I am not starting Reset Theory because I have all the answers.

I am starting it because I have enough problems that taking notes seems appropriate.

I Am Not Writing From the Finish Line

I’m at the stage in my life where poor decision-making has caught up with me and I am in dire need of a reset. Life circumstances, addiction, depression and anxiety, relationships, career trajectories, health, and much more have slowly transformed the life that I spent my teens, twenties, and early thirties trying to build into something unrecognizable. The last five years of my life have been full of ups and downs, and my fear of feeling feelings and dealing with problems has come to a breaking point. I am in the middle of my own personal reset to not only return to baseline, but to exceed what I thought my life would be.

Why Reset Theory Exists

I have a background as an experimental physicist, and for nearly a decade I lived and breathed a scientific approach to everything in my career. The Reset Theory is taking that approach and applying it to every single area of my life. Pretending that everything is fine is no longer feasible, and massive, life-altering changes need to be made in order for me to give myself the life that I want. I’m documenting it to take a scientific approach, and I want to share my successes and my failures.

A Laboratory Habit

In the lab, we document what happened, not what we wish happened. We write down failures because failures contain valuable information. A system cannot be fixed by flattering it, by ignoring its problems. We troubleshoot one variable at a time. We follow the signal, even when that signal is annoying. A lab notebook is not there to make us look smart - it’s there to keep us honest.

What Needs to Change

I have habits, some destructive and some not, that have been around for far too long. Even some of my coping mechanisms for dealing with things life throws at me have become problems. I’m fast approaching forty, and my physical health needs some serious attention. My issues with addiction and alcoholism need to be addressed healthily. I cannot continue to solve things via avoidance. My career, my finances, and my general stability need to be rebuilt from the ground up. My friendships, family relationships, and romantic relationship need consistency instead of speeches and empty promises. I don’t list these categories to dramatize them, but to stop minimizing their importance to me. Some of the things that helped me through one season of life are now actively making my current one more difficult.

What This Site Is Not

This is not a guru site. I am not a medical authority nor am I a therapist. This is not at all a “victory lap” or a “how-to” guide that I’m writing to try and teach you exactly what to do to fix your own life. This is a man attempting to bring himself back from next to nothing.

What This Site Is

This site can be thought of as a sort of “field log”, or a personal reset journal. It’s a record of experiments, observations, failures, and adjustments. I’ll discuss serious topics with an unsentimental voice. I’ll test things that actually help and document the process before even the outcome is known. This is a way to keep myself honest, and a way to (hopefully) be useful to another person.

Who This Might Help

If you’ve got the feeling that something needs to change, but are unsure where to start, this may be of some use to you. If you’re dealing with addiction, dependence, or other destructive habits - I do too, and I’m trying to fix them. If you’re trying to rebuild your health, your discipline, your confidence, and your stability - this may help you.

What Comes Next

This is the first entry in the Reset Log. From here, I’ll be writing about addiction, health, discipline, avoidance, relationships, money, career, and the general process of trying to rebuild a life without pretending the rebuild is already finished.

Some of it will be personal. Some of it will be practical. Some of it will probably be me discovering that a brilliant plan was not, in fact, brilliant.

That is part of the point.

The system is not behaving as expected.

So now, I start taking notes.