College Student Nick's Journey to from Gambling Addiction to Recovery using the Recovery Freedom Circle

Can you imagine how easily a fun pastime can turn into a harrowing addiction? Join us as we speak with Nick, a 22-year-old who experienced firsthand the downward spiral of sports betting. Influenced by a passion for sports and the newfound freedom of college life, Nick’s story is a raw and honest look at how quickly gambling can escalate from friendly wagers to severe problems. He contrasts the fleeting highs of his addiction with the genuine thrill of bowling perfect games, painting a vivid picture of what it means to replace false achievements with real ones.

We also shed light on the insidious impact of gambling in daily life, often disguised through celebrity endorsements and flashy ads. Hear about the Recovery Freedom Circle and its unique approach to overcoming addiction, focusing on personal goals and character development. By shifting the subconscious mindset, individuals like Nick have found ways to reclaim their lives. This episode emphasizes living fully and authentically, encouraging listeners to embrace honesty and willingness in their recovery journey. For more insights and community support, check out Lifeiswonderfullove and join the Recovery Freedom Circle on Facebook.

Chapters

• 0:21 Sports Betting and Recovery
• 9:26 The Impact of Recovery Freedom
• 16:17 Discovering Recovery and Life's Wonder

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

Oh, here we are Sports betting in relationships, work hard in recovery, work hard in your job, school, business that you run, and to love unconditionally. Just put more love out there in the world and let all that love come back to you. Remember a few key things Recovery is beautiful. Your EQ is your IQ and you cannot outthink an emotional issue. Your EQ is your IQ and you cannot outthink an emotional issue. Now we encourage people to join the Facebook group Link is down below Recovery Freedom Circle and so this is a community, so everybody gets to participate.

Speaker 1: 0:58

You get to talk about your accomplishments, your goals, your dreams, what you're doing in recovery, as well as questions you may have. It could be on a specific step, on the original 12 steps. It could be on the 12 steps explain the way I rewrote them to get people to recovery faster. Look, no one wants to spend and waste time. You know. Really try to understand recovery so you get to live your best life. This is about you starting to live the life that you truly want. So just join the Facebook group and add could be also a quote, could be anything that you find inspirational. So now let's jump into this week's episode. I have Nick here joining me on the 1% in Recovery podcast. How are you doing, nick?

Speaker 2: 1:44

Doing fantastic. I'm honored to be here and hello to my fellow addicts.

Speaker 1: 1:49

Excellent. So let's start things off. Tell the audience one thing you love. I love to bowl, so everybody wants to know have you ever bowled 300? In fact, I have twice, twice. Okay, remind people how many consecutive strikes. That's 12, correct, correct, 12 in a row, and the feeling that you got when you got the 12th consecutive strike.

Speaker 2: 2:16

Made me feel untouchable. No one was better than me in that I genuinely can't do anything better. So the adrenaline rush was insane, and I don't think I'll ever feel anything like that again.

Speaker 1: 2:28

See, that is the beauty, because that is something Nick earned. He earned those feelings of exhilaration. And that's what we're going to talk about and touch upon and why gambling is always so fake. Because anytime you think that you won even if you won, let's say, say, a five-team parlay you didn't do a damn thing. You just circled a few teams or prop bets and it really it's never lasting. But something like bowling 300, that is something truly to be proud of, Especially if you do it twice and then to continue on. So now let's jump into this week's episode going to continue on. So now let's jump into this week's episode. Let's go into question number one. Do you consider yourself a problem gambler or someone that struggled with gambling addiction?

Speaker 2: 3:20

Good question. I would identify as a gambling addict. I think a problem gambler is someone who's able to turn the switch off and only gets in trouble every once in a while with the gambling. But for me I was an addict because when I was in action it was constant and I was unable to turn it off, no matter what I tried to do or how hard I called out.

Speaker 1: 3:38

Okay, so help the audience understand. So how old are you? 22 years old, 22. And how long did you really gamble like a gambling addict?

Speaker 2: 3:49

I'd say from age 19 to age 21 and a half.

Speaker 1: 3:55

Okay, so a good two and a half years, and I think that's very important because I think a lot of stuff around addiction now is accelerated. It's no longer like 20-year run, like I did between the age of 12 to 32. Uh, you were seeing, because it's the way they're pressing and they're almost making gambling, trying to speed up how fast or how many times you can gamble in an hour, in a day.

Speaker 2: 4:21

I mean you can bet whether it's like the first pitch is a strike, the first quarter spreads it's anything.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Well, I just put that on the sports betting podcast episode that now before first pitch or tip off or kickoff where it used to be 100% you had to have your bets in. Now that's only 65%. So that means 35% of all sports gambling is done after the game has started and that's, I think, a really big and that shows you how quick then you know if you start losing that bet. Initially you're like I got to catch up, I got to do something and you can create a bigger hole. So tell people how did you start? You know where did this whole idea of kind of gambling begin or what you think it, how it started.

