Maureen Benkovich (00:01.968)
Hey everybody, what if sharing your story could change your life and the lives of thousands of others? My guest today, Eric Severson knows exactly how powerful that can be. Eric has lived an extraordinary life, hitchhiking from London to Central Africa, living with a remote tribe in the Amazon, building and selling businesses and climbing the highest mountains on four continents. He's a TEDx and keynote speaker who has reached over a million people through his talks and live courses.
He has 18 bestselling books, 99 countries and all 50 United States under his belt. Eric has built a career around mindset, performance and personal growth. As the founder of the Self Publishing Center, he has helped over 400 people turn their stories into bestselling books, proving how life-changing sharing your story can be. And I know this firsthand because of Eric, I am now actually a published author, which I'm so amazed to say.
He invited me to contribute my story to the Life Coaches Toolkit, which is now available on Amazon. And you see that behind me. Today, we're talking about the power of storytelling, how Eric's first book led him to speak in front of 750,000 people and how choosing an alcohol-free lifestyle has impacted his path, his success, and the person he is today. You do not want to miss this one, guys. So welcome to Sober Fit Life, Eric.
Erik Seversen (01:24.546)
Hi, Maureen. Thank you so much for the great introduction. And I'm so happy we got to meet to connect over the book that you wrote a chapter for, which ended up becoming a bestseller, which is awesome. I've gotten so much feedback from readers who how it changed their life in a positive way. And your message about living a sober life is so important. I know so many people whose lives have improved because of the choice to remove alcohol from their life.
Maureen Benkovich (01:34.287)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (01:52.474)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (01:52.834)
But sadly, I also know a lot of people, some close friends who are being held back because they haven't decided haven't made that decision for them. And it's kind of it's kind of hard to see. But for I'm just so happy with all you do. And I'm happy you were part of that book we did together.
Maureen Benkovich (01:58.671)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (02:10.606)
Yes, thank you. Well, you reached out to me through LinkedIn and kind of pitched this idea, like, do I want to share my story in a book full of other life coaches and also offer a coaching tactic? And I think I was kind of surprised, but then you really encouraged me with sharing my story and how that could help, which is really what I do all the time in coaching, but I never imagined writing it down and being published. I am so grateful for that opportunity.
Erik Seversen (02:30.062)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (02:39.12)
What I talked about in the book is alcohol and depression as it relates to drinking and anxiety and what happens when you're drinking that and how to coach people around, you know, removing it, as you said. So, again, thank you for that opportunity.
Erik Seversen (02:51.702)
Yeah. I'm so happy. I remember our pre publication conversations and you we were figuring out you were figuring out if it made sense. And I so strongly wanted to encourage you to be part of it because it's like I said, it's such an important message. And there are so many different areas of life coaching. And that piece wasn't
Maureen Benkovich (03:11.429)
Yes.
Erik Seversen (03:13.236)
in the book and I'm glad that you decided to be part of it and the book has gone on to do great things and I've heard great feedback particularly from your chapter as well as some others and so it's a it's one more way to just change lives.
Maureen Benkovich (03:25.348)
Thank you. What made you reach out to me when you saw me on LinkedIn? Was there something about my story that connected with yours?
Erik Seversen (03:32.034)
Well, one, I thought it would be good to have another message on in this book about living sober. And you're just involved in so many things. And sometimes even on a LinkedIn, sometimes just the impression of somebody who's doing things for a particular reason. We all as coaches need to make money and make a living. But it's easy to see, I think, who's in it for the purpose of changing lives first, with the outcome of you make money secondarily, but
It was really easy to see that based on not only your profile, but looking at your website as well.
Maureen Benkovich (04:06.928)
Oh, thank you. Thank you. And did it connect with part of your story? I know you said you removed alcohol and it just changed your life. You were already doing so many amazing things. Can you speak to what a little bit about your story and then what that's been like since you have made the choice to live an alcohol-free lifestyle?
