This Helped Me Overcome Addictions, And It Will Help You Too.

A few personal insights, along with a new challenge I encourage everyone to try.

Pre-read: This applies to any type of struggle you might have. Tune in.

Photo by Ihor Malytskyi on Unsplash

It’s 3 p.m. on a sunny summer day.

I am doing my usual TikTok multi-hour scroll. My eyes are red, and I have an extremely strong headache.

I am also miraculously worn out.

I keep scrolling.

I decide to switch to my favourite videogame on my laptop & I start to rage at a computer screen.

Mom calls for some watermelon.

Ignored—too busy.

I just spent $100 on video games because why not? I am a kid.

Do I think I am wasting my time? Heck no. Video games are an important part of a modern kid’s life. It’s okay since everyone else is playing them.

Oh, wait, a new video from this actress? Well, dang.

Back to endless scrolling.

I used to disregard addiction as something "irrelevant" or "unimportant."

Just like many of you reading this.

The problem was that I didn’t understand it to the extent that it would make me aware—until, well, I decided to learn a little more.

We’ve all seen those videos on TikTok talking to us about quitting phone addiction, smoking, sugar, drugs, and so on.

Most of us thoroughly ignored them.

That was something I am very glad I didn’t do because if I had, like everyone else, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today.

I personally overcame some addictions that most teenagers nowadays don’t even bother to address: social media, video games, sugar, and, uh, the internet.

I explain to you in utter detail why addictions literally kill you here..

In short, addictions damage our brains to the point that we are unable to do anything productively and efficiently.

Overcoming all those addictions was very tough, and I made a lot of mistakes that I want others to avoid. I outline them all below.

The One Thing You Need

I see many people struggling with this, so I would like to point it out.

You need a reason to do so.

While this may sound cliché, it’s not: you’re not really getting my point here.

I have tried to help many of my friends overcome their addictions, but the responses I usually get are, "Yeah, yeah, I don’t need that. No way."

The reason for this is simple: they really don’t need one.

Finding a reason is like getting to the root of your addiction.

Don’t overcomplicate it..

The reason that you find can be anything.

It can be as significant as making a promise to someone close to you, or it can be simply, “I want to be a better person, for myself.”

It doesn’t have to be very significant, but it has to be enough to drive you.

My reason was, “I want to make my family proud.”

Once You’ve Got a Reason, Just Stop

It’s not that complicated in theory, but it is quite the challenge in practice.

The thing to note is that there is no magic to overcoming addiction.

It’s simply a matter of stopping your addiction by simply not doing whatever your addiction is anymore. Simply stop.

Sounds simple because it is.

Remember your reasons and try your best.

..that’s the key takeaway from this particular section.

You will most likely fail the first time you try, just as with anything else, but the important thing is to try your absolute best to succeed.

If you are a smoker, stop smoking.

If you eat too much junk, stop eating it.

See how long you can go without it.

If you experience withdrawal symptoms, fight through them.

If you uncontrollably start again, repeat the entire process: rinse, wash, and repeat (i.e., wait a few days, stop again, try to hold it).

Trying Your Best Isn’t Easy

Unlike many other things, your best bet here is to simply stop.

Because if there were a very strong reason to, you would stop; and that’s why we made some sort of a reason before.

The problem is, you’re going to want it back.

Well, you’re addicted, right?

That’s the exact difficulty; that’s where most people give up. That’s also where you have the opportunity to gain the advantage.

I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s feasible..

You can do it; it’s a simple battle with your mind. No one’s asking you to climb Everest here; you don’t have any physical obstacles.

..it’s simply a mind game.

It is a battle that you have to fight within your own mind. It’s one part of the brain against the other.

One part of me is saying, “Just one more Netflix show…”

The other one is saying, "You are not doing this. It’s useless. You’re better."

You have to, obviously, follow the second part—that’s the voice inside your head that wants you to be better, unlike everything and everyone else around.

Practical Steps That I Took, and They Worked

This can become an overly complicated process, but it doesn’t have to be.

Here’s the simple and, well, relatively faster way:

1. Identify everything that you would like to change.
2. Start changing it.
3. Fail.
4. Repeat until you succeed.

“No, this is too simple,” you might say.

And I will reply to you with: "You are just not willing to go through pain."

Challenge To Take On..

I am going to keep this simple:

• Quit social media/Netflix/adult films etc. — 2 points
• Quit smoking — 2 points
• Quit sugar/junk food — 2 points
• Quit drugs or whatever — 3 points
• Quit coffee — 1 point

Once you have 10 points you’ve won your life back, congratulations.

P.S. This is a challenge for yourself, if you want to share it, do it here.

I write on Medium to help you, follow me :)

Thanks for reading!

-Vladimir