In short
The Daily Motivation: Episode 852 Summary
Episode Title Zedd: Discovering Pure Performance - How Sobriety Elevated His Music and Life
Podcast Overview In this episode of *The Daily Motivation*, host Lewis Howes interviews world-renowned DJ and producer Zedd, who shares his transformative journey towards sobriety and how it has positively impacted his music career and personal life.
Key Themes
- Self-Perception and Storytelling: The narrative we tell ourselves shapes our identity and potential.
- Sobriety and Performance: Zedd discusses the misconception that alcohol enhances performance.
- Personal Growth: Facing fears can lead to unexpected breakthroughs in both personal and professional realms.
Key Takeaways
Zedd's Journey
- Zedd initially believed that drinking before performances was essential for his success.
- He routinely consumed multiple Jack and Coke Zeros pre-show, which he later realized impacted his health.
- A turning point occurred during a Las Vegas performance where he had to choose between eating or drinking due to calorie concerns.
The Revelation
- Playing sober for the first time led Zedd to recognize that his energy and connection with the audience were not derived from alcohol but from his passion for music and the excitement of performing.
Overcoming Fear
- Zedd discusses the paralyzing fear that sobriety would negatively impact his career.
- He realized that the adrenaline and excitement he felt while performing were intrinsic to his love for music, not influenced by alcohol.
- This led to a profound realization: he could perform better and connect more genuinely with his audience without alcohol.
Community and Support
- Zedd emphasizes the importance of sharing his experience with other artists, encouraging them to explore sobriety for their own betterment.
- He acknowledges the difficulty in convincing others to change but stresses the value of open conversations.
Conclusion
- Zedd's story illustrates how confronting personal fears can lead to significant personal and professional breakthroughs.
- The episode encourages listeners to reflect on their own narratives and consider how changes in lifestyle and mindset can enhance their overall well-being.
Call to Action
- Listeners are encouraged to follow *The Daily Motivation* on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, leave a review, and subscribe for exclusive content.
- Sign up for the Greatness newsletter for additional inspiration and insights.
Closing Thoughts Zedd’s journey from dependency on alcohol to embracing sobriety showcases the potential for growth and improvement when individuals confront their fears and rediscover their authentic selves.
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For the full experience, check out the complete episode [here](http://lewishowes.com/1713).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:12I started writing down all my calories and little things you wouldn't even think like AG1 50 calories you know you have 10 of those things throughout the day that's a full meal so I started writing them down and there was this one show where I was pretty hungry and I had the show at 1 30 a.m starting and I look at my sheet and I'm like well I can either drink or eat because a shot of alcohol, just for the ones who are interested, is just about 100 calories, right? One shot? Yeah, I guess you don't drink. Holy cow, 100 calories for one shot? Yeah, and you can go through 10 shots a night, no problem.
0:44Holy cow, that's like two meals. Yeah, you can have your entire day's worth of nutrients. Yeah, that's crazy. So I looked at it and I was like, okay, well, I can't afford to drink today because I don't have the calories. And if you mix it with other things, it's even more. Sugar and Sprite or drinks, it's like more calories, yeah. Even more calories. So I looked at my sheet and I was like, okay, well, today, because I want to stay on track, you can undo a whole week of starving and doing well and working out by one silly night out. And I will even argue that it's worth it to do that occasionally.
1:16Sure. If the right circumstances are met. But every night and every weekend. It was my default, right? It wasn't even, it got to the point where I would show up and I want to thank everybody who does this because it just shows how much they care. But I would show up to places and people would know my favorite drink, which was Jack and Coke Zero for a long time. There's all of it. And it was pre-mixed the moment I walked in. So I didn't even have to ask for it. That's really good hospitality, but it became a norm. It became like Anton's drinking and he's drinking Jack and Coke. I would have two before I go on, throughout the two-hour set, probably two to three on, and one or two after.
1:50We're talking about - 700 to 800 calories at least. More because it's mixed. There's probably a shot or two in between. And you feel like the next morning. Oh, yeah. So two things happened. I started realizing through wearing a whoop that when I drink alcohol, my recovery was awful, even if I didn't feel that way. But I don't always trust how I feel. I don't trust my memory because I think it's really just in general human beings. Memories are pretty bad. I trust something that has no personality. It's just there to tell me. So if my heart is working overtime just to keep my body clean or cleansed from the alcohol, something's going on that's probably not ideal.
