TheoV2

Hey man, thanks for wondering! Yeah everything fine, I stopped updating the journal because I went on a trip to become a kitesurf instructor, and because I knew that I was totally out of video games. Which, 7 months after, is still the case. No relapses even if it was close in July before holidays, now studying behavioural and social sciences in a really good university in Spain. Everything is going amazingly well since I got rid of the addiction, working on creating a YouTube channel pretty soon to relate my story and find the words that could free people from their addiction. Thanks for the help this forum has offered!

#Day 25 : Worked a lot today : I trained for my video assessment during the morning, ate lunch, went to the gym afterwards and finally attended to a "CV tips and tricks" meetup in Zürich. Was really enriching, I've finished the day by networking and investing time in Social Medias.

#Day 24 : Got up pretty early and managed to work and learn things efficiently this morning. However, I realise that I often start losing focus after my first meal of the day, which is lunch. I'll definitely try to work on that. I watched a new episode from the TV show the 100, changed my room and desktop setup, and finally went to the gym for a leg session.

#Day 23 : I finally received my new Macbook pro which is definitely going to be a really useful tool for both my future studies and my personal projects. I plan on starting a YouTube channel pretty soon to relate my story and how the journey is going so far. Today was an arm workout, seeing huge progress on this specific body parts. I also started working for 3 videos that I'm gonna have to record and send for my school in Madrid. I'll basically have to answer 3 specific questions in 1 minute videos, with only 45 seconds to prepare for each one. I should be having the results of my admission test in two weeks maximum. Also had a drink with a good friend of mine who's got an internship in Zürich, felt good seeing her as she knows everything about my situation and is really motivating.

#Day 22 : Pretty calm day, I worked but felt a bit lazy today. Went to the gym and stayed home for the rest of the day, which was rainy as hell.

Yeah I see, just try different things and see what suits you the best !

#Day 21 : What a fantastic day ! I worked a lot on my story, and on my social medias : I'm now officially an Ambassador for GoneRogue, a fitness and fashion clothing brand. That already feels like a huge personal accomplishment, seeing that telling my story can inspire others and get me where I want to be is an amazing feeling. I also took the decision to announce on my former Instagram account (where I posted random pictures of my old life, no gym or game posts) that I would now only be using the new one, where I recognize that I was a video game addict. That was definitely not an easy step, because it basically means that all my friends and people I know will now know my story, and why I was never really myself. But I'm really proud of doing so : one of my main goals is to care less and less about others negative judgements and opinions, and only focus on the positive people around me. But to my biggest surprise, I only received encouragements from people that I didn't see for a long time, and many who want to follow my journey. It is the first time in years that I feel proud of what I am slowly starting/creating. And of who I am becoming. Other than that listened to some really interesting podcasts when I had some free time (Something you should know", and went to the gym as always. That being said, I'm so impatient to start this 4th week without video games : my main goals are going to be, once again, to increase my productivity, and to focus on writing what my purpose in life is (I slowly becoming conscious of it), and developing my social medias around it.

Hey mate thank you, yeah it's going pretty smooth so far :) ! Well basically you have two options : training while being fasted, which often means training in the morning if you have a common fasting cycle (I fast from 9pm to 1pm), or training during your eating period. I used to train in the morning, because there are many benefits from a neurological and metabolic perspectives. However, you have less energy than if you trained after eating, so I'm gonna be trying to workout after my first meal for the next few weeks and see how it goes. Also, train when you feel you're the more "in the zone" and focused, just the fact of believing that it is the good moment will have a positive impact on your training itself.

#Day 20 : Woke up very early once again to take the plane back to Zürich in the morning. I allowed myself to rest today because I didn't sleep a lot for the last 2 nights. Still managed to go to the gym, and I accepted an offer to become an Ambassador for a fitness and fashion clothing brand (GoneRogue). I'm really happy about it because it shows that my story and my mindset since I quit video games, that I post daily on my Instagram page (Theo GDLP), can have positive effects. Fitness and fashion are two domains that interest me, so I'm happy to take a step in that direction to see from a little bit closer how things work in this industry. Gaming wise, still pretty easy, didn't think once of gaming or watching videos, hope it'll stay this way !

