10 Best-Ever NoFap Strategies
On this page you will discover 10 NoFap tips that are actually proven to work.
Now, by “proven” I'm not saying they are magic and that, if you try one of them, you suddenly never relapse again.
No no no no no. It does'n work like that.
NoFap is a skill. And just like any other skill, it takes practice in order to master.
However, these are things I found particularly helpful myself, back when I was rebooting. And nowadays I see many other guys use them with great success as well.
So make yourself comfortable, grab a cup of coffee and let's get started…
1# Write down your “why”
I have written this in another blog post as well, but there's a good reason for it.
In order to be successful in achieving any goal in life, you absolutely need to know the reson for why you want to do it in the first place…
…your “why”.
So, get yourself a rebooting journal and on the very first page you should write down the resons for why you want to do NoFap.
Really think it through.
To help with this, you could use these two questions to guide you…
- Where could you be 3 years from now if you manage to stop fapping to adult sites = your “why”.
- Where could you end up 3 years for now if you get even more addicted and things escalate = your “why not”.
Obviously your “why” is your reason for you wanting to quit. And your “why not” is your reason for “why not continue fapping”.
By using both of them, you double the motivation as you now have both the carrot and the stick.
2# Come up with a personal surfing phrase
Come up with a personal surfing phrase that you can say to yourself at times when triggered and you feel strong cravings.
It should be a short but powerful phrase that reminds you of your why and your why not.
Use the things you have written down in your rebooting journal in the previous tip.
Obviously your surfing phrase doesn't have to be identical to that what you wrote down in your notebook. In fact, most of the time it's better if it's not, because the surfing phrase needs to be pretty short so you can easily remember and say it whenever tempted.
Yous surfing phrase is a phrase that you should use whenever you are surfing your urges.
It could for example look something like this:
“Not one second of peeking! Because that always leads to broken promises and anxiety. Who do I want to be? A depressed and broken man with no self-esteem, or a grounded and powerful warrior who totally dominates his life?”
Obviously, that was just an example. But the point is that the surfing phrase needs to consist ow two key elements…
- It should be something that really resonates with you.
- It should also remind you of why you're doing NoFap.
In the example above, the guy wanted to remind himself of how so often every time he peak, no matter how short the peak is, it ends with a relapse. And then how a relapse always leads to him feeling like a broken man. Broken, because his addiction to adult sites gives him social anxiety, panic attacks and even porn induced ED.
Also, keep in mind that your can change and modify your surfing phrase as often as you want.
In fact, changing it is from time to time is sometimes even needed. This is because we constantly notice new dangers and grow as a person as we trudge forward on our journey.
If you're not familiar with the therm surfing, take a look at this video I made a while back to discover more…
If you found the video informative, consider checking out my YouTube channel here.
Ok, so if you watched the video you now have a basic understanding on what surfing is.
It just means that you…
- You just notice the urges without resisting them.
- You do not feed them.
- Nor do you try to draw pleasure out of them.
- You just allow them to pass through your body kind of like a wave (hence the term surfing)
Now, while you are surfing the urges, you should say your personal surfing phrase to yourself. Over and over again.
You can even say it out loud.
In fact, studies have shown that saying things out loud affects us more powerfully (not studies on PMO specifically – but studies on the brain in general).
Get my FREE 90 day No PMO guide>by clicking here<
#3 Eat more omega 3
I personally like this tip very much as it's one of those things that are proven to be effective, while at the same time, it's super easy to do. s
Just go down to your health store and buy a high quality omega 3 supplement.
Why?
Well, there are numerous studies showing how omega 3 actually helps with impulse control. Now, if you think about it, that is exactly what we need when we want to avoid relapsing.
In addition, they have even done studies on substance abuse addicts omega 3 levels in relationship to their relapse frequencies, and guess what?
…that right, the addicts with lower omega 3 levels relapsed far more often than the once with healthy levels.
