This is a great post. I've just activated some content filters on my phone, after reading it. The section on motivation is very good as well.
The first two, I've implemented with relative ease. But the booze... how you do that lad? My culture is one of heavy drinking on fridays. And its friday TT. If I do not have a sip of rum, the day feels strange. And the insomia worsens. Been get bout 5 hours sleep these days and thankful for it. How did you stop beer drinking then? Lets take it sinple.
I love how you call me lad, haha! It's never been an issue for me. I do not like beer. I used to drink some spirits in moderation, but don't even do that now. My older brother's alcoholism kicked in in his late teens. That was a warning to me how destructive booze can be. It must be difficult is there's a drinking culture on your island @Red Dead. Maybe others that have cut back can help you bud.
Oops, I‘ll definitely get the squeeze balls ... Hey IGY, thank you for summing it all up. That‘s what I call clear, sober, efficient and true.
@IGY, I just found this post, and it is amazing. It would be great (I think) if we all chimed in with our own lists. They'd probably overlap substantially with yours, but it would be great to have a thread that lists all the "tips and tricks" that people have found genuinely useful for themselves. Here are mine (cribbed from other posts). Engage with the community here by reading and commenting on threads and journals. Keep a journal. Be as honest as you can. Don't post what you think you should, write what you really feel, especially in your journal. If you have bad thoughts then think them through in your journal. I am a deeply social creature so I think being here helped me in-and-of-itself. Use the numbers. As your porn-free streak grows people look up to you. I do not want to disappoint them. This one sounds trite, but I found the phrase "No, I do not do that any more" really helped me (thanks @DayOne44). Sometimes I would feel my resolve snap and I would know I was going to open a browser and immerse myself in porn. But even though all was lost I could still remind myself "no, I don't do that any more" and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. We do not need to be strong, just strong enough. I was not planning to give up masturbation, just porn. But I gave it a try as so many men here recommended it. It has been really useful as it provides an extra line of defence (like the inner and outer walls of a castle) Write down the reasons that you are giving up porn. This one's harder and a bit contentious, but write down the positive things porn gave you. There are reasons porn got such a foot-hold in your psyche. Don't be afraid to acknowledge them. That way you'll be better able to find alternatives or just work them through in your mind Recognise your triggers and danger-zones. A journal really helps here. For example if I have a stressful deadline and work late into the night I am likely to succumb to porn. So now I avoid that situation, and when I really have to stay up late working I make sure that I go to bed before my resolve crumbles. I guess a lot of these can be summed up as "know yourself". That's been one of the great things about this reboot, I have learnt so much about myself. (That said, I really like the detail in your list @IGY, it gives it real texture and lots of jumping off points where I can imagine equivalents in my own life.)
Thank you for you kind feedback. No doubt the list can be expanded from the accumulation of your experience(s).
I welcome that.^ Anyone, feel free to post your tips and tricks below. They may be variations on what I said in the OP or you may have some things I didn't think of. The possibilities are endless. I regard such tips and tricks to reboot as a menu from which we can select the ones we want to "taste", lol. So, join in my friends and make this thread active again...
Thanks, I like that. But for my own use I have ammended it to "No! I've got better choices than that!" I feel this works a little better for me than "No, I do not do that any more". I feel it makes me realize that I have the freedom and that I am making a smart DECISION to forgo the indulgence. Whether that be PMO or drinking alcohol or doing hard drugs or any other maladaptive behavior. This way it doesnt feel like a sacrifice but rather that I am making a smarter choice. Imagine a law student that has appointment to take the Bar Exam the following morning but gets invited to go out to a bar and snort some cocaine (the night before the Bar Exam). "No! I've got better choices than that!" I choose to decline the night of drinking because I choose to keep a clear head so I can do my best performance on the Bar Exam and get the highest score.
I just started hard mode. I don’t even want to have sex for 100 days because I hate when I started sounding sexual to this ladies. I need help please. I’m done with 90 days noPMO. Trust me I feel great, but I want to master how to converse with this girl without aiming to bed with them. That’s why I want to embark on this journey... Please someone read this and send me a link to help me with my mind... I also started doing push-ups and other workouts. I think that helped me too with my 90 days streak which I just ended.