“I’m sorry Collin, but if things don’t change, we’re going to have to let you go.”
Those are the devastating words I heard straight from my boss’ mouth. It was a rainy Tuesday morning, and my whole world came crashing down on me.
How was I going to explain to my wife that I was about to get fired — all just because of that one silly mistake I made?
Was I about to prove my colleagues right that I was stupid and incompetent?
Hi, my name is Collin Swanson, I’m 34, based in Dallas, Texas and I’ve been working as a marketing manager ever since I graduated 11 years ago. I have a wife and 2 kids I love.
But on that fateful Tuesday meeting with my boss, I realized I soon wouldn’t even be able to provide for my family anymore.
A difficult start…
I started working with my company about 2 years ago when I changed jobs. I always loved this new job, but I kept making silly mistakes — it always felt like I couldn’t quite focus. I was distracted and forgetting basic things. I was trying my best, but it seemed like it was never enough —maybe you can relate.
Meanwhile, my colleague Michael always seemed to get things right the first time. He kept getting all the praise, and yet it seemed like it was effortless for him. He’d gotten a promotion just 6 months into the job. During my 2 years at the company, I was struggling and it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. He was the “lucky one”.
I certainly wasn’t the star of the office. I could tell some of my colleagues thought I didn’t belong at the company. I always felt like I was “snubbed” and that they thought they were smarter than me.
The worst part was, I knew exactly what my problem was. Whenever I’d sit down, it felt like I couldn’t focus on the same task for more than about 20 minutes. Sometimes I’d forget an important detail in a report I was preparing. Or I’d just end up scrolling my social media feeds because I didn’t have the mental energy to power through a task.
But none of this was enough of a problem to make me look for a solution. Until *that* day happened…
We had an important meeting scheduled with one of our biggest clients client. To give you some background, I was a marketing manager at a large advertising agency. We worked with big companies to help them with their social media advertising.
I won’t name the company, but let’s say it was what my boss called “a big fish”. They were interested in increasing their billable hours with us for another big project, and so we had to prepare a detailed presentation to show them what we intended to do.
My boss had asked me to prepare a report based on the company’s data to show what kinds of improvements they could expect from expanding their work with us.
So I toiled away for about 2 weeks, putting together an impressive, detailed report that went in depth into many metrics.
I knew it was a chance to make a good impression. I was going to be the one presenting this section of the presentation to the client, and so I really put in my best effort.
I submitted my report for approval to my boss who said it looked fine — I guess he was busy because he didn’t spend much time looking at it. And so when the day of the presentation came, I felt prepared and ready.
A public humiliation I would never forget
My boss began his presentation. About halfway through, he said it was my turn.
“Collin, why don’t you show us our projections about what we think we can do.”
So I pulled up my presentation on the projector, and began walking the client’s team through the metrics.
I could tell they had a confused look on their face. I worried it might be because the projections were too optimistic. But it was much, much worse.
After about 5 minutes, the leader of their team interrupted me.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, this is not our company. But it appears you’re also working with our competitor?”
His tone was dry and angry.
I know it’s hard to believe, but I’d done the impossible. We were working with two competitors in the same industry. This was obviously classified information, that our clients weren’t supposed to know.
But by mixing the data, I had not only revealed that we worked with one of their big competitors, but also shown that we had no internal safety procedures to protect client data.
It was an absolute disaster. The public humiliation of my career. Here I was standing in front of our biggest client, with their entire team and my colleagues witnessing this. I felt sick, like someone had punched me in the gut. Their entire team walked out of the meeting right away. They had to “discuss and review internally”.
A mistake with devastating consequences
The next day, a Tuesday, I was told to visit my boss’ office first thing in the morning. Even at the coffee machine, everyone was looking at me sideways. I truly felt like an idiot. People knew there might be multiple layoffs because of me. I overheard a few of them laughing. They may not have respected me before, but at least I wasn’t the laughing stock of the company.
Once I got to his office, this is when my boss told me the words I would never forget.
“Look Collin, everyone makes mistakes. We’re willing to overlook small irregularities, because we like you. But this problem yesterday was a big deal. The client just told us they are canceling their contract with us.”
“I’m sorry Collin, but if things don’t change, we’re going to have to let you go. This is your last chance to show you belong to this company.”
I honestly thought I was going to get fired on the spot. I almost felt lucky, as if the world was giving me another chance.
This is the moment I realized something had to change. I decided I was willing to do anything to fix the problem. How would I ever explain to my wife that I had gotten fired because I simply couldn’t focus? How embarrassing!
Scrambling for a solution
I started searching on the internet for ways of improving my focus. I decided I was willing to try anything. So I began trying all kinds of exotic things — focus pills or so called “adaptogens”, mushroom coffee, energy drinks. I didn’t even know what an adaptogen was, but it’s basically a fancy term for a brain booster. I tried all of them, to no effect.
I tried drinking more coffee, but it just made me anxious and jittery. I tried lifestyle interventions like meditation. I tried blocking social media apps on my computer.
But nothing seemed to work. It was as if my brain was “stuck”. I would always end up getting distracted or forgetting things one way or another.
I was on the brink of giving up, when the answer came out of a surprising place…
I’d basically given up on my quest and resigned myself to the fact that maybe that’s just the way it was. Maybe I was just unlucky, and I’d been born unfocused. Smarter people simply deserved my job, I thought. It was just a matter of time before I’d get fired.
But one day, an old friend from college, Douglas, hit me up because he was coming to Dallas for a work project. He invited me to get coffee that weekend.
While we were getting coffee, I mentioned in passing my problems at work. I told him the full story, and that I’d soon probably have to look for another job.
Douglas told me he’d also had problems focusing in the past, but that he’d found the root cause of the problem thanks to his family doctor.
