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:

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

I love it! I can't wait until I hit 90 days

Awesome idea and great first post to kick it off! Love this.

That is an excellent post and exactly what I was hoping for from this thread! Your post is so real and thoughtful. I hope you're proud of your journey because you should be!

I really like this idea guys. Great posts. I'm just starting on my journey, but when I get there I will share my thoughts and lessons learned!

I really like this idea guys. Great posts. I'm just starting on my journey, but when I get there I will share my thoughts and lessons learned!

?I look forward to your success and wisdom!

Wohooo!!! This is my 90 days game-free post (I made a similiar one on r/Stopgaming too). Quitting gaming has lead to huge change in my life.

Little background story. This is actually my second time trying to quit. I was able to go 88 days game free the last time. I relapsed for five days but realized that I'm better off without games. The relapse was important since it sealed the deal with my previous decision.

The second attempt to quit gaming went a lot smoother than the first one. The first time I hadn't sought new hobbies I was pretty much stuck home watching videos. I was feeling depressed and powerless. The second time I made sure to focus on new activities and habits, and it has really payed out! I got a job for a month, started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and begun to read books. Suddenly I was busy and not doing nothing all day long. My self confidence started to improve rapidly. No longer did I have to fight with the counter, the days just flew by.

These things have helped me and I hope that they will help you too!

• Keeping a journal! My journal helps me understand my situation. Writing things and feeling on paper makes them feel easier to handle.
• Books. Really didn't know what to expect first. For instance I thought that reading books about social skills was going to somehow turn me into an unnatural weirdo. I made the decision to give them a shot. Turned out that my stereotypes from self-help books were completely and utterly wrong. They are Awesome!
• Having hobbies and projects keeping myself busy helps me. I don't mean that packing my calendar full of stuff 24/7 would be beneficial for me but having things to do helps me feel progress.
• Meditation. I was a bit prejudiced when it comes to meditation too. I guess I was afraid that it will turn me into a person with no feelings. I was wrong once again. It has helped me dealing with troublesome feelings really well!
• Taking care of my sleeping eating and doing enough sports
• And last but not least I've got to give a shootout to this website! The people are so awesome here. You guys have given me a myriad of encouragement and advice

I'm definitely going to stick to my Gamequitting journey. It feels as if I have just scratched the surface of this whole thing. My goals currently are to take care of my current good habits and form new ones, to improve my social skills and get better with relationships, and to read more books!

Thank you for reading this and thank you for helping me in this journey. I would like to end this with one of my favourite quote from Duhigg's "The Power of Habit".

Once we choose who we want to be, people grow to the way in which they have been exercised . . . If you believe you can change, if you make it a habit, the change becomes real. This is the real power of habit. The insight that your habits are what you choose them to be. Once that choice occurs, and becomes automatic, habitual, it's not only real, it starts to seem inevitable.

I had the same prejudices as you! I felt like I had to swallow my pride to try those things out, but now I have way more pride because of them! I tried to hit "Like", but I already liked 10 posts today. This is an excellent post!

Glad you liked it!

Hit 90 yesterday! Here are my 5 improvements.

1. Much reduced anxiety. Far less scared of the world now I am more a part of it and my social skills have improved.
2. Improved health. Going outside more and being able to stick to fitness regimes.
3. Hope for the future, before I felt like a broken person, like there was something fundamentally wrong, so I was more than pessimistic about my future. Now things are a lot different.
4. More interesting of a person. I used to get very self concious that my only real hobby was gaming and that I didn't really do anything. Now I actually have some things to talk about when people ask me about myself or what I have been doing.
5. Generally a lot happier, coming from someone who was very depressed 3 months ago.

Obviously quitting games is only a part of this, it is all the stuff you do afterwards that really helps, but of course big shoutout to camerondare whose articles and videos have been super helpful the entire time. And of course people on this forum and the subreddit.

Didn't know what I was going to do when I got to 90, I only comitted to doing this much, but the answer for now is keep on going!

Hit 90 yesterday! Here are my 5 improvements.?

?Proud of you!!

Hey I actually reached 101 days yesterday! We're basically an elite group at this point so we should give ourselves a fun group name, like, ''Game Quitters Legends''. Anyway, here's what I've learned over the last 101 days or so:

1. You need social support to make massive changes in your life. Joining this forum & talking to you guys made me remember that I can't be awesome without social support to push me in the right direction. As a teenager, I thought I could do it all by myself, especially since I felt that people in my life were actively trying to stop me from achieving my goals, but now, I've realized that if I'm going against the world, I might as well recruit the world to help me.

2. Don't try to quit any other habits when you're getting rid of an addiction, just focus on refraining from the one thing. Also, you have to want something with every fiber of your being in order to get it. That intense focus & drive is what will make you successful at anything.

