Quitting Weed

Day 224 - why wait to the new year to quit weed. try starting now to get a head start 

I'm feeling great and happy that I'm doing my 2nd pod this week. I was on hiatus, some unplanned (I got the flu) and some of it planned (vacation), and then I got a little lazy when I was back from vacation. But now I'm back to doing regular podcast episodes.So it got me thinking that if you are around others who smoke and you can't avoid them. Then let them know that you are quitting weed. They may surprise you and support you. And won't offer any weed to you or maybe just smoke less or not around you. And who knows, you might inspire them to quit weed. And if you do, then, believe me, you will feel good, and it helps you stay off of weed. There is something about helping others. When you do, you feel great.That is why I feel great right now. I'm clean from weed, and I've been inspiring others to quit weed too.If you have questions or comments or want to say hi - email me at quittingweed@protonmail.com or send me a message on Twitter @quittingweedpod.I also started a service I will offer to people who want an accountability partner. Someone to talk to too about quitting weed.https://quittingweedpod.gumroad.com/l/accountability-partnerWith this service, you'll get the following:A 40 min zoom call with me where you can talk with me about all things quitting weed Free 40-page Quitting Weed eBook (PDF) You can have me as your accountability partner You can share your progress on quitting weed You can tell me your struggles with quitting weed I will listen to you I will provide you with support I will give specific tips for quitting weed I will do my best to answer any questions you have The zoom call will have my camera off so I can remain anonymous If you are unsatisfied with the service within 30 days, I will refund your money. No questions asked And I have five discount codes available where you can get this service (one 40 min zoom call) for free (regular price $97). I only have five discount codes available. The code is QWFREE. Again the code is QWFREE. I also have the code in the show notes and the link to view and purchase this service.And if that is too much to pay for, just remember that this pod will always be free.

I'm back after a month-long hiatus. I'm still clean from weed. I haven't smoked weed while I was gone. I was tempted a couple of times, but held firm and kept thinking about why I wanted to quit weed and what weed does to me if I do smoke which helped me stay off of weed. Which works for me.I feel this pod keeps me accountable, so if I do this pod regularly, I will likely think about smoking weed less. So I'm hoping that I will have another episode in a couple of days.

- It took me years and many failures (maybe 1000 of them for me) before I quit weed. Being hard on yourself won't help you quit weed. It will probably make it worse- Life is tough as it is without you making it tougher on you. Quitting weed is not going to be perfect. I wasn't able to quit the first time, either. Or the second time or the 900th time. I failed a lot- Take failure as part of the journey. If you relapse with weed, just clear your mind and move on with the day. There is no reason to torment yourself on how you weren't able to quit weed- Just don't be hard on yourself. It is not good for your health. You have to treat yourself well. I know this sounds corny, but you have to love yourself

- I was very close to smoking weed yesterday. I had a tough day at work and home. And my first thought was that I needed some weed. It will help me take my mind off of all the crap that is going on in my head- But then I paused. Put the phone down and took a deep breath through my nose and out my nose. I did this about five times- Then I remember reading online about addiction, and when you are about to go back to the thing that you quit, in this case, it was weed for me, think about why you quit. Think about the bad things that weed does to you. Think about the things when you did relapse. How did you feel?- And because of that, I was able to put off smoking weed. I didn't want to get high. Not sure if this advice would work for everyone, but it worked for me last nightI also started a service I will offer to people who want an accountability partner. Someone to talk to too about quitting weed. https://quittingweedpod.gumroad.com/l/accountability-partnerWith this service, you'll get the following:A 40 min zoom call with me where you can talk with me about all things quitting weed Free 40-page Quitting Weed eBook (PDF) You can have me as your accountability partner You can share your progress on quitting weed You can tell me your struggles with quitting weed I will listen to you I will provide you with support I will give specific tips for quitting weed I will do my best to answer any questions you have The zoom call will have my camera off so I can remain anonymous If you are unsatisfied with the service within 30 days, I will refund your money. No questions asked And I have five discount codes available where you can get this service (one 45 min zoom call) for free (regular price $97). I only have five discount codes available. The code is QWFREE.https://quittingweedpod.gumroad.com/l/accountability-partner

