How to Start a Movement & Change Lives with Andy Ramage

Do you want to make a difference in the world? To start a movement that has the power to change people’s lives?

It may seem like a mammoth task for just one person but Andy Ramage, the Co-Founder of OneYearNoBeer, proves that big changes for many almost always start with big changes for one.

OneYearNoBeer is a challenge whereby participants give up alcohol for a year. During this time, they focus on healthy alternatives and find support and encouragement from a vibrant online and offline community.

Andy Ramage is passionate about doing things differently. His background as a professional athlete inspired his interest in the psychology of peak performance. But his life shifted when he started OneYearNoBeer, which involves taking tactical breaks from alcohol. 

Andy and I got together for an intriguing conversation about how he started the OneYearNoBeer challenge and the incredible impact it’s had (and continues to have) on people’s lives.

How OneYearNoBeer Got Started

Around six years ago, Andy recalls grumbling those immortal words – “never again”. Sure, it was the 500th time he told himself that, but this time was different. This time, he meant it.

At that time in his life, Andy was three stone overweight, his relationships were strained, and he was living an unhealthy lifestyle. He left his job at a successful broker company and started his own company. It was at this time that he also decided to take a break from alcohol. 

It wasn’t easy. Andy admitted that he made every mistake in the alcohol-free book. He found it really difficult. Andy was a middle lane drinker, who is someone who drinks moderately, sometimes not at all, and occasionally heavily. He assumed that he was drinking the normal amount. He was far from being the town’s drunk, but he did enjoy having a few beers from time to time. However, drinking was getting in the way of him reaching his goals.

“I was just drinking like everyone else. But I realised it was stealing my consistency on a consistent basis. My consistency in the way that I was showing up in the office. My consistency in the way that I was showing up in my relationships, the way that I was exercising, the way that I was eating. It was destroying it.”

When Andy realised this, he set out to find out why. He wanted to understand how his brain worked, so he studied and got his Master’s degree. Then, what started as a 28-day break from alcohol turned into a 90-day alcohol-free period.

What followed was a string of successes in all different areas of Andy’s life. His business went through the roof, he got fit and healthy, and his mindset shifted. He knew that he had to share what he discovered and what he learned with someone. So, he teamed up with another broker named Ruari Fairbairns. They wrote an e-book about it and 10,000 downloads later, thousands of people from around the world were resonating with Andy’s story. 

Andy’s story had one key lesson:

“There's nothing to give up and everything to gain by taking a break.”

People realised that by taking a break from alcohol, they performed better. They saved money. they became motivated. They got their energy back and more importantly, they got their time back.

Dealing with professional “peer pressure”

In business, a lot of networking and negotiating is done over a few drinks. It’s the social norm, right? Many people close their best deals with clients after a few drinks and would argue that that’s when real business gets done.

However, that’s nothing but a limiting belief. You do not need alcohol to build relationships with clients and close deals. Andy believed that he would struggle to do business without having a drink. In fact, many people told him he would struggle but what he discovered told a different story.

“I became so much more consistent in the actual job…I became so much better at that part of it that it superseded any of those late-night connections that I may have made.”

You don’t need alcohol to be interesting or professional. There’s no need to feel awkward or embarrassed being the only person at the table who isn’t having a drink. There are plenty of alcohol-free drinks available. Taking a break from alcohol doesn’t mean you have to be excluded from the conversation. 

“You gain so much more than you ever potentially lose. That is the secret to this.”

Challenging cultural habits

Drinking is a social norm for many of us. It’s almost a key part of our culture as social beings and challenging cultural habits like this is not easy.

Turning the tap off is difficult, which is why you need to prepare for it. Treat it like a proper challenge. You may feel like you’re doing it alone because nobody else in your peer group is doing it, but when you commit to the OneYearNoBeer challenge, you have an entire community of people to support you through it.

“When you set out on this little alcohol-free adventure, you will probably be the only person on it.”

Yes, it may feel a little lonely at times. But, if you remain focused and remember why you’re doing it, it becomes so much easier. The positives outweigh the negatives by far, so keep focused on the positives and try your best not to stray.

Starting a movement

Whatever business you’re in or whatever movement you want to start, you’ve got to live it yourself every day. You must embody the very movement you want to create.

You must lead from the front and be an example for others. You need to be truly passionate about what you do. Every day you will have to show up and repeat the process over and over again. If you don’t love doing that same thing on repeat, the movement you want to create will have a hard time taking off. 

“That was one of the main reasons I stopped drinking because I knew that my business wouldn't survive unless I was on my A-game.”

Andy reminds us to focus on your ‘why’ to help get started. But it’s your wins that will motivate you to keep going. Sometimes, we get so focused on the big ‘why’ that we forget to acknowledge the good things that we’re doing in the moment.

Failure is a necessary part of success. Don’t be afraid to fail. Andy talked about this idea that failure is an important lesson on your way to success:

“Failure is part of the process. Whether you're changing your relationship with alcohol, or you're transforming your business, you are going to fail, parts of your business will go wrong. That is just the way life is set up.”

“All change requires learning from failure to last.”

Don’t wait to start. Start now!

If you want to create a movement and change your life or change other people’s lives, you’ve got to start. Don’t wait until the perfect moment to start because that moment will never arrive. Start now. 

There is always going to be something to set you back. You’ve got to start anyway.

If you’d like to embark on the OneYearNoBeer challenge, you can absolutely do that, and I wish you the best of luck with it!

Andy has two incredible books you can read:

28 Day Alcohol Free Challenge

Let’s Do This! How to Use Motivational Psychology to Change Your Habits for Life

To listen to The OYNB Podcast, visit: https://www.oneyearnobeer.com/podcasts/ 

Find out about:

• How OneYearNoBeer Got Started
• The positive benefits that come when you take a break from alcohol
• How to start a movement in your own life or business

For more information and to watch the interview on this topic go to https://youtu.be/JWsQqCn63S0