AlexTheGrape

Hi Travis, I also vote to delete your account. I had a very similar decision to make when I decided to rid myself of my Steam account. I had the option to delete it (and lose its value forever) or to gift it to my little brother. I ended up deleting it. This was firstly because I knew that at some point I would be overcome with nostalgia and just ask for it back since I would see him playing my games all the time. This would end up in me turning myself and my brother into gaming addicts, and may result similarly for you if you chose to gift your accounts. Secondly, I knew that to move on from games I would have to make the barrier to entry as high as possible, and deleting the accounts do just that. I am proud of my decision because I have metaphorically burnt the bridge behind me that I could have travelled across to get back into video gaming. Cam and Florian have good points also. I have been forced to find other ways to connect with my little brother since we aren't playing games together, and actually find much more interesting things to do now. Although you may lose the accounts' value by deleting them, you remove the possibility of you falling into the depth of gaming addiction. This is much more valuable in the long term so that you can build the life you want, so my vote goes to deleting the accounts. Congratulations again on making 90 days, I hope you choose what is right for you and don't let the detox go to waste

Attempt II Day 50 No complaining attempt II Day 1 Today kicked of not very well because I skipped running this morning (I felt a little sore and hadn't had an 'official' break from running in a while. What I know for sure is that I will be running tomorrow! In terms of activities completed I did rather well at keeping to the schedule I made. I was asked to be a sober driver for my mother this afternoon, so I was just hanging around in the car reading "Think and Get Rich" for the past few hours. Today is a minor milestone in my 90 day detox, and I look forward to reaching 90 and continuing my journey beyond. I complained about my goggles having a leak in them today, so I need to start my no complaining counter again. It seems it will be a real challenge to not complain for 25 days! So I haven't done my running or guitar practice today but got some good programming time in. I'm not disappointed with myself though, the job I was asked to do threw my schedule out the window. I have attached some pictures of Spidey, the cat I mentioned yesterday. We called her Spidey because she likes to cling to people, and enjoys climbing people and trees. The photos I took last year and are some of my better ones. Sorry if this kills your interned, they are more than 4MB each. 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for my scissors. I am grateful that I haven't been drunk before (and I don't plan on it). I am grateful for the paella I had for dinner. One amazing thing that happened today: Today at the polo club (where I drove my mother) they had delicious paella for everybody. This is a dish that I rarely have and really love, and have already noted on my trello 'to do' list to find a good recipe and write it down for near future use. Now that I am sugar-conscious, I appreciated that I could fill up on the somewhat healthy food. What I could have done to make my day better: I could have had my morning run, as that seems to set things in motion nicely. I could have gotten up faster, as with no pressure on me I tend to get up very slowly. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will get up immediately after my alarm goes off, and will meditate through my drowsiness. I will only use a 10 minute meditation to save myself time. I will make sure that I have everything prepared for my trip to the city tomorrow.

Congratulations kortheo on finishing the detox! Your reflection surely was heartfelt, and it shows a great sense of awareness of your time as a resource to invest, not to kill. Your post would be a great example for new game quitters to see, your development throughout your journey is rather clear. Thanks for being a role model in the community!

Attempt II Day 49 No complaining day 5 I used to get a little frustrated in writing in 'Attempt II' but kept writing it because I could not forget that I failed along the way. I realise at this point that this has been important for me to remember how I tripped up. Today has been a sunny day, but not so sunny me. I had my morning meditation and finally remembered to visualise in the morning because of the note I wrote. I had high expectations for what visualisation would feel like, but I was not disappointed when I felt much motivated to do my morning run than I normally would. Perhaps just the act of sitting down and waiting raises awareness that time is precious and should be used to invest in oneself. I just read something from re-reading a bit of the slight edge: "work expands to fill the time allowed to use for it". This is absolutely true because my most efficient work was when timing myself, and thus reducing the time taken to produce the same amount of work. So far these holidays my weeks have just flown by without me doing terribly much in my day. I believe this would be because I am doing everything at a very leisurely pace. Tomorrow I will write up a time plan like I have previously, and I will see how much better I use my time this way. I practiced long distance action shooting (capturing fast moving activity from a distance) with my camera for an hour or so today and it was rather difficult, but was great for photography experience. I got some good pictures out of it though, I should look through these tomorrow to find the best ones. I'll make this quick as I want to have more sleep: 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for my camera. I am grateful for the cat. I am grateful for my shoes. Again, I have taken the time to think about each of these things individually and have found it much more fulfilling than just explaining them with text. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will write a time plan to use my time more effectively. I will complete all daily habits (I started programming and guitar practice too late today :/). I will eat much less sugar!

