(Part 2) Top products from r/StopGaming

Let's continue to refine it together. I need a few more weeks to finish a few things I'm focusing on but then we can really dive in and see how we can break it all down and make it easy to digest.

I definitely want to dive into the social community aspect more and the identity side, two components which I believe are very strong in why we play.

For Bali (or travel in general...) it's all about perspective. A villa in Bali is around $300-400/month and food is cheap (like a dollar for a bowl of Pho). It's completely realistic to live in Bali for $10/day. To live really well (like a King) it would be less than $1000/month.

So if you want to go and not work for six months all you need somewhere between $1800-$6000 + flights (one way from Vancouver to Bali is about $500).

Now the benefit I have is that I'm still able to work while I travel (I have a few streams of income:

• Coaching through Kingpin Lifestyle (been doing that for over six years)
  
• Freelance/Web design. I outsource projects I find through friends/family. I also write for addiction.com and get paid for it.
  
• I have a food blog with my mom called Wheat Free Mom. She does recipes I do everything else.
  
• A friend puts on an event called The Higher Purpose Project and I've helped him out with finding attendees for a referral fee.
  
  It all compounds. Thankfully I've been doing this for awhile so it comes more naturally now, but it's something you're definitely able to figure out if you dedicate time and effort towards it.
  
  The key is to develop different skills you can offer to people as a service. This is the difference between a friend of yours saying they need a website and you saying: "Ya... a website is something good to have." compared to you saying: "Oh ya? I could probably help you with that.." The next thing you know you've sold a website for $2000 and by outsourcing the project you end up with $1000 for sending a few emails and overseeing things. :)
  
  Here are a few good resources to start with if you're interested:
  
  
• The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau.
  
• The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau
  
• The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
  
• Tim Ferriss' Blog
  
• Chris Guillebeau's blog
  
• Sean Ogle's blog: Location 180
  
  

I'm going to take a shot at this.

Don't be afraid, software is one of those field where you can still make something of yourself alone and without a degree, very few fields allow that.

Although real college is not an option for you but an online degree might be. Check out udacity.com get a nano degree to show some worth.

Find a field of interest. Coding is just not one simple thing, there are lots of fields to work in. Web Dev, embedded, security, imaging etc. All these field have specialization too but ignore that for right now. Find something that interests you and something that you think you can manage alone. Web Dev is a great area to look into for this but if you have hardware experience you can do some embedded stuff too. Mobile is also a great path.

Your issues might not allow you to work in a team environment either. So start doing things on your own. Use these guys to get feedback on your code. http://codereview.stackexchange.com/

Start and complete a full project. That is the only way you can learn about certain processes. Read a book on software design, personally I like this one https://www.amazon.com/Emergent-Design-Evolutionary-Professional-Development/dp/0321889061

but there are several other greats too. Derek Banas on youtube has several great videos about design patterns too.

Once you learn a language and development environment try to see what other frameworks might be out there or what other IDE's might be out there.

When you have a complete working project use it to get freelance work.

Read code, lots of it. you may not see the benefit of it now but soon you will be picking up good practices and tricks from the experts.

Sorry my thoughts are all over the place but hope this helps or at least gives you some direction.

You will be fine just keep pushing through, it might take some time but work and money will come.

I feel fortunate for having quit video games at 18, but it's never too late to start filling life with your creations. Check out the book called Mastery by Robert Greene as he explains how to become a master at whichever craft you enjoy no matter the age. Feel like drawing? START NOW Feel like making music? START NOW Want to start writing? START NOW! Whatever it is, it's never too late to start. Good luck man and hope you'll be able to change that nothing to tons!

There are not enough research papers specifically on gaming addiction because gaming addiction together with social media and pornography falls under the umbrella of internet addiction - Like you said a rather new field. Some breakthroughs are being made in the last years to have it recognized as an addiction per se (at least in Europe) the problem with conducting enough research is that there are no funds and insurance companies have no wish having another area of responsibility to potentially give away money to people suffering from it. If gaming addiction become completely recognized by international bodies of medicine then insurance companies might have to pay preexisting clients for passed and current treatments ---> something they definitely do not want to do.
Nonetheless here are some videos of legit men of science (not some random ex gamer) that research the field.

"Here is a short interview with Dr. David Greenfield talking about some of the mental and physical applications of gaming and internet addiction"


There are also longer talks on his channel like this one.
Dr. Greenfield has been researching Internet addiction since the 90's.


"Dr. Klaus Woelfling, from the University of Mainz. Germany is taking steps in treating Internet addiction and especially gaming addiction" - this one is a difficult watch primarily because the speaker is very uncharismatic (try watching with the speed setting on 1.5).

Last but definitely not least is "Your Brain on Porn"
Yes, yes I know, you might not want to hear that another of your favorite pastimes is bad for you, but this video covers on a very scientific basis the damages that watching excessive pornography causes to the brain, and no this is not some kind of NoFap cult propaganda, it speaks only on the subject of internet porn. Like I said before, porn together with gaming fall under the umbrella of internet addiction because the reaction we receive from these negative habits has the same structure. If you actually watch the Your Brain on Porn video you will hear him mention numerous times that the damages caused to dopamine receptors is similar to the ones cause from gaming and extensive internet use.

This is just some of the evidence done by men of medicine and science from the top of my head. If you want to go deeper I'd recommend The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains By Nicholas Carr an American author and Pulitzer Prize winner (for that book), witch contains truly numerous examples of scientific studies and references you might want in the bibliography.


Also The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge M.D that talks mainly about brain plasticity and how different behaviors and habits cause the brain to form new cells , create new neural pathways etc etc . He also gives lots of examples how positive and negative behaviors causes various changes IN THE BRAIN, Internet addiction stuff included.