3. There's no shame in going online if you can't find the support you need in real life. This is what brought me to this forum; I wanted to make these changes in my life, but nobody in my real life was supporting me in them. And hey, it's 2015, not 1995.

4. Writing stuff down on the Internet, where it stays forever, actually helps massively in forcing you to stay with your commitments. It's almost like you're promising the entire world you're going to do something; that level of accountability kind of forces you to do what you'll say you'll do; it helped me cut down greatly on all of the excuses I was making to myself & others, stop lying, get to the bottom of my problems, & start overcoming them.

5. Self-improvement is a process: it takes time, and you have to be willing to stick with it, no matter how frustrating it gets. If you do, the end payoff will be bigger than you ever thought.

6. Making mistakes/relapsing is not the end of the world; as long as you're not dead, you can always bounce back. This is actually my 3rd attempt at quitting games; my 1st & 2nd ones lasted just under 30 days each. This forum gave me the courage to get up & try again.

Peace out! Btw, check out some new pics of me trying on new clothes at the mall (to celebrate 100 days & make sure I achieved it, I went shopping for new clothes):

Marco, that's some real wisdom right there!

Day 91! Didn't think I'd ever be able to get here and I'm surprised by how easy it was in all honesty. I'm not saying I didn't have cravings, but they were easy to resist. So five things....

1. I've met a few new people that have really helped. I in turn have helped them with other issues.
2. I've been on a few dates now, early days on anything else happening with them but It's been rather nice getting out and meeting new people regardless.
3. I'm reading again! I've finished 4 books over the 90 days, all have been amazing. I recommend them all: I am Death, Girl on the Train, Finders Keepers and Pretty Girls.
4. Between quitting gaming and medicated ADHD my attention span has gotten so much better at college and work. I'm more relaxed and calm, I listen in turn and speak when I'm supposed to. I've have numerous people compliment my new composure
5. My personal hygiene was questionable at best before this. I am now a reformed man, with a full nightly routine. My skin is looking so much better, I also have removed all the stains from my teeth >> << (Gross i know)

Couldn't have done it without reading all of your success stories on here and the Reddit page. Thanks to you all I'm a more calm focused man.

Also the look of surprise on my parents faces when I finished my dinner and didn't run off upstairs to game and instead chatted with them for hours was priceless :')

I'll definitely stay on both websites and keep updating my progress.

Stay Strong (y)

That's awesome! Way to go man, super proud of you. And the best part is... this is only the beginning. Imagine as you continue your new approach to life over the next year, two years, three years how much of a continued improvement it will be. And all you have to do is continue the small actions that are contributing to your success right now.

Welcome to the club! I had suffered from less than ideal hygiene before quitting games so don't feel alone in that.

I had suffered from less than ideal hygiene before quitting games so don't feel alone in that.

?I think this is a topic/video I should do (so many gamers have this problem lol...) but it's not a problem I specifically had. If I was going to cover it, what would the key points be from your gamer perspective?

Congratulations on making it to this huge milestone!  I'm looking forward to hearing what your new goals will be!  I love number 4.  We can change so much when we know how.

If you're ever struggling with something in the future, read the words that you wrote in here today.  They are a great reminder of what you can accomplish!

I'm proud to say that I've reached my goal of 90 days! (having this thread here also makes it sweeter haha) 

Here's my five points. 

• In Control: While I would mindless sit and play games for hours on end, I never really understood why, I just did it. Now after weaning off games and have more of an introspective, I feel I am able to understand why things were the way there were going for me. I feel more in control of the things I want to do. 
•  A Matter of Meditation:  I want to say in November, I started meditating for 20 minutes everyday. I've been doing this to this day and look forward to it! I find having a time to slow down really helps me get focused on things that matter to me.
• Different Lenses: I see things a little bit differently now. In the past, I took full responsibility for my actions, but now I really take responsibility. I feel more free in a way because of this. I don't have any excuses. I could easily say I was tired because I played too many video games or that I would have had at least one published novel if it wasn't for games. Now that isn't the case. I just do it or don't. Ya know as Yoda says: "Do or do not. There is no try." I believe it. 
• Energy Shift!: When I did play games and was focused on a task, I went HAM. Whatever the game I learned the strats and looked at how I could improve my game. Today I take that energy and use it to propel my drive for my Company. I'm getting work DONE and it's wonderful. 
•  Relax Man... / Selfless Confidence: Without all this pressure to get better in games or have to do things by a certain time before reset(s) (IE: Destiny),  I've been more about learning, being patient, taking the time to really absorb things. I'm still working becoming a better listener, but all in due time! 
  
  Honestly if you're here on this site / forum you know why you're here. This is wonderful because having that awareness puts you leagues about the norm. There's many scapegoat shepherds out there and if I'm going to be hungry like the wolf, let it be for a true purpose. 
  