- benefits on quitting weed for 6 months- no weed hangover- more time to do stuff- saving money- eating better- more social 

Instead of trying to quit weed for the rest of your life Or for 1 year Or for 6 months Try quitting weed for 2 weeks Or even 1 week if 2 weeks seems like too much Sometimes setting a small goal is better than a big goal Big goals are tough In the IT world, there has been a push to plan things 2 weeks at a time. Sometimes even 1 week at a time Planning something for the next 6 months is tough Quitting weed for 6 months is tough Instead set a goal of quitting weed for 1 to 2 weeks That might make goal more achievable and less likely to fail, even though failure is a part of quitting

- Do I still think about Smoking Weed? Sometimes I do- I am still clean since I quit 169 days ago, but there are times that I want to smoke some weed- They don't happen very often; maybe once every 6 weeks- They tend to happen when I have a free night with no wife or daughter around- I want to enjoy and in the past, I would enjoy my time with weed- But I know if I give into the weed, then I would be back smoking it on a regular basis- It's okay to think about weed. And when I do, I just take some deep breaths and tell myself that I don't need it- It's worked so far

- For me, quitting weed completely was the only way. I tried to be a weekend-only smoker, but I couldn't even make it to Wednesday before I would give in and smoke some weed- But for those of you that are having trouble quitting weed completely. Maybe just try to smoke less- And I suspect you will gain some of the benefits that you would get if you quit weed completely - saving money (smoking less means you buy less weed), being less desensitized to weed (meaning you may need less weed over time to get high), having your senses come back (being able to laugh or relax without weed or less weed), and having less brain fog- So maybe try reframing your journey to get off of weed completely to smoking less

- I never suffered from extreme anxiety. But I am human, so I do get some anxiety. Most of the time, my environment and situation cause anxiety. And in the past, I would smoke weed to lower or eliminate my anxiety- And I think that was just a clutch. It never prepared me for handling anxiety- Now that I'm clean from weed, I have to face those issues and anxiety- I've found that breathing calms me down and allows my brain to think clearly. If an issue needs a solution, I'll breathe slowly from my nose for 2 minutes- And then, I come up with a solution to handle it. If it is an issue where there is no solution, then I still do the breathing- Then I frame the issue that I'm dealing with as something that is not important, and usually, I'm making it a big deal in my head when it really shouldn't be a big deal

- When I smoked, most people didn't know that I smoked. But the ones that knew I smoked, basically defined me as a smoker- They would say that I smoked more weed than anyone that they knew. And they probably weren't wrong about that- At first I thought is cool being the weed smoker. Like I was in this rarified club. But after awhile, I didn't feel that way. If anything I felt embarrassed if others knew that I smoked- Now I've only been clean from weed for 152 days. But I don't think of myself as a smoker anymore. It doesn't define me anymore. Weed is not a part of my life anymore- For me, I couldn't smoke weed casually. For it me, it was all consuming. Weed really did define me. It's nice not being defined by weed anymore

- I've been up almost all night. We had a beeping sound all night. I thought it was the smoke alarm that was on the ceiling. I disabled all of them by taking out the battery. But the beeping sound still persisted. I couldn't figure it out- I decided to let it go and just rest for the night. My wife and daughter were able to sleep with the beeping noise. I could not, but I decided to rest and let it go- In the past, I would have smoked some weed to take the edge off. And it got me thinking that sometimes a little stress while sober is good- Life can be stressful, albeit it is mostly caused by own reactions. Still, we are humans, not robots, so those reactions that cause stress will always come- The stress is gone, and I feel like things are good again. By being sober and off of weed, I would be much stronger at handling the times that stress appears

