AlexTheGrape

That's wonderful! It seems that just getting into the activities and trying them again really worked out for you! I'm glad I could help you out

Hi Karpet, I'm glad you've joined the community! I'm also a big fan of personal development, if you have a look at my journal you'll find it is filled with a checklist of positively helpful habits I have or haven't worked on. Perhaps my journal could give you a few ideas on how to improve yourself. Starting your own journal will really help you in terms of accountability, as long as you reflect on what went right and what went wrong during the day, along with what you'll do differently the next day. It's great to see that you've moved on to improving other parts of your life like your food consumption, similarly I have been comfortably piling on new habits to build up after I grasped the 'Power of Habit' (this is a book I would highly recommend reading, along with The Slight Edge as the no.1 personal development book to read). Keep it up and I look forward to seeing where you'll go in the future!

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 24 Today has been the most productive I've had in a long time! I got all my habits done today plus killing more of my to-do list, which is quite an accomplishment considering I have a list of 12 habits on my trello board that I aim to do daily. I also fit in the time to cruise through some new journals and took the time to support those people; I was lucky enough for them to all reply within the same day! I tanked out a 5 page letter to one of my penpals today, and I did it all with a glass quill and ink! They are sure to be happy with the effort I put into the letter. For once I am actually looking forward to getting back to school as I can then start applying my new disciplines and attitude to convert the effort into tangible grades! Usually I would dread going back to school since I would have to be away from my games for a long time (until the next holidays) so this is a very noticeable shift in my mentality. Meditation Done. I soon will try mantra meditation to engage my senses on a spiritual level, not just clearing my mind. Visualisation Done. Not too much feel but better than yesterday. Morning run Done! I used the 30-20-10 technique and did my 20 minute circuit so that I made the most of my run. 7 minute workout Done, and I was drenched in sweat after doing this and the run! Cold shower I am getting used to cold showers, is this a good thing? It isn't testing my discipline as much but could be seen as me being more comfortable with getting out of my comfort zone. Guitar practice Done, and I started working on a difficult English song so that will certainly develop my skills as I practice it. Programming I got some revision done on code words and their meanings, but I didn't finish the tasks as I got distracted sequentially by cake given to me then youtube videos... Thank you letter Certainly done, I wrote a 5 page letter! It wasn't based on being thankful, but I certainly was in describing my past year. New words Done! This was pleasingly helpful as I didn't remember the meanings of any of the words I had chosen to use a week earlier. Midday teeth brushing This is a habit I have started a week or so ago but haven't been working on consistently. This is just to improve my hygiene as I tend to feel my teeth are dirty during the day. I did my brushing today though, so that's done! Reading I'm just about to start reading, so count that one done! What went well today: Starting the day by getting most of my habits done first really helped me get everything else finished on time. Although timing didn't work because it will take different amounts of time to get ready on different days, I will try and maintain a fast speed when completing these tasks anyhow. I did very well with my run today and put in lots of effort, same goes with the workout. Using trello to get all my tasks done certainly helped, and I am proud that I got all my long list of habits done. Since I wrote down what I was going to do differently last night I was able to easily remember what I needed to change and work on. I think one of the main things that helped me today was that I broke up the large 'chunk' of habits I needed to complete by fitting in things like writing the letter and identifying which habit tasks I could use as more fun things to do like playing the guitar so that I could also use it as a break. What I could have done to make my day better: I could have not watched youtube videos... I ended up watching them for about 40 minutes and this wasted a lot of my time I should have been programming and journalling. Otherwise I made very good use of my day. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will set a realistic alarm to get me to go to bed earlier. 9pm will be lights out for me tomorrow. No Youtube until my trello 'today' list is exhausted. Thankfully I have the experience to avoid watching Youtube most of the time, but in the case of boredom I will return to my list of things to do to find something more engaging. One amazing thing that happened today: Writing the long letter was quite a satisfying experience. I wrote about my past and in doing so, comparing the progress I've made over the last years to the progress I've made in the past few months; it was a good formal reflection time. I realise that from another's perspective not much has changed in my lifestyle, but the main difference is the attitude I have adopted, the discipline I have built, the habits that are positively benefitting my life, and the drive I have developed to do better in many areas of my life. 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for the glass quill and ink I have to make letter writing special for both me and the recipient. I am grateful for the GQ community for being a positive constant in my life. I am grateful for having my own guitar to play whenever I like.

