Optimizing for pleasure

Hey, pals. It has been a l-o-n-g time since I’ve written on-line. Effectively, that is not solely true. I have been writing a ton at Facebook. The truth is, it is as if Fb has turn out to be my private weblog. However that is about to alter. All the pieces is about to alter. Let’s speak about it.

As you are properly conscious, 2022 was one hell of a yr for me. It was a yr of demise and destruction. That feels like hyperbole, I do know, nevertheless it’s not. It felt as if my world had been crumbling round me.

After my mother died in October, I made a vow. I used to be going to do no matter it took to get myself again to the identical psychological and bodily areas I inhabited a decade in the past. That span of time between 2012 and 2016 was Peak J.D., and I wished extra of it. Possibly I could not obtain precisely the identical mind-set, however certainly I might get nearer than I have been the previous few years.

Table of Contents

Optimizing for Pleasure

To that finish, I requested myself: What was I doing in another way then than I am doing now? I made an inventory. I dubbed 2023 the yr of me. As corny because it sounds, I started to “optimize for pleasure”. I started to take motion. The motion was efficient.

Listed below are a few of the issues I have been doing:

I have been touring. I spent a while in Colorado in February, every week in Mexico in March, and I simply returned from a month-long solo journey by the Scottish isles, up the coast of Norway, reaching briefly to Svalbard, then ending with every week in Iceland. I did a complete lotta nothing.
I have been studying. Earlier within the yr, I spent a number of time studying books on psychological well being and self-improvement. Then I found the Nero Wolfe novels of Rex Stout. Wolfe and Stout have helped me rekindle my love of books. This yr, I have been studying extra books than I’ve since…perhaps 2006? It is nice enjoyable.
I have been exercising. I have been hitting the fitness center religiously three days per week. Typically extra. Issues had been irritating at first, however now I’ve developed some power and have misplaced some weight. I have never returned to the height health I loved 2012-2014, however I am getting there. I am about to shift my focus from power coaching to aerobics and suppleness for just a few months, however I am going to return to weightlifting by the top of the yr.
I have been hanging out with pals. For a wide range of causes — journey, COVID, transferring, and many others. — my social life has been awful for a lengthy time. This yr, I am intentionally making time for pals, each previous and new.
I have been medicating. For years, I’ve resisted utilizing medication to handle my mental-health issues. I’ve all the time believed that I ought to be capable of dig myself out of the darkish, darkish holes I get into. Typically that works. Typically it does not. In April, I requested my physician for assist. She prescribed Wellbutrin. After a rocky begin with the stuff, I discover that it is serving to me hold my demons at bay. It feels nice to really feel human as soon as extra.

These are the issues I have been including to my life through the Yr of J.D. There are additionally issues I’ve given up. These embody:

Hearthstone. For 9 years, I have been hooked on Hearthstone, a digital card recreation. I select the phrase “addicted” purposefully. I’ve tracked my play earlier than, and I are likely to common two hours of Hearthstone per day. That is insane. Nonetheless, I could not cease. However you already know what? The day I began taking Wellbutrin, my urge to play the sport vanished. I’ve performed a complete of two hours of Hearthstone previously three months, which is a far cry from two hours per day. (I have never given up gaming solely, although. Presently taking part in Zelda on the Swap and loving it. Nevertheless it’s not an addictive conduct. Have not performed in any respect for every week.)
Reddit. I do know lots of people get sucked into Fb or Twitter or Instagram. None of these have a compulsive draw for me. (I’ve all the time hated Twitter. I take advantage of Fb sparingly, and actually solely to share stuff with my pals.) However Reddit? Man oh man, Reddit has sucked a ton of time from my life. I am going to scroll mindlessly for hours dumb stuff. My urge to take action has declined since I began taking Wellbutrin, and the current actions of the positioning’s management have served as the ultimate straw. I’ve given it up.
Get Wealthy Slowly. That is proper: This break day has helped me to see that I want to surrender GRS. Once more. I by no means ought to have repurchased the positioning. I am unable to clarify why — and I needn’t, truthfully — however GRS acts as a weight round my neck. It is a psychological burden. My life is best after I’m not writing about cash.

I believed for a time that I wished to surrender on-line life solely. I’ve some robust opinions concerning the fashionable web and its damaging results on society. I do not wish to be part of one thing that I imagine is destroying our world. However I’ve realized that I have to apply what I preach.

Working towards What I Preach

You see, I usually urge my pals who’re offended concerning the state of the world to do one thing as an alternative of complaining. If you happen to don’t love how Mississippi, say, does issues, then transfer to Mississippi and contribute to the change. Do not attempt to dictate what Mississippi does from the consolation of your house in Oregon. That is bullshit on so many ranges.

If I had been to desert the web fully, I would be surrendering. I would be saying, “Okay, I give in. The website positioning spammers and AI web sites and social-media stooges win.” I do not wish to do this. I do not essentially wish to wage battle on these items, however I do wish to present — in some very small method — an alternative choice to all the bullshit that is on the market.

Moreover, I like to jot down. I have been writing on-line for 26 years. This is part of who I’m. Throughout my prolonged hiatus, I’ve felt like part of me is lacking. Whereas touring not too long ago, I printed images and tales to Fb each single day. It was enjoyable! It made me notice how a lot I miss writing for the online.

So, I will return to writing for the online. However I am not going to jot down on only one subject. I am not going to publish at a distinct segment website…like Get Wealthy Slowly. I will write at my private weblog in a private model. If there are individuals who wish to learn what I write (and even be part of the dialog), nice. If not, additionally nice. I will write for myself — as a result of it is what I have to do to course of my ideas and emotions, as a result of writing has been part of who I’m for almost fifty years.

The Backside Line

I’ve reached an settlement with my enterprise companion, Tom Drake, that provides him management of Get Wealthy Slowly whereas permitting me to make use of my cash writing in no matter method I select. Mainly, he’ll take over GRS and do with it what he thinks is finest, and I am going to transfer my on-line world — my whole on-line world — to jdroth.com whereas nonetheless with the ability to use the articles I’ve written previously.

For these unfamiliar with Tom, in some methods he is the Canadian me. I have been known as “the Godfather of cash running a blog” (and, extra not too long ago, “the grandfather of cash running a blog”). Effectively, Tom is the Godfather of Canadian cash running a blog. He is been writing about private finance since 2009. Tom runs many websites, however is finest recognized for Maple Money.

Possibly I am going to write one thing for GRS at times. However perhaps not. After I do, these articles might be printed concurrently at each Get Wealthy Slowly and at Folded Space. (Folded Area is the title of the private weblog I publish at jdroth.com.) This text, as an example, is showing on the identical time in each locations.

So, that is the place I’m. I’ve had a contented and productive first six months of 2023. Making this the “yr of me” was tremendous sensible. I am in nice form bodily and mentally, and issues proceed to enhance. I am desperate to see what the remainder of the yr has in retailer…