- I'm new to meditation. I'm not a very good meditator- At first I started to do 10 minutes a day, but it didn't stick- Now I meditate 2 minutes a day- After a couple of weeks, I found it working- I now stop myself before I get into an argument with someone (ex - my wife, family)- The 2 min meditation has allowed me to think things through before I open my mouth- I think this type of meditation can also help you from smoking weed when the thought of smoking comes thru your brain 

- I received some kind words on a Twitter DM from a listener. They said that this pod acts as support. I never thought about it in that way. I was grateful to receive that message- I do like the idea that this pod is like a support system. To let you know that quitting weed isn't easy, and it's possible. And that life after quitting weed can be quite good- I know I've said this before, but the feedback I get from this pod really makes me feel good. And that I will continue to do this pod for a long while. And it will continue to be free- I truly believe my calling in life is to help others who want to quit weed in an inspirational way, not a nagging way

- When I smoked weed, I would get this cough. I think they call it smokers cough- The cough was annoying. And sometimes, the cough would last for days and then go away. And then it would come back again in a couple of weeks. It would always be around the corner- And the voice sounded like a smoker. It was scratchy. Now I could smoke less. You know what they say - the dose makes the poison. But that wasn't possible for me- No wonder I would get the smoker's cough and scratchy voice. But since I quit smoking, I don't get the smoker's cough. And my voice is just fine- And it also made me realize all the smoke I was inhaling couldn't be good for me. Especially the amount that I was smoking

- Last night I worked past dinner. Not ideal. I like to eat dinner with my family. After I finished my work, I put my daughter to bed. Then I went to bed too. I was a little hungry but didn't want to eat so close to bedtime. When I eat right before I go to sleep, my resting heart rate goes way up, and I usually wake up feeling groggy- And in the past, when I smoked weed, I would eat even more food close to bedtime. The combination of smoking weed and eating junk food close to bedtime makes me groggy when I wake up- So when I woke up this morning feeling great, I was thinking to myself - that I am glad I don't smoke weed anymore

- Quitting weed has made me a better a me- Better physical health- Better mental health- Just a better person- But having a streak of not smoking weed (and this pod) has kept me from smoking weed

- When I smoked weed, it was for fun and relaxation. It made me calm. Things wouldn't bother me. I would rarely get angry. But then something happened in the last 5 years. I didn't get as calm as I used to when I started smoking weed- If anything, my trigger to overreact and get angry got quicker. I'm not sure why. It could be that I smoked so much weed that I became desensitized to weed. I needed more and more weed to get to that state of relaxation that I used to get with just one puff of weed- Now I think there are some of you that might be afraid that if you quit weed, you won't be calm. My advice - try exercise, getting enough sleep, and meditating for 2 minutes a few times a day- It is possible to be calm without weed

- Lately, I've been thinking about time and place. And that there are larger things that determine your fate. What does this mean? I'm not sure myself- I don't think I would have succeeded in quitting weed 5 or 10, or 15 years ago. I enjoyed weed too much. I didn't think I had a problem. I was too smart, actually not smart but too arrogant, to think weed harmed me- It wasn't my time to quit weed. I don't think I was ready to quit weed until 5 months ago. It was like there was something or someone bigger that was going to determine when I quit weed- And that is why I have this pod. I wanted to help others realize that quitting weed is possible and that it doesn't involve any special type of magic- But if you are struggling to quit weed and have a hard time getting to day 2 or 7. I just want you to know that it is possible to quit even with periods of little failures- And that this pod may be the larger thing in play that helps you realize that the time is now or coming soon when you will be able to quit weed successfully- If you have questions, comments, or want to say hi - email me at quittingweed@protonmail.com or send me a message on Twitter @quittingweedpod

