NEW VIDEO: Why You MUST Quit Gaming in 2025
Cam Adair
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Posts posted by Cam Adair
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Hey Saje! Thanks for joining us here!
I definitely relate to you about being bullied and using gaming as a way to escape that, because that was my experience too. (I shared that here.)
Have you read Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl? It's a very good book you'd enjoy a lot, I think there's even a german translation. I'd recommend it for you.
Also, Germany is a beautiful country. I enjoyed my time there two years ago. Hope to come back and visit some day soon.
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Great to see your update and the day you had with your family. It brought a smile to my face.
The foundation you've been building is fantastic. Adding some light exercise is good. You could maybe do a regular walk with your family, which I've always found is a good way to connect more (walking helps me have better conversations). If you're looking for something similar to Headspace but for exercise, try the 7-minute routine. App is available here. Web version here.
Have a great day today! I'm back on North American soil after a few days in China. Excited to be on the same timezone as most members here again.
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Hello from Shanghai! It appears I can't access anything here (everything is censored) but luckily they haven't blocked the forums!
I've definitely been through experiences that have left me shaking and in paralysis. In those moments I focus on returning to my breath first, breathing new life in and releasing the stress with my breathe out.
That's the baseline. Next I focus on trying to build a little bit of movement/momentum. This can start with just moving fingers, toes, etc. I want to work up to getting up and walking around a bit. Some fresh air is always nice, even for a moment.
A gratitude practice is something you may want to look at next. Here's an excerpt from Day 5 of the Challenge where I talk about that:
BRIEFING
Today I wanted to share two more that are easy and add less than five minutes to your morning (at most!), but again the return is incredible.
One of them I spoke about in Respawn, and that's having a gratitude journal. As a gamer I know you're a highly intelligent person, which is what drew you to gaming in the first place
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Day 27 / Day 28 / Day 29 / Day 30
Hardwork is a good value to have and will take you far in this life.
Looking forward to the video!
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Hey Jesse!
Thanks for joining us here! Happy to hear the sunk cost fallacy video had the impact it did. Seems like people have really been resonating with that one. I hope to dive more into topics like this in future videos now.
Looking forward to following your journal and to celebrate your undergrad degree soon!
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Hey Mark!
Welcome to the forums, happy to have you hear with us. Another from England! I think you guys might be leading the charge right now on this forum!
Thanks for sharing your story and congrats on day 2! For someone like yourself with ADHD I would absolutely recommend reading Scattered Minds by Dr. Gabor Mat
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31 seems about right. I'm still only 27 so I have a number of years to continue building my foundation.
Have a great day!
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I can only imagine how wild parenthood is. I'm happy to delay that for a few more years, haha.
Celebrating the small wins - as I shared in my latest video - is one of the concepts that has had the biggest impact on my life. When we do poorly we are quick to judge and shame ourselves, yet when we do well we rarely acknowledge it.
If you haven't seen this TEDx talk on willpower I think you'd enjoy it.
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Two things:
1) The fact that you didn't have urges is fantastic. This would be the normal time you'd want to game to escape, so this is a positive!
2) Now that you'll be more present for your daughter your relationship will only improve from here. There will be ups and downs but it will continue to progress in a meaningful direction. Keep going.
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Hey hey! I'm finally back online after a crazy 28 hour adventure from Northern Thailand to an island in the south.
Anyways, wanted to address something you said earlier about addictive personalities.
I've been reading a really great book lately called In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mat
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Hey Chris!
Thanks for joining us here! We're happy to have you as part of our community. I guess you're the one who left the YouTube comment (thanks for watching!)
I definitely relate to the struggles with anxiety and have experienced them both in myself and in close friends of mine. One of the best things I've done for my anxiety is to start meditating each day. The science behind it is here. If you want to try it, start with the Headspace 10 day, 10 mins/day challenge (it's free). I just cycle it over and over again to keep from paying for it.
Excited to follow your journey.
Also, my friend Samantha Skelly has an organization called Hungry for Happiness that is basically like Game Quitters but for emotional eating. Think you'd like her stuff a lot too.
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going to dc this coming weekend
?DC is awesome! You'll have a great time. If you're looking for a cool coffee shop to check out, I'd recommend Tryst. If you just want really good coffee, Peregrine Espresso is my go-to.
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Day 26
?Did you have any insights or epiphanies from going through the exercise?
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It's such a valuable time to observe the body and mind and notice the subtleties in each that usually go unnoticed.
?Yes, this is one of the best ways to develop more mindfulness which helps immensely as we move forward in our life and we experience different emotions or situations. I've currently been traveling for 24 hours straight from Northern Thailand to an island (almost there!) and during this time I've been on buses, taxis, a plane and now a ferry. We've had delays, lack of food, etc. So it's been really important for me to be mindful of how I'm feeling and what I need.
Happy to hear the community is helping. I'm really happy you're a part of it!
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?Anybody read books they can recommend on procrastination?
Book called Getting Things Done by David Allen.
Will respond to the rest of your posts later!
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Day 9 (9 days game free, 0 without weed)
Good to hear you're in decent spirits about your relationship. ?
One of my good friends, Phil Drolet (google him if you want to see a badass - he's a high performer), has always had a rule that he can't smoke two days in a row. I've always found that to be pretty solid. My relationship with marijuana changes a lot and I think about it a lot (have only smoked once since February after a 5 month stretch of every day use), but I feel good right now without it. I'm not one to say there aren't real benefits to it. My rule though is if it's hurting my ambition, willpower or drive, I take a break.