Hi Cam, thanks for the idea. I have made dinners before, but I am rather slow at it and remember resenting it. I am sure I will be able to look at it in a more positive light now (it has been a long time since I have made family dinners), and as you mention would be great to keep sugar intake down.

Hi Laney, thanks for taking the time to read my journal! I also appreciate the advice to find a hackerspace. I looked it up and found one somewhat near me, and I might go to it next time available. 1. The visualisation I do in the morning is an activity I am trying to get into the habit of. I listen to music with a build-up and try to visualise in my head and feel the emotions I would feel after achieving one of my larger goals, or just the ideal day. For example this morning after meditating, I visualised myself running in perfect weather and the feeling of accomplishment after a run. After this I felt pumped to get started. I realised that visualisation is a powerful tool after learning of Cam's experiences with visualisation and relating this to my own experiences where I have derived motivation from similar experiences. 2. My main source of sugar intake would be desserts and possibly the spreads I put on my toast. Currently I use nutella and apricot jam, but nutella has more than 50% sugar (which is insane!) and apricot jam is at about 30% sugar. Eating toast is almost habitual for me, so it will be difficult to move to less tasty alternatives. 3. Of course you may adopt my journal style! Whatever works for you and helps you on your journey. Most of it is derived from The Slight Edge principles though. I hope this helps

Attempt II Day 48 No complaining day 4 I will make this entry shorter as I planned to. I did not use my time well today in many areas, but I had a run in the afternoon (I tried the new running method Tom suggested and it was a real workout!), and put a lot of time into programming and guitar practice. I reduced my sugar intake slightly, it's hard to cut myself off as much as I would like because my brothers just devour all the tasty food if I don't, and most of the food we have at home contains sugars anyway. If I can reduce my intake slightly every day I believe I should end up fine. I made a new friend today, and spent a lot of time talking about Samoa, a place we've both been to in common. I forgot to do my visualisation today, I will put a physical note on my phone for this. Three things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for being able to help myself to food when I want it. I am grateful for water bottles. I am grateful for the invention of currency. I took the time to be grateful about these things instead of writing a lot about them, and it feels much better than what I used to do. One amazing thing that happened today: Today I tried the 30-20-10 running method, and I loved it! I completed about 9 cycles I believe, I have never breathed harder in my life! By the time I got home I was exhausted but fit in some body weight exercises. I felt like I had done a very good workout, and this is surely the way to got to not only stay fit, but to get fitter! Thanks Tom for the suggestion to try this. Also how do you tag people on comments like these? What I could have done to improve my day: I could have made better use of my time in all areas of my day. I should not leave things up to memory like the need to visualise in the morning. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will time myself to do each activity on my trello wall that I do, to make sure I do them with some haste. I will use that note I just wrote to visualise in the morning. I will reduce my sugar intake even more.

I don't know if you'll see this, but I was just wondering how you're going man, it seems like a whole lifetime since you've been on the forums! I'd love to hear from you, so please write a quick post on how you're going so we can help you out!

Hi cordharel, I haven't heard from you in ages! I thought I'd see how you're doing, as you've disappeared from the forums, and was thinking of you recently. Good or bad news, who cares? We're all here to help you out on the forum I'd love to hear from you!