This is something I learned from the book “Unchain Your Brain – 10 Steps To Breaking The Addictions That Steal Your Life”.
A book I can highly recommend, by the way.
If interested, you can click here to check pricing on Amazon. I recommend you sign up to Audible over there. That way you get to take advantage of their FREE 30 day trail.
#4 Be careful with sugar
Are you aware of the fact that suger activates your brains reward system, making it scream for more dopamine?
And then when your beloved donat is eaten, what other sources of dopamine could your brain potentially start aiming for?
Something that is very close to you and can be accessed through your computer or phone?
Yes, porn, of course!
Eating sugary treats drastically increases the relapse risk for all addicts. This is true no matter what you're addicted to. Cocaine, alcohol, gambling, crystal meth and yes, fapping to porn as well.
Sugar will increase your risk of relapse. There's no doubt about it.
In addition to the dopamine, about 1 hour after eating sugar your blood sugar levels will come crashing back down and can you guess at what point we humans have the least willpower?
That's right, it is when our blood sugar comes crashing back down after having been sky high.
#5 Be even more careful with stress
I know I know, it's a boring tip, but it is here for a reason.
Did you know that stress is probably the most common reason for relapses amongst all addictions you can think of?
In fact, stress is so involved in both forming an addiction, as wells as in relapsing, that addiction experts often say… “stress + dopamine = addiction”.
How about that, huh?
Stress + dopamine = addiction.
Now you are probably starting to realize how going for alcohol, porn or any artificially dopamine spiking behavior can be such a bad idea if you're trying to escape your stress for a moment. Indeed, it is a big reason why so many people develop an addiction in the first place.
Once addicted, then the stress system actually starts screaming for you to act out your addictive behavior in order for it to calm down.
A malfunctioning stress system is one of the four fundamental brain changes that happen in addictions.
For more info o the malfunctioning stress system, take a look at this video below.
The video is part 2 in a video series I made on YouTube, about the 4 fundamental brain changes that happen in all addictions.
Read about >a good online course for quitting porn<
#6 Practice “Almost relapsing”
This one sounds pretty strange, but hear me out because this was perhaps the most instrumental thing I added to my own reboot to really help me break free for good.
So, what do I mean by “almost relapsing?”
Well, you know that surfing phrase I told you to create in tip #2?
You should practice that phrase even when you're not having urges.
That's right. Every now and then, preferable on a daily basis, you should PRETEND that you get hit by a strong trigger and that you are about to relapse, and then you instantly practice your surfing phrase…
…kind of like a fire drill at your workplace. A simulated emergency.
Check out the best porn blocker & accountability software CovenantEyes
(Use promo code STRONGER when signing up to get 30 days FREE…)
I know it sounds a bit strange, but trust me on this.
In order to fully overcome your addiction, what needs to happen is that when you are hit by a craving, instead of acting on it, you learn an alternative behavior. And how do we best learn things? That's right…by practicing.
By simulating and practicing, it becomes som much easier to do it “for real” when to those craving hit you.
Now, naturally you are in fact practicing every time you do your surfing and are hit by a craving for real. But to really make it effective then please do simulate those situations as well. Especially in the beginning of your reboot.
Examples of how to do it…
For example, you can type in your favorit adult star in google, but then instead of actually hitting enter you pretend that you happen to see some bare skin and right away you shut down the page while saying your surfing phrase.
You can even go so far as to really hit enter and then click on an adult site, but then immediately shut down the page without looking, while surfing your personal phrase. Now this alternative is a bit more “risky” so don't do it when you're tired or emotionally upset.
The key thing is to come up with clever and realistic ways of pretending you are in that “uh-oh, there the urges are – moment!” and then; you surf!
Heck, you can even do it away from your computer, while taking a walk outside or wherever. Just pretend that you are at home, you get super horny and that you are about to relapse, but THEN you break that pattern by surfing instead.
