THE BROWN SHOGUN - japanese language progress + social life update

[Hydro]

Brother you should download an website or app blocker. It has been quite productive for my time as I literally spend less than 1 hour a day on screen time for my phone. I happen to use freedom so I can only talk about that (cross platform on pc and phone) and it has served me quite well. It's well worth the investment, I think I got a yearly plan of like $36. I've saved hundreds of hours a month, good pay off.

You will then become bored because you can not distract yourself with constant cheap dOpAmInE surges so then you'll either want to take action (during morning and day) or go to sleep (at night).

[colgate]

Brother you should download an website or app blocker.

i was going to write a long autism reply to this but it's 21:00 so i have to wind down.

will look into this tomorrow.

noting for myself that the "blocking apps" that have worked for me in the past were the ones that
1. had "timed blocking sessions"
2. DID NOT LET YOU FUCKING GET OUT OF IT

i used to use cold turkey on android but the newer android versions don't let apps literally block you out of your phone anymore.

briefly looked at Freedom, and it seems to fulfill the two conditions i stated above, so will mess with it tomorrow

[colgate]

TOMORROW I WILL BE A SUCCESS

() computer off at 20:30
() think about what i will do tomorrow
() go watch the sunrise at the park
() do things from the list (tbd, will update later)
() room lights off at sunset

i spend a lot of time writing posts here so i want to limit how often i do that. i don't think it's as useful to go into excruciating detail everyday. will be better to make reflective summaries of weeks and etc.

also here's the japanese approach anxiety program:

[colgate]

i'm really solidifying my night+morning routine now and didn't feel the need to write it here. MakingAComeback is to thank for some recent insights + actions I've implemented that have greatly improved my life between sunset and sunrise the next day and i will write about it in detail tomorrow.

going to give it one more night+morning and then i'll write about it here in detail.

that leaves me with a solid foundation for "actually doing stuff during the rest of the day", which i also spent time today thinking about and working on (mainly related to making a structure for japanese listening and mindsets i needed to start implementing)

also been hitting the gym obviously

i'll give myself until tomorrow to figure out how to start structuring the "daylight" hours and then i'll be back on the todo lists (mainly for the "day tasks")

[Bman]

@colgate are you on the dating apps there in Japan? I'm curious to what the app culture is like over there and how you are doing on it so far?

[colgate]

@Bman

i discussed this briefly in a previous post which i will quote

Are your OLD photos well cured and done correctly?
no only because they're with my current looks and i need to revamp my image.

that being said, i have not tested them out on the japanese dating apps such as with, tapple, nor i have i actually given tinder a run.

but bumble basically gives me one girl messaging me every 4-6 days if i suck my thumb and swipe all day with the paid plan. i got sliiiiightly better results in america actually. however, i've even run out of girls to swipe on in tokyo. but "bro asians are easy mode" guys usually say bumble in japan is autopilot and they get messages nonstop. so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

these are the pics in my profile btw (the second one): viewtopic.php?p=40299#p40299

the japanese nampa/dating channel i've been spamming in this log lately has a whole playlist of how dating apps work in japan, and i've seen one of them so there's the research that has to be done

right now i'm shifting my focus off of directly dating and trying to get girls into raw self-improvement.

i'm not high value enough of a person to participate in the dating market as i am right now

usually white guys go to asia and it's basically easy mode. this is a well known trend, and even i ignored it until now (in fact, ignoring it was the very reason i held off coming to Japan until now; i thought that i had to "improve in america" first)

i'm in a bizarre category of "ok he's clearly not japanese but he's some Indian or something??? i've never seen this before!". people only associate me with "american" if they actually know me, and the type of asian girls who have "white fever" are certainly not looking for me.

(none of these are random postulations either. i've never banged an asian chick, and the only asian chicks I've gone on dates with were american-raised ones who were already used to multiculturalism, or japanese girls in america who were shocked that i could speak japanese. a year ago i approached hundreds of chinese FOB girls and got dates with... one now that i think about it.)

the main types of girls who did have interest in me ultimately were black girls and some white girls. but even in america, that was a huge grind for little return, when i could have been doubling down on self-improvement so i could reap more rewards for my work.

also i have yellow fever!! i want the asians!! and i happen to have some ability in japanese. upon realizing that it wasn't going to be hyper easy mode, and that I'm genuinely interested in japan beyond just anime fairy girls (but also interested in those ofc), i came here.

