The short version: I’d like to pay you to not drink or jerk off for 30 days. Sign up here and get your monk on.
Sex is A-OK.
The longer version is below, which includes juicy details, more options for women, and some farewell-porn suggestions…
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You know who you are, you filthy animals.
Secret bookmarks to Pornhub (“Discount airfare” – Ha!), secret folders labeled “Tax Returns” for when wifi fails, bookmarks for animated GIFs in case of slow connections (curtsy to Tumblr), Hotspot Shield for when you’re in countries that ban your cherished images (download it before you fly!)…
Oh, wait. Am I projecting again?
Yes, I’ve admitted it before, and I’ll admit it again: dudes watch porn on the Internet. Shocker, I know. All those guys on the magazine covers? They do it, too.
Less obvious, perhaps, is how dramatically your life can change if you quit porn and masturbation for a short period.
I did this for 30 days recently, and — oddly enough — I found it much easier and more impactful to quit booze for the same 30 days. Just a few of the benefits I experienced included…
- A dramatic surge in free testosterone and sex drive. Dozens of my seemingly healthy male friends, techies in particular, have approached me over the years about chronically low testosterone. There are many potential causes, including late-night blue light, but removing booze and porn appear to open the flood gates. Research (example, example) shows that alcohol reduces testosterone levels. So…should you be dating more? Trying a little harder instead of wanking, watching Battlestar Galactica, and calling it a night? This will help motivate you.
- Increased ability to focus and cognitive endurance. This goes along with increased “T” mentioned above.
- Getting roughly 50-100% more done. When you aren’t nursing hangovers, chewing up 3-4 hours per night with friends, destroying your sleep with booze, or procrastinating with porn (you know who you are) — miracle of miracles — you get more done! A LOT more done. In my mind, this alone easily justifies a 30-day booze and porn fast. You’ll clear off that goddamn to-do list faster than Speedy Gonzales. And remember: sex is still allowed.
Join Me for Another 30 Days
Given how transformative this was for me, I’m inviting you to join me for another 30 days. After that, you can go back to your hedonistic ways. I enjoy porn, but I’ve concluded I can level up by taking breaks.
I’ll refer to our 30-day challenge as NOBNOM (NO Booze, NO Masturbating), as the acronym itself sounds pornographic. We gotta make this sumnabitch memorable.
Next steps are described below.
NOTE: If you don’t masturbate (a lot of women don’t but should), or if you otherwise don’t watch enough porn to care about abstaining, here’s another option:
NOBNOC — No Booze, No Complaining
For this version, please first read “Real Mind Control: The 21-Day No-Complaint Experiment.” Then, join the same NOBNOB challenge page to be part of the community.
Next Steps — Do It Now!
1. STEP 1 – Join the NOBNOM goal page here. This is free, and it will keep you accountable to yourself and others. This official challenge starts August 1st. That means you get to go crazy on September 1st. If you’re reading this another time, you can start whenever. I’m sure people will still be on the page.
2. STEP 2 – If you’re really serious, up the ante and put some cash on the line. As discussed at length in The 4-Hour Chef, without stakes or consequences, about 70% of you will fail. So… choose not to fail.
Below are two options, and I earn nothing from either. I’d suggest doing both of them, if possible:
- A. Create a betting pool with a few friends or co-workers. Each person commits $100 or whatever (enough to sting if lost, but not enough to bankrupt you) to the pot, and those who complete the full 30 days split the pot. Using this type of betting pool is partially how Tracy Reifkind lost 100+ pounds, so you can definitely use it on NOBNOM.
- B. Get an accountability coach by clicking here. They’ll email you daily to keep you on track, and you get the first week free by using coupon “NOBNOM.” It’s otherwise $14.99 per week, so the month costs you $45. There are two coaches, and they have bandwidth for 200 people. The coaches: one is a former senior staffer from OneTaste (remember the 4-Hour Body orgasm chapters?). The other coach successfully stopped masturbating and is trained in accountability coaching.
3. STEP 3 – If you’d like to participate in 1-3 support meetings and private Q&As, sign up for my e-mail list and you’ll get the invites. I’ll probably host live video chats, 60-minutes long, and I’ll dedicate 15-20 minutes to the AA meeting-type stuff. The NoFap page on reddit might also be helpful for some of y’all.
And that’s it!
How You Get Paid
I’m putting $1,000 of my own cash on the line, and Lift (which I advise) is putting up $500, for a total of $1,500.
Here’s how you get it:
1) You must complete the 30-day challenge (Aug 1-31, 2014) on the NOBNOM goal page I’ve linked to throughout this post. We’ll audit this.
2) You must put some of your cash on the line, using one of the above listed approaches. It shouldn’t be enough to hurt you, but it needs to be enough to motivate you.
3) You must leave helpful feedback, tips, and/or encouragement for others, on both that page and in the comments below.
After the challenge, the Lift team, my jury of magic elves, and I will choose the three (3) most helpful people, and each will get $500 USD. Bam!
Get excited and get on it.
So, What Are You Waiting For?
If you’ve been feeling less than super-productive, slightly lethargic, or mildly depressed, do this 30-day challenge. If you simply want to level-up your life, do this 30-day challenge.
