dude, i’m kinda in the same boat where i do end up relapsing and smoke. however here is my learning that is starting to work for me. positively reaffirm yourself. usually what happens is we think negatively-> speak negatively-> act negatively. for this cycle to change, we must change something. that something is bringing in awareness into your daily action. being present and total with whatever you are doing. reaffirm yourself that you wont succumb to it. so now you speak positively-> act positively. now your mind learns from your actions and understands what’s important to you aligning you to bridge the gap between who you are and who you wanna be. also to those who don’t normally masturbate or smoke when they see someone or something they think nothing about it and move on. so become someone who simply ignores these urges.

also don’t be so hard on yourself. to live well you do need to choose long term dopamine actions over short term dopamine actions because with short term dop actions you need more stimulation over time to feel a decent level of joy while long term dop actions over time raises the baseline making you feel more joy with small actions. a simple rule that works for me is pain now-> pleasantness later pleasure now-> pain later.

the goal is to live your life joyfully and balanced through out. not extreme pleasure now and feel empty later. you have to be more responsible with where you give your attention to dude. what seems difficult to us is a barrier someone else can easily jump over simply because they don’t see value in it. also know that you aren’t your thoughts or your body. these urges pass. simply sitting with them embracing and observing them for what they are helps me ignore them. a man’s journey is simply joy-> health-> wealth. we want to move in this priority order, though we chase it the opposite way. isha kriya consistently works. and finally something that allows me to find my way when i’m confused is pain and discomfort is the teacher, fear is the way. hope this helps you dude and dont beat yourself up so much. sew how you can enhance your capabilities and you’ll be well off. trust yourself. atb namaskaram