so given all of the above, i'm presented with the unique challenge of "how does an Indian of shorter stature raised in america become a cool guy to japanese girls?" part of "cool guy" here is also being even identifiable in the first place

the preceding part of this post may have come off as overly negative, but in a way i like that i have this unique challenge. it's clearly forcing me to figure out a lot of things by myself.

there are many possible angles and routes on this but I'm going to start with the ones I'm the most intrinsically motivated by and go from there

therefore, i have identified and have been actively working on the following two prerequisites to start:

1. getting HYPER JACKED. i need to look so good to the point that i get random compliments in the street regularly. when i was 155lbs, it was happening in Nashville, and even when i was here i got one compliment on the street by some high schoolers and a cop thought i was into martial arts. but it's not enough, compared to Nashville, and compared to where it should be. I'm determined to hit my max potential on this

2. improving my japanese ability to be totally fine in 90% of situations. my japanese is basically "token foreigner who knows how to talk about the differences between america and japan". I'm still not taken seriously beyond that and it makes sense given that i struggle in many day to day life situations which i am running into here. if a japanese girl wanted a dumbass foreigner to practice english with, there are plenty of random white guys from europe and i don't own that frame enough to pull it off. i've decided to japanese-maxx instead (more details coming soon)

the thing is, a lot of these realizations were hard pills to swallow and took huge hits on my morale towards the end of 2022.

so now i had to wipe the slate clean and get myself back into a state where i can even hustle like a madman again

that's why this log has been pretty focused on seemingly innocuous mental health improvements. it took humility to realize that's where i had to start.

all i can say is, this log will be waaaaaay longer, but even better than my america log. i'm already too caught up in my credibility and clout on this site to stop. but it's going to take time

[Bman]

i'm not high value enough of a person to participate in the dating market as i am right now

This is a limiting belief, but I also understand why you are saying it. You may not be slaying Japanese models yet, but I'm betting with the right understanding of the market there and marketing of your product, you could be still banging some cute girls. The challenge is finding the right models of "Indian of shorter stature raised in america" who have been successful. That's a niche product, probably pretty hard to find. So you may be in new territory. Does not mean its impossible, just requires more experimenting.

getting HYPER JACKED

These goals are great and I love these. They will no doubt help a ton. They are great to focus on.

But... you ARE jacked. Seriously, you look good. I'm not saying to stop. I'm saying you have a pretty decent product right now.

japanese-maxx

Also fantastic. Obviously its a challenge to converse with a girl when you don't know the language.

But... there are a lot of guys who travel to lots of countries, barely know the language, and still pull. Yes they don't have in depth conversations with these girls but that does not matter. Because they build the attraction with their body language and their vibe. I'm not even going to pretend I know how to do this, because I don't. But I'm betting there are guys on here who could. I just recognize again, you still have a decent product.

I'm not saying you should not focus on these goals. You most definitely can. Just consider continually testing your product in the market as you improve it. Otherwise, how are sure what you are doing is actually making a difference?

[natedawg]

so given all of the above, i'm presented with the unique challenge of "how does an Indian of shorter stature raised in america become a cool guy to japanese girls?" part of "cool guy" here is also being even identifiable in the first place

I think you're asking a great question. I wonder if nailing your archetype will help make this easier? Especially since you won't have the 'white foreigner' effect working for you. I bet there are a ton of japenese women who do prefer more exotic men, though. Now I guess the question is -- Where do we find 'em?

1. getting HYPER JACKED. i need to look so good to the point that i get random compliments in the street regularly. when i was 155lbs, it was happening in Nashville, and even when i was here i got one compliment on the street by some high schoolers and a cop thought i was into martial arts. but it's not enough, compared to Nashville, and compared to where it should be. I'm determined to hit my max potential on this

2. improving my japanese ability to be totally fine in 90% of situations. my japanese is basically "token foreigner who knows how to talk about the differences between america and japan". I'm still not taken seriously beyond that and it makes sense given that i struggle in many day to day life situations which i am running into here. if a japanese girl wanted a dumbass foreigner to practice english with, there are plenty of random white guys from europe and i don't own that frame enough to pull it off. i've decided to japanese-maxx instead (more details coming soon)

I think both of these are solid goals. In today's tech era, and given the amount of men woman are exposed to at a rate which has never happened in history, I agree completely with going all in to establish any advantage you can. Doubly so if you're in a country that probably doesn't broadly valuable brown skin.