If you really want proof and not just searching for a reason to dismiss things you dont like the sound of then I hope this comment will serve you. If you do nothing less at least watch the first interview with Dr. David Greenfield. It is only 6 minutes long.

Hope this post that took me 50 minutes to put together and find all the links, will be of service to somebody.
Peace.

Edit: Grammar and formatting

You're still in college? Then I would recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124


And sign up for /r/NoFap and similar subs for any possible habit that you've evaluated as not being helpful for a good life.

If you have extra time, invest it in yourself. Study so that your next test is 98% instead of a 95%. Review last years material so it doesn't float away from your memory. Just take your major seriously, college isn't for drinking or parties. It's for getting a good job and getting laid :)

If you need help, imagine that fapping or playing videogames is the evolutionary equivalent of the pussy dude who went to pick berries with the women while men went hunting. Which guy do you want to be?

I’m so glad it helped, it’s from this book that saved my life, if you need anything at all send me a DM, we can talk man, good luck, and I’m sure you’ll get there:

Love and Addiction

https://www.amazon.com/dp/098538722X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ss0zDbQYFMJVT

You need to get over your anxiety, and the only way you can do that is to embrace it. Get out of your comfort zone and face the fear head on. This way you will expand your comfort zone and you will learn to use fear to your advantage. This might sound scary but its the only way out and trust me, you dont want to live the rest of your life inside your comfort zone. That is no way of living.

This book and this book are quite helpful on the topic of getting over the fear of anything really. Dont get me wrong, just reading these two books wont help you get over your anxiety, you need to go out and apply it to your life.

This may not be the solution you want to hear, but its the only way out of an anxiety :) Good luck with it

Relapses will occur time and time again. Best way to deal with those relapses is to prepare ahead of time not to fall prey to them. Plan well in advance for situations where you think you'll relapse (Uninstall games, stay away from streams and gaming websites).

Watch this video from John Sonmez maybe it will help.
Also read Jocko Willink's Discipline Equals Freedom. (You can also find the audio version on Spotify or Amazon Music)

https://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Stanley-B-Lippman/dp/0321714113

This book is incredible. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble a few years back and it's fast paced but easy to understand. I highly recommend it if you're learning C++

Time enjoyed is time invested

Either you’re enjoying yourself or working on yourself. Now that you’ve noticed its your choice; go take a run, read a book (bill gates yesterday recommended Enlightenment now by Steven Pinker ), don’t regret the past, rather plan your future.

Good vibes

I'm learning python bc it's easy for me that hasn't any knowledge about programming language. And later I want to learn C# and C++. The book I'm reading is [My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing](https://www.amazon.com/My-Lovely-Wife-Samantha-Downing/dp/0451491726). And now that I'm in the processing for stop play games I have more time to study english, my second language.

I've been reading (read: listening to on Audible) this book on addiction, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. One of the main points it makes is that addiction is more of a problem in our way of learning and is a sort of developmental disorder. It goes into much more detail and is a fantastic read if you want to check it out, but that might explain why in your situation gaming addiction is the hardest of which to rid yourself.

For myself, once I made the decision that I needed to quit gaming, I haven't touched a game since. However, I find it easier to use precommitment strategies for combating gaming urges, such as uninstalling every game and game client on all devices and going through my YouTube and clicking "Not Interested" on every gaming related video that is suggested (I also don't own any board games in my house, and my Wii hasn't been set up since I moved, so the console isn't an issue either).

Cal Newport

Sony BDPS1700 Wired Streaming Blu-Ray Disc Player with 6ft High Speed HDMI Cable (Renewed) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M865YMJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-dknDb1WW3E3D

Make the act of using uncomfortable. Make it gross. You'll be surprised how you react and start changing your habits.

This is brilliant. I'm realizing this because of another massive addiction I recently had a breakthrough on: Nailbiting.

I was amazed at how effective the reddit-approved treatment was: the Nail-polish that makes your fingers taste bad. I couldn't believe how fast I stopped biting. After decades of struggling.



OK so I will add something crazy because every little bit helps:

PUT THIS CRAZY NAIL POLISH ON YOUR GAME CONTROLLER.

I'm not joking. This invisible stuff spreads like evil. It will get on your hands when you play and seriously screw with your enjoyment of food unless you use gloves when preparing/eating meals. Even then..

Long story short - Put this stuff on your controller - It will get on your hands and leave bad tastes in your mouth if a micron of it gets on your food from your hands or if your fingers touch near your mouth at anytime.

It's cheap too.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HGWH26/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_vc.yDbY7HKVMS

Your ego is killing you. Read this, take notes, and come back when you're done:

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

> I feel unwanted, unloved, replaceable.

You have to learn to accept yourself before anyone else in the world will give a shit about you. If you think you're weak, unlovable, worthless... well, why would anyone disagree? I'm not going to lie, it is a long and agonizingly difficult process to accept yourself for who you are without reservations. But it's the only way out of that black hole of self-loathing. Another book that can set you on the right path:

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

When you're depressed sleeping feels so good. Of course it's better than constantly thinking negative thoughts. Also called ruminating.

I'm guessing it's this - now that you've quit your depression is more appereant to you. Gaming was an escape from it and when you were gaming you weren't focused on negative stuff, but on the game. Now that you have removed it, you are more depressed and hence want to sleep more.

But don't worry, it's a the night is darkest before the dawn kind of thing. You need to fix your depression. I highly recommend this book for that, the practice described in it has been proven to heal even severely depressed people and it doesn't require any medication.

https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-without/dp/0738213888