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Hello everyone. My name is Billy. I'm 29 years old, and I've been gaming nonstop since I was 5 years old, so for about 24 years now. I believe I am struggling with either gaming compulsion or gaming addiction. Right now I own a Nintendo Switch 2, a Gaming Laptop, and I used to game on my phone, and I play for about 10 to 20 hours per week. I usually don't count the hours I spend gaming, so that's a rough estimate. I also tend to avoid playing online games because of their addictive nature. Recently I got super into Marvel Rivals because my girlfriend was into it and we played a lot, but after we broke up I realized how addictive that game was and went ahead and deleted my Rivals account. Last year was when my game quitting journey started. I got into a toxic sell-buy-sell loop. I would sell my PS5 and Nintendo Switch, tell everyone I was quitting gaming, but then buy them again during major sales, or when a big exclusive game was announced. Then I moved overseas for a bit over 2 months for work and purposely sold all my consoles, as to go there without any gaming devices. Long story short I was happy for the first time in such a long time while there. I played Tennis, Pickleball and other sports with my coworkers constantly, went to the GYM, had a healthy social life, and so much going on in my life that I quickly started feeling the positive effects of it; However, gaming was always at the back of my mind, and now that I had to return to the US I have been gaming more than ever before. I managed after another sell-buy-sell cycle to sell my PS5 with all games and accessories. I am now down to the Switch 2 with like 8 games, my Gaming Laptop with over 300 games on Steam and tons of ROMs, and my phone, although I don't play games on it anymore. I also have like 5 controllers, and I used to have a ton more but I sold them all. I'm a musician too (Classical Pianist), so I want to get back to that, and I love reading books, but the issue I have is that even when I'm not playing videogames I am always thinking about them, so even without playing they always win the battle for my attention. As a result I am very distracted and prone to ADHD. I also have a hard time being in relationships long-term, or having meaningful friendships, and I struggle even leaving the house sometimes. It doesn't help that I work fully remote too, and don't make that much money. My goals are to become a digital nomad and travel the world, lose some weight, get my finances sorted out, and thoroughly enjoy all the other aforementioned hobbies and activities just as much as I've enjoyed gaming. Sorry for the long text. That about sums it up. I'm fully committing to the 90-day gaming detox challenge, but I'm still not sure if my goal is to fully quit gaming forever, or to learn to moderate it. As a musician I get very inspired by the soundtracks of masterpieces such as the NieR, Zelda and Final Fantasy seires, and my dream is to be part of a Videogame Orchestra. Since I see Videogames as a form of art, I think learning to play in moderation might be a better fit for me in order to get inspired by them as much as I get inspired by good books, movies, TV shows, etc. Sorry for the broken english too, I'm a first generation immigrant, which is one of the main reasons why I game, as I've always struggled making friends and fully integrating here.
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I think it would be awesome to have a place where we can celebrate the 90 day mark of quitting games together! How about if we post on here the five biggest improvements, lessons learned, or anything relevant you picked up during these 90 days after we hit this milestone? Maybe there can be other threads for longer milestones (180 days and 1 year), but I don't want to start a thread for a milestone I haven't hit. I'll start. I've made it to 90 days, and I feel like I conquered the impossible! This is easily my longs gameless streak in 25 years! I plan to keep on going and celebrate more milestones in the future! Here are my five points I want to share with everybody: I am happy! I learned that happiness and entertainment are not the same thing. This is something that I never really thought about until recently. Seek happiness and not entertainment! Self improvement books are not for losers. I remember watching "What about Bob?" with Bill Murray and getting the impression that I was admitting that I was a loser if I ever read a self improvement book. That image just stuck with me until I got to this site. I read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and my misconception was forever shattered. Meditation is worth the small amount of time it takes. Learning to be still for a while and carry a sense of mindfulness throughout the day makes me more capable, organized, and energetic. Happiness is the key to success, not the other way around. Most of my life I felt that getting a degree and a good paying job is success, but it always seemed like some sort of dystopian future deep down inside. The reason I felt this way was because I couldn't imagine myself happy in this scenario. It stressed me out because I wasn't happy in my studies, and thought I wouldn't be happy after my studies either. Then I learned to be happy every day and enjoy my journey through life with no worries for end goal. Enjoy the present moment. The little choices in life make the biggest difference towards being successful. Heroic efforts are not sustainable. Doing things through willpower is not sustainable. Doing things while unhappy is not sustainable. First, learn how to make good habits. Second, make just one good habit that you know you can enjoy. Third, revel in the good feelings that come from doing this habit every time you do it. Fourth, add another habit once you feel like you got the hang of the first habit. Five, repeat these steps until you are very happy and making progress towards your goals in life.
