wookieshark88

?You're one of the few people I've ever seen be so continually encouraging without coming across as patronizing. I want to become like that. Today I listened to the Tim Ferris Project for the first time. I've never gotten into podcasts before, but I enjoyed it! School is getting closer and closer, and I want to get comfortable with listening books or podcasts before I start spending all that time in the car. I've been making steady progress reading Daring Greatly. It hasn't gotten me pumped up, but it's giving me a lot to consider. It's been a good read so far. I'll probably be finishing it in a few days, and am going to start looking for something new to read. I'm definitely open to suggestions as all the suggestions I've gotten so far have been A+ material. I did my 90 second run for the second day in a row and the legs still feel great! I think the 20 or so flights of stairs I climb and descend during work hours has really prepared me for this. My old self would have thought that my running progress is obnoxiously slow and stupid. My new self is proud to have formed good habits, is enjoying the process itself, and knows that steady growth at the rate that is right for me is how real progress is made. I'm happy to say that I'm smarter than I was before I quit games. I want to take some time to evaluate my progress towards my goals that I had listed a while back. Be an excellent husband. - I've been being mindful of my wife's emotions and needs and have made her the target of random acts of kindness.Be an excellent father. - My patience is way up since starting this journey. This helps me to work through my baby's rough patches and emerge victorious on the other side. I also don't think about pacifying her just to get back to my stupid games. I spend time with her and enjoy the moments without looking forward or back in time.Get my bachelor's degree. - I got signed up for my next class.Learn and practice self development. - I'm reading my third book, listening to good podcasts, and implementing the lessons.Enjoy every day. - Definitely done.Excel at work. - This isn't coming as fast as I like, but I just have to keep at it.Reach my goal weight. - 16 pounds down and 19 to go.Run a marathon. - I've got a good running habit going.I'm thankful for: Having decent enough walking weather today.Hitting a new record low weight. I hope I'm not losing too quickly though. I want this to be sustainable.Having this journal. It's so great to have positive and constructive feedback during this journey./r/stopgaming. I read it at work when things are slow (I'd rather be working at work). It's a nice midday shot of encouragement.My wife. She ordered a jogging stroller, and we're both going to get some good use out of it!Bibs. Those things are great for keeping babies (relatively) clean.Quitting e-cigs. I have cravings a lot, and I need to figure out how to alter that habit loop.My home. It feels much more like a place of comfort since quitting games.Feeling calm. I have spent a lot of life with anxiety. Feeling calm is such a savory experience for me.A nearby park with a nice playground and a track. I went for the first time this weekend and will be returning!

I agree that The Power of Habit is an excellent read. Please do keep looking for that missing something! You recognize that there's something missing because you feel it. I think you'll also feel it when you find it.

?Biggest benefits: I think more clearly.I have more patience.It gets one of my core habits done (meditation, reading, journaling, food journaling, exercise) right off the bat which is motivating.Most noticeable: I'm much happier.My anxiety is completely controlled.It enables me to form other good habits more easily.I use the headspace.com site to do guided meditation. Here is the typical routine: Sit down with good posture.Softly gaze forward and take notice of surroundings while deep breathing.Close eyes, return to normal breath, and focus on the feeling of being in a chair and the feet on the ground.Listen passively to the environment.Scan your body from head to toe while neutrally noticing areas that are comfortable and uncomfortable.Think about your motivation for doing the exercise.Focus on your breath.Let go of any concentration.Focus on the feeling of being in the chair.Open eyes while maintaining focus.Gently transition back into your day.At any point when you notice that you mind has wandered (will happen often and that's okay) gently refocus on the step you are one.They have a 10 day free trial on the site, and it's worth doing all 10 days before deciding if you want to join. Worst case scenario is you wasted 100 minutes over 10 days and lost no money. We all know that we've wasted more time in money on video games on any given day during our playing days.

I second the Power of Habit. It's interesting, thought provoking, challenging, and life changing.