At the very least, it’ll make you conscious of automatic behaviors. Things you’ve done for so long that you know nothing else.
If you’re like me, once the fat starts melting off and you’re feeling like a different person, you’ll say to yourself:
“Holy shit, my baseline for the last 10 years [or 5 or 15 or whatever] has been fucked! I totally forgot what it feels like to live clean.”
Perhaps living clean ended for you after high school, or even before, as it did for me. Why not get reacquainted for 30 days? Chances are that it’s been a while.
A Parting Gift
If you need a last hurrah before 30 days of being a good boy or girl, here are a few options for party time:
- A bottle of 2011 Ménage à Trois red. It’s delicious.
- A viewing of “Momoko and Anjelica,” available through Ze Google. It’s also delicious, and DEFINITELY not suitable for work.
- A chaser of club soda with lots of lime. You might be having lots of these, so get friendly.
Welcome to Thunderdome! You’ll thank me later.
See you on NOBNOM central.
Pura vida,
Tim
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Tim, have you heard of the no fap page on reddit? No fap is not wanking for three months. And not even ‘edging’ either.
All the best
What if I don’t drink? No jerking and no complaining??
I don’t drink much either, so I’m going to do no booze AND no sugar, to make it a bigger challenge for myself.
That’d be awesome! Keep it up
And no complaining about not jerking =]. Just kidding, that’s what we’re here for.
That’s what I plan to do.
So sex is ok but you just can’t pleasure yourself?
I understand how alcohol accomplishes your list of things, but I don’t see how not jacking off accomplishes those things. First, sex has been shown to increase testosterone production. I’m assuming this applies to masturbation as well. Also, I beat off before I go to bed which releases hormones that put men into a drowsy state. I fall asleep faster and we all know how important sleep is to our physical and mental health.
So other than porn, I’m curious what your rationale for NOM.
Don’t assume when you can Google!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11760788
“although plasma testosterone was unaltered by orgasm, higher testosterone concentrations were observed following the period of abstinence. These data demonstrate that acute abstinence does not change the neuroendocrine response to orgasm but does produce elevated levels of testosterone in males.”
Yes but the other drawbacks include lack of energy and focus throughout the day, feeling ‘in a haze’, loss of libido (or lack of INCREASED libido), and blindness. Just kidding about the blindness, but I encourage you to do some research on your own. The evidence is there.
To me, it was conditioning.
I’m not sure about the others, but the masturbation that i avoid here in the challenge is associated with made up fantasy in your head and in porn, which somehow desentisized me from enjoying The real sex.
Masturbation can lead to desensitization, making it harder to finish when you’re actually having sex. Chronic masturbation (like, every night?) also fries your dopamine receptors.
[Moderator: link removed]
Great idea.
If I sign up, this means I can’t Work From Home for the next 30 days either…
Ruiz, that is a problem for me too. Staying at home definitely increases the odds I will do one of either things. The solution I’ve found is working out regularly and getting away from the house before urges hit (even though, admittedly, that’s very hard to follow sometimes.) Using the Lift app also helps a bit, but I find it better to focus on real-life, “physical” solutions. Good luck.
Eric,
You could try using things like Google SafeSearch and certain siteblock applications to serve as a reminder in those tough situations!
There are safeguards you can put in place to help prevent urges. Download K9 web protection, make up a difficult password and give it to your friend. Learn to feel and embrace the urges instead of using it to act. None of this is easy and all we can do is try.
I can’t wait to see this unfold 🙂
*WARNING – there may be many men exploding very early come September
Update: on the 7th day , a lot of guys admitted they did M. But what’s good is their integrity to report it to the group, get a bit of encouragement and move on. What a group
game on! I can/will/have done the no booze part. But the no stroke for a month? What will I do with myself? (pun intended) Thanks again Tim for the advice!
Work out, learn a new skill or take up a hobby, catch up with friends
Tim, love it. I’ve made the concerted effort to cut out porn and have only used it once in the past 6 months. But I had been trying to quit altogether with varying degrees of success and inevitable failure for about a year and a half before that. I honestly think that it fucks guys up more than we realize and I have to say that it was the hardest thing for me to quit, harder than cigarettes were. So glad I’ve gone through it and there is quite a bit of information on http://www.yourbrainonporn.com that I found very helpful.
Whether it is hard fact yet or not, there is some indication that dopamine receptor down regulation could be a factor in some of the negative affect associated with porn use. Very interesting stuff.
Completely agree with you on this one. Cut out porn in September 2013. Haven’t looked since. It’s created 1) much better sex with my wife because I told her I was doing it, which she LOVED, and not taking care of yourself pushes you to have sex with your partner 2) better focus during the day 3) reducing the “2nd look” syndrome all males have when we see a great looking woman and 4) better friendships with buddies when opening up about past problems with porn and now being free. A bunch of friends are now on the same pursuit.
There are lots more positives but those are, in my mind, the biggest.
Porn has lasting effects… Effects you don’t want to have.
Keep it up SS and everyone else.