Hi Jay, I was just wondering how you're going. You were a true motivator in the early stages of my journey and helped me after my relapse, so I was wondering how you're going with or without games. Perhaps I could return the favor some if you made an appearance on these forums again. Thank you for helping me through my journey and I hope to hear from you again!

Hi Elegwa, just popped into your journal to say I've been thinking of you and look forward to your next post on the 19th!

Congratulations on your academic success! Not many people can boast grades like those. I'm sorry to hear about your car accident, but hey, that's why they're called car accidents after all - you never expect them to happen so don't beat yourself up about it. I didn't know you gave up on nicotine as well, so congrats on that too! I don't know which would be harder to quit - games or smoking? In any case I don't want to try smoking to find out! I feel you've picked up better from your lows in your life a lot better and have enjoyed the better times much more than you used to. Nice work man! I can't boast such an extensive gratitude journal list and positive outlook yet.

Attempt II Day 47 No complaining day 3 Thank you Tom, that was some stellar advice. I will try out the 30-20-10 workout tomorrow. It looks promising and would be a good way for me to get some sprints in. I suppose I should be doing bodyweight exercises, I have dropped off doing them as I did it really inconsistently before. I will make this a new habit to build, and do it immediately after my morning runs. Thanks Joe, its people like you that make online journalling worthwhile with such optimism. I would say I've definitely doubled the time I had elapsed compared to my last attempt; this time I'm not giving up! Today was a cheerful one for me because I have finished about 95% of my Christmas shopping! At my place my two brothers and I have to spend our own money on presents for the rest of the family (even though we have no solid source of income) so the gifts we choose are always heartfelt in a good way. I feel ready to hear Christmas songs all the time. I got all my daily habits done and dusted, although everything seems to have been interrupting my guitar jam sessions today and yesterday. To that end, I will make sure to put my guitar somewhere very visible so that I am more inclined to continue it once I get back from whatever job I was doing. I had a cold(ish) shower this morning, but it went hotter in the last 2 minutes without me doing anything so I just rolled with it. I didn't find python programming that interesting today. This is probably because the novelty of being suddenly engaged with problem solving activities has worn off. Regardless, I put a good hour or so in! I have decided to cut down on my sugar intake, and once I manage that I will then redirect my diet to help my muscle development etc. I have decided to do this because I know that eating sugary foods is just impulsive behaviour aimed at satisfying myself for a very brief period of time. If I am to continue developing more difficult habits to master, I will need more experience with resisting urges such as these. I will make sure to avoid foods that have loads of additional sugar, and reduce my intake of such foods as much as I can. Enough regular desserts for me! I will just stick to special occasions for dessert. Once I find my Kindle (I haven't seen it for the past day :/) I will take notes from The Slight Edge as I read through it again and from You are not so Smart. I have a list of good books to read next, but has anybody got some suggestions on ones that are beneficial such as the books I mentioned? I have been applying for lots of jobs online, and finally got an email back from one of them (Burger King). It wasn't what I had hoped for, just acknowledging that the application is still on file because I hadn't been selected for the job they were hiring for. Hopefully job application emails should start rolling in and with luck I can land a job. 3 Things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for being one of the resilient people that have made it this far through the no gaming detox. There are only a handful of people that are keeping a journal on this forum and are relatively far through the detox. I am grateful that the bakery I had my lunch at still had 'double happy' double size sausage rolls that I love. I'm aware these would have a lot of fat in them, should I be avoiding those too in my lowered sugar intakes? I am grateful for having the time to spend with my little brother and step-dad to play Settlers of Catan. One amazing thing that happened today: After I bought the last of the presents I needed to, I felt a great sense of relief, as Christmas shopping has always been a difficult task for me, especially when cousins are coming around. I can now rest peacefully! What I could have done to make my day better: I could have been quicker to write today's post. I forgot to do envisioning after meditation, so hopefully I will remember this time. Other than that I've done pretty good today! What I will do differently tomorrow: I will make sure to write my post quicker and not babble about everything I've done today. I will do envisioning tomorrow morning and stick to my trello board to get the highest priority tasks finished.

