ZenBlue

Day 14 - TV = 0 Me = 14 I'm starting to hit the point where it's very mentally tough for me. I have surprised myself in how far I have come at controlling my addiction. 2 weeks without any TV shows is monumental for me. I am substituting TV with YouTube videos, and videos shown around other sites. The things I watch though are mostly educational and I am using the material to gather knowledge and study the principles that will help me in my life. I still get very strong urges though to tune in to some mindless TV show and zone out. Especially when I go around to places and I see people watching TV I start to think about all the different shows I want to watch. It's also very difficult sometimes when I'm browsing YouTube and I see all these lists of videos popping up that have clips of popular TV shows. I try my best to tune it out so I don't click and focus on the educational things instead. I also watch some slightly educational, but entertaining type of videos to feed my need for entertainment. I'm starting to realize I used to feel like I needed to have TV in my life. It was very hard for me to stop watching even though I had so much shit in my life I needed to take care of. I neglected a lot of the things in my life because I was too busy watching TV. My mind was enslaved to it, and I finally got a taste of freedom after so many years. Side Note: I read an article online that said it would take about 90 days for the “the brain to reset itself and shake off the immediate influence of a drug.” TV has affected my brain like a drug, so I decided the new challenge is to watch no TV shows for 90 days. Although, I do plan to make a life long habit of cutting out TV, I'm not sure if I can ever minimize it to zero TV in my life. Source: https://www.duffysrehab.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-break-the-habit-of-addiction

I just watched this video today, and the things that are discussed are very insightful. Bob Proctor talks about self-actualization, but he doesn't say that's what he is talking about. He mainly explains the concepts behind it and says that people need to know who they are and raise awareness about themselves. People can build the life they want for themselves by first visualizing it in their minds. Watch the video to learn more:

@Extreme Z7 Awesome progress man! It seems like you made so many self discoveries about yourself and your life the past week. The track sounds pretty good. I can feel the emotional state you were in when creating. I feel that sense of longing and chasing after the dream you so desperately want. I also feel the sense of optimism and hope that you will reach that goal and are continuing on with your journey. It's great you have discovered how to narrow your focus and put your attention and energy on the things that resonate with you the most. Keep it up man seems like you are about to make some serious breakthroughs

Day 13 - TV = 0 Me = 13 I still have a lot of work to do on myself for my path to self-actualization. I realized though, it is going to be a long and slow process. I have accepted that, because that is the reality of life. Building greatness takes time, and in the end, transforming myself into a better person is all worth it. After reflecting on my past, I thought about how I used to be so involved with my hobbies when I was just 16 years old. I was building and creating so much, but I discredited myself for a lot of the things I did because I didn't have a strong sense of self-worth. I subconsciously carried both a feeling of arrogance and low self-esteem about myself at the same time. I didn't appreciate the things I had created, the amount of knowledge and skills I gained, and the hours of time I spent into my craft. To me, it all never felt good enough and that is why I also had tons of unfinished projects. Although, I did have a sense of pride on the few things I did finish, I also was never good at promoting myself and my work. Recently, I have gained a lot more confidence in myself and my abilities than in the past. I still have a lot of work to do, and I will learn to strengthen my self-confidence as part of my journey to self-actualization. Now that I have cut TV for almost 2 weeks, I am starting to feel more productive again. I can't believe how much more productive I was in high school than I am now. I've always had a bit of a lazy personality type, but if I was having a lot of fun with something, I could easily focus on that activity for hours without taking a break. I used to enjoy doing so many things like: graphic design, web development, flash animation, programming, creating video tutorials, etc... Back then, I didn't believe in myself enough that I could make money doing those things, and I took a long break when I decided to go to University instead and became yet another drone with a business degree. Now, I realize it was only because I lacked self-confidence in myself that I held those beliefs. I am currently working on side projects using the skills and knowledge I gained doing those things. I am combining it all together and I will keep working on these projects. I know at some point I will be able to turn it into a full time business that will allow me to build the life style that I want to live.

