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My Journal - Alex


AlexTheGrape

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Day 91

Today I've been on fire! Not literally, but I've been abnormally active, alert, and engaged today for no apparent reason. I think it might be to do with my confidence derived from doing well in programming recently, as I've gotten ahead with my computer science work and python programming practice. Anyhow I'm glad that I've had a great day, and I hope to maintain the same energy level and attitude tomorrow.

I seem to have crashed this afternoon though, I got next to no homework done, but I got home rather late anyhow. Tomorrow I'll make sure to remove all possible distractions from my desk, they played a large part in me not doing my work.

I'm finding little time to squeeze in writing a gratefulness letter, but it should really only take 10 minutes. I'll incorporate it into my night-time schedule.

Meditation

Didn't make time for it this morning, but I'll address that tomorrow.

Visualisation

Nope.

Morning run

I had fencing this afternoon so I'd consider myself exercised.

Work out

Nope.

Cold shower

Yep.

Gratefulness letter

Nope. I've got a list of people 

Python programming

I made a few slight adjustments to the current program I'm making, but nothing major.

Penpal letter/email

Didn't make time for it today.

Reading

Done.

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Day 92

Just a short post today, I want to get to bed earlier.

Thanks for the GIF @Cam Adair, that was pretty funny. I wasn't able to maintain my 'on fire' approach like yesterday, likely because I didn't get too much sleep; I'm going to bed much earlier tonight to remedy that. I'm pretty much all packed for my military camp experience starting on Monday, I'm pretty pumped! Today I went to the Python Programming club weekly session and it went very well, there was a very small turnout with only three of us there, so I got some good advice and time with my friend running the club. I didn't manage to get too much work this afternoon and didn't make time for a workout, so I'm not letting myself slip again tomorrow.

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Day 94

Not posting has certainly taken its toll; I haven't reflected much on how my past few days have been going and as a result haven't made much progress in general. Without posting and the reminder of doing those daily habits, I ended up doing practically none! Certainly room for improvement.

Today I had a 2 hour with my accountability partner, and unfortunately he's relapsed. Despite going through my recorded notes on his reasons for quitting, his goals and aspirations, and how he can change his life for the better, he was still keen on having a relapse. I've done all I can for now, but I'm still going to be around to check up on him and still be accountability partners.

I was instructed to not do any exercise today by my step-father because I'd be going on the military experience tomorrow, but this hasn't worked out for me. Not exercising in the morning has resulted in me being very drowsy and unmotivated to do anything, which highlights my need to exercise every morning, whether I'm at school or not. 

At the end of the day, I felt exhausted, despite having not done much work or anything particularly difficult. I had a lie down to figure out why this was, and realised that I have felt the same for the past couple of days. I realised that I was anxious from not knowing much about the 4-day military experience I'm going on (they don't tell us much other than they're not responsible for injuries), and has led to me being stressed thoughout the past couple of days. Upon reflection I think all I needed was some good old meditation, as it would have cleared my mind of non-useful or impractical thoughts that have been causing me grief. I'll probably kick myself mentally tomorrow if don't meditate in the morning.

On the brighter side, seeing somebody relapse reminds me of why I quit in the first place; hearing of a desire to live in a virtual world makes me cringe. I once loved the virtual world for all the engagement and amazement it has to offer

So tomorrow I'll be going on a military experience for 4 days, and I'm going to challenge myself to be the best I can be, whilst doing my best to make friends. I've just had a look at my (still on-hold) 30 day challenge, and I'm just going through some challenges I've done already. I think I'll focus on the social side of things, and try to make at least 5 friends each day I'm on the trip; there will be 80 students there so I can't get stuck with this. After doing some thinking and searching, I've decided that I'll challenge myself to make those 5+ friends per day (if possible), and also get 5 people's details to invite them for a dinner party.

That's all for today, and I'll be next posting after my trip, so peace out!

 

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Day 100

Today I've been at home trying to study and get homework done. I've missed four days of school due to going on the Defence Careers Experience and now need to work overtime to get all this done. I haven't been very successful in the afternoon, but I will be running tomorrow morning and getting up early so I'm hoping to have a long and productive day by simulating school day timings.

The Defence Careers Experience I went on was brilliant, I got a good feel for what it's like to have a job in the Defence Force and I think a selection of jobs may really suit me. I made great friends in my syndicate of 10 people, and I have grown some of my skills that'll really help in future. I received a top notch report for all aspects of the experience (being fitness, teamwork, leadership, and attitude), and was told that I am a great leader when I put my mind to it. I now have greater confidence in my leadership skills and I wish to put those skills to the test soon so I can develop further.

I need to improve on keeping active and keeping positive I think. Otherwise all is well for now.