Speaker 2: 5:11

So I think it's important to note that I've always idolized sports. Growing up, I played every sport year round and watching my favorite teams like the Houston Astros Texas Aggies Gig'em the Houston Astros, texas Aggies gig them Longhorns but I do agree Houston Astros another World Series is in our grasp Houston Rockets.

Speaker 2: 5:34

I mean just some of those games.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Going in person and watching on TV with my dad and my brothers it's some of my favorite childhood memories. And where the gambling comes in, that I've always done on the side with friends, like whether we're playing golf, whether we're bowling, trying to prove to each other who's the best and to add more money on the line, makes it more exciting the fact that I had raised a lot of money working and mowing lawns in the neighborhood, that when I went to college and didn't have my parents and people over my ear saying what are you doing with your money and what are you doing with your time, it allowed me to get reckless and, through fantasy football and just watching other games, I started betting and the rest is history. You have a podcast on here that talks about the winning phase, the losing phase and the desperation phase. I like to think my winning phase didn't last very long. Yeah, I had a couple of weeks where I went, a couple of bets and I'm like, wow, I can make some money pretty quickly. This is exciting, you're going to be rich.

Speaker 2: 6:46

Yeah, little did I know.

Speaker 1: 6:50

You went from rich man to poor man.

Speaker 2: 6:54

It's okay, we all did so. You're not alone.

Speaker 1: 6:56

I tell people all the time it's like hey, unfortunately and I keep telling people it's not a fair fight the odds are heavily favored into the house, the casino, the sports book. So that's why they make billions of dollars and we're hopefully winning a few thousand. I mean, the whole psychology is even off.

Speaker 2: 7:18

But it really is a losing game, though, because once they get you in that losing phase, they can turn it into the desperation phase real fast, by throwing all these promos.

Speaker 1: 7:29

And then you start gambling stupid and then you're just doing things games or sports that you never would have, and then you just create even bigger losses. But I want to hear this is an important thing, especially for, I think, because, since you're a college student, you're someone who's early 20s nowadays, so there's so much because when I gambled there wasn't, you know, gambling was always under the radar. I had to go find a bookie. But now you have so many states supporting sports betting. Tell people, is it the lure because of the heavy advertising or is it was thinking that you're going to be able to get rich quick? Was there one kind of mentality that was, or is it a combination?

Speaker 2: 8:14

for me, it definitely. For me, it definitely was the get rich idea of, like I said, I was in the winning phase and I thought I knew what I was doing. Like you see, you win crazy bets, like turning 25 bucks into 750 in a day, and you're like I'm him, like no one can touch me. So I would say that. However, when I tried to stop quitting, I'd see advertisements. Like if you watch a football game, I challenge all of you guys to just count how many advertisements are related to sports betting in a given commercial break, because I would start doing that. It would drive me crazy. They'd be here's the newest promotion on sports betting and I'm just like I cannot get away from this. It is literally everywhere um, not only in our media, with sports being propped up. But it's just hard to turn off Alcoholics they just can avoid going to the liquor store, but for me, whenever I go on my phone, there's always that temptation.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Right, that's the thing, because now gambling is always going to be on the mobile phones, much more so than some type of brick or mortar casino. You can be embedded. You know, I know plenty of guys who are gambling and their wife or girlfriend is just sleeping with them in in the bed and they're sitting there gambling. Tell one thing, uh, tell something, because the other thing is is also the influencers? Uh, you know, that's also a big like. They're smart on the DraftKings fan duel, or you know, fanatics. All of them are kind of. You know, you got Kevin Hart, you have Gronk, you now have LeBron. You have all these guys just pushing gambling like it's just some fun activity. And I always say gambling is gambling. They like now they're trying to change it, they're trying to make it. You know, really nice, really nice. You know gambling is entertainment. Did you find gambling entertaining or did you find it? Oh, this is becoming a now. High anxiety, high tension. I'm constantly on edge.

Speaker 2: 10:16

I found it as entertainment and I don't think I, because it was so, I guess, enticing. We talked about earlier how it's a fake thrill, that negative feelings, but for me it was entertainment and always believing the lie that my money was going to come back, I just needed to.

Speaker 1: 10:38

I'm glad you said it. Gambling is a lie. Well, hey, let's just jump into question number two. Question number two recovery. Tell people about what you like, about the recovery freedom circle, the benefits, because you've done other things. I mean, obviously, you 12 step rooms and I'm a big supporter of 12 step rooms. You've done therapy, I'm a big supporter of therapy, but tell people about the recovery freedom circle.

