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1347 Days Without Gaming


Ikar

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I hope this thread will serve as an inspiration and a place to share your successes!

What have I achieved since I quit games? What have YOU achieved since you quit games? What can YOU achieve if you quit games?

Yes, I know 1347 days sounds intimidating, but 1347 days are going to pass anyway, so it's best if we make them count. Almost three years ago, @BooksandTrees made a post how his life changed after a year and a half of no gaming. I did the same, except I made the time-span to be almost five years even before I quit games.

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2018:

I got my first girlfriend ever. I left the army in August 2018. During the time I worked some odd jobs, I streamed games daily and had my first English students, while still studying at the university, even if just once a week.

2019:

The year of my personal reconstruction. I quit games in April 2019. I started my Excel "calendar" in June 2019. I went to Iceland for work in June 2019 and came back in September. I moved out to the dorm away from my parents in November 2019.

There are just a few sentences, but I made some very important steps that year and got a lot more agency and clarity over my life.

2020:

The year of my professional reconstruction. At the same time, I was flirting with three job ideas - Forex, financial advisory firm and its management and English teaching. I didn't continue with the first two.*

I got my English teaching website up. as well as my official registration for English teaching. I started getting some serious (online) English course-load from language schools in autumn 2020. I got my gun license. I switched over to Google Calendar from Excel. I started to let my finances get managed externally. I started get involved with women naturally for the first time, not only via online.

2021:

Got a job I could call a job at this point. I got my bachelor's degree from Economic Geography and Regional Development. I started to passively manage my finances internally. I got some more experience with romantic relationships. I didn't go abroad seriously due to CV restrictions.

2022:

I really enjoyed the time I spent with my Georgian girlfriend. It's hard to say what comes out of my new relationship now. I've done some traveling abroad. I participated in business mentoring.

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Above is the very basic information about what happened in the last five years and what have I achieved or done. I didn't include anything that happens on a continual basis and where it's hard to track "progress", such as reading books, exercising, writing or family relationships, although I'd say they universally got better from the point where they were when I quit games in April 2019.

Overall, I'd characterize myself as a guy who wants more, who wants to do better and who knows what he wants. It's apparent when I look at the way I manage my work/business, finances and relationships over the years.

I'm not even talking about my mental health. Yes, there are still things I do that I don't like or that I need to do that annoy me, however compared to the time when I was gaming, it is really a breeze.

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*I didn't continue with the first two because:

a) I was pushing myself to do Forex and financial advisory and management, because they weren't truly my ideas. I have only ever had three job ideas myself: army, streaming games and English teaching. The other ones were interesting fillers, but they showed me what I didn't want to do in the end.

b) I didn't see any money from them. It's hard to start a business with no prior experience in the field and knowing how it works. Gotta be in the first line with the troopers to be a good leader after.

c) I started getting some serious (online) English course-load from language schools in autumn 2020. I was able to do what I really wanted, so I cut the other bullshit.

I can say what I want about language schools now, but I needed them for the last two years, not the least because they provided me a stable paycheck for the work done. I didn't care they charged their clients 20$/hour and paid me 10$/hour. I got the necessary experience to start building my business and to get where I am now at the end of 2022.

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What you made me think about by going over your career choices is that it is important to keep looking for options and new opportunities.

I can continue working in my current job without bothering about better options, but if I check employment and education opportunities once a week I may across a much better option. 

In fact its good for mental health to have a change of profession towards something more challenging and requiring new learning. That is what I think from experience.

I also feel physical strength building is important for effective work.

Well done on the successes, are you thinking about the next detox ?

I keep coming back to this subject because the school years are so much more effective as a way of life than a 10 hour desk job. So the detox can be directed at having a healthier way of life. 

Edited by Amphibian220
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Congratulations Ikar! I briefly read your post the other day and "liked" it and had been planning to come back to post a comment.

It's inspiring to see what you did over the years since you've quit and helps me understand the long-term impact that letting go of gaming can have in someone's life and ultimately hopefully my own life.

Thanks for your post and I hope you keep striving for more.

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On 12/27/2022 at 6:18 PM, Amphibian220 said:

What you made me think about by going over your career choices is that it is important to keep looking for options and new opportunities.

I can continue working in my current job without bothering about better options, but if I check employment and education opportunities once a week I may across a much better option. 

In fact its good for mental health to have a change of profession towards something more challenging and requiring new learning. That is what I think from experience.

I also feel physical strength building is important for effective work.

Well done on the successes, are you thinking about the next detox ?

I keep coming back to this subject because the school years are so much more effective as a way of life than a 10 hour desk job. So the detox can be directed at having a healthier way of life. 

You are correct, it's key to keep looking. It's possible I will teach English forever, but maybe the skills and knowledge gained along the way will lead into a different job in the future. I however do feel I am improving as a teacher and as a truly self-employed man.

I also agree that physical activity is important. I think taking at least a 30 minute walk every day at minimum is good for my state of mind and body.

I definitely agree the detox improved my mental and physical health. I still get pulled by the computer to do stuff, partly because of my online classes and partly because of my own laziness, but I have much more will to just go and do something different than spend time by the screen.

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19 hours ago, jade_ said:

Congratulations Ikar! I briefly read your post the other day and "liked" it and had been planning to come back to post a comment.

It's inspiring to see what you did over the years since you've quit and helps me understand the long-term impact that letting go of gaming can have in someone's life and ultimately hopefully my own life.

Thanks for your post and I hope you keep striving for more.

Thanks!  I'm happy you found it useful and inspiring.

I wanted to do something like this for a while, but I never had the time. I think it took me about six hours to go through all the materials I have accumulated (mostly diary monthly reports and my calendars) and I tried to be considerate with myself and others (so someone can actually read it in a few minutes) to only go after the most important things. I think it was a good exercise of gratitude, to value the evolution that I've gone through over the years, to consider the situations I've been in and the decisions I made.

Best of luck to you! 🙂

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  • 5 months later...

Hello Ikar, Congratulations on such an astounding, miraculous, fabulous, wonderful, amazing achievement! 
I actually thought at the start that you only quit on days 1, 3, 4 and 7 😂 

 

Anyway, it is pretty inspiring for a newcomer like me to see how much your life has improved. I have been – yes let’s face it – horribly, abhorrently, disgustingly, disgracefully addicted to gaming. I wasted my childhood on it. Now I am wasting my life, but I think that I can improve 😄 

So simply your achievement makes me quite happy and I hope I can trace your footsteps. 
Thanks for sharing and I hope you can achieve more!

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17 hours ago, IlikeCookies said:

Hello Ikar, Congratulations on such an astounding, miraculous, fabulous, wonderful, amazing achievement! 
I actually thought at the start that you only quit on days 1, 3, 4 and 7 😂 

 

Anyway, it is pretty inspiring for a newcomer like me to see how much your life has improved. I have been – yes let’s face it – horribly, abhorrently, disgustingly, disgracefully addicted to gaming. I wasted my childhood on it. Now I am wasting my life, but I think that I can improve 😄 

So simply your achievement makes me quite happy and I hope I can trace your footsteps. 
Thanks for sharing and I hope you can achieve more!

Hi, I am happy my post encouraged you! I'm sure you can improve your life in the same passion as I did 🙂

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