Tried it before and I noticed a serious increase in confidence. You become a lot more aggressive and you want to get shit done. I highly recommend it.
That’s what I’m talking about. I’m curious, why did you stop if it was working well for you or are you still continuing?
I think this might be the first post of yours to not get a single comment, Tim! Hee …
Holy molly, that tongue in the pic though, that looks inhuman
Did thise one a few weeks ago. Epic habit to take control of !
Is there an argument to having vices? I’m 31 not religious but have never tasted liquor. All my friends and coworkers drink, I can go to the bar or club and be social and don’t ever feel uncomfortable with it.
I’ve also gone long bouts of being celibate (years at a time) when I’ve been in a long term relationships make up for it but that too has not caused any issues for me.
I like to cut things to as you say level up but I’m afraid I don’t have enough vices to cut out and maybe I am missing out. I haven’t had a tv in 8 years. I didn’t eat meat for three years, I cut out sweets for a year, all as experiments to disrupt routines. When I ran out of stuff to take away I built a 97 sq ft home almost 4 years ago that I still live in and required me to get rid of excess stuff.
What are y’all’s thoughts? Instead of taking away maybe there habits or things I should be adding with the same goal of leveling up in mind?
Perhaps you could try giving up bragging for thirty days.
Haha I knew that’s how it might come off. Seriously cracking up, not my intent though.
I just saw Kristies profile pic… I guess I’ll start tomorrow 🙂
There’s many habits you could add to level up. Read more books, develop a healthier diet, work on becoming more flexible, join a public speaking group, practice an art, diligently meditate, etc. You seem like a pretty unreal person (from your accolades, and I mean unreal in a good way), so I’m sure you already have a lot of these habits that many consider to be something to strive for to better yourself.
What are your goals? Why do you want to level up and it what ways? What motivates you?
Thanks for the inspiration Grant – public speaking terrifies me, I’ve been pretty terrible in the past and try to avoid it at all costs. That’s what I’ll try to tackle this year!
I have started to mediate daily for the last couple weeks using the app headspace because a lot of people I admire swear by it.
Kristie, have you tried to meditate for 20 minutes twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon? I personally have experienced great clarity and focus from just 30 days of continual meditation. If you would like some guidance, I understand the Transcendental Meditation do some amazing work.
Thanks for the suggestion I’ll definitely check it out. I’ve been meditating for three weeks now 15 minutes once a day but maybe I need to step it up.
First off, I want to say that’s very impressive that you were able to shed away many things we are dependent on today. Although that can contribute greatly to improving one’s overall lifestyle I would say it’s not necessary. I believe in pushing yourself and out of your comfort zone. That includes trying new things, and improving on things you want to work on or already love. Love gardening? Join a gardening meet up or set a goal to build a greenhouse or private garden. Like kayaking? Try it and then have a list of rivers to conquer. If cutting off certain things can help you accomplish those goals, more power to you.
I’m curious – how did you come to spend years in celibacy? I’m sure you received a fair share propositions during that time.
I’ll be honest with you, Kristie. You’re a babe. And I’m doing my best to hold back from jerking off to your photo. You’ve experienced years of celibacy? Why? What’s your sex drive like? Does it have a pulse? How often do you masturbate? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
You need a man like me – I have lots of vices to cure! 🙂
There are many 30 day challenges that involve creating new habits, I highly recommend the 30 day cold shower challenge, but search it up there are tons of ideas, you could do monthly challenges for years before running out.
Is regular intercourse allowed?
This is totally awesome – perfect timing. I’ve done it for a maximum of 3 weeks in the past. I can attest it made me feel so much more energetic and alive. My conversations were better and I learned “faster”. Somewhere down the road, I forgot how much better it made me feel. Thanks for the reminder. Totally up for this challenge!
I’m in. Let’s do this.
Was planning a year without alcohol for 2015, this should be a great litmus test. The curbing of the fapping is just icing on the cake. LET’S GO!
I am in, let’s do this! I am also willing to partner, mentor or buddy anyone! It works so much better if you are accountable to someone!
Bad timing- it overlaps with burning man!
oK, no jerk off, but can we have sex?
Sex is fine and natural. Masturbation and porn isn’t.
I actually haven’t been boozing since my birthday on the 16th (1 beer), I’ll go along with this, sounds like a challenge.
Tim, you’re the man! Tried quitting both things several times and really felt great.. but then got back to doing both again.. definitely joining the challenge 😉
Tim, how did you end up going back after feeling the positive effects?
I’m game. Let’s do this!
I’m 21 and I go back to school in a month. This may be hard as hell to do, but I think it will be worth it. However, at my age I definitely am not worried about low T.
Nobnom does sound like a porn site in itself.
OK…I can understand the no booze bit.
And I can understand the no porn bit (given that patronizing it is inherently supporting one form of debasement and exploitation).
But I don’t “grok” the physiology behind why not wanking is somehow inherently healthier and a means of boosting ones T; frankly, this reminds me of the sort of Victorian attitudes that have almost–but not entirely–been eliminated from society. Besides, if you don’t wank, aren’t you just going to have “wet dreams”? Frankly, I don’t get it. I guess I need some additional edification on the subject.
