonymous CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - Causes of Excessive Drinking 06:42 - Identity Crisis and Sobriety 10:06 - Identity Reveal Journey 10:38 - Rock Bottom Moment 13:43 - Selling 90 Cars Challenge 15:14 - Teaching Recovery Strategies 19:05 - Son Phoenix's Impact 21:24 - Coping with Dying Father 22:34 - Mother's Influence 25:50 - Exploring Alternative Paths 27:34 - Ric Flair's Legacy 29:04 - Overcoming Victim Mentality 30:41 - Coaching for Success 33:00 - Benefits of Psychedelics 35:50 - Importance of Self-Love 37:30 - Addressing Military PTSD 39:47 - The I'm A Comeback Podcast 41:06 - Finding Mark Online 41:30 - Outro APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Mark Jennison https://www.instagram.com/iammarkjennison/ https://www.iamacomeback.com/link-tree https://www.youtube.com/@markjennison1 SPONSORS: Prolon: http://prolonlife.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad

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At some point, even the people that love me are like, damn dude, this guy just doesn't quit. You think they'd be happy, but I keep getting more successful. And I think it created jealousy or a mirror to them of like, why can't I do this? All right guys, got Mark here. Got a very important message today. Thanks for coming on man. Absolutely man. Thanks for having me. Yeah, we're going to talk alcoholism and

drug recovery, right? Let's do it. Let's do it. My dad was alcoholic. Really? Yeah. You drink a lot. How'd that impact you? Definitely turned me away from alcohol. Do you drink now? No, but I used to. how old are you? I'm 27 now 27 Yeah, I've been sober. I mean, I'll have a drink but I won't I haven't been drunk in like five years So you use that word sober, right? Is that something that you think that you actually are? Like do you think that's a People have different perspectives on it. My thing is like I haven't been drunk, but I've had drinks So some people would say oh, you're not sober because you've had a drink. You know what I mean?

So I guess it's like relative. So for me, man, I look at the word sober and it's actually not even in my vocabulary. Really? And like, what's crazy is I've helped thousands of dudes, right? Millions of people have actually tuned into the content with thousands of people through my program.

And I think that the reason that they do it is why they've come to me is because, I will get into this, I'm sure, but you can't get more sober. Like once you stop drinking, you're like, you can be better. So for me, I was never trying to chase sobriety. I wanted to chase greatness, right? So for me, uh, it's been nine years since I've had a drink. Um, I never counted days, but nine years has had a drink. I never counted days, but nine years since I had a drink. And at the peak of my drinking career,

50 to 60 drinks a day. Whoa. Snort cocaine all day long, handfuls of pills to go to sleep or shoot heroin. And from 27 to 33, I built the transportation company that had millions and millions and millions of dollars, 43 semi, 78 employees built it up, burnt it down.

So when I look at the word sober, I never wanted to be sober because that's like, just wasn't for me. I wanted to be in power. That is fascinating. So you were a functioning alcoholic. I would never even say the word alcoholic. I was functioning for ShareMan at a high, high level.

Yeah, like to be able to operate at that degree, you've got to be a little bit crazy for sure. You've got to function at a suit. I would say high performer and then like an elite performer because to pull that type of lifestyle off, bro, you got to be doing something crazy. You got to be obsessed inside of your mind. Absolutely.

Did you know what was causing you to drink excessively? Not when I was doing it. Well, here's what I find. There's three reasons why guys like me drink or the people that I help, I should say. Cause just to be clear, like if I wanna share it out for your followers, we have a very specific niche.

Business owners, entrepreneurs, high level executives, men's right now, eventually gonna branch out to women who want to gain control and be in power of their life and actually maybe drink again or not drink again. So for me, I didn't recognize in the point that even had a problem. As a matter of fact, when I stopped drinking, and I came to reality, like, whoa,

not everybody drinks like this. Not everybody's just snorting cocaine at five in the morning. Like, it doesn't make sense to me. So I didn't know what I was doing at the time or why I was doing it at the time. And honestly, I don't think I cared. But the three reasons were one,

there's a habit or a routine that works so well, it kicks our own ass. Two, deep rooted trauma, anger, shame, guilt. Or number three, just like getting wasted all the time. And I was a combination of all three. Damn. So that was me. So you had all three.

Yeah, I drank a little bit. I mean, it's relative, but in college, I definitely drank a good amount. And for me, it was a confidence booster and trauma as well. It's a- Sure. Yeah, I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere. So drinking helped me get more comfortable.

Do you feel like you fit in now? No, but now I know it. Do you want to fit in? No, hell no. I don't want to be normal. Isn't that messed up, right? Like you do things that fit in, you didn't even want to do it anyways.

This isn't just drinking, it's many things in our life. 100%. Yeah, it's so fascinating. Cause I tried to fit in with the cool kids growing up and like that wasn't me at all. You know, I should have just been myself, but you get bullied, you get made fun of for that. So yeah, I think I was on the other side of that. You were the bully. But I came from a place where I was bullied, right? By my dad or you know, like it was a tough life, I had a tough life growing up. So you only just hurt people, hurt people.