Please try this out, but remember, it needs to be practiced in order for it to work. However, if you do it diligently, you will drastically shorten the time it takes to overcome your addiction.
#7 Go Operation Blackout
Look, you can't spend time in front of your laptop or with your smartphone 24/7 if you're trying to overcome an PMO addiction.
It just won't happen.
So, what I recommend is that you shut down internet 2-3 hours before bed time every day.
I use to call this “operation blackout”
It's a few hours where you only read physical books, listen to music write, make dinner, practice your musical instrument or whatever, just as long as you are offline. It is especially helpful for your first 30 days.
Yes, it really means no internet, so no chatting and no social media!
I know it sounds harsh, but guess what, the world will still be there tomorrow when you wake up.
When I was young we didn't have the internet…
…imagine that 🙂
Related post: NoFap and social media
Why is this so effective?
Well, most people relapse in the evening or at night. This is easy to understand since our willpower works like a muscle. It gets tired during the day, and then when the evening comes we have less impulse control.
By removing 2-3 hours of the most dangerous surfing time (evening & night), naturally that is instantly going to reduce the number of relapses as well.
In fact, for some people it works so well that it's pretty much all they need in order to stop relapsing for good.
In addition to this, not using technology the hours leading up to your bedtime will significantly improve your sleep quality as well.
Did you know that looking at bright screens late at night actually messes with your dopamine producing neurons? Yes, even if you don't watch porn, but just by the light itself.
That's right.
As if we haven't messed up our dopamine system enough already by all the fapping sessions, right?
You can >>Download<< my Quit Porn Guide for FREE right now!
#8 Meditate
Start practicing meditation.
Meditation is the best way (that we so far know of) for strengthening a part of your brain called the “prefrontal cortex” (PFC).
The PFC is the part of your brain that is responsible for self control, so I think everyone then can understand why it's such a valuable tool for NoFap.
Simply put, the more you meditate, the less you relapse.
However, here too it's a matter of practice and patience. That said, many guys claim that they have started to see effects after just 1-2 weeks of doing as little as 5-10 minutes of daily meditation.
#9 Take cold showers
Few things strengthens your self control and willpower as much as daily cold showers (other than meditation of course).
Now, where else do you need self control and willpower?
Well, in pretty much all areas of life, but how about when you're hit by a strong craving to telling you to go watch some dirty videos? Yes, if there ever was a time where having a strong “self control muscle would be useful, that would be it.
In addition, did you know that by taking a cold shower in the morning, you lower your average heart rate for the rest of the day?
That's right, and by doing so you automatically reduce your body's stress levels. And as you probably remember, stress is one of the biggest resons behind behind relapse.
So cold showers are double, or even triple win…
…just take them!
I personally wouldn't go a day without them.
Check out the porn blocker & accountability software CovenantEyes below
(Use promo code STRONGER when signing up to get 30 days FREE…)
#10 Read physical books
A good thing to do to offset the constant bombardement of today's super stimulating technology is to turn off your phone and read a real physical book.
This too will strengthen your PFC and thus also you ability to focus and and concentrate.
If you're not used to it you will notice how your thoughts starts to wonder when you first begin reading. But after just 2-3 days you you're suddenly much better at focusing. And then reading a book actually becomes a pretty fun activity…
…imagine that 🙂
This is great because now you also have an excellent replacement activity. If you feel a relapse may be lurking right around the corner, turn off your computer and go read for an hour or two.
NoFap strategies
Final words
I hope you found these NoFap strategies both interesting and helpful.
If I had to pick just one…no, I can't do that. They are all good and it depends on the current goal, but in terms of training your brain to overcome your addiction, I think I still would have to go with tip #6.
Anyway, try all of them.
Not only try them, but actually practice them and keep doing them for a good amount of time. Then, keep the ones who pay the biggest dividends.
Thanks for reading!
-Scandinavian Bob-
P.S. Need my help with rebooting? You can reach out to me here.
Related post: NoFap how to stop relapsing forever