The snakes became an addiction. So, I killed them. All of them.
I was looking for something small and distracting to do. The lack of sunlight in December and January usually gets me bummed a bit, and this year seems to be the same. Work had been crazy busy, and I was tired. I was looking for a brief escape, and that’s when the snakes snuck in.
It’s a little game my kids downloaded onto my phone called slither.io. It’s like TRON except instead of motorcycles with light coming out the back that makes these walls you’re a snake and as you eat these little dots you get bigger and bigger. As you grow, you can trap the other snakes if you’re smart, and then eat them when they die so you get even bigger.
It was tough at first, but soon I started to figure it out and I got better and better at it. The problem was I was getting better and better. That meant I was spending more time than I should be playing this dumb game. It also is kind of depressing and frustrating to play. Although you get that little dopamine hit when you kill someone else’s snake, the game always ends up with you bumping into something and getting killed. So then you get mad, and you want to keep playing.
You can see how the addiction builds quickly. But, there is no end in sight. It’s just a never-ending cycle. It was intended to be something that gave me an escape and made me feel better, but instead, I felt worse.
Thankfully, I realized what was happening, and boom! This morning I deleted the snakes for good. I couldn’t leave it on my phone. It was just too tempting to try again. I was like a nicotine-stained little old lady sitting at a slot machine.
Speaking of nicotine, when I was in college I used to smoke. When I graduated, I decided it was a dumb thing to be doing, and I had to quit. My mantra throughout that very painful experience was, “Having another cigarette won’t make the cravings go away. It will make them start over.”
You can’t break a habit by giving in now and then. You need to rewire your brain. I tossed out those damn snakes, and now I’m writing this email instead of playing on my phone.
What habit has gotten ahold of you without you realizing it? Slowly they creep in. I can’t remember who but someone much smarter than me said that when we first start creating a habit the threads are as thin and flimsy as spider webs, but soon they become stronger than chains.
Pay attention to your positive and negative habits. Keep an eye out for the negative ones, and always be working on your positive ones.
Exercise:
Think of 2 habits you have that are taking you further from your goals.
– Staying up too late
– Drinking alcohol
– Procrastinating
– Blaming other people or things
Think of 2 positive habits you could cultivate.
– Taking complete responsibility
– Getting up an hour earlier
– Daily practice with The Final Step
Always be growing and always be on the lookout for creeping bad habits.
Brian Wallace
P.S. If you’re willing to run a group order for your classmates, I can offer a significant discount on The Final Step. Shipping is a huge part of the cost, and group orders are much cheaper to ship. You don’t need to set up the whole group – you just need to be willing to let people know about the discount.
If you’re interested, hit reply and I’ll send you the details.