NEW VIDEO: I Quit MMOs and THIS Happened
Django
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Posts posted by Django
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The Slight Edge is helping me gather that motivation burried deep inside at times. It is here, but it needs a trigger to ignite itself sometimes!
I saw a beautiful Marvel calendar. I'm thinking of buying the calendar to use it and cross dates when I did my fitness, and not when I didn't, obviously. And those days where I didn't (not a day yet!) should be exceptions only when ill or really really tired. Riding the exercise bike is not only great for the heart and weight loss, it's also fun. I combine the fitness and watching an episode of a series but it also feels great. It feels great during and after the exercise!
Today I did a bit more than 16 miles. The speed has increased, so I had the choice to stop and watch the last minutes of the show on the couch or to continue ... Here again, I applied the slight edge. It was easy to stop, objective was done. But it was also very easy to continue since I was already pedaling and not exhausted (but sweating a lot 
)I'm also trying to review my sleeping habits. I'm not a night owl, but since I have a week off, I don't force myself to go to bed early. Well, that has to change. Going to bed earlier instead of mindlessly surfing the internet is my objective. In bed, before sleeping, I can read or listen to an audiobook. Maybe I can also watch interesting videos on youtube (TedX talks for example), but that's a bit more dangerous. The objective here is to wake up early, same hour as if I have to go to work, instead of waking up later. I could use these hours of alone time to do what I really want, and then a let's say 08:00, do the chores, etc ...
Talking about mindlessly surfing : I have installed leechblock. I used this before to block porn from the computer. The problem is that while it is possible to lock the addon completely, it is sometimes useful to add some websites to it. Not always possible to do when lokcing out 24/7 ... right now I didn't set a password. What I did was I set the emergency panic button of nofap as the link to redirect to if I'm trying to go on a forbidden website. http://emergency.nofap.com/
Btw, my forbidden websites aren't restricted to porn. I have put those online web games I was playing in it, and the list will continue to grow in the next days. I'm also trying to limit my time on this forum and others. Right now, I come often to read if there's something new. I could limit my passages here and be more productive.
Sometimes I'm just sitting in the couch and refreshing all the sites/forums where I read content, then doing something else (not important), and then refreshing again. Isn't productive at all. I guess that's called procrastination?
A few wins today:
- I finally went to the car wash! Bought a car in August, didn't clean it until now! The car is white now
- My son (4.5 yrs old) didn't play on his tablet! I hid it, he asked 2 or 3 times but didn't insist.
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I have yet to listen to one of these, but Cam listed a few here http://kingpinlifestyle.com/good-resources/
You could also just google for podcasts based on what you like and maybe discover some great podcasts. Don't hesitate to post them here too, it's always nice to read/listen to other game quitters material
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Hi Matt,
I wish you a lot of strenght and courage for the next few days. I haven't been through a breaukup as I'm married for about 10 years already. But I can't imagine how I would react if this would happen to me as I have a kid, etc ...
Well, you could still read a book about relations and apply it in real life being single. Maybe that's a positive thing?
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Hi Berry,
Welcome and congratulations. You are 15, half my age! I decided top stop two weeks ago. Stopping now means a bright future for yourself.
What language do you want to go back to? Also, go ahead and take piano lessons if that's what you want. Going back to reading is also a great idea, there are quite a few suggestions here to read that could lead to building a better self and be game-proof amongst a lot of other things.
You can create your journal to be accountable for your self, track your progress or just wind out.
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I hope you all have a happy christmas!
I might try those cold brews. I know my wife has a bottle of coffee in the fridge, she drinks it iced. I'm not a big fan. Yesterday & today I went from 2 to 1.5 sugars. A small step, but a big impact on the calories long term. Stopping soda's isn't difficult for me, I already stopped, only had a sip yesterday, and it didn't taste as good as before.
Talking about a low carb diet, I'm looking into the paleo diet. I had a great weight loss when I was on a keto diet for about a month (had some cravings from my wife's cooking and stopped). Not sure I want to be back on keto though. So Paleo could be a good choice. I don't want to limit myself too much at the same time.
Still exercise each day and the average speed is higher. Feeling it in my legs.
I have some free time. Will spend it enjoying time with my son but also continue the journey on personal development. The slight edge is a great (audio) book! I can already pratice with the diet (sugar in the coffee, soda's), fitness, diet in general, and the 10 pages a day.
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Hallo Michael!
You nailed it. I like your post. I strongly agree with the part of the the reward system video games brings. In the 90's, it was all about finished that last adventure game or shooter, and having fun. Now they force you to replay the game over and over again to get all trophies. Well, they don't force you, we are (were) forcing ourselves! For the developers, it's just to artificialy make the game last longer.