Haha, that was a funny post last night. Today was another day of habits and momentum building! I started doing minute and a half runs today because my legs have been feeling good with the minute runs. During my work mini walks I've been going down and up three flights of stairs multiple times a day, and my legs and lungs don't mind nearly as much as when I started. I even treated myself to a slice of pizza today because my calories were too low. I had a shingles outbreak years ago when I was eating too little and exercising too much, and I really don't want to do that again. It's a good thing I'm food journaling so I can address these things before I get sick. I'm on a 37 day meditation streak! I really look forward to it as part of my morning routine these days. It makes a giant difference when I head out the door centered and focused. I've been doing the creativity pack on headspace. I don't really feel like it's doing anything for creativity, but all the other benefits I've come to enjoy are still there so I don't mind. I guess it's pretty evident that I've been faithfully journaling too. The thankfulness lists, feedback, and writing of thoughts really helps process the day's events. Reading has been going good as well. Daring Greatly really gives me a more educated view on how to be introspective. I can identify if I'm being properly vulnerable and be combat shame. I really see the value in reading even just a little bit of good books every day. I'm thankful for: Seeing the future with optimism.Committing random acts of kindness.Grilling.Not living a life of killing time. My time is used and never killed these days.Talking to my parents today.Daring greatly.Having patience with my baby. It's been a little rough for her today.My job. The positivity relative to my last job really helps a lot.The weather.Peace of mind.

I have a buzz right now, but I want to make sure I finish all my good habits before bed. The wife and I had a delicious stir fry that I made and enjoyed our drinks together on the porch. We just spent a good 90 minutes talking about our lives and anything else that was on our minds. It was such a relaxing and bonding experience. She's such a great person to have in my life. I can be myself with her and be completely comfortable with it. The video game talk will be coming soon, and I know that she'll be so proud of me for bettering myself. That's the kind of person she is. She knows that I love her and our baby, and I would do anything for them. I'm going to feel so happy when she knows about all of that stuff. I've been vulnerable with her more than a few times before, and it's always been work it. I'm thankful for: Having somebody who I can just talk to and listen to and feel great about all of it.Cooking. Making food and sharing it is an excellent bonding experience.Ice cream. We ate ice cream that was made on a farm and it was amazing!A new record low weight! Food journaling allows me to make good food choices and still eat fun things like ice cream in moderation.Crabby's ginger beer and Maker's Mark whiskey. This is all the rage in my house right now (baby excluded).I'm so thankful that my addiction is not alcohol. I can enjoy a drink and quit exactly when it's appropriate. I had one (fairly strong) drink and was happy, and stopped. I probably won't have another until Friday and that's fine by me.No e cigarettes for me today. That's four days!I'm actually good with the work week starting tomorrow. I'll get better at my job and get closer to becoming an expert at it!My baby had a very happy day. I'm so happy I could contribute to that.My habits. I never knew the power of habits until last month.My cats. They're so loving and funny. I'll always have pets in my home.My wife. It's like she crossed from my dreams into reality. I'm a lucky guy.My car. It's been super reliable since 2001.I could go on and on, but I need to sleep.

What a nice day today was. We (my family and I) went for a really nice breakfast then a walk at the beach! The weather was absolutely amazing today. Afterwards, we came home to nap and clean. I surprised my wife by detailing the interior of her car, taking the car to the wash, getting the oil changed, fixing the burned out headlight, and filling up her tank when her and the baby were napping. The weather was so great that we decided to go to the local park and get more sun and walking. Now, the baby just went to sleep and the wife and I are going to fire up the grill and crack open a beer! I'm loving my game free life. I'm thankful for: Beautiful weather.Fancy french toast and blueberry pancakes with REAL maple syrup!Exercise.Ginger beer with whiskey.Baby babbles.A sense of accomplishment.A sense of relaxation.A wonderful wife who actually deserves the good things I try to do for her.My school plans for next semester are coming together.Running!

I know the feeling of wanting to have a bit of video games in your life. I loved the Kinect Sports for xbox 360. I had a blast jumping around in the living room with it and using it to get my heart rate up and break a sweat. The sad thing is that I know I can't handle having that machine in my house. If they made a machine that only had those kinds of games with no other capabilities at all, I would possibly consider it. It would just be a fancier version of a workout video, I think. I would immediately dump it at the first sign of ignoring anything I consider important.