- I was at the farmers market last week to buy some fruits and vegetables. They also have a fresh pasta stand there too. I normally don't buy pasta at the farmers' market, but for some reason, I wanted to buy fresh pasta- The guy that was selling it was super blazed. His eyes were super red. And he smelled of weed - no judgment on my part. I used to be him. When I used to go to the farmers market, I would smoke weed in the car before I shopped for food. I just wanted to be high. And my eyes would be super red. A lot of times, I would not have Visine with me- But it is nice not to smoke weed and worry about red eyes. I'm fine with others that want to smoke weed. I'm not anti-weed. And I do think it serves a purpose. But it made me think I don't have to get high just to do errands like shopping at the farmers market. Shopping at the farmers market shouldn't have to feel like a chore. Now I go to the market to shop for fruits and vegetables, and I enjoy it without being high

- I was listening to Dr. Andrew Weil on the Tim Ferriss podcast, where Tim Ferriss asked Dr. Weil if he still smoked marijuana. He said he did a lot in his late 20s and early 30s, where he smoked weed for fun, pleasure, stimulated his creativity, and helped him write- But he kept smoking it even though it just made him groggy. He finally stopped, and he has no interest anymore in weed- As for my journey with weed, I have a similar experience as Dr. Andrew Weil. In my late teens and 20s, I smoked weed and loved it. In my 30s, I smoked to relax and not think about stress. In my 40s, weed just started to make me lazy and feel bad- It feels good to have fun and get creative without weed. And it's cheaper too. For those who have just quit or are thinking about quitting, you will find other ways to have fun, relax, and be creative without weed. It just takes a while for your natural senses to get back

- Better now than never. If you are thinking of quitting weed, the best time to quit is now- If you think you have been smoking for so long, you might be thinking, what else do I have to live for? My life is what it is.- I wouldn't think that. I'm in my mid-40, and I used to think like that. I don't think I shared my age before, but I'm sure some of you might have guessed since I have been smoking for almost 25 years- But my life has improved since I quit weed. I have gained new skills - how to record and publish a podcast, writing and publishing an ebook, and a paperback- And I may have another opportunity around the corner. All this in the last 124 days since I've quit weed- So if you are considering quitting weed, I would say better now than never

- I have more time since I've quit weed- When I smoked, I used to constantly think about when I would smoke weed and when to get some more weed- Weed took up so much of my time- Even when I wasn't smoking weed, I would be thinking about smoking weed- Now, I don't even think about weed- I do use that time to do more stuff, but I also enjoy just being idle- Before, I couldn't be idle if I wasn't stoned- Now I like being idle and not feeling bored

- When I smoked weed, I used to dwell on the past- Especially negative moments in the past- It was not healthy- It affected my life big time- Since I've quit, I don't have negative thoughts about the past- Since I've quit weed, I've become more positive- And more busy which has helped me to think less bad thoughts 

- I can honestly say that I love my life now- And I don't think I would love it as much if I were still smoking weed- When I'm sober, I do more things- And when the end of the day comes, I look back, and I'm happy. The next morning when I wake up, I'm so glad. That's a good day- I spent a lot of time with my daughter yesterday, which made me happy- If I were smoking weed, I wouldn't have spent much time with my daughter- I would have looked for a way to get out of the house for a couple of hours to smoke weed. - That is time away from my daughter. That is time away from the beach. That is time away from living

- I read an article about the dangers of high THC weed. It interviewed a few people affected by high THC weed. Now a few people are not enough to conclude that today's potent weed is dangerous- I won't go Reefer Madness on you. I haven't seen that movie, which was released in 1936. I want to watch it. I will give you my review of that movie on this pod- Back to the article, the most convincing thing I found was that weed was not as strong as it was in the past. From the '60s to the '80s, the THC in weed was less than 2%. In the '90s, it was 4%- Which I think is true. I started smoking weed in the ‘90s, and it was known, at the time, that you didn't get high until the 3rd time you smoked it- Now, it averages about 17% THC. That is a huge jump- I don't think high THC weed is good for you from an evolutionary perspective. If weed was mainly used for celebratory purposes and mostly low THC, then maybe that is what it is supposed to be- It makes me think that I am glad that I quit weed

