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What Other Things Can Be Done for Self-Improvement?

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by DaveyCrockett, Aug 13, 2019.

  1. DaveyCrockett

    DaveyCrockett Fapstronaut

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    What are some things to do for self-improvement that I am not doing?

    I've been doing cold showers for about one year now, yet not really noticing any major changes . What I mean is, people claim that they're more willing to get out of their comfort zone or whatever. I have not found this to be the case, even though I've always got the water temperature as cold as possible.

    I work out 4 times per week for about 30 minutes. I am a bit of an "introvert", too, always have been. Recently, I also got enough motivation to get a better job.
    I've tried meditation before (for about a year now, actually) and I don't notice any difference with meditation, besides feeling sleepy during and afterwards. I'm not overweight (I weigh about ~182-185 lbs.) either. Still, I know there's something I can do to improve myself, I'm not sure quite what, however.

    What do you do for self-improvement?


    Thanks.
     
    ForeverChanges and Souhail like this.
  2. HegHeu

    HegHeu Fapstronaut

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    Do you take cold showers at morning 6 am if not then you should. Rest reading books meditating and being positive about yourself will help you.
     
    DaveyCrockett likes this.
  3. quitting games, TV, videos (unless really educational, and I don't mean random science videos on YT), quitting everything that distracts from reality. (Books are a grey area, they are certainly better than other things, but if you are reading fantasy novels all day you are still away from real life)

    Eating properly, especially stop eating sugar

    Be productive. When you stop spending times in front of the phone, TV or PC you get a lot of time. Use that time good! Get a new hobby, start to cook your own meals, try to keep your place tidier than before, learn a new skill

    Review your day

    Schedule your day

    Get up without snooze button

    socialize more

    There is soo much to do!
     
  4. DaveyCrockett

    DaveyCrockett Fapstronaut

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    Thanks for the info., @saurabgangul and @Informius. I have been having a difficult time quitting computer games recently. I'm 20 now and I've been playing them since I was 4 years old. Likewise, I have also been cooking more frequently over the past two months, I'm not a professional chef, yet I am okay at it.

    I'll take your advice, thanks for the recommendations.
     
  5. DerSchütze

    DerSchütze Fapstronaut

    Work out more, lift weights (or not if you don't like it), kill yourself in the gym for an hour in the morning. I do it 5 days a week and it really helps keep me grounded day to day, and I always have something to look forward to even if I'm having a bad day. I used to train 3 days a week in the afternoons, nothing like I did in high school, and everything suffered because of it. Humans evolved to exert themselves every damn day, and our modern sedentary lifestyles can throw everything out of whack.
    If you do bodyweight work or endurance stuff like running that can be done every day, and for longer than an hour, you can even split it up.
     
  6. Souhail

    Souhail Fapstronaut

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    Do you wanna grow as a person ; 2 words : seek discomfort .
    Start talking to strangers ( could be anything even ask them about time or directions )
    you can start by greeting strangers
    ask yourself what is your biggest fear ; maybe you are afraid of an animal or you're afraid of high places or swimming , know that fear and face it .
    think about things you wanted to do earlier in life and you never had the courage nor the discipline to do it , you can do it now !
    in some advanced stages you can start picking up girls and trying to skydive maybe :)
     
  7. DaveyCrockett

    DaveyCrockett Fapstronaut

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    I lift, too. I've also been going to the gym a bit more frequently on NoFap. But I have never created any organized structure to my workouts, I never have a workout plan. How do you create a workout plan (if you do)?

    Well, one of my biggest fears would be talking to girls. It's strange because I enjoy public speaking, yet I'm too scared to talk to girls. It has been that way for a while. Also, it's interesting that you are from Tunisia, that place has a lot of history that I'm interested in. :)
     
    ForeverChanges likes this.
  8. greatchinaski

    greatchinaski Fapstronaut

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    Hey, I bought a workout program from this guy (https://cortes.site/programs/) a few months ago and it's really good. Gained strength and weight (I've always been underweight) and couldn't recommend it more.
     
  9. DerSchütze

    DerSchütze Fapstronaut

    Well, to be honest I don't do everything perfectly, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
    I never like percentage based or RPE (rate of perceived exertion) programs, so the reps, sets and weights I use are mostly determined by how I'm feeling that day. What I don't leave to "feeling" is set in stone, and will not and cannot change unless I re-do my plan in an excel spreadsheet, this includes
    • Exercise selection on each day
    • Rest periods
    • When I work out
    I prefer to keep my exercise selection focused on 8-10 exercises, with compound(deadlift, squat, overhead press, bench/incline press, rows) movements being the bread and butter. I usually perform 3-5 working sets of 5-15 reps per exercise, going near or to failure with each set barring warm ups. Warm ups should ideally mimic the exercise you're about to do with light weights to get the blood flowing and joints lubed up, or warm up specific joints, whatever you like. To build a plan (not a program) I would take these steps
    • Pick exercises that you really enjoy for each muscle group/body part (don't pick too many, you should keep it tight without a lot of fluff)
    • Pick which days and at what time you want to work out
    • Divvy up the exercises between the days, hitting every muscle group/body part atleast 2x-3x a week
    • Make sure that you give each muscle group/body part atleast a day to recover before training it again
    • Keep intensity up (rest times to 2 mins or less), you should be failing or close to it on the latter sets (if not all of them)
    This goes without saying, but don't push weight you aren't comfortable with, volume training is less risky and can yield more muscle gain than heavy singles, doubles, and triples. The last thing you want is to tear a muscle and be out of the game for however long recovery takes. I know some of this you probably already know, this is what I do and it is pretty free form and adaptable unlike some programs which have everything calculated and planned for you. If you get bored or want to try something new you can always change the plan a bit and it is no big deal, just keep training.

