In business and in life if you have developed a plan that you know works for your situation you have to stick to that plan. Most of the time if you go off the plan or make revisions on the fly… you fail.

As you know I spent a lot of time developing the First Round Last Call Challenge Coin as a tool to help me practice Moderation Drinking. It has worked great for me and I’ve had enough people buy it and tell me that it works for them as well…. But it only works if you STICK TO THE PLAN. In this case, the plan is the “Code of Conduct” that you have to Agree to before you buy the Coin

1. On the days you choose to drink less PUT THE COIN IN YOUR POCKET

2. When having your First Drink TAKE THE COIN OUT & PLACE IT “First Round” side up on the bar

3. When having Second Drink FLIP IT OVER to “Last Call”

4. When Last Call is done you STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

Recently I met up with friends at a bar and realized I forgot my coin. “NO PROBLEM” I said to myself I can count to TWO and easily stop after my second drink. In effect I was saying I can WING IT.

One reason the coin works so well is because it is a heavy chunk of metal when its in your pocket you really feel it, and know its there. When you take it out and put it on the bar, its LARGE and you see it right next to your drink so it’s a constant reminder of where you are in terms of how many drinks you’ve had.

Well, we got to laughing and ordering more drinks and when the bill came I was shocked to see I had ordered 3 beers, instead of two. Even though I was conscious of the fact I only wanted two… On the walk home I was reminded of the importance of STICKING TO THE PLAN. And how the simple act of carrying the coin as a TOOL is so important. I know this plan works, and this was a classic example of going away from the plan and getting a failed outcome.