- When I smoked weed, I would be on cruise control- Can't be good for your brain if you just vegetate on the couch- Since I quit weed, I'm less lazy- I now code apps and write which exercises my brain- Since I've quit weed, I challenge my brain a lot more

- There are many reasons why I quit weed, but health was the big one- When I smoked weed, I would use a pipe and a lighter- And I smoked a lot- That can't be good for my lungs- I want to live long without disability (healthspan)- Exercise is important to living longer and healthier- Quitting weed made me less lazy which prevented me from exercising- Since I've quit weed, I've been exercising more

- I spend a lot of my time with my family. On the weekends, I spend time with my parents. They don't smoke weed- This has helped me in quitting weed. They don't smoke, so I don't smoke- I don't even think about smoking when I spend time with them- Now, this may not be advisable for everyone. Some of you may live alone. Or some of you may live with others who smoke weed- For those living alone, try to hang out with friends and family members who don't smoke. And see if this helps- For the ones that live with others who smoke, tell them that you are taking a break from smoking weed. They themselves might smoke when you are not around out of respect

- Does quitting weed include edibles? Now I don't like edibles. I always would eat too much or eat high doses of edibles. And they would make me sick. I would get a terrible stomach ache that would last half the day. And I would feel burnt out, almost like a hangover from drinking too much the night before- Now, if a person wishes to quit smoking weed, do they have to quit edibles? Or if they took an extended break from smoking weed and eating edibles; and like quitting smoking for longer, but would like to get back to edibles, is that okay?- I don't know the answer to that- The good thing with edibles is that they aren't harmful to your lungs like smoking weed is- If you find yourself not having the bad effects of smoking weed, it might be okay- I know I won't be doing any edibles because I don't like how it affects me. And I would be tempted to buy some weed to smoke if I had to go to a dispensary or get it delivered

- If you took a long break from weed and then you smoke again, what's next?- First don't be so hard on yourself- Smoking a couple times to once a month or even once a week is a lot less than smoking every day- And it maybe possible to go from a heavy smoker to an occasional smoker- For me, I don't think I'll ever smoke weed again. I just for myself that I'll go back to being a regular smoker

- I'm still training for the 5k. I still have to push myself to go for a slow jog- If I still smoked weed, it would be much harder to motivate myself to run- But I keep reminding myself that I want to be able to run the 5k without getting tired at the very least- And for the long term, I need to exercise for my health. I want to feel young in my old age- I think if I was still smoking weed. I would exercise less but still think about wanting to exercise- And I would kick the can down the road saying to myself that I would quit weed and exercise tomorrow- Since I quit weed, I dream a lot. Probably every night. - In the beginning, I would get crazy nightmares. Not like ghosts or demons, the common one I hear about is snakes - though I did get one dream about snakes and alligators, which is scary- Now the nightmares are a lot less. I don't think I had a nightmare in a couple of weeks. Instead, I just get dreams that are kind of normal. What I mean by that is that I dream about stuff that typically happens to me during the day- And I like these types of dreams. At least I'm not getting freaked outIf you have questions, comments, or want to say hi - email me at quittingweed@protonmail.com or send me a message on Twitter @quittingweedpod.

- I don't have any magic drink, supplement, or activity to help you relax- I think the main thing to relax is doing something you enjoy- And get used to the fact that you don't need to weed to relax. Before, I felt the only way to relax was to smoke the strongest stuff and a lot of it- But after quitting weed, my senses started to come back. I could laugh without weed. I can sleep without weed. And I can relax without weed- So it's more a mindset thing. And once your brain and body are off of weed, you realize that there is other stuff out there that can help you get into a state of relaxation