So I would hurt and I would hurt and I would hurt. What I found though is I was the guy that actually I was always instigating the drinking. So maybe I wasn't a bully, but I'm like, if I'm going out, I'm taking everyone with me. I had an entourage of people all the time. So I wouldn't make fun of people for drinking, but I would make them drink alongside me

to a point of almost like I was the Don. Kiss my ring, I'm the time. So I wouldn't like make fun of people for drinking, but I would make them drink alongside me to a point of almost like I was the Don, like kiss my ring. Like I'm the man, I had money back then, or have money now, but had money back then. And because I had the money, I thought you should drink with me all the time. And how would you handle people that didn't want to? Get ready for Las Vegas style action at BedMGM,

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It's the first time in almost 10 years. Yeah, I don't think they'd want to be around me. I think they were smart enough to stay away looking back at it now. When you're drinking like that and you're making the type of money that I was making and living that type of lifestyle, which goes hand in hand with just,

like Wolf of Wall Street was what my life was like. Really? It was very, I mean, I didn't make, I wasn't dialing phones like that, but I had a business that was running. It was chaotic. It was out every night, drinking all day long, you know, bars, people, enthralaches, doing all the stuff. People actually like that lifestyle until they don't like that lifestyle.

Right? So it was always easy for me to find somebody that would actually want to drink with me. Wow. So when you stopped drinking, was it like an identity crisis for you? Um, no, but it was, let me put it this way, man. I had no choice to stop drinking. I guess I had a choice. That's my whole message, right? My son was taken from me. So I was drinking at that type of level. I'll share a little background with you. I did a, I had seven major relapses. Inside of these seven major relapses, there's stuff like divorce, death,

you know, grieving. My uncle died. First time I did heroin, my friend died and they tried to then like get pin it on me. Right. The business failure. and they tried to then like get pin it on me, right? The business failure. So there was always some like cataclysmic event that would just cause me to just derail over and over and over. But here's what I did. I built up a business, lost it.

Built up another business, lost it. Then I went and I sold cars. Then I hit the top 1% of cars in like three, four months. Okay. But I got myself sober. I was like white knuckling. I was holding onto the mindset that I had and just selling cars and then about six, seven months

into it, leaving the Saturday morning meetings with like three to $5,000 cash. I'd find myself going back to the bar and I was living a lie. And then the alcohol and the drugs, I just like, man, I can't do this. And it took over. So I ended up, the dealership put me in rehab

and I did a 21 day stint. And I got out on July 3rd, which is 4th of July. So that's a tough day, right? So I went in on June 11th and got out on July 3rd and here's what happened. I got out and went back to the dealership and I had a couple hundred bucks in my pocket. I was sitting there, I remember looking at the road, the cars were passing by and I'm

like, what do I do now? So I was back in the real world, right? Like I had to make some choices and make some decisions. Like I had to do it on my own. I pick up the phone and I call my son's mother at the time. She's like, hey, I'm in Chicago. We're in Chicago. You can't see him now.

Like, let me just see my son, man. Let me see my son. And she's like, no, you can't see him. I'm like, okay, cool. I was in rehab. I understand that. So I pick up the phone and I call one of my good friends. He was like a bodybuilder.

The only guy I knew that didn't drink. He's like, yo, Mark, you should come over to the pool. Like where I live, there's still like the community pool. It's called Sunset Park. And he's like, come over here. Your son here is here swimming. And I just got lied to by his mom. And I made a choice in that moment.

I could have went to the pool and saw my son and started an argument and been like, why'd you lie to me? Instead, I went to a restaurant that I would never go to. And I sat down to order some food because I was inside of the, you know, in the rehab eating chicken or not even chicken. Nah, chocolate milk and like, jail food was awful. Yeah.

I wanted some real food. I sit down July 3rd, in walks a group of people. This guy walks in, he's like, buy a round of shots for everybody. You want one? I'm like, nah, man, I just got out of rehab. And then I slammed my hand on the table. I said, nah, fuck it, give me one.

Right? I did one shot, then two shots, then three shots. The next thing you know, it was just gone. Six hours, I got out of rehab and I was wasted. And then my son was taken from. Right, his mom at the time, his mom, she just died a couple weeks ago, but she took him.

It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, just so you understand. Right, I'm sharing this story with you because I want the listeners to hear the pain and the agony and sometimes the failure and the mistakes and the decisions. You talk about an identity. My identity was deeply rooted inside of this pain. Right.

So it wasn't an identity crisis. It was almost an identity reveal. It wasn't identity revealing. Like when I recognize like, man, I can hit rock bottom over and over and over. And I hear these voices. I hear these things like, Mark, you have something new in this world. There's people that need you. So although I didn't have an identity crisis,

I found my new identity inside of, I guess, a bottle. Wow. Right? I don't know if that makes sense or not, but that's where it came from. No, it definitely does, man. And you said you had seven of those moments, rock bottom moments?