  -Oct    

Woohoo! Super proud of you man. Thanks for sharing. 

Just 42days to go and I will put down my name in this hall-of-glory thread

Just 42days to go and I will put down my name in this hall-of-glory thread

Can't wait! 

Hi everyone. This post is 2 days late, but I figured someone might benefit from seeing this and I should be contributing back to the community that helped me out so much anyways. Skip past my history if you just want to see how my 90 days went.

Me

A quick history about me, I've been playing games since I was 6 or so. My addiction truly began at the age of 9 or 10 when I started playing games on websites such as miniclip.com and addictinggames.com. I later found out about Runescape during this time and that was my first main gaming addiction. After that I bounced around to various MMORPG's on my PC and various console games. Overall, Runescape was my most played game which I quit at the age of 18 (4 years ago). My other addictions have been to Minecraft, Diablo, PoE, various steam games, and finally LoL.

I've averaged 12-15 hours a day most of the time either playing a game, reading about a game, or watching video content about a game. My mind was constantly consumed with ways to improve and this escapism eventually caused me to fail greatly in my academics. I started to slip around 11th and 12th grade since more work was required outside of class, but I still managed to pass with a good gpa. After that I went to university for a year and dropped out since I couldn't pass most of my classes. 

90 days journey

I found it relatively easy to quit my gaming addiction this time. I truly hit rock bottom in the 3 months leading up to that day. My gaming addiction was my fault. It caused my relationship with my SO at the time to suffer as well as with my family. I also had no friends in real life outside of my cousins. 3 months before I started this detox I was going to the gym for 3 days a week. 

I tried various times to go cold turkey, but I always went back to gaming. My entire life I tried to moderate, but I could never get it down.  A comment by Yxven really sums how I felt,

When I game, every moment not spent gaming feels like a waste of time.

I made a list of goals for 2016 and broke those down into monthly goals. Then I broke those down even further as to what steps I could take to accomplish them and what I could learn every month so I could see progress. I started to up my gym regiment to 4-5x a week, learn mandarin chinese daily for 30 minutes, read a book a month, play at least 30 minutes of guitar a day, and daily learning of coding.

What really helped me out was seeing my new activities and hobbies in a daily tracker. Everyday marking one of these off in an app I installed made me feel a sense of accomplishment. 

In the first two weeks I played offline games with my brother or cousins a couple of times for 2-3 hours. Since then I had no desire to game and saw icons for games as a mental distraction since it would bring up memories of the past. I ended up uninstalling every game on my PC since I didn't see the point of how gaming would make me succeed in any of my goals.

In the days leading up to the 85th day I had a bit of a slip-up. I used to make gaming videos for Runescape which I found while cleaning out an old laptop and started to rewatch a few of them. After this I watched some YouTube videos that I loved about that game. On the 85th day after seeing a nice video I wanted to see how it was so I installed it and jumped online. I usually go online on this game every couple of months for an hour just to relive some of that nostalgia. I went on it and instantly felt the desire to succeed, to set up goals and succeed inside of that world. 

After an hour, I realized that the fantasy in my head was just trying to relive the fun I had in my past. I'm a different person now with my productive hobbies though. I uninstalled it and had a good chuckle about how silly my thoughts were. Hopefully that doesn't count as breaking the detox. I think that slip-up made me feel even stronger about not requiring gaming to be apart of my life.

Analysis

90 days are over and the journey has just begun. I've been game-free nearly the entirety of that detox period and at the highest point of my life physically as well as mentally. I've been fairly successful in my courses this semester and even picked up a part-time job. I've read 3 books which really changed my perception on life. I've successfully hit the gym 4-5x a week and my body is proof of my progress. I've memorized a song on the guitar and nearly a few others, but I now know how to play chords and read tabs easily which is amazing compared to what I knew before I started. 

This has gotten too long, but a few tips of what I learned:

• Be aware of how you spend your time and what distracts you most.

If it's not aiding you in your goals then cut down on it less or remove it completely. Watching less youtube and spending time on various social media and reddit/all made me waste a lot of time. 

• The first 30 days are the most difficult.

Just remember to keep yourself busy and outside of games. Even laying down doing nothing or meditating is better than playing. 

• Go outside everyday, no matter what

I can't emphasize how much this helped me out. Whenever I chose to stay inside for a day, I would feel useless and trapped in a box like how I used to feel back when I was addicted to gaming. 

Ending

There's still a lot of work to be done though to accomplish my dreams and goals and progress towards it daily will make it count. 

Hope I explained everything well, thanks for taking the time to read this and good luck on your own journey.

Thanks for sharing Supa! 

