The Journey To Reaching My Full Potential

[Waveenergy]

Hello,

I've decided to start keeping an online journal of my experience of behaviour and habitual changes that are in-line with my innermost passions and goals. I have tried making similar changes before but believe that I have matured recently and have done more actualization work in order to determine the changes I want to make are the right ones. I think that support from our community will be beneficial for me and will hopefully stop me from backsliding. 

The habits I want to eliminate from my life are..

1. TV and Netflix: I have spent hours upon hours upon hours watching TV series on Netflix to the point where I have tried stopping many times. The thought "I will stop watching Netflix altogether once I have finished this..." has been frequent and repetitive. I feel a distinct urge to watch TV when I have free time. My problem with it is that watching the screen is a passive activity which wastes so many hours of my life. I am going to try and go 30 days without watching any Netflix (I am not sure if I should try cutting out movies and un-educational videos as well?). 

2. Watching pornography: I find this problematic because of the way it portrays something so fundamental to human existence as a male-dominated entertainment industry. I believe there are definitely negative psychological effects of engaging with this material.. I think an alternative could be erotic imagery or literature. 

3. Social media: I have found social media to be quite addictive and time wasting as well. I have deleted mobile applications (facebook etc.) from my phone before... For me, Facebook and Twitter are the biggest culprit because of the constant stream of short and mostly low quality information that is constantly fed to the user. The only reason I rationalize using facebook is to access university facebook groups. I have less of a problem with instagram as I care little for the amount of 'likes' I receive on photos, rather I use it to post photography as a creative outlet. I have also downloaded and deleted my Tinder account numerous times ! I feel like redownloading it has become almost inevitable as social media has utterly changed the way that young people like myself (19 YA) interact.

4. Procrastination: I am a big procrastinator and want to start doing things now instead of putting them off or waiting until I am 'better' in some way before starting them (perfectionist thinking...).

The good habits I want to implement throughout my life are... 

1. A daily 20 minute meditation habit: I have tried implementing this habit before but have only made it to around two weeks before school or another time consuming event let me rationalize missing a day. I find meditation to be very beneficial and would like to start with a 30 day challenge. 

2. Reading: When I was a kid, I used to read fiction novels all the time as my parents had been against TV (we never had cable growing up) from the start. Over the last couple of years, I have been struggling with my vision and so reading can be uncomfortable for me. I have recently begun therapy for my eyes and the doctor is hopeful. It is not that I cannot read, I read text all the time (mostly digital).. It is just that reading can cause discomfort. I rationalized watching TV recently because it did not cause as much discomfort... I want to start reading much more as a way to replace TV.

3. Writing: I have always enjoyed writing and have excelled in it. I have recently been inspired by poetry and want to start reading and writing it. 

4. Yoga: I am an athletic person and spend time in the gym, the pool, or biking outdoors, on an almost daily basis. I have always wanted to start doing yoga but I live quite far from any yoga classes and have always thought that I should initially learn fundamental techniques from an instructor before starting my own practice. 

There are more that I could add to either of these lists but I think that even this undertaking would yield massive results in my life. I would really appreciate any feedback or thoughts from our community as I embark on this journey that I have been wanting to dedicate my time to for so long! I know that many of you are struggling with the same things and that is why this community is so beneficial... I will do my best to write regularly in order to keep myself dedicated and motivated.

 

[Waveenergy]

Day 1:

I woke up in my room which was cleaned yesterday, feeling as if I were off to a fresh start.

Took a cold shower and then meditated for 20 minutes. My thoughts were scattered but that is ok.. I found a few moments of clarity and to me, sitting there in silence with eyes closed is a successful meditation. 

After a light breakfast and some green tea, I began writing a paper that is due soon. I had no urges to watch any television... although, somewhat habitually, I opened up Facebook to see if I had any notifications. That reflexive opening of facebook is somewhat unsettling to me and makes me question why? Why do I let such low quality information involve itself in my daily choices?

I also had the thought today of trying to adopt an ecocentric value theory, extending moral value completely to the natural world and all life.

Went for a walk by the river near my house as I was getting restless at home. I am planning to do some yoga during my next break... 

Overall, it's been a good day. I hope to keep it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Waveenergy]

Dar 6:

Over the weekend, I practiced meditation as well as yoga daily and felt great... although, on Monday night, I watched one episode of a TV show on Netflix that I had been following and that seemed to change things. Over the next couple of day, I procrastinated much more, didn't meditate, watched TV shows that I have already seen before... It seems as if just watching one show turned things around back to the way they were. 

A part of me definitely likes to become passive and watch TV but when I do, the day feels wasted. I feel less creative, and more lazy. Maybe I should challenge myself and stop watching Netflix again cold turkey? Or maybe replace with some personal development videos?