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Tom

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Everything posted by Tom

  1. Anton, I'm lucky to have got to know you and proud of having worked together with you on something so significant. All the best!
  2. Try washing with hot water and rinsing with cold water. Works wonders and it's actually less shocking than jumping in a cold shower right away.
  3. Go go go! Can you believe that after five years of daily cold showers I still have to push through a half-second of hesitation, even though I know I'm going to feel great afterward? It's my daily "flinch fighting" ritual with which I build mental and physical strength. It all started from reading Julien Smith's The Flinch, which I highly recommend.
  4. Hey Phoenix, welcome back! +1 to replacing gaming with playing guitar. It's working wonders for me. I study when I want a challenge, and play stuff I already know when I just want to relax. This covers the active, relaxing, and achievement-based activities on Cam's matrix (see 60+ hobby ideas).
  5. Same here. In fact for me old Hesse > young Hesse, and his last book is the best.
  6. How about the opposite perspective: martial arts teach you to prevent injuries! Think about it: you learn how to assess danger related to people and the environment, how to minimize risk (running vs fighting), how to fall without breaking your bones, how to quickly disable the thug trying to kick your teeth in. It changes you so that you don't look and feel like an easy target to predators, human or animal. It makes your body stronger, harder to harm, faster to heal. To me the pros outweight the cons.
  7. Thanks! At the top of my list I put The Glass Bead Game.I loved Narcissus and Goldmund.Demian had quite an impact on me during the "who-the-heck-am-I" phase of my adolescence.Siddhartha is a great book and a crowd favorite.Bonus: the biggest thrill I got from books lately came from Richard Dawkins. The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene.
  8. Hey SpiNips! I'm doing great, thanks! I wanted to give back to the community, so when Cam called for translators I put myself forward. I've been thinking about you and other friends from GQ. Glad to see you are still going strong!
  9. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Days 158 to ∞. Closure is a beautiful thing. Half a year without playing games. Some dreams here and there, a craving or two, and that's it. I had enough time to find root causes, make peace, reshuffle a number of things. And above all, change. It's time for me to move on. And I won't do it before thanking everybody who has been with me in this journey. @Cam Adair , @kortheo, @Phoenix, @AlexTheGrape, @SpiNips, @wookieshark88, @ChrisSatcher, @KoyoteIcarus, @Marchosias, @Zala, @Ed, @Florian, @gankylosaurus, @Elegwa, @cordharel, @bassitone, @Mark, @Django, @Alkan... My wife and my children. Everyone I forgot to mention. You understood, you believed, you made it happen. Thank you! I wish luck and strength to everybody still struggling. Don't be afraid. Dream big. Push your boundaries. Be your own character, build your own skills, level up your own life. Peace!
  10. Tom

    Tom's journal

    OK, so I didn't hurt any rhinos. I had some fun teasing cheetahs though
  11. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Days 156, 157. Good days. I'm ready to leave for my two-week business trip. It's going to be interesting! Formerly I would have played HearthStone in my room for at least the day's grind. Now I'm packing extra books and music. Gratitude journal: Going to Africa. It's going to be a key experience in my life.A friend giving me a collection of French independent music.Dark chocolate.
  12. Oh, but it will! Trust me on this, first-hand experience! You dug some pretty deep neural pathways. It's only natural that some of the impulses that your brain fires during sleep follow the path of least resistance. Remember: be kind to yourself. Your body and your mind are your allies. Love them, trust them, guide them with compassion.
  13. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Days 152, 153, 154, 155. Recovering from the flu, and right in time! Sunday I'm flying out and it will be some intense two weeks. Gaming has nearly never crossed my mind during these days, and when it did it was so that I could dismiss it with a "nah". Gratitude journal: Having a comfortable bed.My fingers getting faster on my guitar's fretboard. Scales and metronomes are king. And Kerry, of course Weird dreams.
  14. I call this "serendipity by design". It's creating chances for luck to strike. One month! Gratz!
  15. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Great question! As you say, it's all about self-development. Gaming was just one aspect of my life I wanted to work on. Journaling helped me put my priorities straight and keep myself accountable. I did mention gaming occasionally, when I had intense cravings, but there were not that many. The fact is simply that gaming is not a part of my life anymore, nor something I think about that much. I also hope that my posts can be of some help to whoever wants to see how such a long journey can unfold.
  16. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Days 128, 149, 150, 151. Big flu, bad flu. And on my birthday. I had to cancel a table at a place aptly named... Murphy's Law! That at least made for a good laugh with my friends. So I just spent the last days in bed. Played some guitar. Watched a ton of music videos and documentaries. Gratitude journal: Modern solid state amps being awesome value for money.My wife for taking good care of me.Birds chirping outside.
  17. Tom