Erik Seversen (04:23.628)
Yeah, so I actually, both my parents were alcoholics, grandparents too. So I come from a generation of that. And all of sudden, one day I realized, my gosh, I'm drinking pretty much every single day. And I wasn't falling down. wasn't crashing cars. wasn't, but at the same time, my life had just become kind of a little bit of a routine. And I didn't even know it at the time, but my relationship with my wife was horrible. But I was, you
Maureen Benkovich (04:46.799)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (04:53.646)
slightly numb, only off of even a few drinks per evening, numb enough that I didn't feel like motivated to go back to work and you know, finish a few emails after dinner, for example, which I do now. And so anyway, when I started my last company, I've started and sold companies before, but it was 2016 that I started my current company, Innovative Educational Services. And I was vice president of international business development for a company at the time.
Maureen Benkovich (04:54.981)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (05:21.366)
And I realized if I really want this company to go to do to do well, and I also have a job at that point, something's got to change. So I just looked at all the things in my life. And I saw two things that weren't helping me grow as a person or in my company. One was I love music, listening to music in the car.
Maureen Benkovich (05:27.994)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (05:41.974)
I decided whenever I'm driving somewhere and I live in LA, so we have some traffic once in a while. Whenever I'm driving in a car, I'm not listening to music. I'm either listening to a podcast, a book on audio or nothing. And I'm thinking about the business and developing the business 90 % of the time it was listening to nothing and developing the business in my head on all of those times, you know that I'm, I was driving. And the second was alcohol. I decided that I'm not going to touch alcohol. And at the point, this is 2016.
Maureen Benkovich (05:45.934)
Right?
Maureen Benkovich (05:51.386)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (06:12.126)
At that point, I'm like, all right, when I reach X amount of revenue in the company, then I can do it again, right? I passed that years and years ago and just decided why change what's working. And so I haven't had a drink then since like over eight years now. the, ahead. Yeah, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (06:30.475)
fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah. Congratulations.
Erik Seversen (06:35.764)
And so my, my, my company boomed. ended up leaving my position as vice president to focus on the company full time in January, 2020. And so it's been going great. I've been a hundred percent self-employed since then. and also what I didn't even know is like my, relationship with my wife is a million times better than it was because I'm present again, you know, rather than just sitting there kind of staring at the television, half numb.
I actually have great conversations with her and so that has improved so much as well.
Maureen Benkovich (07:09.68)
Yeah, I loved how you asked yourself the question like, I'm not growing. What can I take a look at in my life that's holding me back? That's such an important question. And you were willing to be open with yourself. And a lot of times people don't want to ask that question because they know, I call it the elephant in the room, alcohol is one of those things that's really holding them back from reaching their potential. So I admire that you took a look at it and you took action. And you use the word present, you notice that you're really present.
Erik Seversen (07:29.315)
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
Maureen Benkovich (07:39.066)
Can you talk more about that?
Erik Seversen (07:40.872)
Yeah, so if I even if I had, you know, two glasses of wine during dinner, for example, I and sometimes it was more than that, but that was kind like a common thing. I just wouldn't be motivated to do things like I said, have a interesting conversation with my wife after dinner, or actually go to get back to work for a few minutes and take care of a few untouched things that day that I didn't get done that day. And so I was quickly able to do that I was present both in my personal life and in my job.
Maureen Benkovich (08:00.378)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (08:10.176)
And then if on a normal Saturday or Sunday morning, I would wake up and I wouldn't be like, horribly hungover necessarily, but I would just be dull enough that I didn't feel like waking up early and getting to work. Whereas now I get up, I'm at my desk at six every morning and on the weekends, probably about a third of the time I'm still up at six and I go and so my wife's still in bed and I just get and I work for two hours.
And it's not like, my gosh, I have so much work I have to do. I better get up and go do it. I wake up with no alarm at six on a Saturday. I'm excited to get up. I go to work and handle a few things at my desk. And then, you know, by eight 30 or nine, I'm out having coffee with my wife or going to the beach or whatever it is I'm going to do. But that never happened before.
