I've had a hard time finding a proper guide to going monk mode so if you have any resources or advice you'd like to share I would appreciate it.

I think there's a lot of confusion in the sub about what "Monk Mode" means.

When many guys encounter this sub, they don't have their shit together. Questions are asked that amount to, "My life sucks. What do I do?"

On some level, being awesome is all about scheduling. Simply design the optimal schedule, adhere to it, and reap the benefits. Right?

Well, turns out, actually doing it is the hard part. Meet: willpower. You can think of it as your ability to compel yourself to do an unwanted task. Many behaviors that ultimately help us -- like, meditation, exercise, and cutting addictions -- can be boring, annoying, or even agonizing. How do you persist? Willpower fills the gap. You WILL yourself to do the task. When the part of you chimes in that says, "You don't have to do this now. You can do it tomorrow," you WILL that voice to fuck off, and you do the thing.

Used effectively, willpower can be the fast-burning tinder that ignites the larger fuel of the habit. After some time (1-2 months), the habit will be forming, requiring less (but still some) willpower to maintain.

Now, Monk Mode. A guy with a life that is generally lame has a lot to change. Imagine a guy with shit job at Best Buy, who is skinny and underweight, has shitty posture, crappy clothes, and plays video games instead of socializing. That is a shitty life. He could stand to change everything. He could parcel it out: implement one habit at a time. Spend two months getting a better job, another two months implementing an exercise regime, another two months building a social life... etc. This works, and it's a legitimate path. To convince you of this, a thought experiment: Imagine if you had already been implementing one new habit every two months, for the past year. You'd have six new habits, and your life would be transformed.

OR... you can Monk Mode, which means to implement everything at once. You spend a shit-ton of willpower to ignite a frickin' forest fire.

Why is it called, "Monk Mode?" If you introduce meditation, exercise, and good diet all at the same time, you will feel differently in your body and mind. Literally, your subjective experience of the world will change, PROVING TO YOU that there IS no objective reality. Life becomes surreal, as everything changes. The only way to stay sane is to submit to it, like a monk on a spiritual journey. Practically speaking, it also means cutting out a lot of unproductive time-wasting behaviors. We're going to prune the bullshit, and replace it with a realistic asskicking schedule, which you will then use willpower to implement.

So, make a choice: you're going to give it a go, for 60 days. Because, if not now, when?

“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any."

-Hugh Laurie

Now it becomes a scheduling issue. We need to design a schedule of ass-kicking with good balance and fun built into it. Because if it isn't fun, you won't do it.

Make it a realistic stretch from what you currently do. Build in leisure time. If it's really a priority, for instance, to watch anime movies, great! Schedule it.

Decide what you're implementing. If you're a student, here's a good list:

  • Morning routine each day
  • Gym routine + cut diet. The beauty of cutting is that you can lean out fast if you do a good job.
  • Minimum 2-3 homework hours depending on major.

If you're a morning riser, for instance, you could do:

  • 7a - Morning routine
  • 7:30 - go to gym
  • 8-10 gym/eat
  • 10-12 class
  • 12-1 lunch
  • 1-5 class
  • 5-6 dinner
  • 6-8 homework at library
  • 8-10 social activity
  • 10-11:30 relax
  • 11:30 bed

If you're a night owl, do this:

  • 9a - Morning routine
  • 9:30 - Leave for class
  • (same as before)
  • 5-6:30 gym
  • 6:30-7:30 dinner
  • 7:30-9:30 social activity
  • 10-12 homework at home
  • 12-1 relax 1a bed

8 hours of sleep, 30 minute morning routine, gym, etc. Use Google Calendar and plan it all out. And then do it! Make an experiment of it. Keep a wall chart. See what happens.