Books are a great idea for walking! Currently, I use my walking time to talk to my parents on the phone. They live on the west coast and I live on the east coast. It actually helps me keep in contact with them more frequently when walking time is talking time. I do plan on doing audio books when the semester starts up because I drive about 70 minutes to and from school. I'm going to need to line up a book for that. Reading has been a huge part of my success and I'm open to ideas for books! I was able to complete all of my habits again today and reached a new low weight! I'm down 14 pounds with 21 more to go. I feel so much better physically than I did 14 pounds ago. I also quit my e cigs three days ago! It really is amazing what I can do when my keystone habits are maintained diligently. Things just seem to naturally right themselves when my foundation is solid. I'm so sleepy right now. I'll have to check everyone's journals tomorrow. I'm thankful for: My cats have been behaving very well lately.This week was a success.A record low weight.A peaceful home.The sunshine.The comments in my journal. I appreciate all who take the time give me strength!The feeling that my dreams will become reality. I never had this before!Freedom from games. Real life is better.My baby ate applesauce for the first time today. It seems to be her new favorite!Evening time with my wife.

My baby has been fussier than usual today. A few weeks ago, that would have really rattled me, but today I took it in stride! She's now sitting calmly with me and I calmly with her. I'm really proud of both her and myself for getting through the crying and back into a good mood! We're definitely learning to work with each other to get through those rough patches and not let them spiral out of control. I ran for one minute again today, and it was good! This minute came after a 55 minute walk so I got lots of exercise in today. My super slow progression has been good as I haven't even had a hint of my leg problems acting up. I'm sure once I lose 22 more pounds my legs will be more capable of hard work too. I'm one day closer to running a marathon! I've been working my way through my to do list. In the Slight Edge, it says that having unfinished business keeps us in the past instead of living in the present and looking forward to the future. This in turn keeps us from the success curve. It feels great to have fewer and fewer things hanging over me as I get them done. I'm going to work on my baby photo album after this post and get close to knocking that off my to do list. I'm thankful for: The baby photo album. I cannot look at it without smiling and laughing.Going from screaming baby to happy baby this evening. I'm not sure if I got lucky or if the baby and I are getting better at dealing with each other. Nevertheless, I'm super thankful it happened.The clouds. They made it cool enough to get outside and walk. Normally, I would walk even if it was hot, but my wife probably wouldn't appreciate me cooking our baby.Airplanes. I get to ride an airplane, visit my relatives and show off my awesome family in a few weeks!Books. I'm loving that I can read the thoughts of great minds!Being way under my calorie goal so far. I'll be able to enjoy some pizza in a bit and still be decently under my goal!Getting things done without using anxiety as a motivator. I'll never forget this as long as I live. It changed me.Documentaries. I love learning about animals, ecosystems, space, social issues or anything else. It's nice to do some learning while idle.Breathing easy. I'm not feeling a hint of asthma in my lungs right now.My wife. She's bring home our favorite pizza soon!

Can you buy an Apple TV, Fire TV, or Roku and then sell the PS4 to offset the cost? My entertainment center used to have all the gaming systems I had, but these days it's just a Fire TV and a blu ray player. My wife, mother in law, and I use the Fire TV for Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video and it works great. You can download android games to Fire TV so I would avoid it if that would be a problem for you. Thankfully, I'm never tempted to download them.

I just want to take a moment to say that I love this site. Every day I read other people's journeys, and it lifts me up. I enjoy doing my best to provide everybody here some encouragement on their journey. The community seems to be getting more awesome as time goes on too! If you're reading this, and you're a part of this site, you are awesome. Today was good! I've been saying that so much lately. I think what's going on is that my mind now has happiness as a baseline which is why every day seems good to me. I'm sure the old me would have thought that some of the days were bad, but that's not me anymore! I have a new goal! I want to live in Antarctica for a year once my kid(s) are grown. I'm watching a documentary about it, and I feel like I don't want to leave this life before experiencing that! My baby is learning to crab walk! I really have to keep a closer eye on her now. What a wonderful kid. I ran today! It was only for a minute, but it was nice. I didn't even get my heart rate up or sweat at all, but I got my legs moving! I'll probably do a minute for the next few days and evaluate how the legs feel before upping the time. I'm thankful for: Crab walking babies.Dreams.This site.Avocados.My goofy cats.A new work assignment.Running!Family.A new record low weight.Living a real life and not a video game life.