Maureen Benkovich (08:59.854)
Right. Yeah. Alcohol is so insidious and we're very much marketed to that, you you can drink moderately and it won't affect you. But really that's what holds so many people back from reevaluating their relationship with alcohol because of what we've been told that drinking in moderation has no effect. Until recently, the Surgeon General just came out and said, listen, there's no healthy or safe recommended amount of alcohol. We've known it for a while, but the Surgeon General just came out and made this big announcement. So...
Erik Seversen (09:17.357)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (09:27.438)
I'm hoping that starts to have more of effect on people thinking, well, like you did, well, what's holding me back? Maybe it's alcohol. Let me try removing it. And again, I liked how you also didn't say, I'm never going to drink again. You took a break and then you said, I'm just going to keep going. I feel so good.
Erik Seversen (09:43.99)
Yeah, yeah, right. And even right now, I'm not gonna say I'm never gonna drink again. Yeah, exactly. Right. Same thing. And but you know, I don't feel like it today. That's for sure. And so I'm probably not today. And also, there's the the element I think we convince ourselves, because drinking is so rooted into our culture, that we think that we need to if we want to have if we like I was vice president of a big company, multi $100 billion company when I when I got it. My job was international business development. I thought
Maureen Benkovich (09:46.915)
Right, I never do, yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (10:02.205)
yeah.
Erik Seversen (10:13.824)
my job was having meetings during the day, going to dinner and having drinks and having after hours drinks with them. And that's when we really made the business happen, right? And I was worried about that Maureen. And in the end, would use, for example, I would use soda water and a lime as they're having drinks, or I would actually have Red Bull with no ice. If they were having, you know, whiskies or things like that. So I always just kind of didn't make a big deal that I was I never said, stop, you know what?
Maureen Benkovich (10:21.882)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (10:34.544)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (10:43.136)
we can't have after dinner drinks because I don't drink. I wouldn't even make a deal of it. And they'd order drinks, sometimes they'd order me a shot. I'd walk up to the bar and ask for a Red Bull. And I'd be pouring Red Bulls into my little, you know, short glass. And when I'd order a soda, for example, they put it in a tall glass with a big straw, I'd say, Hey, can you give it to me in a short glass? And so basically, I just tried to blend in, I wasn't drinking, but I wasn't making a big deal of it. And so those after hours things that I saw that were so important about
Maureen Benkovich (11:03.664)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (11:11.842)
the I love you man hugs and bonding with a company. They were fine without it. And I was so happy, so relieved to find out that it was. And same thing now, if I go to my wife drinks and most of my friends drink, if I go to dinner and they're having wine or beer or something like that, it's easy not to make a big deal about it, not to feel like an outsider and to actually, you know, feel part of the vibe of what's happening with no big deal. And I didn't think
Maureen Benkovich (11:13.157)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (11:19.088)
Hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (11:37.914)
Yeah.
Erik Seversen (11:40.054)
It was nice that it wasn't a big deal.
Maureen Benkovich (11:42.874)
These are great strategies that you're sharing because these are often the things people are afraid of. How will I go out? How will I socialize? Everybody drinks at work. I it's very common in the corporate culture. So it's so important that you're sharing how you did this and you did it for you and you focused on yourself and that's great. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And I get that sense of relief. I feel that too. Like, I don't have to think about getting an Uber or...
Erik Seversen (12:01.472)
Yeah, and as a
Maureen Benkovich (12:08.004)
How many drinks am I having? What's everybody else drinking? Like all that mental chatter and real estate is gone and it saves us, gives us all this room to do what we're doing now. All these other incredible things.
Erik Seversen (12:13.869)
Yep.
Erik Seversen (12:17.278)
Yeah. Yeah. And as a writer, it helps so much because I'm so much more clear in the morning. I like to write in the mornings. That's my main main time. And that just being clear in the mornings and able to write and get my message out. That's so such a great feeling. And that wouldn't have happened being held back like I was before.
Maureen Benkovich (12:37.764)
Yeah. So you're really reaching your potential. So you are a writer, but you also encourage other people to write and self-publish their stories. How did you decide to get into that?
