How alcohol almost snared one of history’s greatest athletes

I’m currently listening to the audiobook for Ryan Holiday’s latest tome, Discipline is Destiny, and I was surprised to find out how close we got to never seeing one of history’s greatest athletes become the legend that he did.

The reason?

Alcohol, of course.

Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control is a collection of short profiles about some of the most notable names in human history and how they learned to embrace, well, discipline, to accomplish what they did.

The book is a call for temperance, because only by controlling our basest urges do we ever reach our true potential.

Why are we so fascinated by the concept of discipline?

Probably because it’s so damn hard, and because so few of us have it.

Alcohol is a dream-crusher

As you might expect in a book about self-control, alcohol makes frequent appearances.

While it’s not all that surprising that a lot of people who reached the pinnacle of their fields were ultimately undone by alcohol, it’s quite interesting to see just how many high performers avoided it altogether.

They knew it was bad for their bodies and minds and they saw it as a barrier to reaching their goals.

To them, it just wasn’t worth it.

This is a really important concept to me because it’s that disappointment in myself — the cutting knowledge that I was pissing away all my potential — that, finally, mercifully pushed me to quit booze.

One story that really jumped out at me was that of Lou Gehrig, the baseball legend and temperance idol.

Gehrig was known not only for his toughness — he held baseball’s iron man streak for many decades after playing 2,130 consecutive games without missing — but for his self-control.

He avoided a lot of the trappings of his contemporaries, and that was a major contributor to his athletic longevity.

In fact, he probably would have extended that streak much further had he not been felled by ALS, the devastating disease that came to be associated with his name.

But even he, this paragon of self-discipline, was tempted by the easy fix of alcohol at one point.

Lou Gehrig, right, in his Yankees uniform. (USMA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The trap is set

Alcohol is always looking for a foot in the door.

It almost found one with Lou Gehrig.

Holiday tells a story of when Gehrig was playing in the minor leagues. In the midst of a hitting slump and after going out with teammates and drinking a ton, he showed up to a game the next day with alcohol still circulating in his system.

Somehow, he played better than he had in a long time. The booze had calmed his nerves and allowed him to play free.

Gehrig went on to try a common trick at the time: taking a few sips of alcohol in between innings to settle his mind.

As you can imagine, things could have gone sideways really fast.

But a veteran coach who’d been around the game much longer than he had sat Gehrig down and offered a warning.

He’d seen players cave to the short-term fix, one that would work for a little while.

He understood the rationale, too.

But he made it clear that the long-term consequences were bleak indeed if Gehrig didn’t find a better way to deal with the stress.

Holiday writes that Gehrig stopped that day.

But imagine he hadn’t?

Forget the Yankees, forget the Iron Man, forget the “luckiest man on the face of the earth,” the inspiration to those facing ALS.

He would have been just another guy.

Maybe he would have had a cup of coffee in the majors, maybe not.

But he certainly wouldn’t have been LOU GEHRIG.

An inspiration

I find this story particularly inspiring.

Yes, those of us who ceded years to alcohol abuse may regret what was lost, but it also shows what is possible when you decide to get it out of your life and let your potential flourish.

Over the past eight months since I quit, I have completely turned my life around.

I believe we all have something positive, something special to offer.

Maybe it’s an athletic endeavor. Maybe a creative one. Maybe it’s just being a great father or mother.

But learn from Lou. You’ll never know just how special your gifts are until stop letting alcohol prevent them from seeing the light of day.

Friends, thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this post or found it inspiring, please give it a clap or two so others can find it!

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Summarize

How alcohol almost snared one of history’s greatest athletes

Alcohol is a dream-crusher

The trap is set

An inspiration