I don't miss games at all. The more I think about the games, the more I'm happy with the decision I took. Funny thing is that I have very good memories of games, but not from these last few years. More of the old games, early 2000's and of course 90's when I was still a child.
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Hey, tell us what you think about the power of habit, I'm also going to read it after I finished reading/listening to The Slight Edge!
Lucky you found the lost gift. What was it?
And great to read you are going to exercise. What is your objective?
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You could try getting into black coffee, I'm a super coffee snob and make amazing black coffee that doesn't need sugar anymore. I like the fruity african beans iced
It's funny, they actually are so sweet on their own that adding sugar makes it taste bad (conflicting sweet notes). If you want any tips on yummy coffee I can help you out! Cold brew is super easy and cheap, and if you have more time or money I've used the aeropress and pourover methods quite a bit and can suggest some things. First step would be to pack up your coffee making machine though ;DAlso a fellow coffee snob here. When I started drinking black coffee I put a little bit of cinnamon in it to cut down the bitterness. That helped until I acquired the taste of black coffee. Now I love it on its own, no sugar required.
What I'm actually drinking is, what you coffee snobs would call, not coffee!
Nescafé classic (2 tbsp) + powdered milk (3 tbsp) and 2 sugars.
So I don't even have a coffee machine. I was thinking about buying a french press to make some bulletproof coffee at home. I like to have a cup of coffee at work at my desk. Nescafé is easy to make. Don't know how easy it would be to make bulletproof coffee at work without investing in a press, mixer, etc ... and looking awkward in the process, lol.
Or maybe I should continue drinking the coffee the way I like it and build my diet around it, taking into account this sugar intake. But all suggestions are welcome .
Also you are so awesome! You've been doing great on those workouts, you've definitely inspired me.
I just read on your journal that you are planning to exercise too, that's great! Today I did my third session and went a bit faster than usual. Great feeling afterwards!
I'm still looking into preparing a diet. The thing I'm not proud of is that right after my session I prepared dinner, spaghetti and shrimps, but also had a dessert. I finished the bag of palmito cookies. So not great at all. I'm already cutting down on soda but those desserts aren't helping. It's actually very rare I eat them. I'll have to prepare myself the next time and eat something healthier or just drink water and get through it!
I continued listening to the slight edge, have some difficulties to concentrate at night in bed, just fall asleep. Of course that's because I'm lying in bed with the lights off. Today instead of listening to the radio in the car on the way to work and home, I continued the slight edge. Isn't that easy to be 100% focused on the slight edge when I have to drive. I guess I will build that concentration with time.
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For coffee, reduce slowly over a few days. Cut back by 25% or so each day and make sure you're hydrating with water. Replacing with tea can be a good step as well.
I'm actually only having maximum 2 cups a day, and it's more 1 cup a day most of the time. I like my coffee with 2 sugars and milk. Caffeine doesn't seem to be the real problem in my case, the sugar is! I'll try to have a coffee with only 1 or 1,5 sugar and see how it tase, it's maybe a matter of habit.
A few months ago I took 3 sugars. But that's a bit too extreme and not healthy at all! ^^
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Another good day, nothing too fancy. Day off, drove for my mother (good deed of the day!) and spent the rest of time home relaxing. Still too much gaps of wasting time though.
I just finished my 2nd fitness session. The first was yesterday evening. Biking for about 20 km's (12.5 miles) each session on the exercise bike.
Yesterday evening I also started to listen to the slight edge while in bed. Felt asleep but that also happens when I read a while.
Tomorrow is a new day at work so I will be quite busy, will get another present for my son for christmas before driving home and preparing for that 3rd fitness session
I love the feeling when that session is over and I'm exhausted.I'm exploring the paleo diet and maybe thinking of following it. I remember I did the keto diet 2 years ago and it worked quite well though very limited and socially difficult to follow.
I'd like to stop drinking coffee everyday, maybe just on week-ends at home. But the last time I tried, I had a severe headache. Maybe I should to replace coffee with tea. It also has caffeine, so it shouldn't be as hard?
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Hey Tom,
I like reading : 3. Chasing meaning over entertainment.
Timing couldn't be better as I started listening to the audiobook version of the slight edge, and in there, in chapter 1) the shoeshine woman, the author tells that if the lady had read other books (personal development) that her fiction novels, amongst doing other things, she could have ended up elsewhere.
