Cam Adair

I'm similar to Jay. It's not that gaming is bad, but I have different priorities. If I was still gaming over the past few years instead of moving on, I wouldn't have traveled to 22 countries, started my own business (which gives me a lot of freedom and flexibility, instead of having to work a normal job), I wouldn't have shared my story on TEDx, Game Quitters wouldn't exist, I wouldn't have lived in Los Angeles or Colorado, gone surfing in Bali, California and Panama, met a woman I fell in love with in Vancouver, etc etc. For me it's similar to what you said, I had tried gaming, I spent 10+ years putting all of my efforts into it, and it was fun and all that but at the end of the day, after 10+ years of gaming, I had played some games and had some fun killing bosses, but I still felt depressed, had very few friends, was unemployed living in my parents basement and didn't have a girlfriend. So 10+ years of gaming got me those results. So were those the results I really wanted? NO. So I tried a different path, one without gaming and instead focused my efforts on personal development and I'm in year 6 of that... and my results are much different. Are they the results I wanted? YES. And I'm still learning and growing.

Happy you're enjoying The Slight Edge - it's one of my favorites.

Thanks for taking the time man.

All very positive steps. The key is to learn about yourself and find what works best for you. Excited to hear how this new approach goes for you.

The sober life is the life for me!

Definitely agree with all of that. So if we wanted to reach more of Group 1, any ideas for how we could do it?

Thanks for sharing Thomas!

Awesome feedback. You're definitely right about creating a resource to appeal more to Group 2. Nowadays I believe I have the content, empathy and message to be able to speak more to this group than I have in the past, having the research to back up our content, etc. Do you think someone in group 2 would be receptive to a "Why you should quit gaming" type post? The concern I have is that this group will be more sensitive to the common "gaming is bad for you", "gaming is affecting your health" narrative, which although the content of it can be along those lines (positioned in a non-aggressive way as I do in my videos), but I wonder about the title/general theme of the post. What about "Why you should consider taking 90 days off gaming" or "If you're playing more than 21 hours of gaming/week, read this." (anything over 21 hours is when someone is entering the danger zone). Or are those too aggressive? What would be some less aggressive alternatives? This post has a good way to outline the different groups as well.

Yes exactly. The 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss might be interesting to you if you're looking to get into cooking.

Rock-climbing is perfect, and it can also be a great way to make new friends. I also think, at some point, being vulnerable with your dad could be a great challenge. Your experience in the rain is such a fantastic example of how some of the areas you've been growing are coming together. It's easy to head home when it starts raining instead of completing your commitment. When by continuing and finishing strong you are a bit wet, sure, but you also had fun, you have a cool story to tell: You: Ya so last night I decide to go for a run... I'm training for my 5k... and then all of a sudden it starts raining! *pause* Them: So what did you do!? You: At first I was tempted to go home, but then I said fuck it and decided to finish my run, rain and all. It was a lot of fun and I was surprised how little we need to have fun sometimes... just a silly run and a bunch of rain. The conversation would easily flow from there, for instance, it could move in the direction of how when we were kids we needed very little to have fun, but somewhere along the way to become an adult we start to overcomplicate it all. Anyways, awesome update.

Have you read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle? I think that would be a great book for you to read right now. Alternatively his book A New Earth would also be good.

Journalism and Mass Communications sounds up your alley for sure.

Awesome list

Love Settlers of Catan!

Great update. One trick to avoid fast food is to have (healthier) food you can eat in the house. Every few days I cook up a bunch of food (tends to be quinoa, bok choy, peppers, and a protein source like lean pork, pork chops, chicken) and then I put it all in tuberware for the next few days. It's "fast" because it's already cooked.

I definitely think some downtime can be very good and a major boost to your productivity. It's all about experimenting and finding what works best for you. I'd describe myself as being rather terrible at taking time off, haha.

Great post! I definitely agree about not focusing too much on the impulses and instead feeling them and just shifting back to your main focus.

