Summary: I just finished my first monk mode after swallowing the pill. Lot's of people here have been doing this for years and might not remember what it's like starting out. Here are some things that worked for me.

Body

  • Gains Goblins are a horrible thing. Your own mother will even try and stop you being a better man. Don't tell anyone you are trying to look better for yourself/to get laid because they will feel insecure and try and say you're fine. I found a way around this by saying I was training for my sport. Everyone who asked why I was eating so healthily or working out stopped asking questions and thought it was fair enough.

  • You might not want to go to the gym straight away because of a lack of confidence or you might be a big guy who has a high BF% (like me) who wanted to get rid of the fat. I followed a programme called 6 week 6 pack and did it in the comfort of my own home. I lost a lot of body fat, gained visible abs for the first time in my life and then I started Strong Lifts 5x5.

  • Take some time to digest information about healthy diet, this is the first step to take before starting exercising if you feel overwhelmed with the amount of information you're trying to take in. Just do it for a couple of days if you need to, not weeks.

  • I'll be honest I tried some fat burning supplements and I'm not sure they did anything for me other than give me a pre-workout caffeine boost and a bit of water shedding. It gave me a good psychological kick during the workout, thinking that I was in overdrive, so for mental purposes it might work for you too.

Mind

  • Discipline > Motivation. You become motivated when you see the results. There is no easy way to make yourself want to exercise every day, motivation comes in bursts and comes more frequently when you start to improve.

  • There is a large TRP reading list, scribd.com has a large selection of them but more importantly has a free trial that you can take advantage of. In two weeks of monk mode you have ample time for a large chunk of reading, just remember to cancel your subscription in time.

  • Meditation gets good, Jason Stephenson's Youtube channel is personally my favourite for guided meditation as they tend to be shortish.

Soul

  • A musical instrument is a wonderful break from everything as when you practise you aren't distracted by work or phone or reddit or anything. They can be quite pricey but guitars tend to be cheap at charity shops. I bought one for £30 and spent the last 3 months practising almost every day. Now I can strum and sing along to most pop songs which is great fun if you enjoy singing.

Social

  • I may have gotten into a few conversations which allowed me to bring up some new RP ideas (whilst I was still in the anger phase) to people who have no concept of them. Bad idea. Now I don't speak to anyone about my newly-formed thoughts on gender roles, marriage and life. Throughout your first monk mode your opinions will change a lot as you pass the anger phase. Best to keep it internal.

  • Although you have to remember to keep yourself as your source of contentment or happiness, don't neglect your existing friends because you don't feel you need them anymore. It's good to go out for beers with mates and have good banter, plus it's social proof if you're coming at it from that angle.

Lessons Learned:

  • Beat Gains Goblins by saying you are training for something
  • Take in all the new info in bite-sized chunks if you need
  • It doesn't get easier to jump out of bed at 6am until you know you are improving
  • Guitars are pretty cheap if you want to learn an instrument
  • Keep your developing RP thoughts to yourself for now because the anger phase is a real bitch