[Re-post from Vegoutmag.com] Evening Habits of Men Who [MAY] Never Move Forward In Life

 

Evening Habits of Men Who [MAY] Never Move Forward In Life [from Vegoutmag.com Jordan Cooper datelined 08.01.2025].  DISCLAIMER:  I am reposting without implying anything as this is the opinion from the author.  QUOTE starts here:  Most people think the key to success lies in WHAT you do from 9 to 5.  BUT in reality?  It's WHAT happens from 7pm onwards that quitely shapes your future📗📙📘

Evening are WHEN your guard drops, your habits show and your REAL priorities leak through.  WHILE some may use this time to RESET, plan and grow, others unknowingly stall their own progress.  Let's about those evening habits:  WHEN DOOMSCROLLING AFTER DINNER.  You know, the moment after you put the dishes away?  That tiny pocket WHERE you could stretch, call a friend, OR plan tomorrow?  THAT's WHEN the phone whisperrrrrrs💚💛💜

LIKE TREATING EVENINGS LIKE A DECISION LANDFILL.  You worked all day, so you leave all the low-grade life admin for the evening.  Travel searches, bills, SMS messages, a dozen micro-micro decisions.  That's decision fatigue dressed as productivity, huhuhuh... By 8pm, the prefrontal cortex is tired, so you take longer, choose worse and resent the time you spend choosing.  That resentment leads to avoidance tomorrow, WHICH creates more evening clutter.  Loop loop loop💥💥💥

LIKE having no wind-down at all.  Some folks treat bedtime like an OFF switch.  LIKE one last email, lights out, expect instant sleep BUT our nervous system loves ramps, NOT cliffs.  A 20-40 minute wind-down is shockingly effective.  Dim lights, get horizontal reading time, light stretching, warm shower, tomorrow's clothes out, phone on DoNot Disturb.  The specifics matter less than the sequence.  Your body starts to predict WHAT comes next.  LIKE ruminating instead of closing the day.  Rumination feels like problem-solving BUT it's mostly emotional spinning.  Dictionary defines it as 'obsessional thinking involving excessive, repetitive thoughts.  That's NOT reflection.  That's mental quicksand.  Two swaps help:  A brain dump that ends in verbs. A time-boxed worry window.  If your mind insists on looping, give it 10 minutes in a chair, no phone, no bed, then close it with one calming behavior.  TRAIN YOUR BRAIN THAT BED IS REST, NOT FOR REPLAY😡😡😡

LIKE defaulting to alcohol OR overeating as 'RELAXATION'?  If the evening autopilot is:  STRESS--->  DRINK--->  MUNCH---> LATE BEDTIME---> FOGGY MORNING, that's a negative compounder.  A simple reframe is to separate REWARD from RELIEF.  REWARD is something you genuinely value.  RELIEF is numbing the day.  If you do drink, make it deliberate LIKE set 'two-drink' nights on weekends, NOT on autopilot Thursdays.  Amd keep a satisfying non-alcoholic default in the fridge so relaxation DOESN'T always mean alcohol😊😊😊