Side note: Weirdly, I lost my libido entirely when I hit menopause (which was a blessing in disguise, for reasons that I’ll not go into here). I’ve little-to-no desire to “jill off”; but even back in my prime, I didn’t need porn for inspiration.
For those on the NoFap subreddit, here’s the thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/2c6add/nofap_going_mainstream_tim_ferriss_posts_30day/
Such great timing, was actually planning on doing NOM for 30 days to see the real effect on testosterone in my blood work. Got the “before” bloodwork done yesterday. This challenge just makes me look forward to doing this even more.
NOBNOM code isn’t working on lift.do for the free week. What’s up?!
Excited about the challenge!
Hi Jonathan, sorry about that. We’re looking into why the code isn’t working. I’ll send an update when we have it.
Coupon is fixed! Should work now.
Hmmm. Can you try now? Or if it doesn’t work, email us and we’ll apply it retroactively.
Such great timing, was actually planning on doing NOM for 30 days to see the real effect on testosterone in blood work. I got the “before” bloodwork done yesterday. This challenge just makes me look forward to doing this even more.
It’s probably been asked before, but how about getting laid? Does that count?
Actual sex is completely normal and acceptable.
This is exactly what I need this month: a solid reset.
I have a few things to offer to the NOBNOM community:
1) My support.
I’ll be following the comments here, and on Lift.
2) http://yourbrainonporn.com/
Learning how much porn and masturbation mess up my natural responses to women is turning out to be my biggest motivator in this challenge. If you want to learn more, this is a great resource that’s helping me a lot.
To make this happen, I know I need to mentally make the mental “pain” of masturbating more than the pleasure. What a challenge! haha
3) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203407752948047&l=67b1a1e1ab
This is a link to a Facebook post I wrote back on the last day of my sober marathon: 26.2 weeks without alcohol. (Hope you’ll make an exception for this link, Tim!)
Before January 1st, I was drinking a bottle of wine a night just to get through the pain of living a life I didn’t want to be living.
It took me stopping and taking a step back to realize I was an alcoholic. And, every day I think about what it’d be like to drink again. I had my 21st birthday two days ago and fought off the urge to have a drink all night.
I try to rationalize drinking again: drinking in smaller amounts, drinking less often. But it’s in interviews with famous actors that are openly sober that I realize “having 1 drink” likely isn’t an option for me.
—
I’m really looking forward to hearing from you, and being able to support each other over the course of the next 30 days.
With Love,
David Hrostoski
I love this project but Burning Man begins before August ends and I’m not willing to forego booze out there. Why can’t everyone plan everything around Burning Man? I’m half serious.
I WOULD have signed up if it weren’t for that picture at the start of your blog post. I can’t get that girls tongue (or her painted chest) out of my mind! Thanks for nothing Tim! (does anybody else think she’s Jennifer Lawrence’s doppelganger?)
Wowza, So few comments.Great article Tim. I love they way yuou used the blunt terminology.
I wish there was additional no booze only and no masturbation only challenges. Maybe After this one? just to see which oe works better for most people. Because I’ll give up polishing the nob for a month no problem since I am married. Not the Booze though, I just took a 2 week break from that which ended 1 week ago.
Best Tricks/Tips with not drinking from that little 2 week hiatus I took:
Get another beverage that you enjoy but rarely drink and stock up on it at home before you start. Like lacroix water. I preferred something caffeinated or sweet though. Arizona Green tea by the gallon or 100% organic apple juice. They both give you a buzz of sorts from the sugar rush or the caffiene. It helped allot when I craved a Drink since they also look like cocktails when you pour them into a glass with ice. the Brain thinks its getting booze since it the juice or tea looks like a cocktail. Stupid, but hey it worked 😉
Also, I found after the fist week that I was associating a desire to drink alcohol with all sorts of stuff. Chiefly Hunger! I found that when I was like man I need to have a drink I I was also hungry and if I ate something i lost all desire for a cocktail. I also associated it with smoking hookah with friends. but that doesn’t help allot of you. Lastly I found out rapidly who I associated with drinking heavily and who I did not. That can be helpful info as well.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Any tips on apps to block porn sites from iPhone and home networks, for those times when the limbic brain engages the keyboard before the neocortex brain wakes up?
Hey Tim,
Do you suggest starting NOBNOM, keeping your phone away from your pocket, and doing the long term Sex Machine 1 protocol all at the same time? Just got my T levels checked and I want them higher.
The thing about not masturbating is that it doesn’t give you more testosterone in the long run forever. You may notice an increase because you’re not beating it away but it will eventually dip down and level out. It will still be higher than when you beat your stick every day and most of the changes are chemical/physiological such as increased energy, confidence, awareness…etc.
Funny I just read an article on Vice about abstaining from cumming for like 100-days or something. Already 8 days into my 30-day challenge should I just wank off and start over?
Wow. READ THIS BEFORE IT’S DELETED. First off Tim, tell us how you got 50-100% more done. Seriously, I’m calling you out with the truth. Second, I think healthy attitudes towards sex and decision making are far more in need of promotion than porn/booze abstinence. Thirdly, like hookers who hang out in bars, “coaches”, love to attend events like this to get clients. It’s a natural setting for leads.
