From Sober Psycho to taketheyear.com
When I started chaseheckendorn.com last November, my goal was to share ideas, test them publicly, and see what happens. I assumed that at some point, one of them would gain enough momentum to grow beyond the testing phase. After just seven months, I’m proud to announce my first project to move from testing > pursuit: taketheyear.com
Here’s the origin story: When I started posting on TikTok in December 2025, I had no clear direction. All I knew was that it needed to be authentically me and sustainable, which honestly felt daunting at first. Fortunately, I discovered something fairly early in the journey: Sober Psycho. Jan 1st was around the corner and I was tired of 30-day New Year’s resolutions. The idea of doing yet another Dry January and then returning to normal life wasn’t what I wanted for 2026. I was already pushing myself out of my comfort zone in other parts of my life, so I figured it aligned well with my personal goals.
So on New Years Eve, I turned on my camera in my car and said, “I’m looking for some sober psychopaths” – essentially seeing if anyone else was tired of Dry January and wanted to try what I called the “ultramarathon of sobriety challenges.” Boom – with less than 1,000 followers at the time, my first video got tons of views and comments. So I did it. I created the Sober Psycho challenge, kept it simple by building a community and doing daily check-ins on TikTok, and people joined in. Eventually, I added a sign-up page to a blog post right here on my website.
What many don’t know is how this became more than just a one-year personal challenge. On January 1st, I checked Instagram, where I had taken a break while focusing on TikTok. One of the first stories I saw was my old friend Osman promoting a new podcast he had started called Of Sober Mind. I thought, what are the odds? I messaged him immediately, and we agreed to connect in the coming weeks. From our first in-person meeting, I realized how aligned we were. Prior to this, I had no idea he was sober. Then, as we swapped stories, he mentioned he had been thinking about launching something called “1 Year Savage” – basically one year of sobriety plus a fitness and nutrition component. Let’s call it a more hardcore version of Sober Psycho.
We were STOKED. And then reality set in. We’re both extremely busy – with our own careers, married with young kids, etc. We knew how hard it would be to add something new, but something inside me told me to keep going, keep meeting, and keep pushing. So we did. We both would have liked to launch sooner, but as with most things in life, it took time. Honestly, I’m glad it did. As I personally progressed through my first long-term sobriety challenge, the vision became clearer. The idea evolved a bit, and we refined the details of how it would work.
This past week, we officially launched taketheyear.com. We decided to unite both of our challenge ideas under one platform. Sober Psycho remains focused on one rule: 365 consecutive days without alcohol. So what’s 1 Year Savage?! This option is a more intense challenge for anyone who wants a complete transformation over 365 days. Along with a year of sobriety, it includes 60 minutes of daily exercise, nutrition, hydration, and gratitude. I was talking with my wife about this, and even though everything moving forward is a shared journey, if you look at Osman and me side by side, I’m the perfect face for Psycho, and he’s the ideal representation of Savage. He’s like me – just way more jacked! 😂
To wrap this up, I can’t believe one of my earliest ideas from this site is moving from testing phase to reality. While I can’t say exactly where this project will be a year from now, I can say this: I’ll do exactly what I do with everything in life – take it one day at a time, give it my all, lead with kindness and faith, and see where it takes us. As many of you have now come to know, I like to keep. stacking. days.