It's been a hundred days, I should be celebrating but at the moment I just don't have much time on my hands and I'm not involving myself in many engaging activities, so I need to work on that.

Here's syndicate 5: G-Squad!

 

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Day 103

Today I was woken up very early by my phone from receiving a message, so I didn't have a great start to the day. I did a small run which helped to wake me up, but I'm just not feeling much motivation to be running full on. I think I'll need to do a number of things at the end of the week (start of two week holidays for me) including going through Respawn again, re-establishing my goals, and creating a daily routine for the holiday days.

I've been trying to get myself to do lots of homework, but for some reason it's just not working. I think it has a lot to do with my current attitude towards my work (not so positive) and tiredness. I'll try to get as much sleep as possible tomorrow so that I can be fully refreshed. I've tried most of my different methods of doing work effectively, but I think their effectiveness largely comprises of how willing I am to work and how alert I am.

Short posts this week, I've got tons of work of all sorts to catch up on because I missed 4 days of school.

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Day 106

I've just finished the last day of school for the term, so I'm now on holiday for 2 weeks! About a year ago this would mean binge gaming for a week at least, but I've got much better things to do with my time that I've got planned.

Today I had a chemistry exam and a calculus test, so I'm glad that's all over. Tomorrow I'll post my plans for the holidays, I should be sleeping right now!

Prepare yourself for the great list of helpful habits, they're coming back up tomorrow!

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Day 107

So I said I have plans for the holidays, so I now have a list of things to do in the first week (I'm going to Australia in the second week). These include python programming for fun, for school work, and for a challenge (all consisting of different programming activities accordingly). I plan to continue with the 30 day Game Quitters challenge and hopefully finish it! I want to see a few friends of mine that I've made out of school, and maybe see if I can get involved with any community activities and take on a leadership role where possible. My brother is hosting a gaming night on Wednesday so I'll need to stay out of the house during that time. 

It's going to be difficult for me to do a karaoke night and host a dinner, considering that I don't cook and I'm under 18 (so I can't go to bars). If I apply myself though I'm sure I'll find a way around those obstacles.

Today is a relaxing day, I'm in much need of a rest!

Every time I see your avatar it makes my day, haha. You're a Game Quitters legend! 

Thanks Cam! I didn't know that me or my avatar is worthy of such praise :D

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There's gotta be a way to go to karaoke as someone under 18. Maybe call around and ask if they have a time during the day that's earlier that you can do it.

Your avatar is in my "best ever" category along with @Zane's first one with his slick tuxedo. Who was around back then that remembers it? :D #oldschool

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Here's my post for yesterday:

Day 108

Today I've set myself up for the future with concrete goals that are measurable and achievable. I'll post them up when I have finished my visual representation of them (something to print that I'm going to put on my wall). I had a very productive call with my accountability partner that lasted two and a half hours, we got ourselves some goals and things to visualise according to those goals.

I'm now going to use an app called Force Fit, and it will provide me with the exercises to do during a day. These tend to be either a work out or a run, so I'll write what I've done accordingly.

I got some of the habits done that I've set for myself, but I'll add the whole list anyways:

Meditation

Guided meditation, and was quite relaxing.

Visualisation x2

Done briefly before going to bed, but I'm going to need to dedicate 2 minutes or so to the evening visualisation tomorrow.

Morning run

I had a quick morning run, and was surprisingly helpful despite being only about 10 minutes. I know that it didn't energise me for the duration of day I'd like though, the only way to do that would be to run harder and for longer.

Work out

I did a proper one in the afternoon, and skipped the chin-ups as I didn't want to get muddy (I use a tree outside for that). I'll wear shoes for workouts in the future so I can't back out of that one.

Python programming

Didn't make time for it, despite how much free time I had...

Reading

I read plenty today, reading a book to learn more about myself.

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Post for yesterday:

Day 109

Today I started my first session of a defensive driving course which will make me a safer driver and allow me to get my full licence earlier. It was very relaxed and I even met an old friend of mine there which made my day. I finished the mini posters to put on my wall to help me visualise in the morning and afternoon, and so far they've been very helpful. I'll add the pictures at the end of my post.

I was still very relaxed with my time spending in the afternoon, and I didn't stick to my time plan I set for myself. I believe this has a lot to do with the environment; I was trying to work in my bedroom and so can get distracted very easily. A day later (now) I'm currently sitting in a library to post this, and the change of environment will be a big help for me.

I had a think about where I'm going wrong with how I'm approaching my work and just going day to day. The problem is that I just didn't have the accountability I needed that I'd get from writing in a journal, and I wasn't properly energised for the day (I'm addressing this now by having a cold shower and I'll hopefully get more sleep tonight). Part of the problem could be that I'm trying to be super productive at the start of a holiday, immediately after burning myself out with school work, but I'll see how this goes.