Seven massive moments, right? Holy crap. Yeah. That was the final one. So that happened July 3rd of 2015. And then, so I relapsed that night, wasted, went out to be a total idiot. The dealership that put me into the rehab,

they're having a party at this bar, a bar I would never go to, I show up at this bar wasted. And they're like, what are you doing? You just got out 21 days ago. Like, what are you doing? So I lost my job, lost everything, lost my son. And I went on a nine day bend, I wrote. Like, just trying to kill myself.

Just as whatever I could put in my body. Much as I could put in my body. Just pouring it in. I couldn't even die. I couldn't even get it figured out. Like, I couldn't even die right. Obviously there was a purpose on my life, but here's what happened. My brother shows up one day at my house. He's like, dude, get out figured out. Like I couldn't even die right. Obviously there was a purpose on my life, but here's what happened.

My brother shows up one day at my house. He's like, dude, get out of here. Like go to Florida. Your mom's in Florida. Get out of here. We hate you. You're a failure. All these things. It was in a loving way, but he was doing the right thing for me. Shouldn't say a loving way. It's very pissed off. The point is he cared, right? Yeah. So I got, he got me a couple hundred bucks, got me a plane ticket. I jumped on a plane and flew down to Florida where my mom was. And I got off this plane.

I hadn't showered in nine days. I was shivering and shaking and withdrawing. I said, mom, take me directly to the liquor store. So she took me to the liquor store. I started downing Rumpelmanns. So I felt better. Here's what happened. I was down there for like four, five, six days and I just kept picking up.

I didn't have a phone. I was using her phone and went and got a flip phone. I kept calling my son's mother at the time. I'm like, just let me talk to him. Please. I need to hear like a real, real wimp, right? I'm like, just let me talk to him. You don't understand.

And she's not even answering. I'm leaving voicemail. She's texting back. Why don't you kill yourself? The world's better off without you. You're a loser, right? He's better off. And I'm like, you know what?

She's right. Like she's right. So she sent me some papers and I was gonna write the rights off to my son. I remember getting ready to write them. The tears are dripping down onto the paper. And I'm sure you've seen a wet paper for what that looks like.

And I didn't have the balls to do it. So my life, all these successful things I've done, everything I've created in my life, the businesses, and it was at a breaking point where I needed to do something. And I was gonna write the rights off to him and I was gonna go park cars as a valet parker. That was gonna be my job, right? Didn't matter how much money I make,

the business I built, that's where I was at. I went and I applied for a job and they said, sure, you can start on Monday. So I grabbed the beer. I went out to the, in front of the beach in Florida and sat down. The sky's pink and blue and orange. I cracked the beer and I heard a voice that said, are you ready to listen to me now?

And I'm like, yeah. Yeah, I stood up audibly. I've done a ton of drugs in my life. But the point is I heard the voice clear as day. I said, are you ready to listen to me now? And I answered it audibly. And then I got up and went inside because my mom worked at that restaurant bar.

And I said, hey, I got to go back home. That was, I don't remember that day, but I remember what was told, July 27, 2015. I walked in back in that car dealership. I begged for my job back. I went back, I drank a liter of vodka. I was still drinking, still lying, right? I said, just give me a chance, give me a chance.

I promise. And they're like, yo, Mark, if you're so, like you're so talented, but we hate you. You get no lot ups, you get no leads, you get no CRM, you get nothing, right? You get nothing, but show us that you can do it. I said, just give me a chance. I walked in on July 27th.

I had no shoes, no money, no food, beard, just disgusting looking. I didn't sell any cars for four days. I just kind of sat there and shook. And then finally I picked up the phone book. I started cold calling people. I ended up selling 90 cars in 90 days. Whoa, off cold calls?

Cold calls. Well then, and then I got out, I got my phone and I started doing Facebook, grassroots organic marketing, putting videos out three times a day, talking about my addiction, talking about sales, talking about motivation. But I started getting some momentum. And here's what's unique about it is I tried AA.

I tried NA. I tried cell bar recovery. I went to rehab. Nothing worked. No knocks against them. They work for certain people. I needed something. I needed self recovery, I went to rehab, nothing worked. No knocks against them. They work for certain people. I needed something. I needed to see a quantifiable result.

I needed a KPI. I needed indicators to see what the work was doing, right? So I started creating a discipline routine, a discipline structure for myself. And in those 90 days, as I was selling the cars, I recognized that if I could just keep doing these certain types of things, I call them the comeback seven. Now it's what I teach. I could actually see the results happening. Right? So, I know I'm kind of going all over the place on you, but no, that's great backstory to establish everything. Did that's,

it's fascinating to me how you were able to replicate it now teach others. Cause a lot of people can recover, but teaching it's a whole nother thing. I went to the world and I said, you're, you're not weak. You're not diseased, you're not powerless, and you're gonna pay me, which is the exact opposite of what everyone else teaches, right? AA should be given away freely is what they say. Is it free?

I didn't know that. AA is free. Oh wow, so how do they, is it a charity or? It's like people put in a dollar every time they come in, just one dollar, one dollar, one dollar. So what I did, man, and what Kevin over here did with me, we started doing this, was actually prior to doing I'm a Comeback, I was, remember I was telling you, I was selling cars, here's how this happened.