For Tim to have gotten 50-100% more done means, most likely, he was spending 25-50% of his time drinking, fapping or recovering from said activities….does this make sense to anyone?
Not completely correct, James. I’m theorizing that by not drinking and masturbating he would be getting to bed earlier and getting better sleep. These things would compound into his day and it’s us he would be getting significantly more done. His cognitive functioning would be increased because he wasn’t dampening it with booze and the hormonal Cascade from ejaculating with masturbation. Again, this will provide a significant boost during the day. Plus he’s not wasting time and not feeding his body and mind with crap. More ‘low information/low crap’ benefits.
The compound effect of a few disciplines can make a massive difference in results. I notice my results in all areas improves massively just by getting off tech before 11pm, and getting to bed around the same time. So I can understand his 50-100% results boost from not drinxing & masturbating.
I signed up for the challenge (should be an interesting month). My advice. Just like a chain smoker who wants to quit smoking. They are going to want to do it. They just need to refrain from doing the physical act. Simply don’t pick up a cigarette, stick it in your mouth, and light it on fire. That’s all you have to focus on. Same with this challenge. You may want to drink or masturbate. Just simply don’t pick up the bottle, can, or cup filled with an alcoholic beverage and drink it. Simply don’t touch your genitals in a strokey way or type Pornhub (or whatever porn site you like) into Google Search and click the link. Focus attention on not doing the physical act regardless of what your brain tells you to do. Stop the zombie-like autopilot actions and live this month with heightened self-awareness.
Sorry Ferris, but you’re wrong about the increase in testosterone regarding masturbation:
http://yourbrainonporn.com/has-too-much-masturbation-decreased-my-testosterone-levels
I did this for 90 days while on a 3-month Outdoor Leadership expedition… It was a little internal bet a few people in the group made.
It’s intense in the beginning, but after a while it becomes much more manageable.. and the change is incredibly dramatic.
I ended up significantly more productive, less likely to be distracted, and my testosterone and (dating life) got a big boost.
This is going to be an EPIC challenge! Longest I managed to stay away from wackin it was 30 days… but no alcohol too?
Bring it on! Good luck everyone.
Did you stop or are you still continuing the challenge?
No procrastabating ay? I’m in.
I’m looking to start a betting pool with fellow TFerriss readers- does anyone know of a website or app that we can use for this?
Perfect time for this challenge. I was going to quit boozing August 1st until I climb Kilimanjaro in September. Now I have some people to be accountable to and some money on the line. Definitely will help a lot for motivation. Ok, back to bed…hungover
I was JUST thinking about how much time and attention masturbation takes up. I recently finished reading your 4-Hour Workweek book and have been hyper aware of things that not just eat up time, but more importantly, eat up ATTENTION. This challenge is exactly what I need to kickstart my lifestyle redesign. I’m in!
Maybe you should make the female version 30 days of No booze & yes masturbating 😉
I’m curious about that too – maybe that will help in our society’s skewed shaming of sexuality and help you select better, authentic, attractive men!
Can I still smoke weed, and take hallucinogens like LSD and Psilocybin? I’ll agree to cut out the MDMA.
Was already considering something like this and now have a whole community to join me! Count me in.
Never drank before and have no interest in doing so, haha so that parts easy. As for the masturbation, I’ve been doing the 100 day challenge and I’m already on day 53. So it could work out to finish it up with this
Does this include discontinued use of sleep aids like melatonin, ZMA, or diphenhydramine?
It’s funny how 50/50 people are on this subject.
I gave up booze for 6 months a couple of years ago. Within the first 2 weeks my energy levels were so much more higher, and I felt generally healthier.
One thing that also happened was my confidence went through the roof. I hadnt realised how I relied on those 1 or 2 drinks to settle me down and give me the confidence to talk to people. Going into the same social situations without drinking eventually got me out of my shell – which was awesome. I also took on running and meditation for the times where I wanted to unwind. Needless to say, I rarely drink anymore.
Regarding the not masterbating thing. I did this for a couple of months and tracked my day to day moods. There are a couple of apps that can help you do this. What I noticed is the next day after I would orgasm I was lethargic, generally moody, and often feeling a little depressed. Over the next two weeks I noticed a pattern of mood fluctuations until it started to even out. When it evened out my energy was a lot higher, it was really hard to get me out of a good mood, and I dealt with tougher situations a lot easier than my Post Orgasm. I did this a couple of times, and got generally the same results.
Whether you think it will make a difference or not, I recommend trying it. Track your mood/energy levels now with your normal lifestyle, then track it when you are of the booze and porn – then compare. Everyone I know who has tried something like this will be pleasantly surprised.
Heh not sure I get the no masturbation thing? I don’t watch porn at all… but umm…as for not masturbating… (and I’m female 😛 ). Just not necessarily sure that it would be beneficial to stop?! (I mean, if one spends hours wasting time on porn, I get why it’d be beneficial to stop, but not stop masturbation in general!). Maybe I’m missing the point here?