Erik Seversen (12:48.174)
So I wrote my first book just for fun and that's called Ordinary to Extraordinary. And I first I wrote it sent out to a book agent and the book agent said, you and all your friends are gonna love this. I said, that's not a compliment is it? And he said, no, it's all about you. And they're true first person narratives for my life. And so I spent a year reworking it and making it reader focused.
How did I feel a sense of belonging from this chapter this episode for my life or a sense of purpose from this one and I basically framed it from Emily S Fahony Smith's book the power of meaning and So now that the book was reader focused it was published in 2018 and it took off and led to First speaking requests and the second one and in the end so many that I left my position to be able to speak full-time my my job as I as president to speak full-time and So that that was great, but
Maureen Benkovich (13:19.653)
Mm-hmm.
Maureen Benkovich (13:32.943)
Wow.
Erik Seversen (13:38.87)
reader got something from my books and they wanted more and that's why people were inviting me to speak in their companies and their communities. but also I felt this great transformation writing and now that I work with so many authors, I've worked with over 450 authors now and I've seen over and over and over again people make these great transformations as they're writing and it doesn't have to be mine was kind of a memoir. It doesn't even have to be a memoir. Somebody's writing their their non-fiction business book.
but they realize so much more about their topic that they get excited about it. And the writing process is just so different from speaking that a lot of people don't spend time in that space. And when they do, they get really excited about
Maureen Benkovich (14:17.061)
Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (14:21.998)
Yeah, I was actually very terrified to do it, but you encouraged me. And then, as you said, going through the process and I started refining it and saw that I actually had a message to share and part of it was my story. So it was valid and authentic. And then also how I could help others. Yeah, by the time I was done with just one chapter, I felt incredible. So I can't imagine how writing a whole book would feel.
Erik Seversen (14:45.506)
Yeah, and quite a few who wrote one chapter have gone on to write more. And also the publishing process, I think the traditional publishing is dying pretty quickly. think the, used to say if you're not Tom Cruise or Oprah Winfrey, you should self publish, but now it was Taylor Swift just self published her last book. So even mega celebrities are using self publishing. And I wanted to give, I wanted to bring
the ability to get your book published to kind of the masses. So I created Self Publishing Center, which is made for somebody who doesn't want to spend a huge amount of money, but they have a message that they want to get out. And so I helped them through the writing process, the production process and the publishing process of their book. And it's been so wonderful. Like I said, seeing the transformation during the writing part.
And then there's just the nuts and bolts of production, which I make easy. And then seeing their excitement when they get their book published on both Amazon and then in Barnes and Noble or wherever their book's going to be. And seeing that excitement just, just, you know, is a renewed vigor in me every single time.
Maureen Benkovich (15:35.972)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Maureen Benkovich (15:50.436)
Yeah, yeah. So how do you take somebody through the process? How does that work?
Erik Seversen (15:55.886)
The first part is I for the writing part, the two things that stop people from finishing are they think every word has to be perfect. So they, they freeze. So I try and get people to understand, just start with one small section of one, one paragraph of one section of one chapter. Don't think of anything else, right? Outline the whole book first. So you have the big vision, then forget about that. And then just focus on one tiny piece at a time. Otherwise it gets overwhelming and those sections will turn into chapters, which will turn into a book.
Maureen Benkovich (16:03.63)
Yes.
Erik Seversen (16:25.014)
And the second one is people can't stop editing themselves as they're writing. And that gets frustrating when you keep changing your sentence over and over, and then you reread your chapter. So you've edited chapter one 20 times, but you haven't written chapter two yet, right? So those are the two things for the writing part and having an accountability partner, somebody who knows at the end of the week that they're going to ask how much did you write or the end of the month, whatever it is, is for you.
Maureen Benkovich (16:30.284)
Right, I was doing that.
Maureen Benkovich (16:40.271)
right.
