“Will Asceticism Bring You a Million?” My Honest Experiment and Why Asceticism Doesn’t Work
I’m telling you what happened when I gave up my loved one to get my desired goal
If you’re currently giving up coffee/sweets/sex for the sake of a lofty goal promised by some online guru, this article is for you. I’m going to disappoint you, but my personal 63-day experiment showed that there’s no magic, but willpower does.
A couple of years ago, the internet was swept up in the craze for “asceticism” — a supposedly ancient practice that esotericists turned into a tool for achieving material goals. The idea is simple: you give up something you love, or add a challenging activity (running at 5 a.m.), and the released energy… bam! It brings you what you desire.
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| Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash |
What is asceticism? It’s when you make a promise to the Universe about your intention to do something (swimming, running, reading, etc.) or to abstain from something you’re addicted to (smoking, drinking, shopping, gambling, eating, etc.).
Rules: You mustn’t break the asceticism; otherwise, the Universe will be offended and punish you (take something away). The minimum time for asceticism is 21 days, the maximum is 1 year.
The Theory of “Free Energy” and My Skepticism
The point of asceticism is that the energy you expend on action, or on restraining yourself from it, is released and helps you achieve your desired goal.
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| Photo by Natalya Letunova on Unsplash |
The chosen goal
The goal was simple: I’ll continue releasing videos on my YouTube channels, and the austerity will help me monetize my channels (i.e., get 1,000 subscribers, 3,000 hours of video views, or 3 million shorts views).
Round 1: Chocolate and Dopamine High
My friend and I decided to experiment. Since I don’t have any bad habits, it was hard for me to choose something. The only thing I absolutely adore is chocolate. I decided to give it up for 21 days. It was challenging. My friend, however, loves bread and cakes, so she gave them up.
On the first day, it became impossible to restrain ourselves from breakfast, but we had to keep the experiment going, and my friend and I supported each other. I wrote, “I can’t do this anymore!” Let’s finish.
The Hardest Challenge: Piglet Cake
The hardest challenge was when my husband and I went to buy cakes. He knows I love chocolate, but I couldn’t eat it. But there was this incredibly adorable one, shaped like a cute pink pig, and it was chocolate inside. I told him he should buy it for himself, and he had to tell me what it tasted like. My husband had to buy the piglet. You know, I still want that cake…
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| Photo by the author |
That cake took an incredible amount of energy, which felt like it would have been enough for 10,000 followers, not 1,000! Of course, I doubt it went toward gaining more followers.
Round 1 Summary
So, willpower won. On the last day of my asceticism, I bought a new chocolate bar with chocolate chip cookies and waited like crazy for the morning. Morning chocolate, after 21 days of abstaining from it, was simply unbelievably delicious! Then I realized that when I eat it every day, I don’t even notice how it lifts my mood, but that morning, the dopamine peaked.
My friend also had no luck. The verdict: it doesn’t work. But we need to be sure, for the sake of the experiment!
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| GIF from Tenor: The Big Bang Theory |
Rounds 2 and 3: Dose Intensification and Absurdity
New Guru Hypothesis: We find a video, and they say:
Your wish is too big, since it didn’t work out, and you need more energy — you need to practice more austerity.
Yeah, right, I wished for a five-story yacht! One woman said she took on 30 austerities at once, but she didn’t say which ones. Maybe washing the dishes every time after eating, or washing her hair every day, then drying it every day… Where could she find so many chores? Besides, she supposedly took them on for six months. And then everything got better for her. It honestly sounds like nonsense…
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| GIF from Tenor: Mr Bean |
But my friend and I decided that since refusal didn’t help, maybe we should turn on actions.
I said I’d walk 7 km a day and read for at least 30 minutes a day. Even if that didn’t work, at least I’d benefited from it. Okay, we took another 21 days. The goal wasn’t an inch closer. As Stifler said in American Pie Part III about the wedding, when he turned off the refrigerator full of flowers, and they all wilted, and he went to beg the florist for new ones, and she insisted it was absurd to get so many flowers at night: “You can’t just give up, ma’am!”
I decided to try a third time. I repeated the 7 km walks and reading books for another 21 days. After completing the third asceticism, nothing happened.
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| GIF from Tenor: The Big Bang Theory |
Summary of 63 days of asceticism: I conclude — it doesn’t work!
- Giving up chocolate showed me that I have some willpower, and it’s incredibly delicious and a great mood lifter! Cacao trees — you simply work miracles!
- Walking 7 km a day is very beneficial, plus I listened to audiobooks, so it was quite interesting.
- Reading every day for at least 30 minutes is very beneficial. I usually don’t find time to read, but here I had to. This kind of reading is less for pleasure and more for show. I like to read in a calm environment and for as long as I need. I can read a single book from morning until night. I prefer it that way.
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| GIF from Tenor: The Big Bang Theory |
Those gurus also said: if it doesn’t work, you did something wrong. I honestly followed everything according to the rules, but nothing worked. And some people even pay money for ascetic mentors and even write reports for them…
My conclusion: it doesn’t work! The experiment was interesting, beneficial for me and my budget, but it didn’t help me achieve my goals.
So, I didn’t find any evidence of magical thinking, but I did gain a couple of useful habits and the realization that real dopamine isn’t the ‘energy of the Universe,’ but good chocolate. If you prefer the real world to esoteric austerities, perhaps you’ll find something interesting or just plain cute here? 🦝
Have you tried austerity? Did you achieve your goals? Share your story in the comments!
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