It's definitely possible. There are thousands of ways to make money in this life. It's up to you to figure out how to do it. Just model after the people doing what you want to do successfully.

Day 12 - TV = 0 Me = 12 Had a relaxing day today. Got some much needed rest. What I did today: - Worked on an application that I need to file for personal events. - Played a few video games - Listened to music - Browsed this forum - Watched some YouTube Videos (mainly educational)

Day 11 - TV = 0 Me = 11 Today I've been irritable all day. I don't know why, but I just had a lot of negative energy inside for most of the day. As soon as I got home I had strong urge to watch TV. I decided to watch a movie to help distract me for a bit. Overall i noticed i especially want to zone out and watch TV when i feel stressed, or down.

Day 10 - Tv = 0 Me = 10 Just 20 more days to go. Although, I would like to make this a permanent change. I recently realized I hadn't been showing as much gratitude for my life as I should have. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's still a great life. I have been blessed with so much already. I have to learn that money doesn't = wealth. Being grateful for what you have and truly valuing all the good things in your life will make you feel wealthy despite how much money you actually have. Being a healthy individual and having a fully functioning body is a blessing that many people take for granted.

I haven't watched the new video yet, but I get what you mean about the chimpery. I wrote in my blog a post that tells people to wake up and unplug from the matrix. Rationalizing everything is a lower level consciousness mind. We need to achieve higher levels of consciousness to move above that and see reality for what it is.

@Extreme Z7 Oh yea I get what you mean. It's tough when the people around you are constantly watching TV, but at least you seem to be able to control your watching habits. @Falk Yes, definitely being stronger than your addictions is the way to beat them. Hmm I'm not sure about how and why we get addicted to things, but yea it sucks when it happens. I didn't realize or acknowledge TV was a problem for me, until I watched Leo's video and it opened my eyes to just how bad my problem had gotten. Day 9 - Saw a glimpse of TV when I went to my parents house and my sister was watching TV. I didn't actively watch, but it still did catch my attention for a minute. I'm able to keep up with my goal because I am distracting myself with a lot of other things to replace my TV habit. I'm still glad I've been able to keep up so far. Maintaining awareness of my thoughts and actions have been key to getting me this far. I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad I decided to cut TV from my life. The next challenge is making sure I don't slip back into my bad habits.

Day 8 - Damn can you believe that this is the longest I've gone without watching any TV for maybe at least the past 5+ years? I have been good at distracting myself with other things so that I don't think about TV. I finally finished a big blog post today. I'm just made an update on a side project I'm working on. I also got inspired with a new business idea. So far the journey has been great. I am excited to see how I feel at the end of 30 days. I'm thinking now that maybe I should do this for an entire year.

@Extreme Z7 We all feel lost from time to time. I still have a lot of those moments now, so don't worry, you will find many moments of clarity through out your life. Slowly the puzzle pieces will start to snap into place as you progress. Yup, I agree TV isn't harmful if you can watch in moderation. For me, I have trouble with moderation. Watching a few shows here and there won't hurt you, but if that's mostly what you do day after day then it will start to have a negative impact.

@Extreme Z7 Hey man nothing wrong with being a day dreamer as long as you take action at some point. A lot of the things we have right now all started with a dream. You are miles ahead of your peers man. You are still very young, and you will shift and grow a lot as a person. Around age 23-25 you will probably have some type of life changing experience that will shift your world forever (Might be a painful experience though). Even though I also started learning about personal development at 18, I never took it seriously. Sounds like you are on the right path. Day 7 - Still going strong! Feeling really fucking tired today. Just physically drained mostly. I've had very strong urges to watch TV. In the past I would always cave in to these urges by telling myself just one episode couldn't hurt. Next thing I know 3 hours would pass and I would still be watching TV. The difference now is that I made a conscious decision for zero TV. That alone makes a huge difference in me not caving in to my urges. What I've Been Doing Instead of Watching TV Writing in my personal blog Watching more of Leo's videos Spending time on the Actualized.org forum Playing a few video games here and there Doing a lot of introspective thinking