And I wrote in my journal in answer to Cam that I still needed some entertainment in the form of novels. Knowing it's my brain looking for a substitute to gaming
So how important is chasing meaning over entertainment for you and how do you get entertained these days? (Still reading your journal, should have started from the beginning
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I've been playing games since I was six, and it's been over a year since I recognized it as a problem in my life. I used games as a friends, since I am not very sociable - even writing this and knowing it will be read by others feels strange to me - and this has kicked me in the ass, as I find myself struggling in social situations now as I emerge from all those years. Things could be worse, I suppose, but I really want to become more comfortable around others.
I see what you mean. Well the advantage of the internet is that you can reveal yourself or not, it's your own choice. I know that I like to keep up appearances in real life @work or elsewhere. I don't talk about gaming and the issue elsewhere than the forums and my wife. And told the wife gaming was over so there isn't a lot left to talk about
I read half of
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. If you watch Cam's videos you'll find many repeating themes, but there is a lot of wisdom to take away from the book. I'll share one: The author states that
all addictions originate in pain, whether open or hidden in the subconscious. They are emotional anesthetics.Something to think about.
Yes that's true. While gaming can be fun and make us feel all kind of emotions, it hides or numbs the bad ones. Gaming for me was sometimes a hideout when real life called for me to take actions. You are 20, that's a great age to start taking actions now rather than later! Remember that and take advantage of it.
Thanks for sharing Matt!
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Congrats for deleting your accounts. I realize it must be much harder to delete a steam account full of games vs selling a console or sabotaging browser games accounts. I invested quite a lot of time in these and I came to a point where I was about to be super competitive, but in a matter of minutes I destroyed hours of gaming time. For the best, no regrets!
If we were all meth addicts, would we gift our substance to our family or friends? I know I won't! Or maybe only if it's the addiction talking and hoping to be able to get it back sometime, who knows.
Great decision!
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I'll give this a try too. Still have to choose the podcasts/audio books though. I found a few topics with some examples. They are mostly all personal development. I'd throw in some fiction in it too for that entertainment bit. Well, seems it's the dopamine talking, trying to find a replacement substance to gaming
Since I'm also going to review my diet and fitness, I'd like to read/listen about it to train my brain and make a new habit out of it.
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Today has been a good day. I'm still in transition mode searching for myself but each day without gaming is a win!
I've set up my exercise bike again. It was in the attic taking dust but now it's back in the room and a session awaits tomorrow. I'll be able to work on personal development (fitness) and entertainment (series / movie) at the same time. I already have a goal, to lose some weight and get healthier! I've gained some weight this year and feel really tired. This was already my objective but I never started seriously. Soda's and processed foods are too present in the house!
Another item that has been taking dust is my e-reader. The last time I read was in August. I started a Star Wars novel (Darth Plaguesis) and this was right after my first gaming break. Well I don't consider it a break right now since I'm stopping for good! I'll finish the novel before next year and will try to read some personal development books too. But still need that entertainment from novels
I watched some Star Wars Rebels and started a new series : The Leftovers! I don't want to put too much of my time into series/movies though. Even if I enjoy this kind of entertainment, I often think it's time wasted. Sometimes it can even lead to going to bed too late. I'd like to work on a new habit, going to bed earlier (and reading in bed!), which is going to lead to better sleep and being able to wake up earlier! I week up at 5:30 each working day, but I guess I could also wake up that early on week-ends and day off's to make most of the time. Maybe I won't regard the series/movies as time wasted then?
Oh and btw, sorry for my english. I feel like it's one dimensional. ^^ But my mother tongue is french. I'm from Belgium btw! Hi!
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Yes, Woohoo!
You should be proud, you are helping us to get on the right track of "not gaming"! I can easily imagine being proud of myself if I could affect the life of one single person in the right way, but you are certainly doing it for more than one person! Cheers. Just opened my journal too and will share there.
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Dear reader,
I'm excited to write my first journal entry. It has been a week since I decided to quit games for good, and what better day to start this journal. I just sold my PS4! A day to remember
Indeed, 7 days that I took that one big step.
It's still a transition though. I have to find new activities. Self development and a bit of entertainment that isn't linked to materialism. Right now my brain still craves for that dopamine, and I was already thinking to replace gaming with trading cards, collecting some action figures or whatever. But I came back to earth and just thought : To spend a lot on money to buy something, unbox it and then just store it somewhere, isn't worth it!
I don't know yet if I'm going to post every single day on my journal. I'll post when I like, when I have something to talk about. I don't want to have restrictions again like gaming where I had to be present at certain hours or do something on the game to be succesful (browser games).
Again, thanks to everyone to share!