I would also like to get better at public speaking this year, it is something I've struggled with but I'm sure it would be of great benefit to me to develop that skill whilst I'm still in school.

Hi Mario, I just started reading your journal and I thought I'd let you know that you're doing great so far. It is also good to see that you are keeping a gratitude journal within your GQ journal; my own has helped me to become a lot more grateful towards others in real life. If you'd like some more habits that would have a positively impact on your life in general, just let me know as I currently do heaps! Keep it up man and I look forward to seeing where you'll end up in the future!

Hi Paul, I appreciate the enthusiasm and effort you are putting into improving your lifestyle! You have provided a lot of detail in the forum about how you're progressing and how you're struggling, but in terms of finding hobbies for you to fill you time with, it seems to me that the effort stops here. I'll share some experience of my own that will hopefully help you in achieving what you want. I didn't think that I'd be interested in a lot of things from the 60+ hobby ideas list and many other activities, but when I finally said to myself "ok, I need to try these or else I won't know for sure if I'll enjoy them" I got started and really enjoyed the hobbies I tried out. One of these was learning to play the guitar; I had stopped playing about 5 years ago because I found it boring, but without the need for instant gratification now, I really enjoy singing to my songs and playing the best I can. If you try an activity where you will learn beneficially it is a bonus, I am finding programming in the Python language engaging for my brain and enjoyable as a result as I am challenged to work out puzzles like I would be in gaming. If you have a think about your previous passions you may well find things you enjoy like I have, both programming and playing the guitar have been things I gave up on practicing because I found them boring whilst I played video games. If you still can't think of any, perhaps try to derive some ideas from activities or things you enjoy or have an interest in. Otherwise there are many lists of hobbies and helpful habits online you can have a look at so you'll never be out of ideas. Most importantly, if you don't try them and don't attempt to enjoy them, you simply won't find the activities interesting. Something I found that is very true is that we only find something interesting after we've been engaged with the activity. It is described in the quote "When you do the thing, you have the power", being the power and motivation you need, and more simply in the Nike quote "Just do it". I hope this information will help you and all the best for your recovery!

Hi Edward, I just read through a lot of your journal and I just thought I'd let you know that you're doing great! I started with just a couple of habits that I would do consistently like meditation and a quick morning run, but over time the positive effects from these habits have compounded. My comfort zone has been extended vastly and now I also visualise, do a work-out run, workout in the morning, take a cold shower, am improving my guitar skills, and a few other habits I have built up. If you continue working on the small things you'll improve heaps over time. You're definitely on the right track and I look forward to seeing where you'll end up in the future!

Great to see that you're analysing with a clear perspective Travis! I've started analysing how I've been doing again and it has helped me to identify what I need to work on, but in your case has helped you to identify your previous beliefs and how they may have been wishful thinking rather than realistic. Keep it up and well done for keeping on the path to success!

Thanks Cam for the advice! It is also exciting to know that I am becoming one of the success stories as I strive to be a role model. Thank you for making my day! I'll make sure to add what went right during the day and try to celebrate the small wins more.

