Justin Kinney’s Path to Sobriety: Lessons in Discipline and Purpose

” I learned about this life to where you don’t have to do that anymore.”

This week on Delay the Decay, Dan interviews Justin Kinney, an Iowa-based strength and football coach, teacher, author, and Sober Curator columnist who began sobriety in June 2019 and rebuilt his life through faith, accountability, and daily discipline, detailed in his book From Rock Bottom to Redemption (releasing April 7).

Justin describes practicing “intentional stillness” through silence, prayer, and listening to build inner stability, and discusses shame, being turned away from churches, and learning the difference between guilt and shame through pastoral guidance. He traces his addiction to college drinking that escalated into daily alcohol use and pill abuse (Vicodin, Xanax), manipulation, illegal acquisition, self-harm, and a suicidal crash attempt, with rock bottom culminating in a confrontation that led to treatment and separation.