Napoleon Hill in 1938 talk about sexual transmutation in his epic book, Think and Grow Rich.
[Moderator: link removed]
Great post will be looking forward to reading about your experiences lol good luck guys
Tim, good to see you on board with the NoFap movement. I’ve been trying to do the 90 days challenge for 2 years and my record is 50. I’ve done the no booze thing a few times and result for both are always so positive.
Actually, great idea to do these two together, as drinking booze definitely doesn’t help the NoFap challenge or anything of that sort.
Great to see the encouragement of someone I’ve been following for 6-7 years now. Signing up
Don’t do it dudes.
Not meaning to troll, honest. But this is what you do when you are marry and have kids: no booze no masturbation. Of course you get more stuff done, but rather than as a consequence of NOBNOM (I don’t know what’s the obsession of Tim with acronyms), is because of the bloody lack of time.
Not worthy. Neeeext!
A great personal challenge to change and better your ways!
Game is On
As a Bartender I did some No Booze challenge up to 3 month just to prove myself I didn’t need it and I actually didn’t miss it or the behaviors that come with it
Interested about the NOM part as I’m working on my seduction skills I already noticed having sex and not masturbating makes me more confident (and attractive by extension) it’s going to be fun !!
If anyone need an accounting partner feel free to get in touch
I am currently a member of NoFap on reddit and everything is going smoothly! Just a tip, don’t fight the urge to masturbate or use porn, just use that time to do something else!
No Fap on Reddit is an amazing resource. Although over the months I’ve seen some good advice mixed in with some utter crap. Still gives me motivation though when I’m at my weakest moments
Hey people, it’s called NOM (No Masturbation), so this would imply that getting laid does not count.
Also see the second sentence of the post…
I’ll treat this like Musashi did the eagle mountain when his foot was festering. If I can’t do this, how can I do all the other things that I want to do with my life?
Agreed, and great reference!
Nice Tim. This is going to help so many guys. Thank you.
I did a 2 month no booze, no sex, no masturbation challenge in December 2012 (and blogged about it extensively).
Then a six month one from January 1 this year to the beginning of July. Now I’m sober with no desire to drink at all and I’m in an amazing partnership.
In my opinion, porn in itself isn’t bad, but the way that most men use it is like training the nervous system for bad sex. At least the way I was in my 20s. A quick fap every night before bed. No wonder so many of us have a strong urge to ejaculate in the first minute or so of sex. Because we’ve been training our bodies that way.
And now that I’ve been sober for six months, I can’t think of one good reason to drink again. My body just doesn’t have any desire to drink alcohol any more. Which works for now.
Anyway, thanks for leading the way.
Respect,
Mike
Respect (to you both brothers!)
I’ve avoided porn, masturbation, and alcohol for 36 years (I am 36 years old, btw, I realize the first 10 probably don’t count). Been married for 11 years now and have 4 kids.
I’ll be happy to take a prize for it, but the good life that comes with discipline is prize enough.
This man…is a GOD!
“The other coach successfully stopped masturbating and is trained in accountability coaching.” Best. Sentence. Ever. LMFAO
Happy to see that more and more people are discovering the power of abstaining from excessive porn and masturbation! Porn can be VERY destructive – I would advise people to check our “Your Brain on Porn” on YouTube to learn more about it.
If anybody needs additional accountability or advice for abstaining from masturbation during Tim Ferriss’s 30 day challenge, check us out at NoFap.org and reddit.com/r/NoFap. We are one of the most supportive communities on the net.
I wish all of you nothing but the best.
-Alexander, owner of NoFap (Tim Ferriss linked to us from the article)
Thank you for the comment, Alexander! You and the entire NoFap community are tremendous. Keep up the great work.
Hey wait, how come sex is okay? What’s the difference in physiology?
This is a great question and I’m also waiting for an answer
There is a major difference. Masturbation, while not a bad thing necessarily, can lead to isolation, porn addiction, depression, and other symptoms. Sex increases intimacy, healthy brain function, human interaction, etc.
Difference between porn induced masturbation and sex: a real person is involved. Most likely someone with which you have a relationship. This is profoundly different to cresting a peak sexual experience and associating it with a fantasy girl. The habit leads to the neurological pursuit of ever more variety and instant gratification.
Cool idea! I have been increasing my time in states of flow recently and I think this challenge might take me to the next level. Plus, I live pretty clean but beer is a distraction on occasion (twice a week at least) and I live a solitude life on my sustainable farm and masturbation makes me depressed for it reminds me I am alone. Cannot wait to give this a try.
It’s funny I did this last month and made it through exactly a month. But ended with a night of drinking heavily at the bar and then lead to a binge of porn. No good.
Intriguing challenge. I have to admit I am surprised at men’s comments…for only a 30-day abstention.
Tim, as a 21 year-old, I found myself with ED, which I thought was impossible. I immediately investigated and found a VERY informative site called yourbrainonpornDOTcom, and realized this happened to tons of other young guys too.
I went 15 weeks without porn or masturbation and my problem was gone. It was quite a nerve-wracking time, especially with girls, school, work, partying, etc.
