This man embodies all our New Year's goals

When Tobias van Schneider updated his friends about crushing a life goal, he didn’t think his personal challenge would become international news.

For more than 27 months, van Schneider didn't touch alcohol -- or caffeinated coffee. He is still going strong, and his accomplishment has been making headlines.

The 30-year-old product designer based out of New York City wrote about his experiment on his blog just after Christmas before media outlets picked up on his reflections. In an email conversation with Mashable Wednesday, he said the long journey started with just a three-month challenge.

The German native quit coffee and alcohol cold turkey and then he wanted to push himself to hit one year. "I'd say it went from an intentional three-month break to something that was just about pride and proving it to myself, and ultimately it just ended up being normal," he said. That's how he arrived at Dec. 26, a full 27 months sober and coffee-free. He had been regularly sharing his thoughts after he was prompted by his friends, curious about his experience.

In that period of what many would call severe deprivation, van Schneider noticed the financial benefits (he says he saved $1,000 or so a month not drinking coffee or cocktails) and better sleep and bowel movements from his improved diet. "I also poop like a king," he wrote on his blog.

He also learned more about his social life. "It’s amazing to see the culture of drinking slowly fading away from your life," he wrote. "It made me realize how many friendships are actually based mostly on your drinking habits"

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Now that he's shown himself he can do it, he doesn't plan on changing his ways. He also doesn't long for alcohol or caffeine besides that occasional sip of wine. In fact, looking ahead, he thinks he might reintroduce wine into his life. "I didn't stop drinking because it's cool," he said. "But because it really helped me."

It might be that van Schneider just has enviable self-control, but he offered some tips to others challenging themselves or cutting things out of their lives, especially as we start a new year with "Dry January."

Once you hit the one-year mark, he said, "it's not a fight against it anymore." And finding alternatives helped him. He got into "mocktails" to satisfy any drinking urges and decaf coffee or green or black tea were his solutions to coffee withdrawal.

Despite his success, van Schneider advised people should keep drinking alcohol or coffee if they don't have problems with it and feel comfortable with their habits. But if they do decide to push themselves, he would be happy if they saw a positive change in their lives.