    Tom's journal

    You have a TEDx talk? No I haven't. TEDx The Hague has a particular format: we meet once a month to watch and discuss a selection of videos. My wife and I curated one of the evenings and it was good fun. Sometimes we also hold the "regular format" TEDx, with live speakers in a big hall and no discussions. I'm giving it a thought to put myself forward as a speaker.
  18. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Day 147. OK, I'm officially ill. Tomorrow I took a day off. I'll stay in bed and do no physical or mental activity. And reflect on the importance of shifting gears. Hard decision: no weight training this week and the next. Then I'll be off to a business trip. Knowing the fitness rooms at the hotels. there won't be much to challenge me. I'll go easy on myself and concentrate on getting back into top physical condition. Today a colleague and I were talking about habits. The subject of gaming came up. Without going into much detail, I explained to her how quitting gaming had a positive effect on my life, and how it started a process of progressive elimination that makes me happier every day. She was inspired by my story and asked me about practical techniques. I told her about being deliberate, planning alternatives in advance, marking progress, and being kind to ourselves. She told me she wants to give it a try by going thirty days without alcohol. I'm glad I could help someone. Gratitude journal: Going to the office today.My boss calling to tell me he's planning on giving me new responsibilities.The old X Files. I'm watching them for the first time. What a good show.
  19. Tom

    Tom's journal

    A mixed grip cancels the rotation of the bar. With a normal grip,l if your grip strength is not enough the bar will push your thumbs open and fall off. With a mixed grip (one hand facing towards you and the other away from you) the bar doesn't roll and the thumbs cease to be the single point of failure.
  20. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Only on my last set. I think I started at around 90 or 100kg. Now I can hold 120kg with chalk and regular grip although it's quite a challenge. No way I'd lift 140kg without a mixed grip.
  21. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Day 146. I woke up on my own around five. I enjoyed my morning walk in the woods, ate breakfast, and started work early. It was quite nice that I could take longer breaks during the day. I spent some time with my family, played guitar, read a bit. Gratitude journal: Hot/cold showers.Eating home-cooked meals all the time.Niche communities being very helpful when scouting for information.
  22. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Days 144, 145. Good days, bad nights. Racing thoughts and child's screams aren't very conductive to rest. Sunday I've been a full-time mattress tester. I have the distinct feeling that the tweaks I've done to my deadlift technique last Wednesday are pure nonsense, at least in the way I carried them over. I caught up with some people over email and kept entertained (and isolated) by watching instructional guitar videos. Monday I felt much better. I had a nice walk in the morning, had a lighter breakfast than usual (knowing I wouldn't lift later), and worked. I took breaks by playing guitar and talking with my family. After work though I just wanted to get into bed again, and so I did. Had a good time playing with the children before bedtime. Gratitude journal: Being so close to the woods. Walking there as often as possible is the new habit I'm consolidating.Good TV shows. Sometimes escapism is necessary, and it's fun sharing this time with my wife.Xiaomi. Good, reliable tech at incredible prices.
  23. Tom

    Tom's journal

    Haha, I'm turning 34 this week and I'm definitely not of Nordic ancestry... No more long hair for me
  24. I second this point of view. Can you post a link to the article? Yes!
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