2:30So I looked at it and I was like, I don't like that I'm not doing something good to my body. Number one. Number two was I just didn't have room for calories. So there was this one show that I previously mentioned where I realized I'm not going to have any room for calories. So I'm going to have to play it sober. And that was going to be my first sober Vegas show. and Vegas is a much tougher audience than virtually any other place that you can play because not everybody bought a ticket to see you because people go to Vegas to go to Vegas as well you're one element of the night and I was really concerned because for the longest time I thought I wouldn't be able to play shows live and one of the DJs that I was kind of tipped off on drinking way too much said that exact thing I could never do this sober right and that's a really really dangerous thing to say when you play a lot of shows and I remember going on stage playing sober 45 ish minutes passed into my set and I had this like moment of waking up where I realized wait I'm sober I felt drunk I felt exactly the same drunk as I felt before and that made me realize that what I thought the alcohol was giving me it wasn't the alcohol ever it was the adrenaline and it was the excitement, it was the connection to the people.
3:49And that moment I was like, oh my God, I can of course do this sober because I was scared to lose this feeling. And I was scared that if I lose this feeling, I'm going to suck on stage. Wow. And if I suck on stage, I will just retire. Because why would I even do that, right? I don't have to do it if I don't want to. And I had this fear that it's the end of my career if I stop drinking, essentially. Because me sucking on stage, people come to last shows, I make no money, I can't afford my team, I'm retiring. It's a full... I'm irrelevant. I'm dead. I'm irrelevant, right? But the moment I played a sober show, I was like, wow, it's not the alcohol.
4:23I just thought it's the alcohol. It's really just that I love what I do. Dude, that's amazing. That was such a big realization. And I immediately reached out to that other DJ and was like, you should try playing sober. And try playing sober for a week and then went back to drinking. I can't convince somebody. if somebody doesn't want to have help, I don't think you can change them. But I think it's important to at least check in, have a conversation because for me, the realization that this excitement is the carrying point and not the alcohol was so, so big. Because I had the fears of end of my career if I stopped drinking.
4:58Wow. That's pretty crazy to think about. Sure. But it was in me. It was a fear I genuinely had because the moment I go on stage and I don't like what I'm doing, that's the I'm going to retire the next morning and cancel everything that's upcoming because I don't have to do anything I don't want to do and I'm unbelievably lucky to be able to say that and there's another DJ that will take my spot you know gladly I don't want to take anybody's time away if what I'm doing isn't fulfilling me with happiness and I really believe part of the reason why people love coming to my shows and coming back to my shows is because I love what I do and I think it translates I think people can tell that I love and it gets them hyped too and then I see them hyped and it gets me hyped.
5:38It's this ecosystem of like excitement sharing, right? 100%, yeah. If I'm the one who's not having a good time and I see people do this and I can tell they're not having a good time, I just think it's like for the better to just maybe not do it at all.
5:59Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of The Daily Motivation. and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description that will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the School of Greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts. right now. And if you want to get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
6:49Again, have an amazing day and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the daily motivation show.
From the publisher
Have you listened to the FULL EPISODE yet?
"I'm significantly better at my craft sober... I can deliver a better result for people who have spent their hard earned money coming to my show." - Zedd
World-renowned DJ and producer Zedd opens up about a transformative revelation that changed his relationship with alcohol and performing. Through meticulous calorie tracking and data from his Whoop device, he discovered that his pre-show ritual of multiple Jack and Coke Zeros was masking a deeper truth about his artistry. The turning point came during a pivotal Las Vegas show where, faced with a caloric choice between eating or drinking, he took the stage completely sober - only to experience the same electric connection with his audience that he previously attributed to alcohol.
What started as a practical decision about calories evolved into a profound professional epiphany. Zedd reveals how he confronted and overcame the paralyzing fear that sobriety would end his career, discovering instead that the real source of his performance energy came from genuine passion for his craft and connection with his audience. His journey from believing he "couldn't perform sober" to recognizing that he's actually "significantly better" without alcohol offers a compelling look at how facing our fears can lead to unexpected breakthroughs in both personal and professional life.
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