- I went to a birthday party this weekend. They had music and an open bar- No smoking before and after the party- Also, I didn't drink during the party- The best thing about not smoking weed and drinking alcohol this weekend at the party. The next morning. I had no hangover. I was ready to go when I woke up- It is such a great feeling. And I also didn't need the liquid courage to have fun at the party. I danced and socialized just like I would if I had been drinking and smoking- I've decided to run, or more like a jog, a 5k this October- I am doing the MAF training - named after Dr. Maffetone. The training is exercising at a slow pace using your heart rate- I now jog at a very slow pace. Almost comical. But I have faith that this training will work

- Best thing since quitting weed is no more weed hangover- More energy to do other stuff - coding, writing, podcasting, training for a 5k- More social with family and friends 

- If you are going to smoke weed, it should be used sparingly - celebratory, medically, and maybe for creativity- But for me, I was addicted to weed. I smoked it all the time, so I needed to quit weed completely- I don't think weed was supposed to be so easy to get- And I think we as humans were supposed to live most of the day sober and not always being high on weed

- The short answer is yes- I used weed to ignore and sweep my problems under the rug- I would have issues with my health or family, and I would just smoke weed, and the problems would just go away- But it didn't go away. It would come back after the high wore off- Sometimes, the problems in my head didn't go away, but the weed made me just not care- Sooner or later I had to face these issues- It was better for me to quit weed and face these issues now- It was hard to quit weed, and it was harder to face these issues- But I got through it- And I was able to resolve some of the issues that I was ignoring

- I wanted to have fun all the time. I guess I can have fun without weed. But weed made life more fun. I would be funnier with weed. I would laugh more without weed- But then, after a while, life became less fun with weed. I would need more weed to get that high.- I just convinced myself that weed was why I was having fun. But weed also made me feel bad and depressed. It also made me lazy and not creative- Weed wasn't making me laugh, be creative, or just have fun. Instead, it was me and my environment that decided if I was going to have fun or not- I realized that I didn't need weed to have fun. Or to be creative. I can tell jokes or write short stories without weed- I can laugh with myself or with others without weed. Sure without weed, I can feel bad and depressed. Even uncreative. But that wasn't because of not smoking weed. Instead, it was because of me.- So, hang in there for the folks struggling to quit weed. Life can be great without weed. I would say it can be even better without weed

- Quitting weed now is harder than ever- It is legal recreationally or medically in a lot of places- There are dispensaries everywhere with a wide selection- The stigma of smoking weed is less. In the past stoners had a bad stigma, not anymore- All of this makes it hard to quit weed if you want to quit- But it's doable. I've been smoking weed for over 25 years and I was able to quit- It wasn't easy and I failed countless times trying to quit- But eventually my mind and body were ready to quit weed

- It's easy to smoke weed and get on with your day- I know I did, especially during the first 20 years that I smoked- I didn't think I had a problem with weed. I thought I could just smoke less or stop smoking anytime I wanted. But I never wanted to stop. Why?- Everything was better when I was high. Or so I thought- And when I tried quitting about five years ago, I would just cave in and smoke some weed. And just say that I will stop tomorrow or next week- I would convince myself that I didn't have a problem with weed. That weed was not making my life worse. And all the things I want to do with my life can start tomorrow or next week- But that was not true. I had to admit that I had a problem with weed. I was addicted to weed- It wasn't until I admitted to myself that I had a problem, that I could finally quit

- When I smoked weed, I slept for 5 - 6.5 hours a night- Since I quit weed, I sleep for 6.75 - 8 hours a night- My REM sleep has greatly improved according to my smartwatch- Other than quitting weed, I attribute my sleeping better is accepting that I will wake up in the middle of night- I read a blog post on this by @CriticalMAS that talked about this- I just accepted that I may not go back to sleep and not to worry about it- And lo and behold, I eventually do fall back to sleep after 30 - 60 min

- ad-libbing today- feeling good. been sober for 2.5 months- getting back to my exercise and diet routine

- Yes, it can, and I thought about smoking again at the end of last week- And I had a lot of thoughts in my head. I wasn't happy. I felt a little out of shape since I exercised less during the week than I have been doing. My eating has been okay. I caved a couple of times and ate some junk food during the week- But every time I think about smoking weed, I think about this podcast- I guess that is where an accountability partner can help. Not someone to police you, but someone that you respect. In my case, my listeners are my accountability partners. I respect them. - They take time out of the day to listen to my pod. Some of them even email me. I don't want to let them down.- So I want to say thank you to my listeners. I was close to smoking weed last week, but I kept thinking of listeners. You have helped me keep clean and sober from weed.