    EDIT: Even thought you didn't ask, I thought I'd mention supplements, I just take a multivitamin gummy, fish oil tablets, and a preworkout because I work out in the morning. If you want to work out early (when you are weakest) then I would recommend a high stimulant preworkout as it really enhances the experience, just make sure to research proper dosages of ingredients so you don't overpay for underdosed shit.
    Here is my exact plan
    Capture.JPG
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2019
    DaveyCrockett and ForeverChanges like this.
  10. Sinbad

    Sinbad Fapstronaut

    There's still a lot you can do for self improvement besides physical fitness.
    • Reading books, study, training your brain, mind. A good education may be the best thing you can get for yourself.
    • Music, learning to play an instrument. They say it's training for the soul, the heart. Something I'd like to pick up too.
    I'm sure you mean well. But I'd be careful recommending stimulants to someone with addiction problems. It can become a slippery slope once the desired effects start to diminish. I've been there. In the long term, training natural has always reaped the best results for me.

    It's not all about self improvement either.
    Lately I'm feeling selfish for spending so much time on myself while others are spending every minute on trying to raise their kids the best way they possibly can, making their every decision based on what's best for them.
    I'm looking for a balance with helping others. Some things I'm doing lately:
    • Donating blood
    • Visiting old family members
    • Registering for a first aid course
    • Looking into volunteering work
     
  11. DerSchütze

    DerSchütze Fapstronaut

    Good points all around, never hesitate to help family, even if you don't want to. Especially to older folks who have trouble with basic stuff like mowing the lawn.
     
    Sinbad likes this.
  12. Sinbad

    Sinbad Fapstronaut

    Quitting games should be high priority I believe.
    You can find some tips on GameQuitters.com
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2019
    DaveyCrockett likes this.
  13. Daggertail19

    Daggertail19 Fapstronaut

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    Things that I started doing that occupy my time was taking up learning the guitar, cold showers, meditation, learning to box, watching podcasts

    I can say without a doubt that meditation and boxing have been the most beneficial for me. Also learning an instrument like the guitar is great.

    Keep pushing
     
    Coffee Candy likes this.
  14. properWood

    properWood Fapstronaut

    Self improvement comes from what others call self love, but what would probably be more like self respect:

    - Most important: eat right! Don't eat anything that needs advertising, eat whole food plants, cooked by yourself, without oil. This will nourish your body beyond any what any pill is capable of.
    - Sleep right: sleep is needed to integrate the emotional experiences from the day and to clean the brain from toxins accumulated during the day; don't let your brain stay in it's own toxins. Sleep as long as you need, not as long as someone else tells you; make sleep more important than any other person or activity. I sleep about 10 hours a night currently.
    - Exercise right: take long (2h) brisk walks, go for a bicycle ride, go for a hike, in other words GO INTO NATURE; the gym's ok, but it's not nature, it's a box and it will depress you. Do yoga at home, it's great for both the mind and the body. Muscles are not everything.
    - Think right: metaphorically, walk in other people's shoes and try to understand why they behave the way the behave (90% of the cases is not from ill intent, it's because they are deeply hurt). Do not outsource thinking to other people, experiment and draw your own conclusions; if you don't like cold showers, don't do them! This will make you trust your own thinking, and that's more powerful than any workout regimen.
    - Read right: books that help you grow, learn about nutrition from books like "How not to die" or "The starch solution"; learn about exercise from books like "Finding Ultra" or "Born to run"; you get the point, ditch Buzzfeed and Medium and Quora, those are not sources of information. In addition, my recommendation is to look into philosophies with the interest of "living a good life"; for me that means Epicureanism, Taoism, Buddhism, but for you it may be something else.
    - Journal right: let your journal be the friend you never had before, the friend that listens to you without judging, without making excuses that he's busy tonight, the friend that it's there for you whenever you need a second opinion. Write emotions, not facts and try to write, from time to time, as a dialogue. Use the journal to connect to your emotional self.

    All the above will help you get a sharp, clear, uncluttered and focused mind. You'll notice that the resistance you currently feel about various situations or tasks will go away, and you'll feel more comfortable to try things out.

    I was "diagnosed" with severe depression, social anxiety and other stuff; I could barely go through the day without feeling dread. After doing the above for several weeks, with a failure here and there, today I rode my bike 20km on the crowded riverside in my town, stopping here and there to read 10-15 pages from a book sitting on the gras, enjoy the sunset, eat fruits, all by myself, all joyful. I felt I grew a lot, if I compare today's experience with what I wrote in the nofap journal two weeks ago. felt happy to be me.

    To me, that's self love, that's self improvement.
     
    DaveyCrockett likes this.
  15. That was beautiful!
     

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