Erik Seversen (16:51.446)
And then for the production parts, it's just either you know or you don't know. For example, when you're uploading a book to Amazon, it's gonna ask you, do you wanna be part of KDP Select? You either know what that means or you don't, right? And so I make it super clear. And then during the book launch, just provide a strategy of how to reach as many people as possible through that book launch. So it's really rewarding to get people through that process.
Maureen Benkovich (17:03.92)
Okay, I don't.
Maureen Benkovich (17:16.706)
Yeah, you're motivating me. looked at it. Just hearing you talk about it gets me thinking, well, maybe I can do this. Yeah. And then what else do you have going on? mean, that's a lot, but what else are you doing?
Erik Seversen (17:22.114)
There is another fucking you!
Erik Seversen (17:29.1)
So that's so about 80 % of my time is focused on helping authors. And I also produce some co-authored books like you were on one of them. Now I'm working on some AI books and that's been fascinating because AI ready or not, here it comes. And you know, it's, really changing so much. So that's exciting. And then speaking, don't actively go out for as much, but I'll still accept when there are speaking engagements coming up and I'm going up to Seattle next week for something.
Maureen Benkovich (17:35.855)
Right.
Maureen Benkovich (17:44.271)
Yes.
Erik Seversen (17:58.986)
And so it's, it's, and then I do a few courses for the UN. teach courses twice a year, which is kind of fun. So I have my, my, my fingers in a few other areas as well, but really my day to day is just, working with the books, which I love. You can see, I got a few books behind me and goes all the way around the room. And I, I, it's so fun. I never would have thought that I would be working so closely in books, but since I was speaking full time until COVID happened, I had to transfer into something, which was the books.
Maureen Benkovich (18:07.887)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (18:14.468)
Yep, yeah.
Erik Seversen (18:26.902)
and I'm really kind of glad it happened because I still accept speaking when it comes, but I'm really found a joy being in the book space and helping other people. Absolutely. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (18:35.032)
And helping other people to tell their stories too. Yeah, you can tell it's just coming out of your pores. You could tell. And so are you saying that, you know, since removing alcohol, all these ideas have come to you and all this energy and all these projects you're doing.
Erik Seversen (18:49.966)
Absolutely. None of this. No, no, yeah, none of that. None of this. The company I created would probably still be in year one. If I was in the same routine habits, same habits I was before, which was just, you know, showing up every day and just getting getting through it and you know, being a little bit numb in the evenings and then showing up the next day and getting through it and being a little bit numb in the evenings. So yeah, none of this none of this would have happened. And so that's a pretty good point because
Maureen Benkovich (19:13.135)
Yes.
Erik Seversen (19:18.678)
I kind of think about it in terms of the company level, but you just kind of reminded me it's really about helping people. So there are 450 authors who are bestsellers right now who probably would not be bestsellers if I wouldn't have changed my habits. Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (19:32.602)
Look at that ripple effect that that had all from you asking the question, what is holding me back? Ooh, that's powerful.
Erik Seversen (19:38.114)
Yep. That's really good Maureen. I'm so glad you mentioned that.
Maureen Benkovich (19:42.338)
I like that. I want to become one of those 451 offers. I had myself in there. So I always like to ask people, what do you do to be sober fit in your lifestyle? I know you've climbed mountains, big ones. Is that what you do on regular basis or what do you do to be sober fit?
Erik Seversen (19:46.178)
Yeah
Erik Seversen (19:55.491)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (20:00.214)
Yeah, so one is exercise and I could I cannot exercise if I don't have a goal. So I try and climb one big mountain a year. So I've climbed the highest mountain on four continents, and I failed on one which is America up in Denali in Alaska. But so I do one big mountain a year, and then some other smaller ones. But that keeps me going. So I train when I have a mountain coming up, I train every pretty much every single day. And so
Maureen Benkovich (20:21.124)
Yeah.
Erik Seversen (20:27.404)
that's that keeps me my my my health is great because of that I love that and then also I meditate I have my morning routine I read a little bit I do a guided meditation with Abishan Lakshmi in the mornings and that so that kind of keeps my just it keeps me balanced a little bit and then emotionally I just try and stay like I said with my wife be as present as possible as loving as possible my kids are both at college but when I am with them
Maureen Benkovich (20:50.458)
Yes.