#Day 19 : Woke up in the night to take my flight for Madrid. Spent the whole day there, to pass an admission test and visit the school that I am trying to join (IE, Bachelor in Behavioral science). Also visited a little bit the city, and met an old flatmate from Lausanne when I was in a polytechnical school. The presentation and visit of IE confirmed my thoughts about the school : the educational system is really novative, and my overall impression was excellent.

#Day 18 : Such an exhausting day, I had to prepare everything because I'm leaving for Madrid tomorrow. I ate in an amazing Australian restaurant with a friend for lunch, I got my gym session in and I read a lot. I have to wake up at 5 am, so it's gonna be tough.

#Day 17 : Felt a little bit tired today, I sent my laptop so I'm not going to have a PC during a few days. Still managed to get my workout done, and finished by watching both an episode of the 100 and Thor Ragnarok tonight. I'm going to Madrid on Friday to pass my admission test, I'm really impatient to be there and to see what the school looks like.

#Day 16 : Today was such an amazing day ! I worked efficiently on my application form (which is now finished) for my school, I had a call with an old roommate who actually studied in this school. I sold my laptop (Asus ROG STRIX, where it is written Republic of Gamers, not ideal to totally forget video games) for a good price and am planning to buy a Macbook really soon to replace it. Had an awesome gym workout. I hope tomorrow will be even better !

#Day 15 : Got up early today and had an intense work day. I went to the gym, played some music, caught up with friends on the phone and overall didn't see the time passing. I signed up for 2 meetups in Zürich : one about how to develop my personal brand Wednesday, and one about a new Microsoft software that incorporates block chain technology on the 23rd of May. Both in English. I validated the first step (online test, got 87%, needed 70+) for my Kite surf instructor formation that'll be starting in Tarifa on the 11th of June. Also booked my flight and hotel for Madrid, where I'll be passing my admission test for IE school (Behavior Science) this Friday. I'll start preparing for it tomorrow, even though it is a "logic" test, I'll still try to optimize my chances.

#Day 14 : 2 weeks : done ! Worked once again on my application form for my schools (takes time), and played a lot of music tonight. Motivated to start this third week, still didn't have a single craving/thought about gaming once. Pretty happy with how the journey is going so far !

#Day 13 : No hangover (didn't drink that much) so I went for a 30 minutes walk to get my gym session done in the morning. Had my cheat meal of the week with a friend of mine who's pretty lost in his life/studies, which of course reminded me a few months back. We talked a lot, and joined our friends to enjoy the good weather by the lakeside. We finished the afternoon with a beach volley, and I took the train back to Zürich with full motivation to begin week 3. With so many things to do this weekend, I obviously didn't have one second to think about gaming, so everything is still going really smoothly.

#Day 12 : Slept with a friend in Lausanne, and just came back from playing squash with him. During the afternoon, went to a BBQ with all of my other friends, and finally left for the festival at 07pm. I managed to stay reasonable when it came to drinking/smoking, so I was pretty proud. Enjoyed the festival a lot, and came back in the night.

#Day 11 : Got a phone interview with a school (that would be my plan B if I'm not accepted into the schools I really want), that was pretty awkward. The girl on the phone was actually very "shy/unsure about what to say" (it should've been the contrary, considering the fact that I didn't know much about the school and the program). So I can't really tell how it went, hopefully it worked out. Other than that, I woke up early, went to the gym as soon as the interview was over. Worked a lot on some motivation essays that the Behavior Science school in Madrid needs in the application form, and took the train to Lausanne, the city of my previous schools, to see friends and attend to a festival tomorrow.

#Day 10 : Finally received "The 5 minute journal", which will definitely help me in building my motivation even higher and feeling grateful for what I have. Other than that, today was "normal" : went to the gym, finally got an agenda to write all my daily and weekly goals, worked on my Kite surf instructor manual and on the application form for the school in Human Behavior. I still need to get more productive, that's my main focus right now. The tools I finally have will definitely help me in that task. By the way, I just realized that I didn't even talk about games for the last 5 days. That's mainly because I didn't feel any cravings, and I didn't think of them a single time, although I have to be careful with the time I spend doing nothing on my phone/PC.