Good work. Yes, the results can be dramatic on both ends. Too much porn really messes up your real sex life, IMHO.
I think I speak for many of my people in that giving up booze for 30 days isn’t THAT tough.
But…
…giving up weed for 30 days is def a challenge. And, it is certainly aligned with the goal of increasing productivity, confidence and energy.
I’ll be leading my people in this modified challenge. No weed, no wanking.
#NOWNOW
Go for it and keep us posted! #NOWNOW 🙂
There’s a little confusion about the official end date of NOBNOM. The 31st or the 1st?
https://www.lift.do/app/plans/310770-nobnom
Good luck dude 🙂
Tim, I saw your Youtube video early last month talking about you doing this experiment. It inspired me and I have taken this month of July off from booze and caffeine! (I wasn’t all that concerned about the masturbation). I’m 30 days strong with 1 day to go!! But I don’t really want to go 2 months straight w/o my morning coffee routine. (I’m doing great w/o the caffeine, I just miss having that activity part of starting my day)
To any of you who aren’t sure about doing this…. it’s really worth your time! I feel way better with out the extra ‘dead calories’ from the booze/weekend hangovers and like Tim mentioned, my productivity levels have tripled. The first week was the crappiest but thats b/c I was dealing with caffeine headaches. You all have nothing to worry about!!
Tim! I’m super glad I did this so thank you!
Giving up porn makes sense, just like giving up any junk media. But why does that have to lead to giving up masturbation? I would argue that allowing your mind to wander, and your hand to wander south with it, is overall a healthy practice. Combined with taking a break from booze, you could probably end the month with a restored sense of who you are, as a sexual being, that has less to do with the reflex response that porn triggers, and more to do with your own internal sex drive that you’d lost touch with.
Susan, the results of masturbation for women are different than for men. As Tim said in the post, as a woman.. go masturbate. It’s good for you. For men, we get really depleted when we masturbate, and porn has been shown to be terribly unhealthy for the male mind.
I told my lady that I gave up masturbating & looking at porn / naked pictures of women. You know what she said? “I appreciate that”. Less masturbating = more sex with real women.
Just signed up! I can feel my ball sac quivering with testosterone already. 🙂
Interesting. I was actually planning on checking out Lift, and trying this after watching the last Random Show. Good timing! Now to finish the bottle of wine I opened yesterday before the first…
The reason I liked the sexuality chapter in the 4HB, and have appreciated the few previous pro-sexuality statements on this site, was because they appeared to be sex-positive in a sex-negative world. After personally experiencing the sex-negative control of religion for many repressed years I finally left religion because it was extremely repressive of sexuality. To control people religion says no masturbation, no porn, sex is bad and is for marriage only, no non-marital sex, and no contraception. I disagreed with all of these and thus left church. No one tells me what to do with my own body. I give no one the power over me to control my sexuality. I’ve seen stupid no fap on many sites that is similar to religion. Most people probably don’t understand the control of religion unless they too have experienced the brainwashing control. I have a positive attitude and don’t complain. Drinking is not part of my lifestyle because I don’t enjoy it. Being sex-positive/pro-sexuality and in favor of sexual freedom, I will continue to be grateful for watching porn, and continue enjoying masturbation and other sexual activities. We have the freedom to live our own lifestyle in a way that makes us happy.
Every tried to go a few weeks without jerking?
Jerking isn’t the worst part. It’s porn duh.
Tim,
I love the ambition here and great idea, but isn’t this a little contradictory to the 4 hour work week movement? I always thought that the reason to work harder for a shorter amount of time was to enjoy the small things in life like jerking it and drinking more beer.
Well, there are other ways to have fun beside those two… like actual sex and playing video games xD
agree
The philosophy behind his 4HWW book was to eliminate things that took away attention from fulfilling your ideal life. Even if you don’t think masturbation and booze is distracting you from your dream life, this is an exercise in will power to be in control of your life instead of your life controlling you. It will reinforce to yourself that you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
I might do something like this at some point but once I plan for it in advance so that I go through my beer supplies before I start. Lots of the beers I drink do not age well so if I waited 30 days they would not be very tasty after I finished. Also more difficult since I have a beer blog and thus write about beer regularly.
KILL ITSELF
Does this mean no sex?
Signed up. Already not drinking. Time for NOM!
I’m disappointed that you would conflate the incredibly deleterious effects of alcohol use with something as utterly harmless and natural as masturbation. I thought you had more intelligence and honesty than that.
You have just been dropped from my news feed.
I don’t drink and have a pretty awesome wife. The complaining is going to be a problem how to I break that mindset
Let’s make it a trifecta and throw out TV, too. NOBNOMNOT(v)
I’m really curious about the fat melting off comment. Tim is a big proponent of wine and even says that a glass or two a night is ok on the SCD. Was the difference without booze really that significant? Anyone else experience this?
challenge accepted.
and for the record, XVideos > Pornhub ;p
Ok, I’m in! I’m also going to up the challenge a bit, and refrain from caffeine and gluten, among other things. Also, I’m training for a Half Ironman on September 21st, so I’m going to extend this challenge from 8/1-9/21 to help with my training.
