Man Completely Turned His Life Around by Doing 'Year of the Opposite'

On October 20, 2023, UNILAD — a major international digital media brand with tens of millions of readers — published a feature by Kit Roberts profiling Travis Stoliker's "Year of the Opposite" transformation. The article ran under the headline "Man completely turned his life around by doing 'year of the opposite.'"

The piece describes how Stoliker, a restaurant owner from Michigan, transformed his life by deliberately doing the opposite of his normal habits after experiencing depression following the deaths of three friends within six months. Stoliker was 43 when he lost three friends in their 40s over this period, triggering severe depression he initially couldn't fully understand. "I knew objectively and logically that my life was amazing... I just kept waking up sad," he told UNILAD.

The UNILAD article documents how Stoliker's strategy — inspired by a Seinfeld episode — reversed his behaviors systematically: going to bed early, waking up early, eating better, and exercising instead of being sedentary. Over one year, Stoliker lost 43 pounds and significantly improved his mental health, starting with small achievable goals. "No matter what you've done for the day, you can come back to your bed and know you accomplished something," he is quoted as saying about his bed-making anchor habit.

The piece also candidly addresses how his depression strained his marriage, with Stoliker acknowledging he had unfairly burdened his wife with solving his grief. The UNILAD article, published the same day as the Business Insider feature, contributed to significant international reach for Stoliker's Year of the Opposite story.