That's a long list of new habits! You're doing great in that sense . If mindless internet browsing is a problem for you, then perhaps limiting the time you spend on certain sites might help. I believe there was a chrome extension for that. I am sitting on the fence about limiting my sugar intake, I would be having to spend a lot of time finding new foods to eat as a lot of the foods I currently eat contain added sugar. What's your take on it?

Hi Travis, it's great to see how you've been going since I last checked your journal. Nice job on getting your social priorities right and not over-investing, it is understandably a common place to trip up in. You've almost finished the detox, if that was what your count was for. I don't mean to be pushy, but I don't see any recorded effort to build new habits. It is very helpful you're maintaining gratitude habits within your journal, but how's your exercising and building on other skills? I'd be keen to know how you are developing in these areas Good luck picking up more girls haha.

Hi SegaCity, I've had a look at your journal posts and it looks like you're progressing fast! I really like your collage/vision board, you have a good taste. I also want to be my own boss at some stage and play guitar (which I'm already learning to do). If you can pile on the habits that fast and keep them, then you'll do great. I have found I can only do a couple of new habits at a time to not forget or overdo things. All the best for your recovery!

Attempt II Day 46 No complaining day 2 Today has been great in the fact that it all went smoothly, I have nothing threatening my wellbeing, economic position, etc. I spend some quality time with my little brother by walking around town to buy Christmas presents. We went to a bunch of cheap item stores and found some really neat things to buy people. I'm sad to say I didn't cut it today in terms of the habits and goals I set myself yesterday. I was woken up rather early and I didn't want to meditate at all, it was 5:something so I just went back to bed. When my alarm woke me up I felt extra drowsy so I just skipped the meditation and running; I went straight to eating breakfast. Since I had to look after my little brother at home in the afternoon I couldn't leave to go for a run, so I didn't get the exercise I needed today. I'm not going to let it happen tomorrow though! I'll make sure to just do the meditation no matter how I feel immediately after waking up. I had a cold shower like I told Tom I would. I don't see any immediate effects other than being cold and being much faster to have my shower, but I'm just going to have to trust the science. I didn't bother making new friends today because I was going around with my little brother, who required my attention a lot of the time. I realise I'm just keeping fit by running in the morning, not trying to build muscle. To this end, I will just continue what I'm doing but just change up my course to increase its total distance and perhaps run slightly faster each time I run. For some reason I didn't hear my phone alarm that I set for visualisation today, but tomorrow I will do it immediately after meditation. This way I will have a clear state of mind to visualise and it will help motivate my for my run immediately after. My little brother has started his holidays today, and was upset that I couldn't shoot zombies with him on the XBox. I found the answer to his question to play almost automatic, and I was surprised with his reaction. I later found that he had finally realised that if I continued on the path I am now, he would never be able to play video games with me again, and only with my twin brother. I realise this too, but I know it is a much better choice to not play in the long run, and there is an endless list of things we could do together instead. This shouldn't be a hurdle for me, as I have had much more pressing invitations that I have had to turn down whilst on this journey that I've learnt from. Three things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for the little cheap item stores where I can find all sorts of bits and bobs that can be great gifts for all sorts of people. I am grateful for the time I can spend with my parents now that I have time away from gaming. I am grateful for my little brother who was a great gift spotter, he pointed out many things that were great gifts for others. One amazing thing that happened today: Playing my guitar today, I felt that I had gotten a better idea of how to use my low voice better when singing along to what I play. I have tried different ways whilst playing in the past few days, but I felt I am getting the hang of it. I felt optimistic about how well I could develop my guitar playing skills, and this should be another fuel for envisioning and motivation! What I could have done to make today better: I could have simply meditated after getting up the second time. That way I would have gone on a run, as I always do after meditating. I need to make sure that I do a full guitar session and get out of the house after my daily habits to go to the library and other stores to have sufficient time. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will meditate immediately upon waking up. I will practice envisioning (with music) immediately after meditation. I will complete full sessions of guitar, programming, and running (I didn't do a full session of guitar practice today). I will get out of the house to get into town before 11 if possible.

