Episode Details

John Luedke had it all on paper — a scholarship to Michigan State, a successful father, a big house, and every material thing a kid could want. But underneath it all, he was drowning. His parents' affair and messy seven-year divorce left him as the emotional middleman between two broken people. He got cut from the basketball team. He lost his identity. And he spent the next decade eating, drinking, using cocaine, nitrous oxide, and anything else he could find to fill the hole.

At his heaviest, John weighed 315 pounds. By his senior year, he was paying people to take his classes, doing coke in Cabo while being held at gunpoint by cartel members, and surviving a campus mass shooting — all while telling himself he had it under control.

He got sober on January 1st, 2024. He was 22 years old.

In this raw and honest episode of Rise Above, John shares:

• Growing up privileged while quietly falling apart after his parents' divorce
• Getting cut from basketball and losing the only identity he had
• Paying people to take his classes while drinking and drugging through COVID
• Surviving the Michigan State campus shooting and what those hours of terror felt like
• Being held at gunpoint by cartel members in Cabo at 5am — the moment everything changed
• Going from 315 pounds to 196 through fitness, sobriety, and deep inner work
• How journaling, meditation and therapy helped him finally face the root causes
• Writing his book to help other young men who are suffering in silence

This one is for every young guy out there who looks fine on the outside but is completely lost on the inside.

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If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or mental health, you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to my partners at Compassion Behavioral Health. They offer individualized care and a full continuum of treatment. Call or Text: 844-443-5669 Visit: https://compassionbehavioralhealth.com/?utm_source=rise%20above%20with%20kevin%20lanning&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=may

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