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 23 Today has been a little hectic at the start which threw off my morning routine but I managed to get heaps done. I had to change house for the week and so had to get up early to catch a train; in doing so I skipped my meditation, visualisation, run, and workout. I did my meditation and visualisation later in the day but didn't push myself to get the exercise done. I am going to add the "what I could have done to make my day better" and "what I am going to do differently tomorrow" to my journal again as I have noticed I have been quite unguided in making improvements to my daily life. By identifying what went wrong and targeting the areas I am going to work on the next day, I have been less prone to repeating mistakes in the past and I would like to return to that place of self-awareness. I also realised why my vision board was not effective at all for me meditating or visualising. I have used mostly my interests as its themes, not my goals or desires. This has meant that when I looked at it, nothing felt out of place or drew my attention, it was all natural to me and so did not inspire my visualisation or goals. I will make a new one tomorrow. Meditation Done Visualisation Done, but I didn't feel it in my body very much today. I reckon this is because I haven't done it the past couple of days. Run and 7 Minute workout Skipped. Cold shower I have been trying to be more calm when approaching getting cold in the shower, and it has worked... The problem is, without the adrenaline or shock of getting angry at the shower, I don't feel as refreshed as I used to be after a cold shower. I'll try get angry at the shower again tomorrow and see how things go. Guitar practice Unlike the last few days, I made time for guitar practice despite leaving it a little late in the day. Programming ...Programming has been off the charts for a while... This will be my main focus for tomorrow I think. Thank you letter I finally got round to writing a thank you letter to a relative in the UK for a Christmas gift! I wrote out the letter on Microsoft word then wrote it out neatly on paper for minimal mistakes. I sealed it with wax, it was a cool experience to do so for the first time. I hope he likes it! I plan to do the same with my other letters and it provides me a good incentive to get started on them. New words I wrote the last post a few minutes ago so I haven't implemented it yet. Reflection I have made a good use of my day to get heaps of last of my one off tasks done whilst working on most of my positive habits. Tomorrow I'll just need to get the habits done first, and as soon as possible. I think I'll put a timer on to make sure I don't take too long. What I could have done to make today better: I could have gone to bed earlier to make sure I wasn't tired throughout the day. I could have exercised to keep my body active. Otherwise I made pretty good use of my day. What I will do differently tomorrow I will time myself a total of 55 minutes to get all my morning habits done. I will have slept more. I will commit to getting all my daily habits done before anything else to keep up my best sense of urgency and speed at completing all tasks.

Here is my post for yesterday: 90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 22 Today I spent some time with my grandparents, and tried to fix their computer problems. I also started writing a letter to one of my penpals to put on paper and got some more one-off tasks done such as getting new uniform sorted for the year. Meditation Done Visualisation I forgot again... Uh oh. Running I had a workout run today using the 30-20-10 technique, it felt good to get back into the habit. 7 Minute workout Done. Cold shower Done. Guitar practice I got back home pretty late, and didn't make time for it. Programming Again, didn't make time for it in favour of the more urgent activities I needed to cross off. Thank you letter I sent a thank you text to the monk I met to tell him how I appreciated him greeting me, taking the time to know me, and offering sound advice and resources. New words I had started attempts to extend my vocabulary a few times before by learning words from a list that would change every week. I am starting this again and adding 'New words' as a habit on here for accountability. Reflection I could have done better to make room for the other habits I needed to work on after coming home from my grandparent's place, but overall I did alright because I got my 7 minute workout in order and my morning run back to peak effort levels. One amazing thing that happened today: After sending a text to thank the monk for taking the time to get to know me and for his generosity yesterday, he replied to say he really appreciated it. Happiness went both ways for my gratitude which made my day. 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for the opportunity to contact people with electronic devices. I am grateful for my open mind attitude towards new ideas. I am grateful for the wide range of food I got to choose from for my lunch today.

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 21 Today I spent some time getting to know my neighbour and got through a bunch of my one-off tasks. I went to the bay to get some letters to write to my penpals and I socialised where I could. I met a monk as well, and the resources he gave me might help me to find spiritual peace or something along those lines. I'll add them to my books to read list, but I'll give them a bit higher priority as they describe spiritual techniques that I might find useful. My step-brother invited over tons of people for a party so I didn't get much opportunity to do more productive things at home, but I did squeeze in a bit of guitar practice. I have made more progress in starting my own business as I contacted a friend of mine that has started his own business, I will be learning a lot from him tomorrow. Meditation I got my meditation done this morning as soon as I got up. Visualisation Went well, and I am noticing that auto-suggestion has helped me to feel motivated to be the #1 academic student this year. When I think of my goal I often get the feelings that would correspond with a fist pump, being very motivating. Running I had a run this morning but I didn't do it early, so I ended up doing a run to the park but not doing any intensive exercise. 7 Minute workout I legitimately forgot to do my workout today, I better make it tomorrow! Guitar I got in a bit of practice just before and during the party, but wasn't a very good session. Programming I didn't make time for it today, so that's a no. Reading I am about to read before going to bed, so count that one done. Reflection Today I have made moderately good use of my time, but I can still improve more tomorrow. One amazing thing that happened today When I went to purchase letters for sending to my penpals, I told the people working at the counter my story about getting penpals and how I am also making an investment this way as I will have adventures in the future to finally meet my penpals in person. When I came back to get some paper for the letters, they were delighted that I came around in the first place because I had just kick-started their penpal journeys with my own story! They had been signing up for penpals for the whole duration that left the store before coming back the second time. This was something amazing because it made me feel accomplished in the fact that I am inspiring people and reminded that I am doing good by learning about the experiences of other people. 3 Things I'm grateful for I am grateful for the opportunity to meet new people today at the party hosted at my house. I am grateful that I have a positive impact by inspiring others to connect with other people and that I'm inspiring other game quitters. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet a monk that had once been a doctor; not many people are so humble and pure as to dedicate their lives to becoming a monk and serving others.

