In a previous challenge, I spent time with people older than me to learn what they had to teach. And although I’m still young and haven’t experienced much in life, there’s always at least one person in everyone’s life who looks up to you. For this challenge, I spent as much time with that one person in hopes of building them up now so they can conquer life in the future.

For this challenge, I mentored my younger brother Zion, who is almost 5 years old. He seemed like the obvious choice for me, but not because it might be easier for me due to him living in the same house as I do. I wanted to mentor him because I really want to see him grow up into a strong young man who can also avoid some of the mistakes I made. I want to be there for him whenever he needs me, so I need to get good at it today so that even when I’m working full time and move out of the house, I can still be there for him.

So for this challenge, I spent at least 15 minutes a day with him, but strove to make 30 minutes my minimum. Since he’s still very young, I didn’t try to teach him grand life lessons: the simple act of being with him and doing what interests him is enough. I’m his only brother, so he needs me to be there to tackle him, wrestle him, and be his punching bag.

In all honesty, I enjoyed the entire experience even though it showed me how little time I actually spend with my siblings. It’s easy to say that I’m a great big brother, but another thing to put what I want to do off to the side and read books to the little ones.

Zion definitely enjoyed this project because of how much playing time we had together, but I enjoyed it too. Honestly, I wish I had more time with him, and have resolved to do more in the coming weeks and months. I have big dreams for what I want to do in life, but that can’t stop me from living in the moment. Yes, I want to buy a house and start my career, but that can’t make me blind to the little moments that happen every day.

If I make the future my fixation, my siblings will grow up and grow distant from me before I know it. Childhood is a short and precious period of life, and I can’t let it pass me by.

In conclusion, this was a profound experience for me. It showed me my own weaknesses in my relationships with my family. Not only did I spend more time with one of my siblings, but the games Zion and I played often grew and included many of my other siblings. This was a really great project, and I intend to continue to mentor my brother and all my siblings for the rest of my life.

Technology Fast

Technology has made the world a better place for everyone in it, but has also created new problems that we didn’t have before. One of the most widespread and addictive issues is wasting time online, stuck in a cycle of chasing endless entertainment.

For this project, I limited my non-essential screen time to 30 minutes per day. I didn’t play any video games for the whole month, but that wasn’t difficult because I haven’t played any video games for the past 9 months anyway as part of entering manhood. It is my opinion that a man should quit or at least severely limit his video game usage, as it’s almost always a detriment to his journey. It may seem relaxing, but that time could be used in so many better ways, even if you still want to relax in it anyway.

Part of this project was easy, and others were difficult. Like I said above, avoiding video games was easy. Social media also wasn’t a problem, because I only use one social media app, BeReal, and that app has very little content with which you could waste your time.

However, limiting entertainment to 30 minutes was quite difficult for me. The main problem that holds me back from bettering myself is wasting time on entertainment. I’ve struggled with this for many years, and although I’ve improved, it’s only been through serious limiting actions I’ve taken against myself. I don’t use YouTube or streaming apps anymore, but the urge to be entertained dies hard.

Throughout this challenge, I found myself turning to music and podcasts as a means of getting entertainment even when I wasn’t enjoying it. My brain has been taught to crave such things, and it’s quite a challenge to fight it.

One of the best methods I found for combating this urge was to get back into old hobbies, like playing music. I’ve neglected playing guitar, for example, so I started playing it again as a way to find fulfillment in something other than a device. This helped a lot, as I was able to quickly improve my skills and have fun doing so.

I don’t call this battle won, however. Even though this challenge has helped, one of my weaknesses in life will probably always be entertainment. Whether it be movies, YouTube, or sports games, I know that I will always have to keep myself in check.

I will remember my recent victories, though, and use them as encouragement to move on. No one ever said that becoming a better person was easy, so there’s no reason I should expect it to be. I benefited a lot from this challenge and am quite happy I completed it.