Back in 2003 I was a sophomore in college living in a dorm with my roommate, Jeremy.
One evening when we weren't occupied with studying or playing Halo, Jeremy made an egg sandwich. I was in the kitchen as he was making the sandwich, and at one point I glanced over and I saw him do something shocking. He put mayonnaise on the egg sandwich. I looked at him with disgust and said, "Dude, you're putting mayonnaise on an egg sandwich?!" He looked at me and responded emphatically, "Dude, you just gotta try it." Obviously I was very skeptical and hesitant to try a bite of what would most certainly be awful. After a few minutes of convincing, I tried a small bite of the sandwich. Within a few seconds, I raised my eyebrows and said, "It's not bad." And Jeremy said, "See man?? I told you." Since that day, when the shame and embarrassment of it doesn't overtake me, I like to add mayonnaise to my egg sandwiches. Jeremy's profound and powerful words of wisdom had a positive change in my life. "Dude, you just gotta try it." Allow me to use these inspiring words to encourage you in something even more significant than enhancing the flavor of your egg sandwiches: True, lasting freedom from porn. More specifically, having an effective strategy for the next time you feel the urge to watch porn. Think about the last time you felt the urge to watch porn. Did you have a good plan for how to effectively handle that urge? And think about the next time you feel that urge to watch porn. It could be later this month, this week, or later today. As we've discussed, you can probably predict with a good measure of accuracy when you might feel the urge to watch porn next. Here's some great news, you don't ever have to feel that intense urge again without knowing exactly how to handle it. They say that it's not knowledge that brings true change. It's experience. So here's a question: Have you experienced what it is like to initiate the steps of the P.A.T.H. Plan when you feel that urge? If you haven't actually experienced this yet, "Dude, you just gotta try it." Let this be the week that you implement this plan. Take a minute and picture yourself going through the four steps of the plan. Visualizing it in advance increases the chance that you will initiate the plan when the time comes. I truly believe that this could be the missing piece for you like it was for me. Implementing this plan set me free from a 20-year struggle with porn. It literally changed my life. Here's the truth: this amazing freedom is possible for you too. Dude, you just gotta try it. -Dan P. S. If you don't have it yet, here is the P.A.T.H. Plan in a free, one-page PDF that you can keep on hand and pull up the next time the urge hits you.