Attempt II Day 45 No complaining day 1 Woohoo! I'm halfway through the detox! I had thought about what it would mean and what I would do at the end of the detox, but I am self assured that the detox is the metaphorical launch pad to my journey to the skies - to found the habits that I would use instead of gaming to move my life forward in the long run. If I played games after the detox, my habits, the launch pad, would disintegrate and I would never leave the ground. Today has been a very productive day: I did my meditation, running, python programming, and guitar practice done, all of which I did overtime! I will make sure to assess my running statistics from today and try to beat it tomorrow: Duration: 25 minutes146 Ave BPM3807 steps takenI will beat the duration by adding another 2 minutes at least, and go a further distance to cover 4000 steps whilst maintaining the same heart rate. I tried visualisation upon waking up today, but I didn't 'feel' it as much as I should have. Instead I'll set a time tomorrow where I will visualise and perhaps add body movement. I will do this at 9am tomorrow. Alarm set! I have applied for about 8 jobs today, so hopefully I should get a reply from a employer sooner or later. Tomorrow I will make sure to walk around town and/or go to the local library, so that I can make some new friends and apply for local jobs. I complained once today, so I have swapped my band, and am starting again. 25 days to go! I had started this a little while ago to gain a more positive outlook on life, because it is scientifically proven that word choice influences emotional feelings and therefore the perceived quality of life. Better words will make you happier, in short. Today I am also going to write one email per day so that I become more grateful. Today's letter goes to Cam. Three things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for online job listers, without them I'd be going door to door or doing a hell of a lot of phone calls! I am grateful for my fitbit. This is the first time I'm actually going to use its features to help me stretch myself. I am grateful for having the choice to do what I like with my time during these holidays. One amazing thing that happened today: I programmed during the set 'action sequence' I had planned to yesterday (being immediately after I put product in my hair). I really enjoyed today's session, and I refined my programming skills for about 2 hours at least! Playing around with previously learned commands has refreshed my memory in how to use them and was surprisingly fun like yesterday. What I could have done differently to make today better: I could have attempted visualising again, but that's pretty minor. I didn't meet my fitbit goal of doing 10000 steps today (I did nearly 7000) so tomorrow I will make sure to have an afternoon run. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will have an afternoon run, I will run for longer or faster in the morning, I will visualise at 9am in the morning. I will not complain, only making negative comments with a proposed improvement to the action or situation. I will go to town tomorrow (if I walk I will not need to do afternoon exercise) and make at least two new friends. This is a mouthful, but I have momentum in the changes I am making to my life, so I am confident I can do all these things.

Sounds like a plan, Sir! Thanks for the ideas

I had a good read of that article, and I recognise that most of those mechanics are present in almost all mobile games that I played. It is also saddening and frustrating to know that games development in many areas is just aimed on hooking the player to make money, rather than providing a game that users will actually enjoy. That's all for the better that I'm not touching video games at all!

Nice job on improving your day! I know that long breaks can be really refreshing, so good on you for taking the time to savor the day. If you were to take a holiday, I have the feeling that daily habits you have started may fade away. I know that after playing video games during holidays, I would have to 're-learn' how to enjoy other activities and to do homework on a daily basis. If you have ideas on this, please let me know. Looks like taking a cold shower could be useful, I'll make sure to try it tomorrow. Keep it up, you're only 15 days away from finishing your detox!

