Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation - How I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison

by Mike Sorrentino

If Shakespeare had been a reality star, he may have written this book.

To quote Joe Rogan: “I love a success story, but even more than a success story, I like a dude-who-fucks-his-life-up-and-gets-his-life-together-again story.” I’d say that sums up The Situation pretty well.

Wait—did he just refer to himself in the third person? Who does that? Yes. Yes, I did. And to answer your question, The Situation talks in third person, that’s who. Is it ridiculous? It surely is. But at the same time, it’s amazing. Because sometimes, ridiculous is amazing.

I was all about working smarter, not harder.

Though I have to admit, as a result of those punishments during my adolescence, I now suffer from a rare psychological condition known as “having respect for others.”

I’ve always said confidence is the best accessory to any outfit, and I’d never lacked confidence.

All you can do is abstain from narcotics, exercise, hydrate, get sunlight, and embrace good old-fashioned Mother Earth. When all else fails, you just have to do the next right thing. Put one foot in front of the other to move forward. Eventually, you’ll get there. I promise.

I believe a lot of people think that pain is a bad thing, and I disagree. I think it’s the opposite. It’s better to embrace the pain. Pain in life is inevitable, and you can’t ignore it. Drugs bury it. They don’t make it go away. When you get sober, all that recessed pain is dug up. You have to work through it to get back to your baseline. Life doesn’t get easier; you get stronger.

I was ready to be the king of Seaside and have the summer of my life.

When you’re from Jersey, it’s a rite of passage to go down the shore during the summer. You get a house with your friends and you live and work and party for the summer at the beach. It’s all about the weekends at the shore. All week, you prep for the weekend. You go tanning, go to the gym, and get your outfits ready for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It’s an adventure.

A wise man once said, “Never fall in love at the Jersey Shore.”

Heroes come and go, but legends never die.

I was able to physically kick opiates, but recovery is so much more than that. I still had no idea that the mental and spiritual aspects were equally as important as the physical.

In the recipe of success, one of the main ingredients is failure. The key is to not give up on yourself. When you come across an obstacle, you have to understand it’s nothing more than a brilliantly disguised opportunity. Keep moving forward, don’t give up, and eventually you’ll find success. Too many people face failure and treat it like a finality. Once you meet failure, it simply means you’ve found a way that didn’t work. Use that knowledge to find another way.

bacon, egg, and cheese on everything bagel with salt, pepper, and ketchup.

An opportunity to use taylor ham and passed... Disappointed ! Lol

No matter how hard it gets, I will make it.

Life is a product of every one of our decisions, and if I was going to change my life, I had to start making the right choices. They say nothing changes if nothing changes, and I changed everything. I became obsessed with bettering myself. Any day I could execute change and eliminate negativity was considered a win.

Never let your emotions rule your intelligence. Get outside your body and try to understand what is happening. Understand the bigger picture of things. Get back to your standard operating procedure. Be grateful for today. Be grateful for the simple things like your job and family, food in the fridge, and your health. If you come from a default of positive energy, you attract more blessings and abundance. These are some of the things I learned and still wholeheartedly believe in.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

If I did things right, I could use rock bottom as a trampoline to find my true self and purpose in life.

For me, it’s always been about going to the shore. Back to my roots, where it all began. That’s where we would start this next chapter of our life.

“if you deserve it, the universe is going to serve it”

“by attraction, not promotion.” Actions speak louder than words.

Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

I didn’t get what I prayed for until I became the person that should receive it.