I was selling cars, and then we created a video program called 30 in 30, how to sell 30 cars in 30 days and create $100,000 a year as a car salesman, because I pulled it off. We started selling at like $27 on a phone. I was real good on the phone for cheap prices. And eventually what happened is I started coaching them and they didn't care about selling cars.

They wanted to know how I got sober. Even though I don't like the word, they wanted to know how I got sober. So I started teaching them what I did. And then over time, it just took off. So that was in 2016. So I didn't even launch it. I'm gonna come back to 2018.

And that's when we started the thing. There was like this vision and this desire to change the world. And I usually wear a black shirt, but black and white and gold and these things that mattered to me. And yeah, man, it's been relentless on the pursuit. We've helped 13, a little over 13,000 people so far.

Let's go. And that is that specifically alcohol or is that every addiction? So it's business owners, entrepreneurs, high level executives who struggle with alcohol right now. But here's what you know. There's really only three ways those guys mess up their lives.

Alcohol and drugs, food and women. So it's usually like a combination of all three for the guys that I serve. The plan for what we're doing here is to build it, get so much momentum, which is like why I'm on this type of podcast. I've got to figure out how to spread the message.

Right now I'm in my infancy, right? I mean, 13,000 is still a good start. It's great. But AA's been around since 1939, and there's like millions. That's a good point. But the difference is, look around. All this technology, I can fast track the results if I stay committed and consistent to what I want.

Right. So yeah, so it's been pretty cool, man. It's been very rewarding. Yeah. I will say I've never been to AA or anything. I know people that have, but I think that community aspect is why they're successful. You know, being around like people dealing

with the same issue. So that's what you built, right? It's a hundred percent what I built. The difference issue. So that's what you built, right? It's 100% what I built. The difference is the guys that I coach and teach, they actually believe in like self development and self improvement. Yeah. So like I like I said, I want to be clear people are out there that are watching your show and listening to your show.

My knock is my fights now with a AA works for a lot of people. If I could replicate or duplicate the results they have, I'll be super stoked on it. Yeah, I've got a long way to go. So this is not a lot of people. If I could replicate or duplicate the results they have, I'll be super stoked on it. I've got a long way to go. So this is not a knock on them. My fight, my wars with mediocrity and complacency and weakness and depression and darkness. Like it's a dark place when you drink.

So for me, when I went into the AA rooms, it just didn't make sense to me. Right? I didn't fit in. There was a culture, but the culture wanted me to stay stuck. They wanted me to trade my mindset of success for that of just don't drink ever again. And for me, it never made sense to just not drink ever again.

I wanted to win, right? Like I want to win at everything I do. So I found a certain segment of people in my life, just like me that want to win. So when I say there's 13,000 guys in the community, that's great, that's what we've helped. But there's hundreds of thousands that believe that same way. So yeah, the community's great though. It's very powerful.

And when you segment it out by like all business owners, they stop talking about alcohol. They talk about their families, they talk about the gym, they talk about sports. Love it. Yeah, that's awesome, man. Were you able to talk with your son? My son?

Yeah. Your wife let you talk to him? Never got to talk to him then. I came back and I fought for him. Got it. I fought and I fought. I didn't see him for five months. So I have him back now.

He's the one I was telling you about. He's 15 years old. We're close, man. He's actually up at soccer game. Our school that he's in is going to win state for soccer. Let's go. He's actually up at a soccer game. Our school that he's in is gonna win state for soccer. So he's up there cheering on his buddies. But yeah, man, we're super tight. As a matter of fact, this whole thing,

this I am a comeback thing was for him. Really? Yeah, I couldn't do this. I wouldn't have done this for myself. Whoa. So your son just has massive importance to you. His name is Phoenix, right? So like a rising from the ashes, like a Phoenix.

And it's interesting, because I didn't name him Phoenix. He was five when I started this, but his name has some symbolic meaning to me. And I rose from the ashes for him. And even today, so today I've got my son, I've got my wife, Kendra, who's a love of my life. And I got my two daughters, Jade and Bailey. And I built this family union.

And my whole thing, the comeback guys that we created for, we are really just trying to build legacy and be the greatest leaders we can be for our families. So yes, I got Phoenix back. I've worked on this relationship with him. We've been super close. I never missed a haircut, never missed a dentist appointment. I committed all the way in,

probably to the point where I made him a little too weak. A little helicopter parent. Yeah, a little bit of a tough guy, like I committed all the way in, probably to the point where I made him a little too weak. A little helicopter parent. Yeah, a little bit of a tough guy, right? So I always want to watch him. Now he's 6'2", and turned into a man, but I kind of soften him up a little bit. Was there any trauma from his early years? You know, I think about that.

I don't know. I think I combated the trauma, but at the same time, I don't know that we'll know until he gets older. Got it. He had his own situation, right? So his mom, she just passed away, like I said, three, four weeks ago, and she also partied, right?

