We're in the fifth week since my original declaration to undergo monk mode. Let's see what's happened.

• Focus on three main hobbies: reading, writing, programming
  • Finished Prelude to Foundation. Starting Forward the Foundation tomorrow. Enjoying Asimov's writing style.
  • Writing: it's been a bit erratic but I'm getting it done where I can.
  • Programming: progress is really slow.
• Reading RP literature:
  • Finally finished The Book of Pook. Starting The Rational Male tomorrow, with The Charisma Myth following.
    • Pook seems big on the mindset of "You don't need to keep reading, you already know what to do, go do it!"
    • One of his posts that sticks out the most to me is the "Date Yourself" one. In it he basically says, "You don't know where to take her on a date to have fun, because you never go anywhere to have fun!" and suggests you "date yourself" - take yourself to some fun places first - so you know where to take her.
  • Haven't done much with the blogs. I'm not going to pursue this further, as reading blogs isn't really my thing.
• Cutting junk social media
  • I don't know if this really needs addressing. Sure I dick around on Facebook and Twitter a bit, but it's not like I have the tabs constantly open. Plus using the smaller lists reduces my information overload. For now it may be more pertinent to focus my energies in adding more productive activities, instead of just trying to refrain from something.
• Physical activity
  • Nothing to report
  • I'm striking a deal with you guys right now. Come August, once I'm in my apartment, I'm going to set up a routine to use the recreational complex near my apartment. I'll pay for a pass if I need to.
• Physical discomfort
  • Frankly, I'm getting more of than my fair share of this, and will continue to do so for as long as I'm home.
  • Fapped three times.

Overall

Why am I doing this, again? I want to be better as a person, as a male. I want to be able to actually approach women with romantic/sexual interest, to date them. I want to know what it's like to be a sexual person and have a sexual relationship.

My reading, writing, and programming. Sure the progress in those may be slow and at times unstable, but it's at least happening. And over time the rewards will come. People may be impressed by me having the iron will to work on these things for three hours every day, but that's not what they really care about. They just want to see the end product. And all I want to see is the end product. Whether it takes two weeks or two months, it'll happen eventually, and that's what matters the most to me. These contribute to the quality of my lifestyle and even if I miss a day or two of writing or coding, the overall habit is still there.

The social media thing... what the fuck else is there to do during the day? With how few weeks I'm still going to be home, it's not like I could get hired anywhere. Maybe freelancing is an option.

Putting Things into Action

I've been reading, reading, reading. I've learned a lot of information. But right now it's just trivia, and that bothers me. I don't just want to absorb this information. I want to act on it. And that's daunting because I'm pretty much starting from square one with this stuff. I have a good idea what I need to do, though. I'm going to muse on this for a couple days, then I'll get back to you guys on it.