The simple but complicated formula to quit the "hobby" is to make the rewards of ordinary life greater than the instant gratification that the "hobby" provides.
For me it involved changes in different areas of life. Moderate but consistent physical activity; taking on additional responsibilities at work; moving to a better neighbourhood; more time spent reading physical books and learning new things; seeing my parents more often; spending a bit more on restaurants. Importantly, less screen time led to better sleep, which led to better emotion regulation and impulse control.
There also comes the realization to have lived all of your experiences. D'avoir fait le tour. As mentioned in other threads, with rare exceptions, the quality of our interactions with agency SPs seems to have declined since the pandemic. It's also us getting older and more jaded... Thus the rewards of each encounter have gotten smaller. Not wanting to end up like the Leolist client who is on an endless quest for the hidden gem that will never come, this is what prompted me to stop. At the same time, I was making progress in the other domains of life mentioned above. I also came to terms with the idea that I will remain single likely forever. If making friends in adulthood were easier I would certainly make efforts...This is an area for improvement.
If someone were to ask me where to start the answer may surprise you: sleep (7-8 hours of quality sleep). At its core, being addicted to the hobby is like every addiction: it is a problem of emotion regulation. Not having enough sleep all but guarantees that it will be difficult to accomplish that. In summary, different moving parts must come together to build a more meaningful, rewarding life.