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We should all stay away from games, be it console, pc, or mobile games. They all are video games! On the other hand, I don't think board games should be avoided, because they are social (well, at least 2+ players, I know some board games you can play on your own :D)
This reminds me I have to delete all my mobile games, even if it's been a while I didn't play. My son is playing some games on his tablet, and sometimes asks me to play to unlock something or not. Well it's hard because I don't want to hurt his feelings but now I refuse ... well it's ok I guess, he doesn't really mind
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Hi Joe and thanks! I've already read a bit of your journal, a few snippets here and there. Will surely read it more in the next few days and also create my own journal.
Tomorrow it will be one week I'm game free. My PS4 is now back in the box, ready to be sold. It isn't easy but not as hard as I thought.
I've really stopped all the games, not like a few months back where I only stopped playing the MMO. I didn't know how I did it but I know it surely is because of you guys, reading a bit the forum, and Cam's videos. Awesome!
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Hi Alex! Thanks for the nice words. Indeed, I have to find other activities. So far, I'm taking it slowly. I enjoyed watching series while I was doing my daily fitness on my exercise bike. But it has been a while. Back then, I only played one game, and read a lot. So these are 2 things I want to do already.
Thanks Cam! You are already helping with the forum when we can all share our stories, thoughts, feelings.
I have been busy this week! I'm tired, and this not from gaming
Work, release of Star Wars movie (10PM session), more work and family! I have a few days off next week and probably a whole week at the end of 2015. This will be the real challenge! But like I said, this will be the perfect time to add reading and fitness. -
Hello Laney and welcome. I'm new here too.
I also thought that I could set aside MMO's and keep playing single player games that you could easily pause. When I was playing mmo's, when in group or raid, I couldn't be disturbed! I had to finish what I was doing. While a solo game, if something needed to be done, I could easily pause the game or resume the next day.
But that was not true in my case. It just meant that I played a LOT more of these games in the long run. It's just the same amount of hours wasted. Maybe it isn't the same for you and it works, but if you can, just ban all games from your life.
I was even playing management browser games, only 2 games / races a week. Hell, when I think about it, I was surfing on my team's forum without aim, trying to invest myself in the community .... for what in the end? Nothing.
Good luck
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Hi there,
I'm Django, and I decided that enough was enough. I have been a video game addict for as long as I can remember, enven though when I was a kid, it wasn't that much. It's only when I got internet for the first time that everything went downhill. It's a long story, one that I won't forget but the one I want to share is my new life, starting from now on, this is Chapter 1!
It's actually funny. I have been (and surely still am, it's only the beginning) an addict on a substance I didn't master at all. I mean, I'm not even good at video games! When I was a kid, I don't really remember finishing games, or if I did, it was with a walkthrough from the gaming magazines I bought. FPS? I can't aim. MMO's? I'm taking ages levelling a character, I suck at pvp, and I reroll characters all the time. Well I guess the most important is to have fun, but it isn't fun losing.
A few months back, in July to be precise, I attempted to stop gaming. It worked for a few weeks, maybe even a full month! But what I didn't know, was that I actually didn't stop gaming at all! I deleted my characters on a MMO, but I didn't stop playing the browser games I was playing at the time. So for my second try, I'm doing it differently.
I'm not playing the web browsers anymore. Sold my players on a sport management game, left a team on the other game. I have put my PS4 on sale, it's not sold yet but I plan to pack the PS4 in the box and put it away until it is! The hardest part of this decision is that one game I play, casually, with my 4 year old son. He likes it so when I think about it, it hurts, I feel like I'm taking something away from him. But at a young age like that, they forget quickly and have so many other forms of entertainment. One reason I'm quitting the lifestyle, is because I can see how it is affecting the people I care for.
Right now, I'm taking it one step at a time, taking it really slowly. I will read again (2 years ago I bought a e-reader and read quite a lot), listen to podcasts, watch movies and series I missed, and try to keep my son away from games (tablet) and mindless youtube videos about gaming he is watching on YT! He is only 4 years old ... I don't want him to follow my old steps. So I have to be an example, at that will be the new me. But I'm not only doing it for them, I certainly do it for me and my well being. Before I can help others, I have to help myself. For a long time I thought about controlling my gaming, limit myself. But I can't, this isn't my personality. It's everything or nothing. In this case, it will be nothing!
In the next few days I'll open up a journal, and I will certainly read yours and comment on a few posts here.
Thanks!
Should You Play Mobile Games?
in General Discussion
Posted
Yes I think if it's educational and you don't avoid doing normal tasks just to play, then why not. From time to time, to learn new words you won't forget. Just hope this game isn't linked to some kind of statistics and fake achievements, this can be addictive. The only achievements there should be is to learn new worlds, and this without the achievement system that exists in many games!