#Day 9 : Woke up pretty early today, and went to the gym in the morning. I went to see Avengers : Infinity War, with my brother, and it was pretty lit. Came back home and made some research on a school in Madrid with a bachelor in Human Behavior, subject that has always interested me. Feeling a little bit tired those days, maybe the lower amount of calories I'm eating (in particular carbohydrates), or the bad weather. Either way, I finally got my goals for 2018 and my life written down, I just have to put everything in place right now to achieve them.

#Day 8 : Didn't here my alarm this morning, which delayed my planning for the day. I went for a long gym session before eating, and then decided to get a new haircut that I never tried before ! Before dinner, I had the time to do another drawing for my potential 3D animation school. I also registered for a meetup tomorrow night with entrepreneurs and CEO's, who will talk about the Cloud future alternatives and how Crypto can be utilized in this domain. I really realize that my biggest problem right now is to get things done without expecting them to be perfect. I know it sounds like a dumb excuse, but that's really one of the main factors that holds me back to being more productive.

#Day 7 : Woke up earlier than the other mornings of the week. I went for a walk in the woods as soon as I got up while listening to some motivational podcasts (do things, work hard and you can get the life you want, etc ...). Kept on reading "Crushing It!" as well. Later on, I wanted to work (writing down who I am, where I want to go, what are my goals, what went wrong, etc ... basically everything I need to feel clear about myself, and to potentially relate my story to motivate others late on) from a Starbucks's terrace because it was sunny, but I forgot that they were closed on Sundays. Instead of going home, I decided to stay in a park in front of the lake to keep reading. Then, I met a good friend of mine, and she is the first one, excepted for my parents and my psychologist, to know about my current situation and what exactly happened with games. Felt good to tell everything. Then met some other friends at the lake, and finally went home. When I came back home, my father helped me book courses (2 weeks in Tarifa, Spain) to become a Kite surf instructor in June. To conclude this week, I'd say that I am really proud of myself : I didn't think about gaming once, I did a lot of things, even though I still need to work on my productivity. However, here are the points that I want to improve for the next weeks : - Meet new people (through forcing myself to go to meetups, and sign up to a martial-arts school) - Have a more defined agenda, that I respect. - Really start developing and writing my story, my passions, my goals, and use them as a way to motivate others ! That includes learning more about psychology and sports, and actively working on my personal brand (through Instagram, and why not YouTube later on) Thanks again for all the motivation you guys bring me, even though that week felt easy, I'll definitely need it sooner or later.

#Day 6 : I felt pretty lazy and tired today. Probably the result of an intensive week : I spent around 12 hours doing sports, and even more just planning my new lifestyle. Still was able to get a good gym session, played some Avicii songs on the guitar (I was very affected by his death because I grew up, like many others, with his songs, and his lyrics always had a deep meaning to me : "So wake me up, when it's all over, when I'm wiser and I'm older, all this time I was finding myself, and I, didn't know I was lost" : Wake me up is basically the story of my life under the addiction of video games), and started reading "Crushing It!". Finally received "The Power of Habit" and "The Slight Edge", so I should be fine for the next month when it comes to reading. I also renamed my secondary Instagram page (which used to be the one I created when I first started the gym a year and a half ago) to "from_games_to_gains" with two objectives in mind : 1) I want this page to be another way for me to mark and track my progress over time, and to avoid relapsing with video games by having a visual proof of what I already could achieve. 2) I want my journey to help others who can't live their life to the fullest yet because of video games addiction, and to show the day-to-day commitment that it takes. Tonight, I finally had my cheat meal of the week (a nice pizza), which felt like a nice reward after this first conclusive week.

Thank you Cam, I definitely will !

#Day 5 : Pretty good day overall, went to the gym in the morning, then spent the afternoon drawing for a potential school for next year, and driving around Zürich to find an agenda (I prefer righting and then crossing the tasks that are done) and some English books ! Didn't find the agenda, but bought a Steven King and Crushing it (An entrepreneur book). I also registered for a webinar on cryptocurrencies next week ! Slowly setting my goals for the second week of the detox : I want to find at least one event that interests me to go to.