I'm excited to watch how you cut your path here man. I have a feeling it's going to be something special.

[colgate]

was gonna do it today but got distracted and procrastinated

therefore i will start making the todo lists for the "main part" of my day public

TOMORROW I WILL BE A SUCCESS
() make profiles on all of the main japanese dating apps (tinder, with, tapple, pairs, bumble (using japanese phone))
() shoulder day

[colgate]

100th post in the new log!

TODAY I WAS A SUCCESS
make profiles on all of the main japanese dating apps (tinder, with, tapple, pairs, bumble (using japanese phone))
shoulder day

holding off on bumble actually. i'll make it later/tomorrow.

also redownloaded hellotalk and also another language learning app called "tandem". hellotalk in the 2020s has a notorious reputation for basically being a thinly veiled dating app, so it's definitely not an avenue to ignore.

blah blah holding off on insights and more useful posts that i want to write instead im going to bed and im going to watch the fucking SUNRISE BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also i finally took my first roids shots in 2 months!!!!

[colgate]

aka: "how to stop being a depressed fag locking yourself in your room and spending all day in bed even though you literally moved to your dream country"


5 days in a row, i have managed to wake up before sunrise feeling well rested + beat my alarm clock which has been set to 6:30am

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this has literally never happened to me in my life. and i'm also "not a morning person" (guys! i'm such a night owl!)

also before this "streak", i had stayed up all night and then slept in the middle of the day

i'm documenting this because after trying many random things for the past month, i have nailed the specific process to not only actually wake up early, but "naturally fall asleep early" so you actually feel well rested


PROCESS

evening checklist:
() shut off all overhead lights at sunset/~2h before bed
() put on blue light cutting glasses
() make sure night shift is enabled on all screens
() shut off your computer and be in bed ~10h before you want to wake up. nightshifted phone with low brightness ok (EDIT: brainless youtube videos ok, messaging girls/friends etc where you get randomly emotionally spiked not ok. i personally find this relaxing lol)
() CHECK AND SET YOUR ALARM!!! set it 20 mins before sunrise the next morning

morning checklist:
() wake up at least ~20 mins before sunrise
() go outside, watch the sunrise, spend some time outside (maybe 15-20mins)


THE MORNING ROUTINE STARTS THE EVENING BEFORE!

previous evening

bluelight.png

the reason you can't fall asleep at night is because you've tricked your brain into still thinking it's noon at like fucking 9pm. blue light is basically shooting 5-hour energy into your eyes.



your brain creates melatonin when it's dark. so you need to make your indoor environment match the outdoor environment.

the moment sunset hits and/or 2 hours before you want to fall asleep, turn off all your overhead lights


you want to be seeing something like this for like 2 hours before you actually go to bed



buy a small lamp with warm light that looks like this

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alternatively, people have told me those orange himalayan salt lamps work well. i personally like this cheap $3 lamp because it's easy to move around the room.

if you are FUCKING GAY!!!! and/or a pyromaniac, candles are also good.




order aggressive blue light cutting glasses, like these ones.

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don't get those "blue light cutting glasses" that have almost transparent lenses, they don't do anything (like these ones). you need to feel like a martian space explorer when you wear the glasses.



enable the most aggressive night shift/f.lux setting on your computer

this might seem redundant with blue light glasses, but it's a good countermeasure for when you forget to put on your glasses.

actually, i didn't even have the blue light cutting glasses when i started doing this process and i had immediate results even from just cutting the lights + night shifting my devices.

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on mac. system settings->display->Night Shift.... set Schedule to "sunset to sunrise" and Temperature to max "Warm"



install twilight for android. i don't use iphone so if there's something similar for iphone let me know and i'll edit this post.

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color temp: 1900k, saturation 91%, darkness 73%

also keep your phone brightness pretty low. i keep mine at around 20%. this app is just an overlay so while it doesn't completely cut out blue light from your phone screen (unlike night shift/f.lux), it still drastically reduces it, and combining this with low phone brightness seems to be effective. you could root your phone and install f.lux or something that actually changes the color temp of your screen but i'm not a FUCKING NERD!!!!!!!!!!! so i didn't do that



anyway so once you have your overhead room lights off + blue light cutting glasses + nightshifted screens, you can basically continue doing whatever you were doing for the rest of the evening.



then, around like an hour or two before you actually want to fall asleep, shut off your computer (if you were using it) and go to bed.

right now, i want to wake up before 6:30am. that means to get 8 hours of sleep, i need to fall asleep before 10:30pm. so i try to wind down completely and go to bed between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.

