Day 1: Looks like I've been away for a while, and it's time to start up again. I was looking over my first post and realized that I need to be strict in how I execute my plans to stop PMO. I believe that as I adhere to my own plans I will be able to overcome this. I looked at a few things last night and when I was done I was pretty down. I realize that Porn and Masturbation are definitely things I need to stop if I am going to maximize my own potential and happiness. It's time to continue to move onward, no matter how many times I need to begin again or start over.
Day 6: The farther and farther I move away from PMO the happier I become. In my mind, the real challenge is keeping myself motivated, busy, and determined in this pursuit. Over the past week I have had quite a few opportunities to fall back, but I made decisions not to do them. I have made a conscious effort to leave my phone and computer in different rooms when I head to bed. I also have been focused on studying things and keeping my mind busy. I'm happy to write on here as it gives me a chance to write a few thoughts and continue on. I don't have much to say, but I want to continue onward.
Day 15: The past week or so has been pretty good. I decided to develop a plan for myself about what I want to accomplish and what I want to be. I remember attending a meeting a few years ago where the speaker was discussing how to succeed in life and how to set and make goals. I took that basic lesson and decided to apply myself to it. So I decided to try it myself. I came up with a list of about 13 or so items that represent who I wanted to become. I called this my Visions. Some of mine included things like: I want to be happy, I want to overcome my weaknesses, I want to be healthy and strong, etc... I included many spiritual goals on that list as well, but I will keep those to myself. After this, I wrote down a statement for myself (looked like a paragraph or so). In this paragraph I said things like: I can see myself being happy, i can see myself after having overcome my weaknesses, I can see myself being healthy and strong, etc. I basically wrote a paragraph about how I envision myself. It sounds much better than what I wrote here haha, but I am giving this as an example. After this, I went through each of my points one by one and made a goal for each item. My goals followed the SMART protocol for goal setting. They had a specific number attached to them. For example, I want to be happy is not a goal--to me this is a vision, however, I am going to monitor my progress for my goals once a month to help me become happy is a goal. It is Specific (monitoring progress on an excel spreadsheet), Measurable (once a month), Achievable (I can do this on my own anywhere), Realistic (This is something I know I can personally accomplish with the resources I have), and Timely (I am monitoring each month). I can easily apply this to each of my points in a unique way. After I did this I moved on to my next stage. I took some time to write down a plan for each goal. To me a plan must be scheduled on your schedule with a date and time in order for it to qualify as a plan. A goal isn't going to be achieved unless a good plan is made to accomplish the goal. So what I did was I put all those in my phone for a schedule. My schedule has a lot of leisure time as I did not make goals right now that were very time consuming. I am not yet in a position to take on huge goals, but I have started with plans for a morning routine like Waking up 6:00-6:15AM, exercising from 6:15-7:00AM, Prayer 7:00-7:15AM, Meditation 7:15-7:30AM. I have also done an evening routine which is basically just getting ready for bed from 9:45-10:00PM and be in bed by 10:00PM. I have a lot of openings during the day that I put many different things into (because they are part of my goals), but I am definitely not in a position to book my whole day--that would bother me at this stage. I have lots of openings and still enjoy my leisure time, but in the past 2 days that I have implemented this I have been far more productive. An important aspect of all this planning and goal setting is being able to Monitor it. I created a spreadsheet with 31 days on it and a list of all my goals. I am going to start this in March so I can have a monthly monitor, so I haven't done it yet, but I have it made and it's just waiting for me. By having this I am able to monitor my progress and see how I am doing. I do not beat myself up if I happen to miss a time, or mess up. The whole process actually took a long time to do, but I feel that it is worth doing. This is just one way that I feel will be able to help me in my progress. Good luck everyone!
Day 21: I started my tracker at 11 or so Monday night 3 weeks ago. As days go by I am grateful to be farther and farther away from Porn and Masturbation. I believe that eliminating those habits from my life will go a long ways. I have already started doing other things that have been very useful--like implementing plans to make myself better as a person. Right now I am also including orgasm in my goals because I am unmarried, but I believe that when I am married someday the PM will be my main goal. I find most of my days are spent pretty good--I have been busy and focused on other things. I am trying to continue according to plan. I hope I am able to sustain my efforts. These past 3 weeks have been quite good for me, personally. I do not feel the same weight on my conscience or my shoulders that pornography or masturbation have been bearing on me for a long time--it's a good feeling.
Day 1: as I was kissing my girlfriend tonight, I had an interesting experience. We were not grinding or doing anything like that but almost out of nowhere I orgasmed. I have not had one like that for a very long time. It was sudden and quite gentle—not rough. I was 26 days in, which was pretty good. I did not look at porn or masturbate or anything, but since I orgasmed I am starting this counter over again. I’ll just keep on going as I am. The farther away from porn and masturbation I get, the happier I am as an individual.