imfinallyquitting
Fapstronaut
So, I just checked my tracker and it looks like I've gone 31-days, or a full month without relapsing. I'm not sure when I reset the timer, or whether I watched anything after, but ultimately I haven't had a 'reset' for 31-days, a whole week longer than my previous PB and I didn't even realise. Below, I have written down whatever came to mind. I don't pretend to be an expert, but this has been my experience, and I hope that it can help someone else.
This streak is very different to any previous streak, and once you push through the first 7-14 days it does get a lot easier. I haven't been chasing my streak, and as a result I haven't been obsessed with fighting my urges.
I believe that it is key to fill the gap that P leaves, for me this has been reading. For example, I would always struggle with P first thing in the morning when I would get to work (I always have the first 15-30 minutes alone in the office), and fighting the urges at the start of the day would guarantee fighting for the rest of the day. A struggle for sure. I have started bringing in a book to read, and by the time somebody else arrives my brain is either bored and ready to work or I have that anchor, or risk of somebody being there to just keep those urges at bay before they flare up.
I have also been spending more time in nature, this past weekend I managed 45k+ steps, just walking along a river into the city, sitting in a park reading for 2 hours and walking back. It's important that we will our time with good habits, and start practicing the life that we wan to live. Saying "I'll start living when I've beaten P" seems to be another mind-trick, just start being the person that you want to be today and the habits will follow with time.
As many have said on NoFap, willpower alone will not win this war, I'm far from over this but identifying as somebody who won't watch P ever again has helped. But, I do think that the past 6-months of seriously trying (and 5-years of on-off trying) were needed to reach this level of understanding. You need to learn your own cues that start your cravings, your own 'why' to beat it, and new habits and things that you enjoy to replace P. But, you will inevitably get there so long as you keep trying.
Leaving PMO needs to be a lifestyle, you need to get off of social media, fast food and all other super-stimuli. To truly live we need to live like our ancestors, using technology as a tool but not as a means to live. To be entertained by Netflix but not let the latest reality drama control our lives. Figure out how to live without the never-ending dopamine cycle and live like a God among men.
Technology addiction is only getting worse. PMO is only getting worse. Attention spans are getting lower. If you are young, there has never been a greater time to be alive! Break the shackles that hold most down, wake up, and you will have almost no competition in this new world that keeps brewing.
This streak is very different to any previous streak, and once you push through the first 7-14 days it does get a lot easier. I haven't been chasing my streak, and as a result I haven't been obsessed with fighting my urges.
I believe that it is key to fill the gap that P leaves, for me this has been reading. For example, I would always struggle with P first thing in the morning when I would get to work (I always have the first 15-30 minutes alone in the office), and fighting the urges at the start of the day would guarantee fighting for the rest of the day. A struggle for sure. I have started bringing in a book to read, and by the time somebody else arrives my brain is either bored and ready to work or I have that anchor, or risk of somebody being there to just keep those urges at bay before they flare up.
I have also been spending more time in nature, this past weekend I managed 45k+ steps, just walking along a river into the city, sitting in a park reading for 2 hours and walking back. It's important that we will our time with good habits, and start practicing the life that we wan to live. Saying "I'll start living when I've beaten P" seems to be another mind-trick, just start being the person that you want to be today and the habits will follow with time.
As many have said on NoFap, willpower alone will not win this war, I'm far from over this but identifying as somebody who won't watch P ever again has helped. But, I do think that the past 6-months of seriously trying (and 5-years of on-off trying) were needed to reach this level of understanding. You need to learn your own cues that start your cravings, your own 'why' to beat it, and new habits and things that you enjoy to replace P. But, you will inevitably get there so long as you keep trying.
Leaving PMO needs to be a lifestyle, you need to get off of social media, fast food and all other super-stimuli. To truly live we need to live like our ancestors, using technology as a tool but not as a means to live. To be entertained by Netflix but not let the latest reality drama control our lives. Figure out how to live without the never-ending dopamine cycle and live like a God among men.
Technology addiction is only getting worse. PMO is only getting worse. Attention spans are getting lower. If you are young, there has never been a greater time to be alive! Break the shackles that hold most down, wake up, and you will have almost no competition in this new world that keeps brewing.