Congrats! I look forward to joining you in 90 days of success!

Your life sounds awesome right now! Enjoy it!

"The reason why you see that I'm doing so much better in my life is because I quit playing video games. I played them too much in my life, and I always had problems balancing games and life so I wanted to quit. I really don't like talking about video games because I feel ashamed of how much they dragged me down. I hope you can understand that this is hard for me, but I want to have the best marriage possible so I don't want to keep it from you." I cringed just writing that, haha. I'm sure she'll treat me kindly. I guess it's just the admitting part that's hard. I'm going to gauge how my legs feel tomorrow, and run for just one minute if they're feeling good! I can't wait for the next step towards being a marathon runner. The slight edge shows me the optimal rate of growth in this endeavor. The correct thing for me to do is just exercise every day, and increase very slowly. It's not about the results, but the process anyways. The process have kept me motivated, focused, happy, and fit. That's the most important thing about this anyways. Crossing the finish line will just be the cherry on top of many many slight edge choices. All my habits are complete for the day except finishing out my food journal after dinner! I'll probably read for a bit to fall asleep too. I'm thankful for: My habits. My life is definitely trending upwards and I know my habits are the foundation.Practicing telling my wife about games. I'm going to do it soon and it's going to improve our lives together.My grill. I just scrubbed it thoroughly and hooked up the new propane tank. I'm thinking salmon burgers are on tonight's menu!My older cat. He meditates with me in the morning. He's always been there for me when I was sad or if I wanted to play. Now he's giving me a bit of support in that I don't meditate alone. Yes, I am a crazy cat person.Starting a new assignment at work tomorrow. It seems fairly menial, but I want to master that stuff so I have a foundation to grow in my job.My friend, Bill. He's a great human being, and I'm honored that he would be my friend.My dreams. I used to be scared of them, but not anymore because I believe I can turn them all into reality.Photoshop. I'm working on the next installment of my baby photo album, and photoshop helps me really get the most quality I can out of my photos.Being mindful of the moment. It really helps to keep my mind strong when I remember to just live in the moment from time to time.My wife. She's helping me plan a trip to California so my family can meet my baby.

I woke up at three in the morning and realized that I forgot to journal. I figured that I would just do it in the morning, but my mind wouldn't let it go so here I am! I love my new habits anyways so I'm not upset about the lost sleep. I've lost many sleep hours to games and didn't care then. Yesterday was another strong day for me. I'm loving my habits and new life! My wife has really noticed the changes in my life and has commended me for them. I've told her many of the reasons why I'm making changes to my life, but I didn't really tell her that I quit video games for life. I was always such a closeted gamer that I never told a soul. I really want to share with her the impact that games had on my life, but it's so scary for me to confront that much shame I feel about the games. It's a really good thing I'm reading Daring Greatly because this is exactly what Brene wrote about. I know that my wife and I will experience a higher level in our relationship once I share. Since the book speaks about this stuff, I think I'm going to read more before I share my secret with her. I have complete faith in her that she'll be good to me as I make myself vulnerable. I think I'm really just scared to verbalize my shame to somebody I love. I'm thankful for: My habits being strong enough to get me out of bed to complete them! Video games used to do this to me which means that my good habits are replacing games in my habit cycle!!! This makes me extraordinarily happy.The Daring Greatly book. It's giving me the motivation to complete an important step in my life.My baby ate avocados yesterday! She loved them as much as the wife and I do!Feeling adequate at work. I was able to work all day long with minimal assistance.My mother in law. She saves us soooo much money by babysitting and made us ratatouille yesterday!Having a nice conversation with my parents. I see them once or twice a year so quality phone time is important.My mom and baby had their first conversation! I put the phone on speaker and they babbled to each other. It was adorable.Visualizing my dreams. I've never been brave enough to do that until a few days ago.Dinner last night. My wife cooked sea scallops to go with the ratatouille. We ate like (healthy) royalty.Writing these lists. They have had an impact on making happiness the default setting in my brain.

