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[UpRiverGreg]

Interested to know if you guys have any methods for on those days where your mindset starts to slip and starts to become negative, lazy, complacent, etc.

[UpRiverSpencer]

Yeah, so my main approach is kind of a brute force approach and while it may not work for everyone, it certainly works for me.

So essentially what I do is a dopamine fast.

This generally takes the shape of the following:

– abstaining from all flavored and caloric substances (both drink and food), for 24-48 hours.
– Abstaining from television and youtube (or any videos)
– Abstaining from video games
– Abstaining from masturbation (which I don’t do anyway, but thought i’d mention it)
– Abstain from cellphone use (tell people in your life that you will be back in touch in 24 ish hours or don’t mention anything at all – you’d be surprised how many people don’t notice a day-long absence)

What I WOULD do though during this time is:

– Read
– Meditate
– Self-reflection
– Actively seek and embrace boredom (our current-day world is designed to get rid of boredom, but it is in boredom that truly great ideas are found)
– Clean house, room etc
– Develop my next 7-day morning routine (I find that the next day, I’m truly more productive as there seems to be more dopamine to go around, so to speak. Harness this buy PLANNING what you will do with that dopamine)

A word of caution: the first day doing this is quite difficult and does require and adequate preparation. By this I mean, design your environment and next few days schedules to be conducive to your goal and ward off unhelpful temptations.

A word of advice: Try and avoid the things on the “abstain” list as long as possible. No need to live like a monk everyday, and it is my personal belief that one ought to embrace the fun times and let loose every once in a while (eat the junk, play vids all day, etc.) but in order to keep the mindset stronger for longer, resist the things on the “abstain” list for as long as you feel you want to. If your mindset slips again, do another dopamine fast (also known as “Nightmare mode” lol.) Consider it a tool in your cognitive toolbox, as opposed to a lifestyle.

Hope that helps, bro!

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