Gone Ghost — What does it mean to go all the way?

Have you ever felt your life spiraling out of control and felt powerless to stop it?

Of course, you have; I think it’s part of being human.

So how do you take control of your life again when you’ve lost control of yourself and when you can’t see the light anymore?

• Today’s article is written from a random hotel room in Scotland.
• Today’s article is written after my 7th day of drinking whisky in a row.
• Today’s article is written because I’ve finally decided to do what I must..

Let’s discuss, shall we my internet friend?

One of my favorite thinking spots is in Vernon, BC, Canada.

“The Secret of life is to die before you die, and find out that there is no death.”

As I sit hear listening to the writing hack that is the Interstellar soundtrack, I’ve finished off my second bottle of Laphroaig whisky this week.

Yes, I know what some of my loyal readers are wondering…

Didn’t you quit drinking, Luke?

I quit for approximately 157 days(or something), and it all began last August. I’d realized that, well, I had lost control of myself.

Last summer, I bought and refurbished a campervan and drove all over Scotland. It was the beginning of this spiritual and well journey to the end of myself that I’m currently undertaking.

I visited random fishing villages, beautiful islands, and of course, many whisky distilleries.

It was a difficult year for me, and I won’t dive into why fully on the internet but let's just say I was grieving a deep loss.

I began drinking whisky when I moved to the UK in 2019, and when Covid hit, I slowly began to consume more and more to battle stress and anxiety and well the pressures of running an online business.

Last summer, I’d reached a point where I was drinking half a bottle or more of Laphroaig every single day.

• I showed up to discovery calls trashed.
• I showed up to client calls trashed.
• I wrote content trashed.
• I was always trashed.

One day in late August, on a particularly tough day, I downed an entire bottle in a day, and worst of all, I FELT NOTHING.

NO buzz, no inspiration to write, nada.

It was on this day I decided I needed to quit.

So I made a bet with my LinkedIn audience that I could go the rest of 2022 without drinking, and if I failed, I”d buy anyone who commented on that particular post a pizza.

Turns out that woulda have been over 7k if I’d failed.

I won the bet naturally, go me..

However, here I am again, 3 weeks into testing casually drinking.

It turns out, I don’t do casual very well, HA.

This spring, I am in a much better place personally; however, I’ve yet to go fully GHOST like I’ve wanted to.

I’ve decided March 1st it’s the time to do that.

Why do I want to go ghost, and what does that even entail?

If you read my first article here on Medium, you saw me describe my desire to move somewhere where I know nobody, to cut all forms of cheap dopamine, and obsessively build my business, my body, and my soul.

I’ve begun taking steps to make this happen.

1. I deleted Instagram and Tiktok off my phone.
2. I quit posting on my LinkedIn account of 83k followers.
3. I’ve been hiding in an undisclosed location, working on myself.
4. I’ve begun journaling my goals and what it will take to achieve them.
5. I’ve faced the truth that although I’ve made good steps, I’ve still been holding on.

Going “full ghost” for me means the following:

I separate myself from society as a digital monk and fast all forms of cheap dopamine. This means only interacting with people who are involved in my business and my clients.

• No movies.
• No scrolling anything, including LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Scheduling out content for all of March and not logging in. My team will engage for me on my LinkedIn Business Page & Twitter.
• No alchohol, junk food, or any form of pleasure from food or drink.
• No women.

Now you might be thinking to yourself wtf, Luke?
What are you going to do?

I plan on spending all of my time working on my business and myself.

Currently, that means:

• Reading books.
• Listening to audiobooks.
• 1 LinkedIn Blog post a week.
• Recording one YouTube video a week.
• 1 Medium thought-based article from the road a week.
• And most importantly, working on my business systems and clients.

My March is going to be a ghosty one, but I will see you on the other side, friends.

Oh, and a fun fact, I will be returning to LinkedIn on April 1st armed with new content, carousels, video clips, and an evolved style.

Until then, I hope you enjoy what I’m putting out and wish me luck as I quit drinking again.

Cheers friends.

Credit to

Stephanie Jane

for this custom GIF.