So that's where we came from. So there's definitely some stuff inside, but I made a very conscious decision that I was going to work him, work him's not the right way. You know what, I'm just gonna say what it is, brainwash him. I was gonna brainwash him to believe he's the best.

Like since he's five years old, you can do it, you're powerful, like all these things, his confidence is through the roof, he's great at basketball, very good looking track. So I don't know what traumas may reveal himself, but I did my best to make sure that I could protect him. I love it. Well, I know you had some massive childhood trauma,

that's why I asked that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And you know, just as I was about to come on this show, my brother just texted me that our dad is, we don't talk but he's actually probably dead by maybe that time I get on the show. Oh shit, sorry to hear that, man. Yeah, so that's, I've got my own stuff, right?

Yeah. You don't talk to him at all, you said? Wow. But if I get back and he makes it, I'm gonna drive up there tomorrow. Really? That's why I'll fly out tonight, but literally on the way over here,

he called me and he's like. Damn, the timing on that's crazy. He's like, hey dude, dad's not doing good. And it's hard for me because I love my brother. Yeah. So I wanted to be there for him, but I don't know how to be there for my dad. And then there's a piece of me,

so I'm like, damn dude, is there something wrong with you? Like, bro, is there something wrong with you that you don't care? And so he still talks to him. He does. They're very close. But you, you, okay. Yeah. So they're super close.

Um, just my dad and I had a falling out a long time ago, but honestly, I want to say this because I know there's a big audience out here. I wouldn't be the man I am today without my dad. So for as much as it's messed up, I wouldn't be as strong I am today without my dad. So for as much as it's messed up, I wouldn't be as strong as I am without him. So he was very hard on you. He was hard on me, but he made me who I am. Wow. So this happened with my dad.

His dad was super hard on him. He left the house at 18, never talked to him again, man. And I saw it eat at him, if we're being honest. Like he would bring him up all the time. So it's sad to see that. Yeah. My dad made a conscious decision one time to tell me that I was dead to him

and that I was wearing black and white. And I was like, okay, well, that's what you think. And I guess that's, my mom did the same one. She said it too? To me too, right? So at some point I'm like, you talk about trauma, well, maybe there is something wrong with me. But I- Yeah, sometimes you could use it as motivation seems like you've done that It's what I've done. Yeah, but I would say from their point of view probably because they saw so much potential in you

They were like kind of disappointed, you know, you know back in the day I would agree but it wasn't till I started changing my life becoming who I am today and growing and growing and growing and growing that the distance really happened. Oh, okay. Right. Because I think that happens in any family, any household unit, when you start growing further than your parents and also man, like I've had such highs and lows, ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and I just keep coming back, right? Hence the shirt. I'm a comeback. At some point, even the people that love me are like,

damn dude, this guy just doesn't quit. You would think they'd be happy, but I keep getting more successful. And I think it created jealousy or a mirror to them of like, why can't I do this? Oh, they were projecting in a way. Yeah, but why can't I do this? Or why is he not taking care of me?

Right, you see that with certain families and friends even. Yeah, for sure. Most of the people in my life from back then are gone. Same, it's part of the entrepreneurship journey. I think if you keep the same people, it's tough because you're leveling up so fast. Like you can't expect them to do that. Yeah, I mean, running a family too.

I don't know if you're married or not. I'm about to be married next year. I'm excited, man. Kids yet? Not yet, but I can't wait. It's the coolest thing ever if you're married or not. I'm about to be married next year. I'm excited, man. Well, kids yet? Not yet, but I can't wait. It's the coolest thing ever. Yeah, I'm pumped. It really is.

But my wife, she's 33. So I'm 44, she's 33. And just, we've been together now going on seven years, but watching, like when you find the person you can run life with and you keep going and growing and growing and growing and growing, it's beautiful. Like we just keep pushing each other. Like I told you out there, man,

we're going to Dana point, California. We're just uprooting our house and we're going after our dreams to change the world. Like she's so bought into this mission that I'm going to be able to break the AA narrative and make people believe they're powerful. Alcohol was a gift to them, you know, mess up their life. And she's just willing to follow me wherever I go. Beautiful. Did she meet you when you were sober? Like, you hate that word.

Sorry. I could say whatever you want, but yeah, she did meet me. Um, she would've hated me when I drank to be clear. So would you, sober? Like, all right, you hate that word, sorry. Yeah, no matter if I hate it, you can say whatever you want. But yeah, she did meet me. She would've hated me when I drank. To be clear, so would you, so would he, everyone. I sucked. Yeah, so you had a huge ego. Dude, I was mean. I was like fake confident.

I was confident at the same time. Bar fights. Yeah, that type of guy. Just really just, you said overinflated ego, probably just I had a massive ego, just, you said overinflated ego, probably just, I had a massive ego, like way more than overinflated. But I just wasn't a good human being. Like I literally was just not a good human being.

And she would have never went for that guy. And I don't think I would ever be on this call if I never heard this podcast, if I didn't change it. So. Wow. You did a lot of self work, man. Nine years. Damn. Nine years and hours, man, hundreds of hours, thousands of hours. You talk about leveling up and loving up your social circle, like in growing fast.