Awesome to read about your babies first word! Incredible milestone for you. I encourage you to post the rough days and annoyances too. Neither is good or bad, they are just part of our life experience. Equanimity. Depression is something very real for me and I put a lot of attention to remaining mindful of it. In fact, moving to Vancouver was a big decision for me in that regard because the weather is 90% dark clouds and rain, which triggers my depression in very real ways. I do much better in clear blue skies and sun. So choosing Vancouver > San Diego was basically the opposite of that. So I've done a few things to set myself up for success: 5000 IUD of Vitamin D every day, 15 mins of blue light (morning & night), cardio + weightlifting exercise (5 days/week), clean diet (very low sugar, real natural food) + a green juice (no fruit) every few days. A bit of extra sleep each morning. I'm basically religious about this. I've also just reintroduced 200mg of 5HTP each night. Before October I woke up at 7am every day and would go to bed around midnight. Now I'm a fairly consistent 8:30am wake up and midnight bedtime. I'd love to be on my normal 7am wakeup, but it's almost impossible for me at this point with the weather, so I'm kind to myself and the extra hour/hour and a half has a very positive impact on the quality of my day + productivity. So, maybe consider a few of those to help with your depression during the winter ("the winter blues"). I definitely recommend the Vitamin D as a no-brainer, 20 second/day commitment that has an impact.

Thanks for the questions guys! You are correct that I have 1 month of runway left, but at the end of the month that won't have an affect on Game Quitters itself, more of just an affect on me and how I can spend my time. Currently we're meeting the basic operating expenses to run the website, so there's no risk on that end, and I do believe that the community is growing at a quality pace for the long-term success of the project, so it's just a matter of buying myself more time. Hopefully with the launch of Respawn v4 this month we will be in a better position to bridge the gap in the meantime. I know in the future for example, that I will have much more revenue from speaking engagements, but these are still 6-12 months away from being more consistent (and thus a dependable source of revenue), so at this point we're just at a point in our growth where we need to survive the next 6-12 months while the community continues to grow before some of the larger initiatives hit their stride. This isn't anything unique to Game Quitters and is a regular creative problem all businesses have to deal with. How you can help: One of the main things I'm trying to figure out now is how to reach more gamers who are likely struggling with this issue who do not know our community exists. I do think we have a compassionate way to approach the gaming community (every gamer knows someone who games too much), where we do not blame gaming but instead recognize that it was getting to a point of no longer being in control. So one thing I think we could do is start doing more outreach in the gaming community. I think a good place to start would be gaming forums. I know we had a thread on Team Liquid back in the day (Trigger warning: Thread here.) where we opened up the discussion about this topic and I responded to comments. That helped bring a lot of exposure to the TEDx talk (and thus the Game Quitters mission). This is something we could replicate more often. One key note here is that the member who posted that thread was a respected member of the community (also a friend and old client of mine). I don't have these reputations on the various gaming forums, so if you do have a good reputation on a gaming forum, this is a similar strategy we could work out. You can post a thread similar to the one I've linked and I can get in there and leave quality comments in the discussion. It tends to be a red flag (self-promotion) if I post the thread myself (user with 1 post). At this point you both have contributed financially (that means a lot and makes a difference) and you're posting and being an active member of community (which helps others see they are not alone and encourages them to get involved too - which is how the community grows), so at this point I think finding creative ways to share the community and gain more exposure to those who may be struggling in silence is something we want to work more on. What do you guys think? Any other ideas?

Hey Cordharel! Have you found anything to improve your memory? I know my friend Phil has a popular post on it here.

Haha no way man, each book will help you earn more money in the long-term!

Hey everyone. Every month I publish a progress report and share what's happening in the community, our vision for the future and exact revenues and expenses. Read: October 2015 Progress Report

Haha yep.

Have you seen the Wim Hof Vice documentary? I'm sure you're familiar with his interview on Joe Rogan?

Alex you could also check out podcasts for the bus ride. I really enjoy them and they are a way to be productive without having to force yourself to do work. Try one out, see what you think. When I quit gaming I had to learn how to have fun again, so if you're struggling with this at times right now, don't worry - it's a process but it will get better.