Good morning, Vietnam! The first month of a grand experiment

To be honest, I didn't make the experiment "grand"; I mostly acted reactively. I ended up listening to Radiohead, looking at the night sky, and praying not to get poisoned by $1.50 tuna sushi from a smelly bar around the corner.

This January was a month full of chilling, hiking, touching monkeys, and making new friends. So innocent. "You haven't changed the world again, Vlad." I didn't expect to succeed with my contract, though. Moving around in a new country is stressful for the nervous system. It's not about the fear of the unknown — rather, the excitement of the unknown. New events sparkle wherever you look, exponentially increasing one's temptation to experience them while investing almost no effort.

I am writing this text as a reminder of how important it is to fix a foundation to get back on track for a happy and peaceful existence. Life can be beautiful. Not a utopia: people around often act driven by the fear of scarcity, the fear of being rejected, and sometimes cynicism and self-interest. But as long as you don't act like a jerk and genuinely invest in your own core values, everything will eventually be sorted out.

I must break down the January contract now, identifying what parts of it didn't work and why they didn't work for me.

The good parts

There are certain "I won't do that" points where the contract worked extremely well. The reason wasn't even the financial stake; it was the public nature of the contract.

Games, alcohol, weed, and adult content — obviously harmful and easy to control ("just don't do it") — depend entirely on one's willpower. They are binary, meaning the action is either performed or it isn't. The brain becomes very selective when an action lacks a strict binary condition. Even after losing $200, I couldn't allow myself to surrender to these binary activities. I cannot imagine publicly declaring I smoked weed or watched adult content; the shame would be too great.

Habits are consequences of lifestyle and environment. It is easy to grasp: if you don't have unstructured time or boredom, the brain won't even recall the triggers that typically cause destructive behavior. It is all a game of triggers. If you isolate yourself in an encouraging environment, half the battle is already won. I am managing the environment part now — all of my new friends here are sports fanatics, entrepreneurs, and mindful yogis.

Where my willpower broke

I made an obvious mistake by including many non-binary conditions in the contract. One or two might have been okay to handle, but all of them together made my brain boil while seeking escape hatches to cheat and avoid punishment.

The "no harmful food" part is very leaky. Is one candy a day really that harmful? Apparently not. Are three chocolate candies every day harmful? Paired with an absence of exercise — apparently yes. Since you often cannot control the food on the table, failure is just a matter of time.

The local food in Vietnam is a double-edged sword. It's extremely cheap and tasty, but only because it's full of sugar and low-quality nutrients. They put sugar in literally every meal; the main carbs are rice flour or vermicelli, and the proteins are grilled pork or chicken. The $2–$3 price per meal and the flavors are so tempting that cooking at home becomes an unattractive option.

Sucked into a never-ending chill

It feels as though I have arrived in one of the most affordable and relaxed places in the world. The community of tourists and expats here is large and active, with board games, tea ceremonies, bike rides, and sporting events happening every single day. Significantly more is happening here than in any tourist destination in Thailand.

The "never-ending chill" will be the second obstacle to overcome. It is not about needing to find a job to stop wasting time; it is about engaging in more meaningful actions and experiments. It is about consciously remembering why I do what I do and why I avoid what I fear. Tell me if it isn't fear that drives every decision.

I am adding more active points to my February contract. No matter how stressful it may be, I know I will not regret the outcome.

A temporary inconvenience

While I expected to succeed with most activities, I didn't expect to fall off the bike (we never do...) and drop out of sports for more than a month. It's sad, but that's life! I have one more month to fully recover, but I think I should try getting back to light exercise starting tomorrow.

Side note: love, love, love

It is still the most powerful driver. Romantic love is cool, but have you tried radiating compassion and love toward everyone and everything around? I'm sincerely trying. Gratitude, forgiveness, and mutual respect. I'm still being rejected, and it still hurts, which only means it's an opportunity to grow. I'm considering more social challenges and experiments now.

The February Contract

Remove:

• Harmful food control: Too difficult to track and be honest about. I don't believe I have issues with my diet; I just need to return to sports.
• Intermittent fasting: An absolutely unviable idea in my current environment. I don't need a diet; I need to return to sports, and that's it.
• Giving up social media: Apparently, I didn't have issues with updates on friends' lives. The real problem was late-night meme doomscrolling, which I avoided for 28 days.

Add:

• 1 hour of studying a piano piece and music theory every day.
• 1 hour of studying software engineering every day.
• 30 minutes of light exercise or 10,000 steps.
• Writing a sleep journal.

Keep:

• No PC or mobile games.
• No alcohol or weed.
• No adult content.
• No social media doomscrolling.
• Expense tracking, to determine the true cost of living in Vietnam.
• Sleep hygiene (no phone in bed and a consistent wake-up time).
• Morning routine (sun exposure and exercise).
• Daily journaling.

I also have ideas for experiments that I may add later after a more nuanced review, but these are enough to start with.

Thanks for reading, guys. Let the fun begin.