Here is my post for yesterday: 90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 20 Today has been worse than average because I didn't make the most of my time. I was invited to a friend's place in the morning, and since I needed to bring quite a few things over I skipped running and my 7 minute workout. I still meditated and had a cold shower, but I felt drowsy throughout the day likely because I hadn't started off the day with exercise. I spent a lot more time than needed with my friends today, but it was good to catch up with them these holidays anyway. I connected with one of my friends on a deep and personal level, and he is interested in how I've been developing myself recently. Perhaps he may start a journal on here soon! Thank you for taking the time to read my journal and thanking me, I really appreciate it! I'm glad that my experiences have really helped motivate you. Keep it up man! Meditation Done Running I skipped it today, and I noticed how drowsy I felt without exercise in the morning. 7 minute workout I also skipped it and I'd assume that this contributed to my feelings of drowsiness today. Cold shower Having a cold shower woke me up, but didn't have a lasting effect as it wasn't paired with exercise. Guitar practice, programming, thank you letter I did not make time for any of these. Grr. Reading I read about 25 minutes of Think and Grow Rich, the autosuggetion is certainly working in my visualisation. Reflection I didn't make the most of my day, but I had to catch up with those friends sometime. I also spent a lot of time explaining my progress in the last few months and was a good time to reflect. I came to the realisation like the day before that the most important changes that I have made to me and my lifestyle have been from the last few months.

I have been lazy with my posting recently, so this stops now. Here is my post for 2 days ago: 90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 19 Today has been very special for me because I got to meet an old friend from the last high school I went to, and I hadn't seen her for 2 years. It was wonderful catching up and spending time together, it was also a great opportunity for me to reflect on the last couple of years as I told her what has been happening in my life in the past couple of years. I realised that the greatest changes in my past two years have actually been within the last few months, other than my academic performance improving over time. This has been because I have adopted a completely different outlook on life, how I get through my day, and most importantly I have cultivated the desire and methods of moving my life forward in more ways than what someone normally would with time. I have decided to put my 30 day challenge on hold to get through all of the one-off tasks that I have listed, to work on conquering one of my fears (this was part of the challenge I need to do), so as soon as I have time where I'm sitting at home and I've completed all these things, I'll dive back into the challenge. I played guitar, had a run, meditated, visualised, but didn't get any of my other habits completed. It was a great day overall though, and a reflective on at that. I would like to add that the change that I am making in my life is being noticed by myself and others a lot sooner than I expected, I was led to believe that the results would come a lot slower. Perhaps the full positive impact of my new lifestyle will be revealed later, because at the moment I am currently noticing I have been quite a bit more grateful and happier in general.

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 18 Today was a wonderful Sunday where I spent some quality time with my dad by biking into and around the city on some new biking paths, we were out for 5 hours! I also spent some great time playing card games (and some cards against humanity :3 ) with my step-brother and a few of his friends for a few hours. So it was a very enjoyable day, but I haven't worked on my guitar skills (again ) and I may have left out another habit. I'm not going to explain any excuses for not doing the challenge today, I will just bare the shame and make sure to do the day 17 challenge and possibly the day 18 challenge if I manage to reflect on the day 17 one first. I don't need to continue jquery practice anymore as I now know the basics, so I will be happy to dive back into python programming! Meditation Done. I tried to do it unguided, but my focus wandered away from the breath and didn't end up in being a very good meditation. I will go back to guided sessions tomorrow. Visualisation I forgot to do my visualisation this morning. Morning run Yes, I did my morning run but didn't do the 30-20-10 technique this time. 7 minute workout Completed. Cold shower Completed. Guitar practice I didn't make time for it today. Programming I stopped jquery but didn't think to start python programming again. Thank you letter Sort of done, I wrote an apology letter but I also was very thankful in one of my penpal emails. Tomorrow I will write a proper card, extra shame on me if I don't! Reading I'm about to go into bed and read, so consider that done. Reflection I have made good use of my time to enjoy myself today, but I have had a wake-up call in terms of my challenge commitment and time usage.