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I love farmer's markets. One of my favorite things to do, especially on the weekend.
Happy 4th!
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Day 25
Killing it! Way to go man.
BTW, met a guy from Vienna today at a waterfall here in Northern Thailand.
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?Galiardi played on my Sharks for a year or two. He left to play his hometown Flames, and was really excited when he signed with them. I don't think his stint there went the way he wanted it to.
?I still can't believe he made it. Good for him though, he kept working hard and persevered. Earned his spot.
I don't know what to make of these things.
?Keep up with the meditation. Remember what it talks about in the practice: sometimes you'll be distracted with a lot of thoughts, and in these times just refocus on coming back to the center. There could be many reasons why you're feeling the way you did. It could be a detox from gaming, it could be your internal resistance to change. Whatever it is, it's all good. Recognize it as something that is flowing through you and it will pass.
Life is a wave. Things will come and go. Just like these emotions came out of nowhere, they will also go away out of nowhere. Be still and let them pass. Be extra mindful in times like these. Emotions are a crazy thing.
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Day 23 & Day 24
Great job with the acts of kindness! How did it feel? ?
Social service sounds good. I have some bonus missions I've been putting together so you can substitute one of those for these missions you haven't been able to do being in Austria/from a small town. I'll post those in a few days.
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Days 10-13
Hey man! Thanks for sharing.?
So the thing with The Slight Edge (TSE) is not to overthink it. It's more of a philosophy that you want to focus on little improvement every day and that's it. Having a mantra of "stronger than yesterday" for example. This happens in every little way you want. But remember, it's a process over a long period of time, so just keep working at it and continuing to push forward and adapt as necessary. A lot of your message was exactly that.
For mornings one thing I truly believe is that if you don't know why you're getting up tomorrow it's hard to get up. So maybe before you go to bed every night, think about one thing you're legitimately excited about for tomorrow. I want to wake up tomorrow because I get to go work and explore a new city here in Thailand. So I don't want to stay in bed. For me that's where I'm at, but for you there's something in every day for you to be excited towards. Find it.
Next, when I find myself staying in bed it's usually because I'm feeling overwhelmed. So you need to identify what's feeling overwhelming and break it down into smaller parts. Most likely, you're just being hard on yourself. Remember it's all about momentum. This weekend you had a decent weekend but not an overly productive one (as you said), so in some way that momentum builds into the week and unless you shift it (and by that I mean shifting your perspective), you are likely to just want to go through the motions.
Also remember, you are still at the beginning of your journey man. You're making great progress but if you evaluate yourself based on where you want to be in 6 months but you're expecting that now, of course you're going to be discouraged.
That's the thing, you get a choice in every moment: do you focus on encouragement (which empowers you towards doing the things you want), or discouragement (which comes from guilt and shame). By you focusing on that certain someone and how they are making all the right moves you're getting outside of yourself and creating discouragement because it means you aren't good enough.
And this comes down to beliefs. Check out this equation:
Beliefs -> Thoughts -> Feelings -> Actions -> Results
Results -> Actions -> Feelings -> Thoughts -> Beliefs
It works both ways. So what your beliefs create your thoughts which cause your feelings which dictate your actions and your actions produce your results.
So you can play with any part of this equation. If you want different results, focus on ideally your beliefs because they are at the root of it. Anytime you aren't feeling how you want, think about what you're thoughts are in the moment (or the past few moments), and then dive into what kind of beliefs about yourself your thoughts are expressing.
Now that you're aware of it, how can you shift your belief from one that is discouraging you to one that is encouraging and empowering? That's where the magic happens.
Willpower is definitely a muscle. You have to work with it just like you go to the gym. Some days you feel like it and some days you don't. The most important days are both. When you don't feel like it, you need to go. But when you do feel like it, you also need to go. And take advantage of those days because you know you don't always feel like it.
And always remember your why. Read it every morning.
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I'll be out in the NYC area in September. Not sure if AHL will be starting yet, but if not I'll keep everything in mind the next time I'm up in the area.
I played defence mostly. I was an in-your-face stay at home defencemen who liked to hit. Here's a pic. (This guy was 200lbs. I've never been more than 145 in my life. haha.)
My biggest rival growing up was T.J. Galiardi. He just played a few years in the NHL. The battles him and I had growing up happened for years. We really didn't like each other much. Thomas Hickey (NYI) is also a player I played against every year growing up. Great player.
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Day 8
But i did put the last of my CS go items on opskins.com so as of now i can start putting all my steam accounts onto a trade site.
?Good job dude!
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?I want to visit different countries! I'm really interested in Japan, Russia and Ireland for example. There will be more, but i think i visit those first
Another big one is to get myself in shape. Im not fat but a little bit overwight, so i want to build up my muscles.
There are also some things i could do right after quitting. (wrote more about those changes in my journal)
Beeing seperated from my gamer friends had also a positive impact in my opinion. There were always some toxic guys,that dragged me down. Now im looking for new friends, who fit better into my new life.
?That's awesome! Maybe we will end up in Japan at the same time spontaneously! You know know.
Leprosy is from Russia so if you head that way hit him up.
My Journal - Joe
in Daily Journals
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That's awesome! I know Steve Jobs always walking meetings and I try to do the same. I'm much more interested in a conversation while I'm walking than I am sitting down.
Meetups might be a way for you to meet other parenthood compatible friends.