Strategy To Actually Overcome Relapsing

Hi! I will start by saying that I've been struggling with porn addiction for over 5 (almost 6) years. For 2 (almost 3) of those years I've been trying to quit. I've had a relapse after a relapse. I've tried to force myself to not masturbate or watch porn, didn't work. I've tried distracting myself with other high dopamine activities like playing video games, didn't work. Until recently I've tried all kinds of dumb things to not relapse. Now I think I've figured it out. It has always been under my nose, I just haven't realized it until now. And this sounds like I'm trying to sell something. Anyway if you're just starting your NoFap journey it will probably be filled with relapses. And if "my" theory/this post helps even one person I'm happy.

So, what exactly I'm trying to sell to you? Routines. It all comes down to routines. Simple. If you want to stop PM or even O, it requires routines. We as human beings work best when we have routines. It's how we are made. I want you to have specific morning and evening routines that you do every day, even if the world is ending. And on top that you have to know what you're going to do between those two routines, every day. Also make routine out of eating. Eat every day roughly at the same time. Wake up and go to sleep at the same time, every day. Then you don't even have to think about NoFap. Also to help with knowing what to do between those morning and evening routines you should have a purpose in your life.

Today I finally realized that breaking the routines leads to relapse, if you're addicted like me. This morning I relapsed and after relapsing I thought why? Why did I do it? I had a good streak going on and despite that I relapsed. Then it came to my head, I had broke my routines. Yesterday I hung out with my friend at my place and we played video games for like 5 hours (=wasted time and a high dopamine activity). After he left it was late and I didn't have the motivation to complete my evening routine. Today I broke my morning routine by not going to cold shower and not meditating. I also opened my phone first thing this morning (=waste of time and a high dopamine activity). This led to my low self control and relapse. Then I thought that every time I've had a depressed stint (usually a week) and relapsed multiple times, I've not followed my routines. I've been following my routines consistently for a couple of weeks and have never been as productive as I'm now.

This isn't something ground breaking new information that only I know. It's common sense almost. I just wanted to share this so people will actually realize that it's all about having consistent routines. It amazes me how oblivious I was to this. Now I'm not. I will also myself come back to this post when regularly so I don't forget to follow my routines.

Here's my morning and evening routines if you want an example.