I strategically we're here for a reason. Right. And then like the other guy that I talked to all the time and I was Andy Elliott, like we're close as hell. My wife and Andy Elliott and I, and this, I'm trying to level up and follow, run the play that they're doing. Why I think that's important is because people out there that may be listening to this, they're looking for a different way or an alternative to put down the drink and start living their life.

Like there's other ways out there than what's out there. I guarantee you that you have probably half your audience that may be struggling in silence with alcohol that doesn't wanna go get help because they don't resonate with the ideas, the ideas, the beliefs, the principles of what's out there. And they just don't know about me yet. It's my responsibility, right? It's my duty,

my obligation to go find those people. Dang. You really think it's half? That's a lot of people. Yeah, bro. I really do. Holy crap. I really do. It might've been more than half. Because that's all they know since 1939. Damn. And we hear it all the time. I, who was I talking to? It doesn't matter who I was talking to. But they manage billions of dollars. So it's one of my clients that manages billions of dollars.

And he was talking about, no, regardless. He's talking about the people whose money he manages. And they said, how many people do you think are actually struggling in silence with alcohol from this massive pool of money? And they figured about 80%. What? And they know the details of the family. And it's not just them. that you think are actually struggling in silence with alcohol from this massive pool of money. And they figured about 80%. What?

And they know the details of the family. And it's not just them, it's the kids. Huh. Right? So it's the mom and dad or the grandparents, then all the way down to the kids. You just don't talk about it. That is crazy. And then they don't really wanna go sit inside

of the AA rooms because they don't fit in. You got a guy who's worth $100 million sitting next to a guy that's, in theory, it should be the right thing. It should be okay, but it doesn't work that way. No, it doesn't, man. I had Rick Flair on last month. That's awesome. I asked him, was it worth it?

Because he's drank every day for 50 years. Still drinks? Still drinks, and he's, I think. Was he drinking in here? He wasn't, but I think he's like, gotta be late 70s now, And just interesting lifestyle, man. But it ages you to. What was his answer?

It wasn't like a yes or no, but I think he does have some, he did show some signs of regret in his answer. Cause when you're drinking and partying every day for 50 years, you gotta neglect family time and other aspects of your life. And the lifestyle that he lived, right? I mean, he's famous and wrestler and all that stuff.

I'll tell you what, I don't regret, I had 21 years of my life, I drank. Every day? Pretty much every day. Damn. I mean, I shouldn't say, there was bouts of time in between there that I would stop for two months or three months

or five months or whatever it was, right? So it wasn't all the time. But I would drink and I would drink and I would drink and I would drink and those times I would like let off the gas, I would come back roaring. I would make up for the time down, right? Wow. Okay, cool. Now I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to drink like three times the amount, four times the amount, five times the amount. I have no regrets because without that, I wouldn't be sitting there.

Damn. I mean, everything happens for a reason then, right? You have to believe that. I believe that. You have to, right? Especially if you're making a decision to change the world and change your life, like you have to believe that all that stuff happened

and it was those parts, especially for what I do. If I didn't have the story, I wouldn't be sitting there. Yup, I agree. First 25 years of my life, I had a victim mentality. You did, let's hear about that. I think this is easy to have that mindset growing up, watching the news every day, the household you're in. I would say a majority of people have that mindset.

You don't take any accountability. So that was just me for 25 years. There was a time in my life when I was trying to quit drinking and I had such a woe is me victim mindset. I remember telling my mom like you don't get it mom this is back when we did get along like you don't get it mom it's because of you it's a generational curse it's a disease and you gave it to me because your uncle or your brother and blah blah blah I was just sharing some lies some story like

some BS that I didn't really believe I wanted to believe it because it let me go be left alone to go do what I wanted to do, which was be a victim. Because then everybody felt sorry for me. And when they feel sorry for me, like, oh, that felt good. So I had it too. Yeah, it's easy to say, oh, I was raised this way. That's why I act like this. But you can make a conscious effort to change that, right?

100%. And you probably see that with all your clients. Yes, I think everything's changeable. But at the same time, I don't think guys like me, I know me, I can speak for me and the guys I've helped. I've never had them change anything about themselves, just what they put their energy and intention into. So like these guys are like, I have no discipline.

I'm like, dude, you're full of it. You're just disciplined the wrong way. If you can drink every day, five drinks, 10 drinks, 15 drinks, Monday through Friday, seven days a week, 365 days a year, that's pretty disciplined, wouldn't you say? Why can't you just switch in and go to the gym? So let's just switch what's going on over here and let's change your mindset. You don't have to change that, change what you're doing, just change the habits, change the outcome of what you're putting the energy into.

Right. Do you coach? Yeah, no, absolutely. Do you coach people online in person? How does it work? So we've been doing it online, um, since 2016, sorry, 2018. So we started prior to COVID just, uh, I think clients on demand, you probably know that as, as all right. So we kind of followed their framework and one to many group coaching.

I started off one-on-one, but on the phone, and then we just started building groups. And it's all done on Zoom. We do in-person stuff at our studios. So six years now. You're probably eight years. You're probably seeing some good results by now. So last time we did a study or a survey was 97% success rate.