A Day in My Life Since I Quit Weed- 7:30am I get up- I spend less time in bed scrolling thru my phone- I usually eat breakfast, usually a sweet potato with eggs- I work fast in 3 - 4 hours in the morning- I make a fruit/veggie smoothie for lunch- after lunch, 45 min zone 2 fast walking- work again for 90 min- 4pm I pick up my daughter and play with her- make dinner at 6pm- play and read with my daughter till 8:30pm- put my daughter to bed- read and go to bed around 10pm

- Today I want to talk about my “day in life” when I smoked weed- A short summary - smoked all day and in-between I would work- Ordered DoorDash for lunch and dinner- Ate all the junk food in the house- Go to sleep- And this Friday, in the next episode, I will talk about my “day in the life” since I've quit weed

- For me, I had no option- I smoked too much, and when it came to working and taking care of myself, I did the absolute minimum- Whatever my work required, I would do just enough to get it done- In terms of taking care of myself - I barely did that. I would eat the worst foods and do minimal exercise- I needed to quit weed. Not just to be more productive but to be a better me. Be in better health so I can take care of my parents and daughter. Be a better husband- Not being able to do the things I want to do - podcasting, writing, being in better shape, spending quality time with family - would have filled my life with regret

- I've quit smoking weed for 2 months - 63 days. That also includes edibles, which I never liked or my body never liked- Now I don't even think about smoking weed anymore. Not even a little bit- Probably the 2 most important things that helped me quit are admitting that I was an addict and having this pod where I confessed my addiction- But being honest about myself being an addict made me determined to quit. I didn't have a good relationship with weed - And having a pod called “Quitting Weed,” where my listeners are my accountability partner, kept me on track with quitting weed- Now I look forward to having to write and record content for the pod. It is one of the most enjoyable things I do during the week.- And the best thing is the messages I get from emails and Twitter DMs of people thanking me for this pod, and it has encouraged them to quit weed too. They make me feel great. Even better than money. These thank yous are priceless.

- Can you weed responsibly?- Yes you can, but not me.- Weed does serve a purpose medically and recreationally- But I smoked too much and I was an addict- Quitting weed was my only choice- I'm pro-marijuana, but I'm happy that I quit weed

- Nothing Scripted today- I'm on vacation and my first vacation in a long time where I'm not smoking weed- Feels great. Slept great. More Social with my family- Quitting weed has unlocked my productivity- I want to do more stuff - writing, podcasting, coding- A lot of the stuff I want to do wouldn't be possible if I still smoked weed

- I've gotten several emails from folks who thanked me for the podcast and how I've inspired them to quit- Those emails make me feel good and motivate me to keep doing this pod for a long time- And I now, more than ever, want to help others- Helping others and receiving gratitude from them, which can be just a simple “thank you,” is worth more than $1000 (or maybe even more)- It motivates me to wake up and do this pod- I feel the best is yet to come in my life since I quit weed

- Quitting weed was the best thing that I have done in my life- I don't have the urge to smoke weed anymore- The urge to smoke went way down from day 5 to day 7- Now on day 54, there is no urge. I don't think about getting high. I don't miss getting high.- If I see someone smoking a joint in a movie or in real life, for the first time in a long time, I don't want to smoke a joint too- So for the folks that are trying to quit or just starting to quit, the urge to smoke and get high does go away. It does.