CHECK AND SET YOUR ALARM!!! this step is important!!! "omg i forgot to set my alarm" is the lamest excuse for not waking up on time.

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i also recommend getting an alarm clock that lets you configure snooze to 1 minute. 1 minute is annoying enough to actually get you out of bed, anything more and you actually end up falling back asleep again before the next snooze.

set it 20 mins before sunrise the next morning. use this site to figure out when sunrise is for your city.




you can use your twilighted/nightshifted phone on low brightness if you want, or read, or do anything. but keep the amount of light in the room as low as possible.

meditating might be a good idea too

eventually you'll fall asleep within an hour or so and wake up.



the next morning
wake up, and immediately go outside and watch the sunrise lol





random extra pointers
- it's not the worst crime ever to e.g. use the lights to take a shower, or if you go out to eat dinner or something. you just need to be in a dark+no blue light environment for most of the evening (maybe like 70-80% of the time)
- you might still not feel energetic the next morning/struggle to wake up for a few days. but just blindly implement this protocol for a few days and your circadian rhythm will adjust. the point of this protocol is to accelerate resetting your circadian rhythm by setting up the conditions required to trigger you to fall asleep



THANKS TO:
@MakingAComeback for giving me health tutoring through his IronWill accountability coaching. this post is actually just a "colgate-flavored (lol) MAC post" and he was the one who told me this process. check out his wellness thread here 4 moar life tipz: viewtopic.php?p=49461#p49461

@Thrice for impulsively creating this thread and @Red, @wave, and @september for being members of a chat we created specifically for waking up accountability.

[HankMoodyJr]

it's not the worst crime ever to e.g. use the lights to take a shower, or if you go out to eat dinner or something. you just need to be in a dark+no blue light environment for most of the evening (maybe like 70-80% of the time)

I've put a bedside lamp in my bathroom specifically for this. Way less light than using normal overhead lights.

I usually have a tonne of ideas going through my head which I'm able to put aside to fall asleep, but will wake me up in the middle of the night. I've found that writing these down before bed tends to help, so I just have a journal with me in bed as I'm getting ready to sleep.

I often get tempted to check my phone, so I've decided to leave that in another room throughout the night.

Another massive one imo is not eating within ~3hrs of going to sleep. Also helps if trying to implement some sort of fasting protocol.

[colgate]

I often get tempted to check my phone, so I've decided to leave that in another room throughout the night.

i think it's actually a myth that specifically using your phone before bed makes it harder to go to sleep

the specific thing that makes it hard to fall asleep is bright light and blue light (which non-nightshifted phone screens emit).

from personal experience, the nights i do decide "ok putting my phone in another room", and then i shut off the lights and try to fall asleep, it's usually some uphill battle with me trying to sleep.

i've also tried other activities such as reading and journaling before bed. but as long as there's bright light, it won't happen. or rather, if you just turned off the lights, it won't happen as soon as you want it

eventually you do fall asleep sans phone. finally your body could generate enough melatonin to sedate you.

so you need to make sure your body generates enough melatonin before you decide to hit the hay, or else going to bed is just a stressful process. this is by "existing in darkness+no blue light" for hours before you go to bed

using your phone with aggressive nightshift+low brightness is a perfectly acceptable pre-sleep activity

[HankMoodyJr]

I agree re melatonin production staying mostly intact using bluelight blockers/nightlight, but I think the issue comes more from the stimulation of using the phone rather than the bluelight.

Especially doing something which produces a tonne of dopamine response. In my case, doing something like swiping on OLD before bed would get me thinking throughout the night "I wonder how many matches I got" or "I wonder if ... replied" etc etc. If you're using your phone for something like netflix or kindle, it's probably not that bad.

[Adrizzle]

i think it's actually a myth that specifically using your phone before bed makes it harder to go to sleep

I don’t have any studies to back this up. But interfacing with a device that is connected to the web + literally notifies you of important things during the day before sleep doesn’t seem like a great idea.

I also recently copped this and it’s a game changer for reading. I just order 2 more, 1 for my mum and 1 for the pisser. The clip + neck means you can use it in heaps of ways

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https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B081H21V7H ... l%5Fprodpg

Also candles are sick you gaycunt