Here is a quick post for yesterday: 90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 17 So for today in the challenge I needed to talk to three new people and say hi, but bait them for conversation. This was the first time I skipped one of the steps (I forgot to read the challenge in the morning and was running out of time to complete the challenge when I did read it), and so I didn't brainstorm some ideas of what to bait conversations with. This ended badly for me because when I got out go know people, my autopilot just went ahead and I ended up asking questions to further the conversation. This wasn't bad in any respect because I got to know people, but it didn't complete the challenge. Today I completed most of my daily habits including the 7-minute workout this time, but i forgot to play guitar and I didn't make time for jquery. A lot of my time has been sucked up by emailing my penpals, but I started telling them I need to slow down with my replies and moving on to snail-mail, so hopefully I will have more time to spend improving myself in the near future.

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 16 Today has been wonderful in many ways, I got most of my daily habits done, I spend a lot of time emailing penpals (I won't be doing that too much anymore as we'll be moving on to 'snail-mail'), but I spent a lot of time inside The day 16 challenge was to record my voice reading out my first journal entry, then make adjustments to improve how I use my tone. This was pretty easy and I was successful at using a more authoritative and commanding voice to make my conversation more interesting and portray a higher self-esteem. In addition I got my day 15 challenge out of the way by listing my fears and writing the steps I need to take to overcome them. I will be going on an outing in the next few days to do this. Furthermore, I finally organised a karaoke night with some friends of mine, but we'll have to do it somewhere around the 30th of January or later because one of them is in Raratonga and another is in Mongolia right now. I will be adding 'reading' to my list of daily habits as I have slackened off recently. Meditation Done. Visualisation Done, it is getting easier now that I am using a set of desired outcomes I am visualising. Morning run Done, even though it was hot in the morning I tanked it out and felt much better after the cold shower Cold shower Done, I felt much more alert and ready for the day. Guitar Done, and I started practicing a new song. Programming I did my Jquery stuff but didn't get through much content today as I ran into a lot of problems. Thank you letter It was included in one of my penpal emails sent today, so that's done. Reading I didn't read today, I need to get to bed earlier to make the time for it. Reflection: I have had a generally good day today and have made progress on my positive habits, but still wasn't 100%. I will do better tomorrow! 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for the opportunity to talk to people around the world and share our experiences. I am grateful for the GQ challenge for getting me out of my comfort zone to in turn expand my comfort zone. I am grateful for the support I am now receiving from my family for my new lifestyle One amazing thing that happened today: organising a day out with my friends was a buzz as I now have the hope and motivation to sing my heart, something I've only ever done once before!

Welcome back! I'm glad to hear from you again. I also had a relapse whilst you were inactive here, but it only lasted a couple of days. Like Cam said, embracing and conquering your fears is what drives you forward, as it means getting out of your comfort zone to in turn expand your comfort zone so that you can more easily do a wide range of helpful activities. Keep us posted on how you're going and we'll help you out! All the best for your renewable energy course and improving your life!