Speaker 2: 11:03

So, yes, working with Hugo, it's been over six months now. They're close to six months, and the thing about Hugo is he sets a foundation before he starts. He says what do you want with your life? Write down your goals. It doesn't have to be like I'm going to be president of the United States one day, it's more what do you enjoy doing? For me, that was I really like to golf. I want to do well in my school and I want to make better connections with those around me. With those around me, and starting on that foundation allowed us to build and relate all of the content that we're talking about to my goals.

Speaker 2: 11:40

Whereas I've gone to therapy and 30 minutes in, I'm saying, okay, this is my issue, this is my issue, this is my issue. And they're going straight to what is the root of the issue. And I think Hugo has done a better job of building my character up and making me believe that life is now. You say that all the time. Life is now Like, yes, I still want to address the past, but if I'm just going to replay these thoughts over and over and over again, I'm never going to move on. And that is one thing about the 12-step rooms is you see people in there for five, 10 years and they're still replaying these thoughts Like I did this wrong and my wife still hates me, like, yes, they've overcome gambling. But I think the shorter mentality of I want to get on with my life and I don't want to keep making these same mistakes is really helpful and I don't want to keep making these same mistakes.

Speaker 1: 12:35

It's really helpful, right, because I like to say is like the original 12 steps there's a lot of strength and there's a lot of truths in it, but no one truly changes based on a negative, like we're going to talk about alcohol, we're going to talk about gambling, or same thing with therapy. I mean, I love therapy, but they always kind of like focus, you know. Okay, childhood or what was, was we got to change your triggers, what's your urge, and I think all that's important. But tell people that you know how, because it's also about I want to set, you know, make sure your schedule, because we give out I give out step one for free and I give out questions on honesty for free so people can truly, under you know, almost test drive everything you know, write down your goals, set your schedule and also working on that subconscious, because that really drives you. We've had a lot of conversations on what you tell yourself in the morning or throughout the day.

Speaker 2: 13:27

Exactly, yeah, One thing I mentioned was golf. I like to play golf and Hugo would always say Nick, tell yourself you're going to break 70, break 75 when you go out there, Make it fun, shoot 75, not break.

Speaker 1: 13:43

You always would say break 80. I'd say stop thinking about 80. Focus on I'm shooting 77, today 76.

Speaker 2: 13:51

You'd say, make it part of your subconscious. I'm like okay, what does that mean? That means reminding myself over and over that this is the common goal and this is what I'm shooting for today, no matter how the circumstances change, that I am able to do this. One thing about the 12 step back to that is I think it does a good job trying to get people to tell their stories, and that's what Hugo has helped me too is he helps me look back in, because I guess the whole gambling phase at times it's more of just a blur of like okay, all of it just happened and all of a sudden, like I kept gambling and I lost all this money. But going through all the questions and looking at the characters character traits have helped me identify how gambling has changed me as a person and how I want to change that.

Speaker 1: 14:45

Yeah, it's actually leading right into question number three because how I kind of revised this, Because how I kind of revised this. Originally we talked just about the 12 steps explained on how I was making each step much more digestible and easier to understand and more positive. On discipline, Tell people how adding character development to the overall system recovery freedom circle gives you a better insight into yourself and self-awareness.

Speaker 2: 15:25

Character development is, I think is essential into not relapsing. Yeah, you can use willpower for as long as humanly possible, but eventually you're going to go back to what you want to do. So I think character development is more of just. It's more than just head knowledge, like the classes I have at school, like I'm being taught by some of the. These people have phds in their area of study and they give me a lot of head knowledge about okay, this is what you need to think, but if I don't actually apply it in my life, I'm not actually going to learn and be able to retain the information. Same with Hugo. I consider him an expert in addiction. He's been in these 12 rooms for 20 something years Over 25.

Speaker 1: 16:13

Okay, my bad no 25 plus years. And.

Speaker 2: 16:17

I think the character is a way of actually putting the steps in the action, of how do I see this in my own life? Because it's like, okay, we believed a lie, right? Yes, I believe that I was going to win money and I didn't. But through honesty and willingness, if I try to adopt those character traits, it's going to help me not believe otherwise.

Speaker 1: 16:41

That's right, all right. So that kind of gives you a good insight into how Nick has been dealing with recovery, dealing with gambling addiction, dealing with sports, sports betting, and on how the Recovery Freedom Circle truly is something innovative, creative, to get more people to live their best life. How's your life now compared to a couple months ago?

Speaker 2: 17:10

My life is just wonderful. Exactly Life is wonderful.

Speaker 1: 17:15

That's what we always tell people. Life is wonderful. So if you need more information, obviously the website is there too Lifeiswonderfullove L-O-V-E, and we just want everyone to not only live life, enjoy life, but really do everything that your heart has a desire to achieve. So with that we are going to end this episode of the 1% in Recovery podcast.