Resetting, Knowing when to Reset & Virtues of Resetting your journey.

Resetting: If a rebooter engages in one of their restricted behaviors before the end date of the challenge, this needn’t be the end of their journey. Instead, they should just “reset” and try again! Resetting means restarting their challenge beginning with day one and starting again.

Please don’t be discouraged if you have to reset. Most rebooters reset at some point. It’s important to realize that even though your day counter goes all the way back to day one, your progress isn’t completely erased. If you have several weeks or months of abstinence prior to your reset, you brain still gets the benefits of all that hard work.

When to Reset?

Sometimes it’s tricky for a rebooter to determine when it’s time to reset. For instance, if a rebooter swears off porn but finds themselves browsing sensual YouTube videos, does that constitute a reset? That’s really up for that individual rebooter to determine.

If on the one hand the rebooter’s main goal is to refrain from masturbation, and watching sensual YouTube videos is tempting, then they might consider that behavior a red flag but not really a reset. If on the other hand a rebooter is trying to break a porn addiction and browsing sensual videos on YouTube puts them in the same trancelike state that they enter while watching porn, perhaps those videos should constitute porn for that rebooter, and watching them therefore constitutes a reset.

If all else fails, a rule of thumb here is that if you remain unsure whether to reset or not, you should probably just go ahead and reset.

Virtues to keep in mind: Resetting a challenge is not the same as being a failure. In fact, there are several important virtues that are reinforced when you reset.

One virtue is honesty. Each time you admit to yourself that you need to reset, you show a commendable level of honesty. Being dishonest, by failing to reset your counter or otherwise misrepresenting your progress, will do nothing but hurt yourself.

Another virtue is wisdom. Resetting is an opportunity for a rebooter to find their “weak spots” by examining what behaviors immediately led to the reset. Once these weak spots are understood, the rebooter can fix the leak, so to speak, to prevent the same thing from happening again in the future. For example, after resetting you look at what led up to your slip and realize you were browsing the Internet on your phone in bed before heading to sleep when you stumbled on some sensual pictures, which triggered your urges. Taking this knowledge, you decide to leave your phone in another room when you go to bed.

You’ll develop vulnerability and compassion when you’ve faced the pain of having to reset. By opening up and sharing your flaws with others, you learn that it’s okay to be vulnerable. And the next time someone opens up to you about their failure, you now have an increased capacity for compassion.

Perhaps the greatest lesson you can learn from resetting is tenacity. Each time you reset your count, it’s an opportunity to get up and try again. Success doesn’t come to people who never stumble; success comes to people who learn how to get up again.

When you reset, the most important things you can do are share with the community that you have stumbled, and try again.