I’m excited to see the results. I’ll also be blogging about my experience with the challenge and I’ll be recording some video blogs.
Good luck everyone!
Chad
I’m In. I’ve gone 84 days before, but recently have succumbed to the distractions. I am also trained in Psychology and an expert in Addiction, and my roommate is writing a book on overcoming pornography. Message me if you want any advice or support.
I need advice and support TJ
Hey Writer Felixa,
If you can contact me through the link on my name I can help you. I had to delete follow up comments because my inbox exploded with over 150 comments on this post, I’d love to help you out.
Low T? wow, I think its food, porn, no real life challenges (climbing, hiking, kickboxing etc), lack of trying to be social (pursuing, interaction, real life person) with women and others, among other factors. Great Challenge if you told me no coffee and wine for 30 days, I might faint. I think we can all use a detox quarterly from some things in our life.
I’m in, putting a hundred bucks on the line. And guys, it’s 30 days, not forever. I think masturbation is good for you in moderation (and studies do back that up), but giving it up for a month as an experiment seems worthwhile, especially if you watch a lot of porn and have started linking your arousal to images on a screen rather than real-life women. And the booze- that I could obviously benefit from a month without.
Remember guys, alcohol is a depressant. That always keeps me clean. Also I’m married, so hate to humble brag but NOM is going to be like a piece of cherry pie (no pun intended). Mental note: Better not piss off the wife
For 30 days.
Good piece of information to remember. Next time somebody calls me out on not drinking, I’ll let them know about that bit haha.
I don’t drink, but I haven’t even had a date in six months. This is gonna be tough, but I’m in.
I can’t do it. I’m addicted to porn. I watch between 20 and 30 minutes on weekdays. Thankfully, I try not to watch any on weekends and actually get outside and go hiking.
Thank you, Tim. This is a great write-up bringing awareness about a serious problem that many young men struggle with on a daily basis.
Appreciate your insight into your personal 30-day challenge. Reflects accurately to my own journey into this area of self-development. Accompanied with the practice of sex energy transmutation, you can greatly level up your feeling of wellness and productivity.
Funnily enough a few of us were having beers less than a week ago, discussing this exact idea! Great decision on the NOBNOM acronym
Who’s the woman in the photo, what’s her phone number, and what does she like to drink?
Why?
Unfortunately, alcohol/ethanol is a potent gut disruptor which has downstream effects on adrenals, thyroid, and eventually T, etc.~ which is further magnified when you drink in non-social environments…The physiological differences between masturbation and sex highlight the importance of human inter-connectivity which, in turn, highlight the drawbacks of technology.
I read somewhere that alcohol is actually a depressant.
Great challenge! I’ve had a “Month of Clarity” in January 2013 and January 2014 where I give up alcohol. But combining no alcohol with no masturbation will be even more effective.
For the months of clarity I used the accountability tool http://stickk.com where I made an online bet of $500 that I wouldn’t drink. If I lost, that $500 would go to an organization/charity that I despise. It worked.
For this challenge, I’m definitely going to sign up for a 1-on-1 coach as I know how much more likely I am to succeed when money is on the line.
I am a recovering alcoholic w 2.5 year of sobriety and have been in a relationship for coming up on 2 years. This would not be a challenge to me since it became a way of life. I’m not saying I haven’t masterbated in those 2 years, but it’s rare. I am saying that I haven’t drank in those 2.5 years. When I did drink it wasn’t normal so thinking through the drink was easier for me bc I got tired of the consequences.
My advice is to think your decision through. Focus in being productive. What good will come from a drink? Will you have anything to show for the time you were drinking other than a bar tab?
Most of the time sex is better than masterbating so focus on having sex. Work your current relationship or your dating game.
You might pick up a hobby you’ve never had time for or get an extra workout in. The release of endorphins from a hard run is better than boozing or masterbating. Don’t waste your time, make it count.
Congratulations and thank you for sharing your struggle with us. I am on what people call ‘hard mode’. It means I am neither having sex and the fact that I have limited sexual experience also means I am in super hard mode. No, I don’t know what the difference between real sex and masturbation so it’s difficult for me to say to myself that it’s not worth it because I have no other outlets and am ignorant to the whims of actual sex. What advice do you have for someone in that position?
Great post! Looking forward to the challenge as I’ve been trying to quit both for some time now, just needed an external stimulus. Lets Get it!
I quit porn years ago – Every time I was about to go to watch a porn vid I instead went to watch a Ted Talk.
Ha! That’s a pretty good strategy. I had reddit’s No Fap bookmarked and I also read it is important to replace it with another positive activity, such as go for a run or dance.
Can you recommend any good Ted talks to fap to? Most of those nerds aren’t very sexy.
JK. That’s a great idea.
hahaha 😛
Joined! This totally excites my mind :).
Question: How could I put cash on the line to be eligible for the reward? This will motivate me better!
Hi Duy!
Not sure if you already got an answer here, but our group’s still open for a Betting pool: We used Dietbet to ‘distract’ ourselves, have a betting pool of $25 and have an obvious result with the challenge: weightloss : http://www.dietbetter.com/games/47792