Erik Seversen (20:55.15)
I am same thing. I'm absolutely present. And my culture growing up, like I my dad up until I was an adult, maybe it kind of started a little bit when he was, you know, approaching 80. But before that, you know, I love you just didn't exist, right. And we live in a different culture now. And that's kind of part of that emotional connection that I'm able to feel more now with the sober lifestyle I've got. So I do think it's the
Maureen Benkovich (21:11.598)
Yeah, right.
Erik Seversen (21:23.498)
exercise physical exercise the mental and also emotional are all three key components
Maureen Benkovich (21:29.37)
You're hitting all three pillars, physical, mental, emotional, to help regulate your central nervous system. That's what I talk a lot about with my clients because we were unknowingly using alcohol to regulate our central nervous system. I mean, it was the quickest thing to bring us down, calm us down. But since you've removed that, boy, you've really expanded all the ways in which you support your body, your physiology, mental, emotional, the meditation, starting out your morning with that intent. Yeah, you're hitting all the pillars. Congratulations.
Erik Seversen (21:38.934)
Mm-hmm. All right.
Erik Seversen (21:58.294)
Yeah. And it's as you were talking or reminding me of something that just recently, I was talking with someone who was having a really bad day and he said something to the effect of nothing, a drink. He goes, I need a drink. It's nothing a drink can't fix. Right. And I thought to myself, my gosh, he has no clue that it's not going to fix it, but he's going to get that quick relief short term, but it's not going to fix it.
Maureen Benkovich (22:17.242)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (22:23.386)
Yes.
Yeah, I mean, it's a central nervous system depressant and that's just the physiology, you know, but we don't listen to our words. We don't listen what we say. a drink will fix everything. And we're also so used to if someone is sad or they're having a difficult time, well, you should have a drink. All that has changed for me and you too. Now I'm so much more aware of, you know, how I can help somebody, console somebody, be there with them. Or if I'm having a bad day, get out and take a walk, meditate, pray, reach out to a friend, all those things.
Erik Seversen (22:28.557)
huh.
Erik Seversen (22:34.695)
huh.
Erik Seversen (22:40.397)
Mm-hmm.
Erik Seversen (22:53.602)
Yeah.
Maureen Benkovich (22:55.598)
make a big difference now instead of the quick fix of alcohol. But it takes you being willing and to ask the question you did and then to be curious and let yourself try a time period without alcohol and start to notice that you're feeling better. Yeah.
Erik Seversen (23:10.316)
Yeah. And performing on an entirely different level.
Maureen Benkovich (23:14.67)
Yeah. Well, that's very motivating. I hope everybody is really hearing your message because I mean, can't, the books behind you speak volumes, no pun intended. And you really do live an extraordinary life. And I so thank you so much for reaching out to me, encouraging me to write. I think I am going to look up your program now to continue to write more than a chapter.
Erik Seversen (23:36.888)
We'll definitely do it Maureen and I'm, I'm so glad that we got in each other's orbit and work together on that book. And I just love what you're doing for so many people. Such a great message. I'm just, I'm happy to be part of your show today.
Maureen Benkovich (23:49.882)
Thank you, Eric, and I'm happy to be part of your writing book. So, everybody, can you, Eric, can you say how to reach the Self Publishing Center, your website?
Erik Seversen (23:58.474)
Yep. So I'm really active on LinkedIn. So connect with me on LinkedIn. It's Eric Severson. And then the right now I'm doing a big focus on this course, self publishing center.com. And on there, you've got how to write, produce and publish your book. And that's a big focus of what I'm working on right now.
Maureen Benkovich (24:19.556)
Yeah, so everybody check that out. It'll be in the show notes. And again, thank you, Eric Sieverson for coming to SoberFit Life today.
Erik Seversen (24:25.794)
Thank you, Maureen. Great speaking with you.
Maureen Benkovich (24:27.598)
You too.
