So far so good...but what’s the goal?

Goals are different because everyone is on their own journey. Freedom from suffering and turmoil was what I was after, losing interest in pmo natully came after that

Also just food for thought not everyone would necessarily agree that masturbation is normal

 

I recommend you read the two introduction texts on nofap.com.

 

I'd agree that everyone's goal can be a little different. I'm still struggling with this too as I'e just started my journey. But what I think so far is that the REAL goal doesn't have anything to do with P or M or O. You want to figure out (shouldn't be too hard) why you wanted to stop in the first place, and then remember that. Yeah we know we should watch less porn, but WHY should we watch less? There's usually a deeper reason. For me, it was to improve my sexual relationship with my wife, and to be less of a slave to my habit. To attain that, I'm trying to reboot. So my goal isn't to cut out porn forever, or masturbation, it's to get back to a level where LOTS of men live, in which they sometimes watch porn and jerk off, but it isn't affecting my marriage and I don't feel like I can't stop the habit.

 

everyone has different goals: mine is to use the sexual energy for better things

 

There are no hard rules as everyone has different PMO history. For some of us PMO developed into long lasting self-destructive compulsive addiction so we had to set up more strict rules like abandoning porn watching or/and MB for good. But this might not be the right path for you. Ask yourself how bad is your problem, has it escalated over time, how does it effect your everyday life… Only you can answer these questions and choose the path that suits you best.

 

You will need to work out if that's possible. I tried that approach for about ten years but have discovered that complete abstinence from porn is the only solution. If I give in to even the smallest amount it always leads to me relapsing and binging, along with various other issues i. e. depression, anxiety, poor sexual relationship with wife etc.

 

Good point. It's like all addictions: they treat everyone differently. Some people can permanently cut back, others need to abstain completely otherwise they'll end up binging. But just more to the points being made above, it's all individualized and there's not a one-solution-fits-all.

 

I think it depends on your personality type. I personally know that I need/want the rest of my life to be sober of PMO completely, and I will work just as hard to not develop a new addiction either.

 

If that is your goal, you should reconsider it, this is just not going to work I can assure you. There's no real reason to watch p and m to it. Sooner or later you become very hooked on it.