Alright, I've finally decided to get this 90 Day Detox post down, I've been procrastinating as I have an expectation of myself to write a lot for this since I've relapsed twice. I hope you enjoy my story!

On my third detox attempt, I have finished 90 days without gaming!

I've gone 90 days without gaming, but as of Tuesday (when I hit 90 days) it's been 176 days since I officially quit gaming in the Game Quitters Community. I'm proud of myself for having persevered through this, and I thank everybody that's helped me along the way.

It's been a long journey for me, and very difficult at times. It's not over yet, but I've come a long way since I started and the ride should be a lot easier from here. I've relapsed twice whilst trying to do the detox, and I've learned key lessons from these experiences.

The advice below may not be the most original, but I did my best to avoid regurgitating the same information that other 90-day finishers.

Here are the most important things I've learnt from my time quitting:

Avoid triggers.

To get through quitting gaming successfully, I had to not play video games. To not play video games, I needed to minimise the amount of time spent being 'triggered', being prompted to think of my time gaming, as having video games played in the house by other people convinced me of how fun and worthwhile gaming could be (ending up in relapse both times). Not being reminded of the virtual rewards gaming provides is paramount to moving on from them, so it is important to minimise the ways you can be triggered by not associating yourself with any gaming related activities wherever possible.

Closure to gaming has to be self-initiated.

If you haven't found closure to gaming in the past, you're very unlikely to find closure to gaming in the future by playing. This means that as long as gaming fulfills some of your needs such as the need for accomplishment, social interaction, a temporary escape, a challenge, and/or a sense of purpose, there always be that 'one last game' you want to play or 'one last thing' you want to accomplish in a video game. I've found I craved gaming when those needs weren't being met, and that I couldn't find closure to gaming by gaining virtual rewards as my needs would only be fulfilled temporarily. If you want to find closure to gaming and you just can't play in moderation, perhaps you need to just fresh without gaming, but to also find activities that fulfill those needs that gaming did.

Be intentional about new activities.

To get through quitting gaming successfully, I had to not play video games. But get through to an improved life that I wanted, I needed to involve myself in new, engaging activities, and be intentional about how I do them (I am still needing to work on this one!). When I hadn't been intentionally doing a handful of activities that together provided engagement, provided social opportunity, provided rest from daily activities, and developed a sense of accomplishment or growth, I fell into the dark well of using gaming to fulfill those needs. It took a lot of courage to get back out and start over, I learned that I need to take my needs seriously and take steps towards making sure they are fulfilled in positive and productive ways.

Acknowledge how you have viewed gaming in the past, and the need to move on.

Before I could quit in the long term, I needed to fully acknowledge what gaming had meant to me in the past and the reasons for and against playing them. I only had a good sit down to say goodbye to my games in my third attempt at quitting, and it was a very emotional experience. I put on a sad song from one of my old games (this helped emphasize the isolation gaming has caused me) whilst I thought about my previous times gaming. I looked back and relished the time I spent growing up with gaming as the pinnacle of enjoyment, excitement, and friendship with my twin brother in my life (gaming was a way of bonding together), and acknowledged that it had been a significant part of my identity and that gaming meant a lot to me. I then moved on to reflect on how that had changed over the years and why I needed to move on to make the most of my adult life. I cried, and it was an important ritual or 'rite-of-passage' type of activity I needed to get my head around to fully accept and acknowledge the implications of quitting gaming.

Consistent journal posting is key for accountability aids long term success.

Posting in an online journal is both an important opportunity and obligation. Doing so has helped to keep me accountable for making positive change consistently in my life, and although it may seem like an obligation, is paramount to improving consistently. Through keeping a journal I've been able to implement daily habits to help me get through the day with flying colours, keeping motivated, working productively, and enjoying my day more. On the days I haven't been journalling, I noticeably slacken off and under-perform in many areas of my life. It's connected me with many people in the community and enabled me to receive much-needed support to continue my journey and provide the same help to others.

Energise our body to make the most of your day.

Exercising daily is a physical motivator. Although it may be difficult in the morning to get out of bed and do exercise (I still struggle to be consistent with this), exercising daily energises your body to function fully and allows you to live the day in the fullest. It is the equivalent of getting a car an oil change and replacing its tyres, it will run much smoother and more reliably. Running most mornings wakes my body up and helps me to work and think well in the early hours of day, has helped lighten my mood significantly, and generally has kept me more active throughout the day. The days I haven't run, I notice a lack of motivation to do anything difficult and feel much lazier in comparison, which highlights the importance of keeping your body active.

 

I have plenty of other advice for anybody who needs it, but those are the most important ones that come to my mind at this time. I hope my advice has helped you, the reader, and I wish you have a wonderful day!

 

Thank you to all the people that have helped me along this journey so far, I am very appreciative of your inspiration that has supported me throughout my journey quitting.