SHAIR 97: "Full Recovery" with Brian McAlister, when Relapse is not an Option.SHAIR 97: "Full Recovery" with Brian McAlister, when Relapse is not an Option.
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Brian McAlister shares how he moved from decades of addiction and near-fatal accidents to long-term sobriety, business success and service to others. The conversation highlights daily spiritual practice, goal setting and reframing defects as strengths so that relapse stops feeling like an option.
1:02:10•20 Dec 2016
From Hopeless to High-Performing: Brian McAlister on Why Relapse Isn’t an Option
Episode Overview
- Daily disciplines like prayer, meditation and meetings can gradually reshape thinking and behaviour.
- What look like character defects in active addiction can become powerful assets when focused on healthy goals.
- Writing clear goals and asking stronger questions (such as "What am I supposed to learn from this?") can change the course of recovery.
- Staying close to a 12-step community, even after material success, helps prevent complacency and relapse.
- Having fun and building a rich, busy life in sobriety makes picking up far less appealing.
“It was a spiritual experience of the educational variety. Over time, I learned more and as it worked, I bought in more. So it took time. It took time and it took an open mind.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This conversation with Brian McAlister shows what happens when relapse truly isn’t an option. Brian shares how he went from a “low-bottom, unemployed alcoholic and addict” to leading a workforce of 1,800 people and co-founding the Full Recovery Wellness Center in New Jersey.
He talks openly about 20 years of daily drinking and drug use, horrific car and motorbike wrecks, and the motorcycle crash that left him with a broken back, a shattered leg and 380 stitches to the head. Even then, his first mission after leaving hospital was to throw his crutches over the railing and hop to the bar in 105-degree heat. The turning point comes when he finally asks for help, gets into treatment, and starts taking suggestions seriously.
He describes his early recovery as “a spiritual experience of the educational variety,” born from simple actions like daily prayer, meetings and an open mind.
One of his rawest moments is when his wife walks in and finds him on his knees praying: “All the misguided choices I had made, and that’s what was embarrassing me.” Brian explains how a sponsor helped him see that his so-called defects – defiance, intensity, obsession with “more” – could become strengths once pointed in a better direction.
Using goal-setting and the same relentless focus he once used to chase drugs, he moves from unloading trucks to managing a $460 million operation. This episode is ideal if you’re sober-curious, new to recovery, or years in but feeling stuck. You’ll hear practical ideas on goal setting, building a spiritual life you can actually live with, and why fun and ambition in sobriety aren’t just allowed – they’re essential.
What might happen if you turned your strongest “flaws” into your greatest assets?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.