When thinking of doing something is better than doing it...

Ok, I'm not sure if I'm the only one with this "problem" but it happens to me a lot; I decide I want to try something new, choose something I've been wanting to try, fantasize about how great it will be to do it and decide to try it. So I sign up for it, try it, hate it, but am incapable of stopping it...it's probably easier to explain with an example. I recently started playing basketball and I quite like it but for the sake of example lets say I didn't, so my experience would be something like this:

Get really excited to get started; start imagining how much fun it'll be.

Sign up with a club.

Do my first practice, hate it.

Start thinking I'll probably enjoy it more when I stop sucking at it.

Show up for next practice, it goes quite well, but instead of having fun I spend the whole time looking at the clock hoping it'll end soon.

Get home and think I'm going to give it up because I get no joy from it.

Next day I start thinking "It wasn't so bad, there were some good moments" (even though I never seem to enjoy those moments when they're actually happening, they just magically turn good after a day or 2).

Show up for practice, can't stand it...start telling myself I shouldn't even bother since I don't enjoy it and all I get out of it are bruises and stress.

Go back home and think about quitting. Next day start thinking it wasn't so bad...and keep going on this loop.

Am I just insane or do you guys experience this as well? And if so, what do you do about it? Do you keep doing the activity hoping it will become fun eventually? Do you quit even though the idea of doing it still seems fun even though it never is when you're actually doing it?

Please enlighten me with your wisdom OT...

I do this all the time with the gym, I think about it, get really really hyped, start working out a bit, love it, then buy equipment and other gear, love it a little more, then usually after Iv seen some initial good results and I reach a point where I would really need to physically push myself to see further visible results, I totally lose interest for about 6 months.

After those 6 months I erase the majority of the physical progress iv'e made, then I end up getting really hyped for the working out again. This process has continued for about the last 4.5 years.

Im just about to enter my give a shit about my body phase once again having built a gym in my spare room under the guise that "this time will be the time I stick at it....because I have to now ....because I spent all this money".

Will it stick?

....il let you know in 6 months :P

@always_explicit: At least you manage to get into the "love it" phase =P I think I fall in love with the potential results but don't enjoy the process and since this normally happens with hobbies I start thinking "why am I doing a hobby that gives me no pleasure?" but then I keep doing it and keep not enjoying it...

I have the same as you with exercise most of the time...normally when I need to look good for an event I work my ass off until I reach my goal and think "wow, I'm in great shape now!", but then I always let it slip into "still good, but not great" level of fitness until it starts slipping a little too much and I start working my ass off again...me loving to eat junk probably doesn't help =P

@korvus Now might be a good time to mention I intentionally missed my last train home because Burger King proved to be too much of a temptation. Im not big on sugar but I can eat fatty savoury shizzle all day and all night.

I dont want to derail your thread by going into much more detail haha.

@always_explicit: Discussing self-defeating behaviour might not be that much of a derailing, actually =) Anyway, going to BK, be right back! (Just kidding =P)

Sounds like you get bored easily. Or you want more choices to like. I myself am the same way with many things in my life. I buy hot games that people desperately want to play, but they just sit on my shelf, till that one day comes i actually have time. I buy a expensive classic car that needs minor fixing. Although i know it would be a dream to drive it, i wait, and wait, and wait, till one day i decide to get under it and fix it. I lag on things, they excite me, but theres something that is missing ? NOt sure what it is ? Sounds like you might have the same issue. You get bored of something before even actually doing it all the way through. lol ... I gotta say, i think its a good thing. Good things come to those who wait they say, i believe this to be true. Maybe i'm off subject, but hope this made a little sense.

This happens to me with new video games, eventually I just stopped buying them all together

This happens to everyone. The only thing I've ever done about it is to smile my way through what I hate. I'm a basketball player meself. In the beginning, my case was the same as yours but then I just magically convinced myself that I have to enjoy more than I strive. And so, I started enjoying the game. By putting a little smile on your face, you can enjoy anything you do. Magic is real bro and it isn't so bad. Now I just wait for the next practice session to come, every day.

I thinking about running a testosterone cycle (anabolic steroid) starting in January

Hmmm ?

Sounds like a depression symptom if you ask me.

Check for other symptoms to make sure whether it's the case or not. Maybe your episode two is about to start ?

Glad to see I'm not the only one. I guess it's ok to try new things and not enjoy them...I'll just have to mentally go through the pros and cons and cut it off if it's not worth it. I like being able to say that I do this and that because in my head those are really cool things, but if I'm not enjoying the process what's the point of having those things as a hobby?

@top_lel: My basketball is going well, I just used it as an example because it was easier to explain.

@elkoldo: Because all good things deserve a sequel, right? =P

I used basketball as an example too. Try to fit my view on a wider spectrum. I hope you see the results.

It just sounds from the OP that you have issues picking up something that is difficult to get good at which is quite normal. How many people do you think wish they could throw down a wicked guitar solo like Hendrix? Now how many are willing to put in any real effort to GET to that point?

Personally I am a drummer and have recently picked up Rocksmith to try and teach myself bass as well. I am pretty solid at drums but even then I really have to FORCE myself to practice at times, and then when I see shit like this it is disheartening knowing that after years of drumming I can't even DREAM of playing something like that..

Bass is even worse considering I am fucking AWFUL (did just really get into it at the beginning of the month). Moving between the strings trips me up SO BAD and in general basic movements are challenging for me. I somehow managed to master My Own Summer by the Deftones but that has been it so far. The amount of time and effort it will take to become even decent on bass is intimidating, but it is something I want to accomplish so I push myself keep trying. Of course I do find fun in drumming and playing bass so that helps a lot.

I do suppose sometimes things sound better on paper than in real life. It sounds amazing on one hand the idea of being a pro athlete, but then think of the insane practice hours and gym hours they put in. All the physical and emotional pain they go through pushing themselves, and even then they likely won't get the big prize. Then you have to worry about a random injury potentially ending your career. And in general I feel to a degree they probably play the sport so much that it kills some of their love for it.

@top_lel: Ah ok,. Sorry, dumb moment there =P Yeah, I think you've got the right idea and I'm trying to do just that in some of my hobbies (maybe I just have too many of those =P). It's working on some but not all; I'll give it more time.

If it's working in some then it means you don't hate those hobbies, if it's not working in some hobbies then you really do hate them. Just think of it as playing a video game, you can only enjoy the game if you want to enjoy it. It's the same.

@top_lel: You're most likely right. It's just that I don't like quitting stuff, and that's probably due to my upbringing; I was taught that once you start something you have to go all the way and that's fine for some things but if only I could convince myself that it doesn't have to be that way for everything...

@korvus: It's alright to quit some things midway. Like half-assed relationships etc. I understand that type of mentality, but that's only correct in a certain context. You only have to make up your mind that 'this is not worth it'. For that, you'll have to judge things based on what their outcome is. Then, I guess... you'll have to force yourself to stop or strive.

@top_lel: Yup. Thanks for the help; you're a nice guy ^_^

Korvus losing it :(

@indzman: If this is enough for you to think I'm losing it then I'm not even telling you the rest XD

@indzman: iirc, kitty is a mod here ri8?

@top_lel: Yup. And kitty gets sad often =P

@korvus: he needs his daily dose of positive. Send him over to System Wars.

@top_lel: Yup; can't think of a place more full of positive energy and love towards one another =D

@korvus: Honestly speaking, I've seen conversations on SW that can lighten up even the most grimmest of the people. That's such a nice place to be. If only it weren't for a few 'serious' guys there, that could be a heaven.

Since when i became a mod ???

This made me laugh.