A little over eight years ago, my wife was pregnant with our first child. We were excited, nervous, and plenty busy preparing the house for the baby to arrive.
Now, up to that point in my life, I had virtually no experience with babies. I was the youngest child in my family, and I had never done any babysitting. I had never even changed a diaper. Not even one. It's fairly safe to say I was unprepared and ill-equipped. So what did I do? I read baby books. A lot of them. As I started digging, I realized that there are approximately a billion baby books out there. And the tricky thing is different books often tell you completely opposite things. This is not helpful for an unsure daddy-to-be. But we finally decided on a book called Baby Wise that some friends of ours recommended. We committed to following this book's plan and whatever it told us to do. Leading up to the birth, I tore into this book. I had probably half of the book underlined or highlighted by the time I finished. I read about when to feed the baby, how often to feed, how much to feed, how to start the baby on a sleeping schedule, what to do when the baby starts crying during a nap. I had the baby's schedule pretty much memorized before she was even born. I had a plan. I was ready. Here's the interesting thing that happened: I started to feel in control. I felt confident about the baby's arrival. I felt empowered, because I knew exactly what to do. This felt so good. I went from feeling unsure, nervous, scared even, to having a strong sense of control and confidence. Looking back, I can't imagine coming home with our new daughter without that plan. I would have felt lost, questioning everything we were doing. I knew it wouldn't be easy, and it wasn't. But I relied on the plan. There were many tough moments when I would question the book's recommendations. I would be tempted to deviate from the plan. But I would repeatedly come back to a place of saying, "I trust this plan. I'm sticking with it." Having a plan gives you a trusted roadmap so you know HOW to get to where you want to go. What if you desperately want to experience freedom from porn? What if this is the destination you want to get to? Do you have a roadmap to get you there? For over 20 years, I didn't have a roadmap for how to achieve freedom from porn. And this is the one of the main reasons I didn't experience freedom. I tried so many different things (accountability software, addiction groups, a therapist), but was still struggling. Then the lightbulb went off when I discovered that I never had a plan for how to handle that intense urge when it arose in me. When I realized this and implemented an effective plan, just like the Baby Wise book, suddenly I felt confident. I felt calm. I started experiencing unprecedented victories within a few weeks. I knew having this plan was the game-changer I had been missing. I felt in control of this struggle now because I knew exactly what to do the next time I felt the intense desire to view porn. You can have this same confidence. You can have a plan that you trust, that you can rely on. I am living proof that it works. The plan that changed my life dramatically is yours for free: P.A.T.H. Plan The good news is you can start implementing this plan today. Now is a perfect time, because over the coming weeks we are going to dive deep into the plan and each of the four steps. Next week, we're going to look at the first step, "P - Pause," and the one thing you need to actually be able to implement this plan in that intense moment. I'm looking forward to exploring each of the steps in this plan, because I want you to experience strong, sure confidence, knowing that you have a plan. True freedom is waiting for you! Let's go! Dan