I always find it interesting when I talk to people who tell me that they don’t have a mental health plan in place.

It’s equivalent to saying that you intend to navigate through a jungle without a map. Chances are that you’re going to get lost, relapse and probably die from dengue fever.

So many people try to ‘wing it’ because they think they know better, and it literally always ends the same way every single time.

Relapse.

Like, without fault.

So what exactly is a mental health plan?

Put simply, it's a strategy you have which helps you stay on course with your task of implementing Healthy Coping Mechanisms into your daily life.

It’s your plan to verify that what you know about yourself and recovery is correct, as well as provide strategy on how best to improve and move forward.

For example, do you have a strategy to help you deal with early morning urges? If not, then you’re literally leaving your recovery to chance.

By not having a strategy which addresses your potential weak points, you’re literally accepting that you won’t have 100% certainty in how you will respond when faced with difficult situations.

Not only the certainty of knowing well beforehand how you will respond, but the certainty of knowing that your reponse will even work within the first place.

Often the thing that those recovering from porn addiction struggle the most with, is that they will continue to severely underestimate how difficult these compromising situations are.

They’ll think “Well, I’m feeling okay now, so it couldn’t possibly be that bad” and it’s part of the reason why people continue to relapse again and again and again.

Preparation is the best form of abstinence, and aside from mentally preparing ourselves, another great way to prepare ourselves is by embracing a set of solid principles which can help guide us when we are feeling lost and down.

For example, understanding that we must always aim to remain calm in all situations, as well as not react to our emotions and feelings even though they may feel unbearable at times.

This is why I created The Five Fundamental Prinpicles of NeverFap Deluxe which have been designed to help us serve this purpose, and instill those principles into us.

Ultimately, when you don’t have a mental health plan in place you will almost always fail to remain aware of your own behaviours and actions, creating all sorts of unnecessary confusion.

So what does a mental health plan usually contain?

Well, at a bare minimum it should contain a consistent routine of meditation, as this is arguably the most important thing you can do for your mind from a mental health perspective.

Ultimately, a solid mental health plan should equally contain preventative maintenance measures, as well as strategies which can allow us to navigate difficult situations.

And that’s really why meditmation is so powerful, because it can help you remain in balance with your mind so you don’t even get to a point of experiencing urges.

In addition, your plan should also contain a list of actions and strategies to help you deal with the most common scenarios you struggle with.

For example, you may really struggle with boredom or stress when it comes to dealing with your urges, and so taking even a few minutes each day towards identifying those pitfalls can go a long way towards mentally preparing you for those situations well-ahead of time.

Of course, a key thing to understand about your porn addiction recovery journey is that there really is no silver-bullet when it comes to overcoming porn addiction.

I mean, sure.

Meditation can be that silver-bullet for a lot of people, in the sense of providing such an all-encompassing measure which offers a huge amount of leverage in terms of allowing them to develop control over their minds.

However, it certainly doesn't negate the conscious effort that takes place in your brain, in order to remain calm during those uneasy situation.

In fact, a huge issue most people face is that they will practice these mental health exercises without truly applying them when the going gets tough, which is really no better than doing nothing at all.

Because that’s really what effective porn addiction recovery is about. It’s about being able to make those difficult, conscious decisions when we are most vulnerable.

So essentially, an effective mental health plan comes down to a few different things:

• Your Preventative Plan i.e. Your daily meditation/self-care routine
• Your Reactive Plan i.e. How you should respond in difficult situations
• Your Fundamental Principles which help guide you in general

And really, if you can manage those three things, you honestly will have done more than most people who will have attempted to overcome their porn addiction.

And the significance of this really cannot be understated.

You will succeed.

In summary, your mental health plan is your roadmap for change. Without it, you severely limit your ability to respond effectively and therefore your ability to influence future outcomes.