Hey! I'm honored that you would take the time to read my journal! You can ask me about any of it, and I'll be happy to help in any way I can.

Today was a busy day. The wife and I finished just about all the cleaning we had set out to do over the last few weeks. It feels great! We went out and had a nice time after that. We visited the aquarium and some nice little shops where I picked up a pair of running shoes. I think I'm going to start running tomorrow! I've been food journaling faithfully and I've been under my calorie goal for about five days now. I just need to read before bed so I can complete my last habit of the day. In the book Daring Greatly, the author talks about being vulnerable. Many people think that vulnerability is a weakness, but the truth is that it takes courage and strength to allow yourself to be vulnerable. I've found this to be so true all my life. The hardest things I've ever done required me to gather all my strength and expose myself. It's a good book, and it's tough for it to follow immediately after the Slight Edge because that book is legendary in my opinion. I'm thankful for: Getting close to running!Learning the importance of vulnerability.Having my habits become more internalized.Having such a clean house!Baby babbles.Having so much more energy that I did in my gaming days.Being able to read other people's experiences here.Having a great weekend.Not dreading Monday because my job is good.Making all the right small decisions.

Today was a wonderful day. The family and I spent a few hours with some of my friends. There was socializing, reminiscing, and good fun. I brought my baby into a swimming pool for the first time today! She was very happy but not excited to be in there with me. I was thrilled to share this new experience with her. She also ate a bit of banana for the first time! She loved it! Some time next week we're going to introduce her to avocados. I hope she loves them as much as I do! Right now I'm feeling like a millionaire again. A good family, a clean and safe place to live, wholesome friends, a job that's stimulating, and future goals are everything I need in life. I am thankful for: Pool parties.Bananas.Friendship.A wonderful wife.Baby smiles.Finding time to clean.A great meditation session.Peace of mind.My strengthening legs.My cats.Edit: Today is a major milestone for me! I have been game free for 30 days! I feel like the champion of the world!!!

I just wanted to take a moment to share an important experience during today's meditation. I usually have to dash off to work or tend to my baby after my morning meditation, but today I have a moment to jot down a thought. This is a slight edge post for me. During meditation, there is a stage where I focus on my motivation for meditating. During this stage I focus on inhalation and exhalation. On my first inhalation I think the word "family" and I envision my wife and child as delighted to see me as I see them. When I exhale I think the word "self" and envision myself as physically and mentally fit. During my second inhalation I think the word "school" and envision myself excitedly walking across the stage at graduation. One the second exhalation I think the world "work" and envision myself as a mentor with extensive knowledge to share and patience to share it. Family. Self. School. Work. Doing this five or six times during the beginning stages of meditation greatly boosts the quality of the rest of my meditation. For anybody who reads this and meditates, I would like to suggest that you pick four reasons why you meditate and try this out. You may find it as powerful as I do.

Friday is a great day. The end of the work week is nice, but I've been engaged in my work and I'm not tired at all when Friday rolls around. What makes Friday great is the farmers market. My family and I enjoyed delicious food, bought exciting vegetables, and met some cool people! In most places I go, there always seem to some douche bags around, but not the farmers market. It's like a magical land that repels the douches like water repels cats. I can talk to just about anybody there and it's all smiles, politeness, and laughter. It is exactly like Disneyland was like for the four year old boy I used to be. I got to pet awesome dogs and let my baby interact with other people's babies. Then there are the fish tacos. I love fish tacos. I ate fish tacos. It was awesome. Fish tacos are awesome. I did all of my good habits again and made all the slight edge decisions all day long. These things are transforming my life in the best way. The thing is that it's Friday, I went to the farmers market, and am now in the afterglow of the farmers market. It's remarkably similar to being post coital. Yes, I went there. I'm thankful for: Fish tacos.Friendly people.Baby interaction time.Orange and yellow tomatoes.The bold and clear rainbow we saw at the farmers market.Good habits.Getting the basement cleaned out.High energy levels.Low anxiety levels.Happiness.