What? Dude, that's insane. That's the highest I've ever heard for anything. And remember, though, our message is not that it's not about being sober. It's about getting what you want, which is control. And most people want to, they may end up not drinking, but they take back control of their life.

Got it. Right, so that's where it's in. So when you say success, it's like they have more control. They lost weight, they're happy, their wives let them back in, they didn't get a divorce, their kids love them again, they did stop drinking, they start controlling the drink. It's really a full lifestyle change with Imakai.

Dude, well done. It's 97%, I mean, you know. We do stack the deck though, that's why I go back to what I said, business owners, author, and you were as high level, they're the easiest to work with. Yeah. Right, because you're disciplined.

That's true. So as you know, in our space, the core space, the chargeback rate is like really high. You know, coaching courses, it's like 20% chargebacks. We don't, we actually, because we stack the deck and do the results, we don't, I don't know our number, it's far less than 20%. Nice.

I think we actually kick guys out if they're not doing the work. Really? Because integrity is everything. Wow, yeah, integrity is important. I mean, you've got guys to be honest, they're not going to sit here and BS you, bro. Like there's guys that don't do the work

and have chargeback, that's the truth. That's part of the game. Part of it. Yeah. But more often than not, like we built, I don't know what everyone else's company is like, but I actually truly care about the results. So we have people literally following them, not sponsors, but texting them, here's how you should do the work. What'd you do today?

And making sure they get what they need during the eight weeks. Yeah. It's, it's, it's tough on most people because a lot of people are looking for a magic pill, right? But yours is like a set thing that you got to do every day. So it's not easy for some people. But it's easy for the guys we work with because they understand like, oh shoot, I need to run my life like I run my business.

A balance sheet, profit and loss, boom. I'm gonna run my life the same way. Absolutely. Have you tried psychedelics? Yeah. Yeah? Did it actually work for? That's a whole, I need to bring up that conversation.

Yeah. I actually have a journey going on in my house, Saturday, not really, not tomorrow, Saturday, next Saturday. Okay. So I've done seven, seven journeys. Is that what, Ayahuasca or what is it? No, so it's a place down in Tennessee.

It's called Clairvita. Clairvita. Yeah. I don't know the protocol in it, but I've done seven of those journeys there. Like big names have been there. I don't want to do any name dropping, but some massive names have been on there. It's like private and confidential.

Can't find any information on it on the internet, but literally it changed my life. Whoa. Like that whole topic to the point where like, I did more in one journey than I did in the seven years, six years prior, seven years prior to that in my self-development. Dang. Okay.

That's a surprising answer to me because I thought you were going to say you were fully holistic and natural. Okay. I got to the point in 2020, this started in 2022. So that I started doing psychedelics. I got to the point where my suicidal thoughts came back. This was two years ago. Two years ago.

You got three kids. Three kids. I battled with suicidal thoughts since the time I was six, seven years old. Right? Wow, that early? That's my brother, if he was here, he would tell you. When we were little, I would talk about

wanting to kill myself, laying in bed, just for whatever reason. Dang. But here's what I know. The first journey that I went on, it was like 12 hours and it was long, beautiful, scary, dark, light. I don't know where I was at, but at the same time knew I'd been there before. And I got to a place where I could finally love myself. There was like this big vision of I'll share one

vision with you. So it was as big as you can see then think bigger and it was my wife. And she was like laying on her side naked. And there's her foot and her calf and knee and her leg and just laying there over there. And her hair was super long. And I jumped on her hair and I wrote her hair all the way down, upper body, then down to where she was standing like this, you and I right here.

She's standing there naked with her hair down over her breast and she says, I've been waiting for you. And in that moment, something broke open inside of my soul. I could finally, and it wasn't waiting for me, it was waiting for who I was in that place, finally revealed myself to me. And I was was waiting for who I was in that place. Finally revealed myself to me, and I was like, damn, I am worthy of love.

To be able to go through the amount of stuff that I've been through, the trauma and the stuff that I felt and the pain that I felt, and to be able to help these people, because I didn't think I was worthy of love, I was like, damn, I actually am love. And my whole world shifted. Damn.

That's just one piece. Holy crap. So I whole world shifted. Damn. That was just one, I mean, that's just one piece. Holy crap. So I've done that seven times. That's important, man. So self-love is a game changer. I thought my whole life, my dad didn't love me, to be honest. He never told me like with words

and he never gave me a hug. So he never showed me physical love. But I realized later on, he didn't know how to love himself, dude. Cause he has so much trauma as a kid growing up. His dad beat the shit out of him. didn't know how to love himself, dude. Because he had so much trauma as a kid growing up. His dad beat the shit out of him growing up. Do you know how to love yourself? I would say I'm working on it.

I don't know the answer yet. So one of the things that... The first thing in my program, like day one is love yourself. It's interesting. We have other stuff we teach, but like this one doc... This one video, love yourself. And when I created it, I didn't even love myself, but I knew that I needed to. And it took me, that was 2018.

