The Day I Decided to Do Better... Wasn’t This One.
A raw, honest story of addiction, resilience, and what it means to truly do better—one imperfect step at a time. The origin of the Do Better movement.
Anthony Carlyle
8/6/20251 min read
The Day I Decided to Do Better... Wasn’t This One.
But this day started it.
It was 6:15 AM. I had just finished a long overnight shift as a 911 dispatcher. I was sitting on the edge of a Motel 8 bed...alone, exhausted, and holding a full bottle of Evan Williams. Another night, another mess I made worse....
I didn’t have my friends. I couldn’t tell them the truth...I was a drunk.
I didn’t have my kids. They weren’t with me in this self-imposed exile.
I didn’t even have the sound of my wife’s voice.
All I had was the silence... and the weight of what I’d become.
And then something small but irreversible happened:
I put the damn bottle down.
I didn’t take another sip.
I still haven’t.
That moment didn’t look like a comeback. It wasn’t triumphant. It was quiet. But it was the spark.
That’s what Do Better means.
It’s not about fixing everything overnight. It’s about choosing, over and over, to be just a little better than the day before.
The brand, the journal, the card deck… all of that came later.
But this was the moment it started.
A regular man, in a cheap motel, deciding not to pour one more drink.
That was Day Zero.
If you’re here, and you’re at your own Day Zero—welcome.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You just need your next step.
Let’s Do Better. Together.