Thanks Ed, you're right about the momentum! I have read in The Slight Edge or The Power of Habit (one of the two, I can't remember), that once you start creating meaningful habits on your own, it becomes easier to continue making new habits in the future. This is exactly what you're talking about, as I feel I do have momentum to keep going with new activities now. I want to make 2016 awesome, so I'll make sure to make goals today that I'd like to achieve in 2016 and then post it in my journal this afternoon.

Hi Django, welcome to the community! It's a noble thing you're doing to give up something you like to do for the betterment of your family. You have the right idea to stop playing all types of video games, that way you will be no longer relying on computers for many of your needs. Now you'll need to make sure that you can find alternative, engaging activities to use instead of gaming. Without new activities it will be much harder to resist the temptations of instant gratification that video games bring. I'd recommend that you have a look at Cam's 60+ hobby ideas if you don't have new activities to replace gaming with: https://www.dropbox.com/s/flgut9tf6267fb1/60-Hobby-Ideas-v2.pdf?dl=0 Good luck for your recovery, and have fun with a new lifestyle!

Hi John, welcome to the community! I believe there have been quite a few people here that are in their 30's, so it's never too late to quit gaming. It's wonderful that you've picked up on the the 'monkey on your back' was video games, and taking the steps to make sure you don't ever play them again. I know that if I didn't block out all ways to get back into gaming, I would surely have relapsed again. It's great to see how you've planned to get your life back on track, and I hope to hear from you soon on how you've been going!

Attempt II Day 44 Today has been marvelous! I started off the day by delivering flyers for my parents, just helping them out. Next I had a (once in a lifetime?) call with Cam Adair who gave me some sound advice which I might post up once I'm done editing the notes I've made. I then delivered even more fliers, did some guitar practice, played a board game with my little brother, and finally took on python programming again. I did a full 30 minutes of programming, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it compared to how I remember myself mildly enjoying it earlier in the year. It must be because of the detox... Guess what? I did all of three of the daily habits I wanted to build on today! I did plenty of running (I ran 13.5 km today!), spend plenty of time playing the guitar (until my fingers had 'dents' in them), and made sure to get some python programming in. I've got my 'no complaining' band on again for the 25 day 'no complaining challenge', and I am feeling happier today. I think I need to get a tighter band though, to remind me better that I need to not complain to keep a positive outlook on life. I have finished the 'You are not so smart' book, but I didn't take any notes. I will skim over the book and take notes as I have forgotten most of the content! Three things I'm grateful for: I am grateful for the advice Cam gave me in answering my questions. They certainly gave me a lot to work on moving forward. I am grateful for the dinner I had tonight. We don't often have roasts here, so it was a nice change. I am grateful for my phone microphone working today, I used it as backup during the skype call because my laptop I used had a faulty microphone. One amazing thing that happened today: I would actually like to talk about two amazing things that happened today, because why not? It will only serve to make me more grateful. 1. My call with Cam Adair today was a privilege I am especially grateful for, it is not every day you get to speak to minor celebrities! (You can take that as a compliment Cam ). It was a funny contrast to talk about finding purpose in life one minute, then in the next, trying to help Cam find food in the supermarket, which makes it all the more memorable. On a serious note though, I learnt a lot and I am very grateful for this opportunity. 2. I found programming today much more engaging and rewarding then I remember it being earlier in the year. This is a great emotional foundation which I will look to when thinking about programming to see the activity in a more positive light. It felt wonderful to be expanding on my skills whilst being engaged and problem solving. I have the notion that this could be because I no longer have gaming experiences to compare to in my short term memory, so programming seems like a great stimuli for my brain without the influence that gaming would have on my brain. One thing I could have done to make my day better: I didn't meditate immediately upon waking up this morning, which I should have done to get myself out of the drowsy mood I would normally wake up with. I ended up reading for about half an hour, so I should make sure not to do this tomorrow. What I will do differently tomorrow: I will use the song I wake up to (via phone alarm) to visualise myself achieving goals I aspire to achieve. I will then make sure to meditate using one of the guided meditations I have downloaded from Tara Brach's website.