157 My Life Link with Matt Seefeld157 My Life Link with Matt Seefeld
You're Sober! Now What?
Matt Seefeld talks about anxiety, alcohol and opioid addiction, relapse, and the spiritual bottom that finally pushed him into treatment. He also explains how purpose, service and the myLifeLink app support his ongoing recovery and connection with others.
55:56•6 Dec 2021
Anxiety, Ambition and Addiction: Matt Seefeld on Building myLifeLink and Finding Purpose
Episode Overview
- Recovery often hinges on hitting a spiritual bottom, not just a physical collapse.
- Alcohol and prescription meds can become tools to numb anxiety, but feelings can be handled safely in sobriety.
- Focusing on actions rather than outcomes helps reduce stress and supports long-term recovery.
- Service work and purpose, such as coaching or helping others in recovery, can rebuild self-esteem and meaning.
- Apps like myLifeLink can offer free, always-on community, meetings, meditation and fitness support in one place.
“My spirit was gone… the physical being was still there, but the spirituality was gone.”
For years, alcohol and then prescription painkillers like oxycontin and Norco became his way to cope, leading to cycles of withdrawal, Adderall misuse, and what he calls “spiritual hell.” He explains the difference between recognising a problem and truly hitting a spiritual bottom, describing the moment he woke at 2:30am and, almost on autopilot, called Betty Ford: “My spirit was gone… the physical being was still there, but the spirituality was gone.” Host Tamar Medford guides the chat toward the bigger picture: codependency, over-exercising, workaholism, and the many non-substance behaviours that can quietly run our lives.
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation with Matt Seefeld pulls back the curtain on what long-term recovery can really look like when anxiety, high achievement, and family life all collide. Matt shares how growing up with an identical twin, a high-performing dad, and constant competition fed a lifelong pattern of anxiety.
Together they talk about controlling actions rather than outcomes, why feelings are safe to experience sober, and how purpose and service work – coaching kids’ sports, helping other addicts – became central to Matt’s recovery. A major focus is the myLifeLink app Matt created after treatment.
He explains how it offers 24/7 virtual community, meetings, meditation, fitness, and a way to track intentions and daily actions in one place, especially for those who feel intimidated by walking into a traditional meeting or can’t access expensive treatment programmes. The tone throughout is honest and straight-talking, with a mix of humour (holiday “gluttony”, anxious overachievers) and raw reflection on relapse, family repair, and global gaps in addiction care.
Anyone who’s ever thought “I’m not like those people” in a meeting or felt too ashamed to ask for help may hear themselves in Matt’s story. Could connecting with a community that truly gets it be your next step in recovery?
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