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 15 I completed the 45 minute meditation this afternoon as part of the Day 14 challenge, and it was like a self-brainwash! I felt so calm afterwards that I couldn't even recall what was making me stressed right before the meditation, as I had convinced myself to 'blow out my worries' with each breath. I will definitely keep such meditation under my belt for future use if I am overly stressed and don't have much to do on my hands. I'll get started on day 15 challenge tomorrow as I've been busy with programming and other things today, plus I wasn't comfortable with diving straight into identifying my fears. I know this is a really important step for me, so I'll just get to it as soon as possible. Meditation Done Visualisation Done, it felt better than normal now that I have a couple of specific scenarios in mind that I have practiced visualising. Running I ran during the middle of the day, but I need to make sure I do it in the morning tomorrow. 7 Minute workout I didn't do my morning run so also didn't do the workout as it is a sequential task. Cold shower Again, I weasled out of this one because I hadn't done the tasks I would normally do sequentially before it. Guitar No, I didn't make time for it. Programming I had a super long session this afternoon to help tackle down the big task of implementing jquery into my website within about a week. Thank you letter I am in the process of writing one, so that counts as done by the time you read this. Reflection: I reckon I could have done better today to get all my habits done, and to do so I need to start snail-mailing my penpals as emailing them is taking a large chunk of my time away due to the need to reply consistently (whereas I will need to wait weeks for a reply through international mail services).

Just a quick entry as I forgot to post yesterday. I completed pretty much all the daily habits I am pushing myself to to, including jquery programming. I forgot to do my challenge yesterday as I have been spending too long writing emails to my new penpals. I have now made my 'one-off to-do' list and have started tackling it. I am passing on the 40 minute meditation today to tomorrow to do. I have been having fun at a beach today and have been spending time with my grandparents. The rest of my time has been drained by talking to penpals (I have difficulty just saying 'no' when they ask me, so I just say hi and get to know them). I am a bit of a suck up so that is something I'll need to work on. I'll write a full post tomorrow, I promise!

Thanks @Tom, I appreciate the support! I must admit that the full song didn't have any words to it, but yeah it was full length. I would normally just have silence as it would help with concentration, but since it's the holidays I've been a bit lenient on how I do any activity that I wouldn't normally do in the holidays. I might try relaxing when taking my cold shower tomorrow, but I have found that getting angry helps me to tolerate being uncomfortable and embracing the cold. I'll try relaxing anyways as I haven't done that before! Thanks again for taking the time to read my post!

90 Day Detox Attempt III Day 12 Today I went ice skating with a older friend of mine and her other friends (who I didn't know already). I pushed myself to do this to expose myself to opportunities to meet new people and all that jazz. I reckon I did well to start off with, but trying to connect meaningfully with couples is difficult and I ended up feeling left out a lot of the time. Regardless it was good for my social skills to get out there and hopefully I can learn from how I did today. I signed up for some penpals so I will have fun learning about people in different countries and also be personally accountable not just on the GQ forums. So today for the challenge Meditation I did my meditation today. Visualisation I forgot to do visualisation. Running I got in a good run of 22 minutes(just assume I use the 30-20-10 method from now on as it has become a habit), nuff said. 7 Minute workout As I mentioned in my morning journal, the 7 minute workout helped me keep things simple and speedy. I will continue this into the future, doing it after my morning run. Cold shower Done. I felt ready for the day. Guitar practice. Done. Programming I didn't give myself enough time to program today and so made a short, sloppy effort. Thank you letter I didn't make time for this today, I ended up getting caught in the 'just one more video' cycle and spent about a whole hour on youtube. I'll cut it short as one of the things I wanted to get done was sleep earlier. I will do that now.

Well after a run in the morning, I am very hot so the cold shower is quite rewarding for the first few seconds. If you don't do exercise in the morning then I suppose that a cold shower might not be for you (assuming you're not trying to build discipline). Thanks for the compliment on the dance video, I really don't deserve praise for it though as I reckon I am a pretty boring dancer.

@Primmulla that is a very interesting story you have there, and I am sorry to hear about your troubles in finding a job. I didn't know that video gaming could affect people the way you describe, but I wish all the best for you in finding a better future for yourself.

Morning Journal So the challenge for day 12 was to do the 7-minute work out as part of my success routine. I already do exercise as part of my morning routine (a 20 minute run), but I added the 7-minute work out anyways because I need to exercise my whole body. It was pretty easy, and I will make sure to continue doing this into the future as well as the cold showers. My cold shower this morning was refreshing again, despite having to grit my teeth and having to get angry at the shower to get through it. 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for having the freedom to run wherever I want. I am grateful that I have been a lot more grateful recently, as others have visibly noticed it. I am grateful for the simplified 7 minute workout so that I don't have to think about it.