Meditation

Done.

Visualisation x2

Done, and done well! I am starting to feel how the emotional aspect to visualisation will help me in the future.

Force fitness

I had to do a 20 minute run at a comfortable pace, so I did exactly that.

Python programming

Didn't make time for it, yet again.

Reading

I didn't get that much reading done, so I'll need to improve on that.

Practicing gratefulness

Done, I did the standard of elaborating on three things I'm grateful for.

 

Here are the 4 things I'm visualising. I have my own reasons for them, but by having them in a visual form I can then look to these on my wall to help in visualisation to remember the person I want to become and things I want to be able to do in the future.

 

 

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Just a quick update:

My holiday has been going well so far, and I've learned more about myself through reading and how I've encountered and resolve a range of problems. I'm now 1/4 through 'How to make friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie, and it has provided me with great advice with how to handle people better. I have been applying some of the principles already, but it is actually a lot harder than I thought to not criticise anyone.

The gaming nigh hosted by my brother has been and gone, and it went differently then I had initially planned. I was bought a copy of the game that they were going to play, and I was convinced to play with them 'one last time'. I played for 6-7 hours only, and to be honest I actually didn't enjoy gaming that much, so I'm glad it's lost its lustre now that I appreciate real things more. I now know that I can occasionally play certain video games with friends (that rely on us all being together for it to be fun), being what I'd consider a 'social video game'. Since then I've avoided playing video games on other occasions, and opted for more social activity or reading instead which have both been beneficial.

My visualisation has been somewhat consistent, but not so with my exercising. I'm not ashamed of this in any way, as I've realised that I need a proper break these holidays and I can't be pushing myself out the door every morning to enjoy being able to rest.

I'll upload a couple of photos I've taken a few days ago when I took a day to take photos with a couple of friends at Bethells Lake. It was wonderful to take the time to meet people and do something you share in common.

I hope your day has gone well! :D

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The gaming nigh hosted by my brother has been and gone, and it went differently then I had initially planned. I was bought a copy of the game that they were going to play, and I was convinced to play with them 'one last time'. I played for 6-7 hours only, and to be honest I actually didn't enjoy gaming that much, so I'm glad it's lost its lustre now that I appreciate real things more. I now know that I can occasionally play certain video games with friends (that rely on us all being together for it to be fun), being what I'd consider a 'social video game'. Since then I've avoided playing video games on other occasions, and opted for more social activity or reading instead which have both been beneficial.

Damn your friends are pretty persistent! I am glad that it didn't weight you down to play or inspired you to binge gaming again.

Awesome pics by the way. New Zealand is such a beautiful country! The grass is definitely greener on the other side of the world ;)

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Today has been brilliant, it's been the best day I've had in ages! Why is that? I'm on my first day of my holiday in Australia! Despite a very early start to the day, I've spent some great time with my family and found it in me to fully relax since I finished my most important holiday work yesterday night.

We spent a few hours at the Australia Zoo and I've taken many great photos with animals and with my family. I'll add some pictures of today.

At the moment I'm not fussed about keeping any consistency in how I'm living the last of my holidays, as I am focusing on taking a break from tasks that require more cognitive effort than needed (simply relaxing).

 

The gaming nigh hosted by my brother has been and gone, and it went differently then I had initially planned. I was bought a copy of the game that they were going to play, and I was convinced to play with them 'one last time'. I played for 6-7 hours only, and to be honest I actually didn't enjoy gaming that much, so I'm glad it's lost its lustre now that I appreciate real things more. I now know that I can occasionally play certain video games with friends (that rely on us all being together for it to be fun), being what I'd consider a 'social video game'. Since then I've avoided playing video games on other occasions, and opted for more social activity or reading instead which have both been beneficial.

Damn your friends are pretty persistent! I am glad that it didn't weight you down to play or inspired you to binge gaming again.

Awesome pics by the way. New Zealand is such a beautiful country! The grass is definitely greener on the other side of the world ;)

Thank you for your support! The gaming night hasn't shown any observable effects so far, but I still need to avoid watching games or being in much contact with gamers. Haha perhaps you should come over to have a look for yourself then!

 

Wow, New Zealand looks amazing! What are you taking these pictures with?

My camera is a Sony a270, I'm very lucky to have it :) I'm glad you appreciate them! I'll be sure to post more in the future.

 

You take great photos man! Are you pursuing Photography as a hobby? If not, you should. You have the eye. 

Thanks Cam! I take photos whenever I travel and I've had a few outings here and there solely for photography so I'd say it's a hobby. 

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Edited by AlexTheGrape
Forgot to add photo
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