Hey Warren and Bill wanna challenge?

Since I was first introduced to the 12 Steps in 1988 I have been fascinated by the application of the Steps to many areas of my life. Going from being a heroin addict living outside society selling drugs and committing petty crimes to being the CEO of 4 multi-million dollar businesses speaks to the transformative power of recovery.

Is it enough to be abstinent? My experience is abstinence alone is not enough. In high school before I started drinking or doing drugs I was struggling. I was a great starter but most of the time quit projects before the finish line. I cheated and took short cuts. I would describe myself as really smart, charismatic, impulsive, narcissistic, poor boundaries, emotionally immature and compulsive. In College, I started drinking and taking drugs starting a four year journey from the UCLA campus in Westwood to the shooting galleries of South Central Los Angeles.

My personal path to recovery meant not using any drugs or alcohol. Abstinence! Over the last 20 years I’ve expanded my recovery to cigarettes, personal health, family and work. Working the 12 Steps supports my personal transformation into a reliable, responsible, spiritual, productive and honest human being. What about work and entrepreneurship.

In the 12 Steps people speak about a “Higher Power” and the Steps reference a “God of Your Own Understanding”. Many people, like me, struggle with finding a “Higher Power” or a “God of My Own Understanding”. I’m a good entrepreneur who found a way to make the 12 Steps work. I changed Higher Power into Higher Purpose and set out to use Entrepreneurship to Prevent or Treat Addictive Disorders.

I’m 46 and clean a little over 4 years. Do the math. Let’s just say my recovery is progress not perfection. In the last 4 years, my higher purpose has consumed me. My wife and I started Wonderland Center a very well known treatment center in Los Angeles and I founded the 12 Angels an organization whose purpose is to give the gift of entrepreneurship to the recovery community.

Many entrepreneurs like a challenge, I do. Addiction is largest cost to productivity on this planet. In the United States we lose about $500 Billion per year from cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. How about if we throw in gambling, food, sex, love and other addictions, what kind of numbers are we talking about? I love the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website where I get most of my stats from but they haven’t given me any estimates on the impact of all these other addictive disorders on our society.

Come on – Warren Buffet and Bill Gates take on the biggest challenge of your career. We need a vaccine against addiction!