I made a decision to write once a week, so my next post should’ve been on Friday, but then I thought it would be better to do it a bit earlier, on day 21, marking three full weeks gamble-free.
Finances: I’ve been focusing a lot on my approach to finances, and I’m evaluating whether I’m right or wrong in this approach, but I believe good money discipline is helpful. As I mentioned in my previous post, I got some money, and fortunately, I even had an opportunity to earn a bit more than I expected, which makes me happy.
So this was the first point in my gamble-free journey when I finally had enough money to gamble. I know it can become a problem, as having money always triggered processes in my mind that led to betting on sports. So, I paid for the hosting of my website (something I could have done at the end of the month but decided to do now), set aside some money for basic needs, and the money problem is solved until next week.
Mind: I haven’t had any urges at the moment, but a few thoughts about bets crossed my mind, which I cast aside. Again, I don’t know if I’m right or wrong about this; maybe I should develop those thoughts to be able to deconstruct my way of thinking. At this point, I’m considering starting daily meditation to train myself to approach my own thoughts.
Sports: I used to get information about sports from five sources. I removed two of them, and now there are three that I still use to get news. I’ve read recommendations about totally removing all sports, but I don’t think that’s the way to go for me because I loved soccer and Olympic sports before betting. So, my goal now is to return to the way I approached sports before betting: not reading sports news or social media, not visiting statistic portals, and not caring about odds. Sometimes I just want to watch a few teams and individuals I care for.
Good habits: I read some active threads here, and I have much respect for everyone sharing their stories. Kin’s approach of focusing on one day at a time is great. It sounds simple, but it has depth. So, as a sculptor, I try to take the bare stone I get every morning and give it some sexy form. I’m incorporating good habits into my life. I have a decent diet, do workouts, started training my abs, and take cold showers.
Also, I’ve started to put more effort into intellectual work, slowing down on taking in too much information and focusing on the quality of my studying process and the quality of the product I deliver.
Let’s get through one more clean week. It’s simple.