“The reason why you can’t focus as well as you want is because you have low dopamine levels”, he explained. “My doctor said I had the same thing. When the brain is deprived of dopamine, it’s simply unable to focus and signals are not sent correctly from neuron to neuron.”
“About 87% of the population suffers from frequent dopamine depletion.”
“Think of dopamine as a messenger. When dopamine levels are low, neurons can’t communicate and all kinds of problems happen such as low focus and you’ll tend to easily get distracted.”
He said his problems had all but disappeared when he started drinking a new kind of “brain boosting drink” to support dopamine levels recommended by his family doctor.
I told him I’d already tried all kinds of focus pills and adaptogens but that none of them had worked. But he told me his doctor had recommended that particular product for a few reasons. Apparently, it worked because it was actually able to support dopamine production in the brain safely and naturally.
It was in a drink format which means the ingredients in it were absorbed better. And also it was the first product that used the scientifically proven dose of focus ingredients.
“My doctor explained that many companies use filler ingredients to lower their costs”, he said. “He said they claim all these great things are in their products, but they put 1/10th or 1/5th of the dose that would be needed to deliver real benefits. But not this one.”
Trying a new solution
That product was called the Cognitive Energy Booster by the company Alpine Bliss. He said it also tasted great, and drinking it daily had solved all his focus and memory problems. It really seemed to be able to boost dopamine levels safely and naturally to improve focus and attention.
“If you pour it in a glass, it foams”, Douglas had told me. “My doctor said this proves it contains a lot of ingredients, because a high dose of premium ingredients in a sparkling drink tend to foam.”
When I went home, I was obviously extremely skeptical. I’d never heard of a “focus drink”, and my previous experience with brain boosters was not good.
But as I started researching more and more, it all seemed to make sense. Their product really seemed different, as they transparently disclosed the ingredients used in the drink on their website. It was clinically proven to support dopamine levels. It’d been formulated by a team of chemists in Switzerland. And I read a few reports by nutritionists and doctors saying it was a real thing that ingredients in a drink have better absorption than in a pill format.
Plus, their website said they offered an unconditional money-back guarantee. So at that point, I figured I had nothing to lose and decided to give it a try. I ordered it directly from their website.
The cans arrived at my doorstep about 4 days later. They were heavily wrapped, I assume to avoid any damage during shipping.
The effects were dramatic
I had my first can right after breakfast the next day. I poured the first can in a glass like my friend had recommended to check, and some foam did remain at the top in the glass like it was supposed to. For the first few minutes after drinking I felt nothing, and I worried it was going to be just like all the other products I’d tried.
But after about 15 minutes, it hit me. My mind felt sharper and clearer than ever before. It’s like it was making connections that were not happening before. I felt more driven and motivated.
If you’ve ever watched the movie Limitless, it almost felt a bit like that.
The taste was great too, it had a nice and sweet berry taste. No bad aftertaste or anything like that.
Obviously, I put it to the test that day at work. For the first time, I could stay focused on a task for a long time. I managed to stay focused on a report for 2 hours without any distraction. I could do things faster and with more accuracy. I wasn’t forgetting things anymore. I didn’t want to waste time. It truly felt like magic.
I worried the effects might go away with repeated use. It turned out to be the opposite! As I started having one or two cans every day, the effects were building up. My mind was getting sharper and sharper.
The best part was that unlike some other products I’d tried, my brain wasn’t “fried” at the end of the day. I felt happy and relaxed in the evening.
My boss and colleagues soon noticed the change
Over the next few weeks, my work performance took a drastic turn for the better. Soon, I was writing reports in a third or a fifth of the time it used to take. And these were error-free reports, unlike before! I was able to come up with good ideas and suggestions. I was even more confident and assertive during team meetings.
I had no idea I was even capable of performing like this! I guess my brain just wasn’t using its full potential before. It felt as if something had been “unlocked”.
My boss and colleagues soon noticed.
“What have you been taking lately”, said Michael, that “flawless guy” who always seemed like he could do no wrong. I could tell he was a bit jealous of the change.
“Come on, tell us your secret”, said my other colleague Dawson.
After about 3 months, my boss called me into his office. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but my worry soon turned to jubilation.
“Collin, I’m glad we decided to give you another chance. You’ve more than improved, and you’re now one of our best employees. Everyone only says good things about your work. A client put in a good word for you the other day. We’d like to offer you a new position…”
And just like that, I’d gotten a promotion! Coming with a bonus and a pay increase, nothing less. I’d finally be able to afford that trip to Europe my wife had always dreamed of.
My colleagues certainly weren’t laughing anymore!
A life-changing turnaround
When I told the good news to my wife, she couldn’t believe it. The look of happiness on her face was priceless. I’m happy I hadn’t gotten around to telling her about the “incident”. That evening, I couldn’t help but smile. In the span of a few months, I’d turned my life around from nearly being out of a job to finally being able to afford a trip to Europe with my family. How things had changed!
In fact, in the past, I’d never even have been able to write a long article like this. I wrote it in one sitting. This article is living proof of how much my mind has improved, it feels amazing!
My overall experience with the Cognitive Energy Booster by Alpine Bliss has been life-changing. I can only recommend their product. My only regret is that I wish I’d known about this product long ago. It’s had such a big impact on my life I had to share my story – I hope it inspires you!
UPDATE
Right before publishing this article, I reached out to Alpine Bliss. They said they love my story so much they agreed to give people who read this article a discount when trying the product. Everyone can benefit from a 10% discount on their first order by using the discount code COLLIN10 on their website. They told me they’re experiencing strong demand, that their product risks running out of stock soon, and that this discount is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
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(If the product is still available, use the discount code COLLIN10 at checkout to get 10% off)