I only just recently learned about the concept of spiritual enlightenment. When I watched Leo's video about spiritual enlightenment I remembered I had learned about these concepts before. Except these concepts weren't originally presented to me as spiritual enlightenment or any form of spirituality. I just wanted to share this because I thought it was interesting that the very concepts of spiritual enlightenment is actually being spread on a global basis. Except it's not being shared as spiritual enlightenment. It is being shared in a way that takes people through the steps of breaking down their ego, and helping them to realize the truth. I learned about the Landmark Forum through my friend. He took the seminar because it was part of a required training from his employer, and it was paid for by the company as well. I saw the immediate change in him and wondered why there was something different about him. This intrigued me and when he told me about his experience, I wanted to see it for myself. I thought of it more of as a self help type of seminar and went in hoping to experience a way to help me achieve my business goals in life. My memory is a little fuzzy because I took this seminar almost 2 years ago, and I completely forgot about it until I watched Leo's video about spiritual enlightenment. Basically the Landmark Forum is a 3 day seminar. In the first 2 days we go through an intense process of breaking down the ego. There are many hours of sitting and listening to the forum leader, as well as listening to stories, and questions shared by other attendees of the forum. All of this is done as a way to slowly break us down and to try to break down the ego as much as possible in the 2 day period. People have their world views challenged, and it can get very intense as you can observe how the people are struggling with their egos. On the 3rd day, that is when we are told the truth. The truth that we are told is that we are nothing. Our identities are a construct of stories we have told ourselves in the past. We are nothing, but machines. I didn't actively participate in the discussion, so I'm sure my experience would have been stronger if I did. I mostly sat there and took it all in as I watched others share their stories and opinions. Although I didn't experience spiritual enlightenment, I did experience a brief period of being Awake. I was woken up from my sleep, and I could really feel the difference. It only lasted a few days for me, but during those few days I felt more present and energetic. I could see, and feel things a lot more clearly and it felt like a fog was lifted from my head. After that I completely forgot everything I learned and continued on with my life. I had fallen back asleep and I had remained asleep for 2 years, until the present moment where I discovered Leo Gura. Now I am beginning to wake up again, and I want to keep it this way. I don't want to fall back asleep again. Just thought I'd share this to let people know that the concepts of spiritual enlightenment can be found in many places although they may be presented in a different way.

@Lorenzo Engel Thanks

It seems that many of us experience the same thing. I rarely meet people who are into this type of thing, so I usually don't talk about it unless other people bring up topics relating to this area. Some people are not ready for the truth so they will react very strongly to this. A lot of people are operating on lower levels of consciousness. Just don't let the views of others hold you back from continuing your journey.

Rather than asking what type of work you should be looking for, you should be asking yourself: how do you choose to suffer? Read this article to learn more: The Most Important Question of Your Life It doesn't matter how much you love the work you do. Fact of the matter is there is some aspect of it that is going to be unpleasant. There is always going to be something that you don't like about the work you do or in any other aspect in life. What are you willing to struggle for? What can you tolerate, and what will you absolutely not tolerate at all?

Day 6 - Feeling great so far! I've been doing a lot more reflecting lately. I feel so much calmer and more at ease without TV in my life. I just realized how much of my life I wasted watching TV. I cringe thinking about the thousands upon thousands of hours I spent sitting in front of the screen like a zombie, mindlessly watching show after show. I also just realized I haven't properly introduced myself yet. Hey guys, my name is Phil. I'm 27 years old, and I have been interested in self-development for the past 9 years, but I've only just been taking it more seriously the past 3 years. It's been quite a great journey so far. I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I want to commit myself to self-actualization, and will continue to grow and improve as person until the day I die.