It took me to 2022 to figure that piece out every day, working on it, working on it, working on it, working on it. Um, this is a question I ask all the guys that I work with. If I had to ask you on a list of all the things you love in your life, where are you at on that list? Whoa, that's a good ass question. Pretty, maybe like a girl, let's say third. So at least you're on that list, bro, and you're up high. Most dudes, they always give me a zero.

Whoa. I'm not even on this list. Okay. Yeah, I put my fiance and my parents on there and then me. Yeah, these guys put freaking sports, family obviously, but like you just keep going down like to Doritos to drink. You know, there's lists. They're just putting stuff on there.

They're like, man, I don't even love myself. I'm just joking, but they're not even on the list. It's a massive problem. And then like most dudes that I work with are very like type A individual, tough guys, specifically a lot of like special forces guys as well. So they don't want to talk about it, but they're the ones that need it the most.

Those guys got the most trauma, man. Most trauma. Military guys. Need the love. Oh man, they come out fucked up after they're in the wars. Absolutely. Yeah, and there's no help for them or anything. Yeah, I have a lot of them on the show and it sucks.

Their suicide rates are insane. You know, during COVID we didn't have any, we had a bunch of special forces guys and a bunch of veterans. We didn't lose any to COVID, but we lost a handful to suicide. Damn. Yeah, their rates are really high.

My wife actually served in Afghanistan. Damn. Yeah. Their rates are really high. My wife actually served in Afghanistan. Wow. So she's like, she's, she's 33 years old. She actually saw some combat and stuff like that. It's pretty cool. But I'll tell you what, sleeping next to somebody who had been blown, they got blown up and stuff, I hear her dreams. Damn.

It's wild. PTSD, right? Yeah. And that stuff doesn't leave you ever. Shows up in your dreams. I used to get wicked nightmares, man. Every day. I still do. Actually, interesting you just brought that up

because through these last few journeys, they actually went away. Oh, wow. It used to be so gnarly. So vivid, right? Vivid, real. Couldn't tell where I was at. But if it was really me or not me in these dreams,

but just painful, man. Yeah, when I was a stoner, I would get them every night, dude. I don't know if there's a correlation to that, but yeah, I cut weed out. That was another one. They say it's not a gateway drug. I think it is.

I don't smoke weed. You've never smoked it? I mean, of course I have, but my model back in the day was pots for pussies. It wasn't strong enough for you. I mean, of course I have, but my bottle back in the day was POTS for pussies. No, it wasn't strong enough for you. I mean, these days it's strong though. I would, yeah, I mean, back in the 90s. Yeah, that shit was ass, but these days, oh my God,

it's like 28% THC. I mean, I just never was into it. So for me, it was like, I smoked meth and crack and drank and heroin and just like that. It sounds gross to even say out loud, but like that's what I've had in my life. Heroin is no joke, man. Holy crap.

I mean, I don't do anything anymore now. Yeah. Except for those. You ever get a craving? No. For alcohol or anything? No, man. The biggest craving I get is for chocolate chip cookies. You got a sugar addiction. I love chocolate chip cookies, man.

I eat the whole box. That's your weakness. It is, it really is. I love it, man. Well, the whole box. That's your weakness. It is, it really is. I love it, man. Well, you got a show too, right? Podcasts? Do, yeah, it's called the I'm a Comeback Podcast. Nice.

My wife and I do it. I'll share this with you too real quick for the people on the outside. My wife, why I want to bring this up on this call or on this podcast right now, so important to say this, alcohol impacts people who don't even drink too. Okay, because her brother and her dad both died

drink themselves to drink themselves to her brother got an accident bad and the dad drank himself to death two weeks before my father-in-law two weeks before we got married whoa okay so when I share this with you know I'm on this this podcast I had three people die in my life she had two people there's there's like synchronicity in the numbers, like the dates and all the ages and stuff that it was. I believe that God put her here in my life to help me go change the world.

She doesn't have a drinking problem, but she felt the loss. I was the problem so we can help people in such a massive way. And why I'm saying that to you is because there's people also listening who've been affected or lost somebody, right? And they just need to know that it's gonna be okay. And they can come back from anything as well. That's beautiful, man. I love that so much.

Yeah, I'm big on purpose. So it sounds like you guys are soulmates. 100%. She did a journey back to the psychedelics. She did a journey with me. We did a couple's journey. Nice. Clearly know.

Beautiful, dude. Where do people get your coaching and keep up with you and find the podcast and everything, man? So podcast is going to be on just Apple and Spotify and stuff like that. But Iamacomeback.com if you're interested in booking a call to talk with us about taking back control of alcohol over your life. It's I-A-M-A-C-O-M-E-B-A-C-K.com Or you can find me on social media, Mark Jensen. Actually, I am Mark Jensen is my name now. We'll link it below.

Thanks for coming on, Mark. Absolutely. Yeah, that was impactful. Thanks for watching, guys. Hopefully this resonated with you or someone you know. See you guys next time. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Get ready for Las Vegas style action at BedMGM, the king of online casinos.

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