How I've stayed off my escort addiction for seven months

Looking at some of the other threads on this page, I suspect this advice will be largely ignored or attacked, but here goes anyway.

I saw my first escort in 2004, and it developed into a full-blown addiction in 2007. At the time I estimated I was spending $5,000 a year in escorts, however, since staying away from them, I've realised the true figure was probably closer to $10,000. This went along with my addictions to porn, phone sex lines, and cyber sex chat rooms. The good news? I haven't visited an escort in 2019. Not even one.

Today I had to get a repair done on my bicycle and was told it would be an hour. In the past I would have gone to see one of the Asian Massage shops for the hour. Today, instead, I went and bought myself a nice lunch and took a walk by the beach. Sure, the temptation was there, but I was easily able to push it away where last year I would have caved and got the "massage". How did I reach this level? The things did are below. Please note that all of these things are essential if you are addicted to escorts and want to stop.

1. Accept that sex is overrated.
This will be the most controversial for sure, but it's at No. 1 for a reason. People usually lose their shit when I say this, but nobody has ever come up with an objective argument against this point. I'm not saying that sex is terrible or bad. I'm not saying that you're a bad person for wanting it. I'm not even denying that it can be a lot of fun (it can also be as boring as batshit - I've experienced it in all it's forms). What I am saying is that sex is not the magical experience it's often made out to be, and you won't die if you have to go without it for a while.

Instead of trying to find other ways to get your sexual desires met, focus on the other 98% of life. Think of the things you would do with the money you're currently spending on escorts. Do you want to invest it? Take a trip overseas? Buy yourself something nice? Think of all the other things you can do if you're not desperately trying to get laid. Seriously, stop being so thirsty! Women can tell if you're a desperate fuck by taking one look at your body language, so just stop. Focus on building up the other 98% of your life, and you might just increase your chances of getting free sex. But first you have to learn to live without it.

2. Get real.
Okay, so you just saw an escort and right now you're feeling pretty shitty. So you decide you're gonna fix up... well... everything. Maybe you'll stop watching porn too, and at the same time you'll stop smoking weed... oh, I know, maybe you could join a gym and get a six pack... and while you're doing that... Okay, take a chill pill and calm down. Look, all these things are noteworthy goals... they really are. The problem is that trying to change too many things at once really burns up willpower. And willpower is finite. Trying to do anything at once not only sets you up for a relapse, but it also weakens you to the point that it will be harder to prevent one relapse from turning into a binge. I know this from experience.

What I realised at the start of this year is that for all the vices I was trying to quit, the only thing I had actually succeeded in quitting was phone sex back in 2016. And I did that through focusing on improving ONE area at a time. So I decided to do that with escorts too, and you know? It's actually working. I think perhaps now I'm ready to try the next phase, but I wouldn't have been ready if I hadn't made sure I got the other one handled first. And I certainly wouldn't have made it this far if I spent the last seven months beating myself up for not chasing other goals at the same time. Remember... progress before perfection. Confucius him say: Man who chases two rabbits catches none.

3. Get off loser dominated forums (including this one).
It's often said that you become the average (or aggregate) of the five people you spend the most time with. I believe this also applies to your online life. If your social circle includes incels, forever alone types, sex addicts, guys obsessed with whether or not their dick works, people drowning in self-loathing about their sexual tastes... well, you won't recover. You'll just become more like them. It's no coincidence that I reached this milestone while staying off the forum. Look, I get it that you guys want to be around like-minded individuals while "dealing" with your issues. I used to feel the same way. The reality is that you won't deal with shit while you're surrounded by people who feel the same way you do.

The same thing applies to the mental masturbation-based "Self improvement" videos on youtube and the like. Okay, so you watched a Jordan Peterson/Elliot Hulse/whoever is leading the cult this week video. Fine, how much time did you spend, you know, actually putting that shit into practice? Look, you don't build muscles by listening to some steroid freak droning on about his work out. You build muscles by going to the gym and lifting some weights. The same applies here. I'm not even asking you to believe what I'm saying. Just try it out. If it doesn't work for you, try something else instead.