Hey man congrats on the 100th post and keeping up with this journal consistently! I like how you are constantly creating things in your life so that's awesome. I dabbled very briefly with fruity loops a few years ago. I'm a multi-hobbyist like you. When I was in high school I used to do a lot of graphic design, flash animation, web design, programming, gaming, etc... I'm interested in seeing the games you develop. Share the game once it's finished!

Sounds like a scam. If you have $5,000 to spare then you would be better off just diving into your own business. It could be something as simple as buying items for cheap at swap meets, and garage sales, and then selling the items at a mark up on ebay. You would go a lot further doing that with $5,000 rather than pay for some product that will "magically" change your life.

Thanks @Extreme Z7 , yea in moderation all of this isn't bad, but I can't control myself to be moderate so I just need to cut it out for good. I think playing video games is a step up from TV because at least you have to actively participate. The good type of video games can be the ones that make you think and help develop your ability to strategize and think creatively. Day 5 - Still going strong. I feel like if I can cut TV out for good then I will have major improvements in my mental health which will then have a positive effect on every aspect of my life. I'm worried that I might slip if I'm not careful and begin an endless cycle of binging on TV. Side Note: For the most part of my life, writing has come naturally to me. I used to read a lot of books as a kid so I think that helped, but for some reason I have been really good at writing from an early age. Teachers would always make comments throughout my life on how good my writing is. I never really thought that I enjoyed writing because I associated it with doing homework. Now I realize I actually do enjoy writing if I am writing about topics that interest me. I never considered it a passion, but since it is one of my natural talents, it may be worth it for me to start writing a lot more as a side hobby.

@Extreme Z7 That's a good list for me to keep in mind as I progress through my journey. Thanks! Today is day 4. So far I have been good about not watching TV. Yesterday at work my coworker was watching a show on his phone right next to me. I took some glances because I could hear the audio, but overall I did not actively watch the entire show. Yesterday I resumed an online basic JavaScript course that I took a break from for 2 months. Even though this challenge is for 30 days, ultimately my main goal is to eliminate TV for good I had an introspective moment yesterday. I started to think about the first time I got so hooked on TV. I was just a child when I got my first taste of TV. I vaguely remember the feelings I had when I used to watch TV as a child. The feelings for me were very a intense euphoria and a strong stimulation that gave me a certain high. I must have subconsciously carried that feeling with me throughout life and constantly chased that high through the shows I watched.

You can create packages of different illustration files and sell them on your website. You would also be able to create blog posts and videos for introductory courses that you will share for free. This will attract people who want to learn about graphic design and they will then become your customers because of the value you have provided for free. You can then create premium courses for advanced techniques and strategies and sell them as part of a monthly membership subscription where you produce new content regularly. This method seems to be one of the better digital product revenue models.

Only you know in your gut if college is the right decision for you. Here is my experience with it: I went to college straight out of high school. Not because I wanted to, but only because that's what was expected of me. Sure, college did help me grow and develop as a person. I also met great people, and built lasting memories through that experience. Education wise, I have always learned a lot more just doing research online and teaching myself. To this day, I owe a lot of my knowledge to the information available on the Internet for FREE. College didn't define my career path because I realized I want to be an entrepreneur and that's all about taking real action, not studying books. If you are talking about education, then college isn't really worth the cost. You can learn just about anything you want either through free information available online, or online courses which cost just a fraction of a college class. Now I have a big loan to pay off, and I'm working an entry level type of job that doesn't require a college degree. I don't regret it though, because I know it was all just part of the journey on my current path. College to me is only a necessity if you want to pursue a specific profession that requires credentials such as: Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher, etc...

@Extreme Z7 - Yup you're right I have to be careful not to slip into equally addictive, time-wasters. For me TV is one of the more difficult things for me to get rid of, hence the part about it being an addiction. What are the other challenges you are talking about?