Do you enjoy cooking? I'll happily share my recipe with you. I made it one day because I enjoy trying new recipes from time to time, and it was amazing! I would order it at a restaurant for sure. Today, the streak of feeling on top of the world continues. I have faithfully been accomplishing my habits (meditation, food journaling, exercising, reading, and journaling here) for a while now. I can say that the Slight Edge is most definitely a real thing. I'm going to finish the book tonight or tomorrow! I can't wait for my fresh new batch of knowledge from the next book. I'm becoming powerful. My patience is up, my physical shape is improving, my happiness is through the roof, my relationship with my wife is wonderful, and I'm confident. I am going to complete every one of my goals. After that, I'm going to dream up even bigger goals. I haven't really been talking too much about the day to day details of my life here for a few days because it's just the same old thing lately (which is excellence). I'm thankful for: Joining this site. I came to quit video games, but I find myself in a personal renaissance.The weather was excellent. It made my walk outside so comfortable.My legs. They are getting stronger!My baby's fantastic attitude today! She got her shots today, and hasn't been crying very much at all.My wife. As I apply the slight edge to our relationship, she has noticed and reciprocated.My job. It's been a satisfying position so far because of the challenges.My car. I got it in 2001, and it's still reliable!My house. I got it when I was single, and now it's a home filled with love.My energy. It's been through the roof and allows me to accomplish all of my daily goals.Happiness. It makes living worthwhile.

Today was good again! My baby cried a lot this evening, but I'm so much stronger than I was two weeks ago and handled it like a pro! I've been focusing on making sure my key habits are part of my daily routine. This really isn't that hard because I enjoy all of them. I find that other things are starting to fall into place. Just like it says in the Slight Edge, it's all about being steady and consistent rather than trying to go fast. I can't believe how fast things are coming together while I'm actually trying to go slow and steady. I'm thankful for: Getting into a groove at work. I'm doing the more basic stuff, but I'm getting good at it.Cooking my favorite dinner, homemade carnitas burritos with freshly make tomatillo salsa.Not being rattled by my crying baby.Not locking my cat in the closet all day like yesterday. I figured that out after yesterday's journal entry. He's perfectly fine and happy.The positivity I have is overcoming negative emotions. A guy at work was being douchey to me, but it didn't faze me one bit!Having another book lined up. I may start it tomorrow!Having this journal and the feedback in it.Taking time to be in the moment, not in the past or future.My couch is so much more of a place of relaxation and rest rather than a trap for video games and depression.I came in under my calorie goal for the day. The scale didn't show weight loss today, but that's fine. Consistent and steady effort will ensure I reach my goal weight.

The good day streak continues! I've been doing the five habits that lead to happiness from the Slight Edge book (meditate, journal, exercise, random act of kindness, and read). These things are really working for me. Since happiness is the key to success, I'm on my way! I really should list my goals. Be an excellent husband.Be an excellent father.Get my bachelor's degree.Learn and practice self development.Enjoy every day.Excel at work.Reach my goal weight.Run a marathon.I worked diligently my job today. I don't really understand too much about the systems that we use at work just yet. They're so different that what I have been using. That's okay because I came home knowing a little bit more about them that when I went to work. I just have to do that every day. I got quite a bit of walking in today. I can feel my legs strengthening, but I have to be patient and increase my exercise very gradually. I'm so tempted to just run until I can't run anymore, but every time I do that my legs end up hurt. I'll do a two or three minute run in a few days and see how that goes. I'm very happy to say that I've reached another record low for my weight again today! I had quite a bit of fun with my baby again today. The way she looks at me when we're having fun together is the best thing I have ever experienced in my life. I'm so lucky I can experience this every single day! I'm thankful for: A record low weight!Continuing good habits.26 days of no video games!The happiness I feel coming from within.My wife bring home sushi for dinner!The Slight Edge book giving me fun and productive down time.Learning to live in the present moment. It's not at all natural for me, but I remember to do it for a few moments during the day.Having to opportunity to feed my baby some rice cereal.The weather is beautiful even if it is a little warm.Becoming a little bit of a morning person. I'll practice it every day and improve!