yay, I dont have anymore problems!

[_AJ_]

yay, Im problem-free, stress-free, debt free, have a surplus of money, sa-free, fun happy jolly friends, living on my own, got girls chasing me, my injuries have all healed, Ive stopped whining and blaming, got awesome job where I get paid lots to excersize, and I got sexy good looks, got car checked and is in perfect condition and I figured out how to beat my final addiction.

yaaay!

[fictionz]

awesome for you! glad to hear about em! makes us all appreciate such happy things that might seem so neutral to other people who never experienced SA before. this might just inspire others to feel a lot better and even become happier people too

so, thank you for sharing!

[roverred]

Awesome Job man. Your hardwork has all paid off. Definitely an inspiration to keep trying!

[bwidger85]

Good job AJ! It's amazing to see where we get when we try -- we learn. Awesome!

[Setolac]

Since you are cured, before you leave SAS forum, could you tell us the things you did in order to cure your SA problems and other problems.

[strawberryjulius]

Thanks for sharing. You're really an inspiration.

[Ospi]

Good stuff, keep it up champ!

[_AJ_]

Originally Posted by Setolac

Since you are cured, before you leave SAS forum, could you tell us the things you did in order to cure your SA problems and other problems.

well, after high school i went threw a bad depression and haad pretty bad sa.
so i listened to all of tony robbin's stuff and other motivational self help stuff. eventually that changed my beliefs around to form the unrelenting determination.

then i didnt know what to do, so i went to religeous places cultural dances that my parents have taken me too as kids. I couldnt really interact with people there, so I tried therapy 1on1. that didnt do anything, so i tried group therapy.

in group therapy everyone was so open! at first it was scary, but eventually the peer pressure got to me and i learned to open up more.
in therapy i was made president of our little social event commitee thing and got some leadership experience planning an event for the group. I also put on a one-man performance which includes me doing: magic tricks, string tricks, yoga moves, playing flute, and presenting cool stuff.

after that, I was able to go to partnered dance classes and I danced with all the girls in the class.

I joined several clubs: outdoors club, sports&social club, toastmasters

I joined the youth group at my religeous place and we did a few plays

I went to yoga and aerobic classes

I went to a parade and danced like idiot alone in public crowded street with no music

went to a few night clubs alone and stood there for awhile

I met people from an online forum, and even had two girls fly over to meet me from there. I even organized a gathering from that forum where 10 people showed up

I got jobs in a hierarchy fashion.
I got a manual labor job that didnt require much socializing
then I got a job in a call center, which I quit immediately when i was put on the phones.
I tried again at a different call center and was able to last 2 days before I quit.
I then got a job as a telemarketer and lasted 5 days.
then i got a job at a kiosk at the mall and just sat there at the mall not doing much.
I then moved up to a mall store where i actuallly had to approach people and make sales.

I just wanted the ability to go up to anyone and say anything so bad.

so I paid a guy to force me to go up to random strangers and say silly things like "will you marry me?" or "sorry im late, shall we get going" and have conversations with them from there
we did that for 12 hours in total

that pretty much got me the ability to say anything without fear. It really just came down to feeling the fear and doing it anyway.


but in spite of being able to say anything, I still hated socializing!!

so i joined meetup.com and met up with a social anxiety meetup. They were all older than me, but it was nice cause I had some good friendly mentors to learn from. I got a taste of what its like to enjoy peoples company. but they all moved away eventually

so I got a good paying job at the post officei moved out on my own and cut off the bad family influence.

then i met people from SAS and we have fun times together now, which is slowly making me associate hanging out to having fun, and create an attraction to social outings instead of the sa repulsion.
http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i228/rfdfgdfgdfssgd/

throughtout the whole thing I always kept my goals in mind using posters as help:





and kept trying to change my beliefs toward that which would lead me to my goals:



so to summarize it all up in a sentence: I changed my way of thinking and beliefs on people, while exposing myself to social situations again and again

oh ya, im not leaving sas, I still gotta figure out a way to get everyone on here to beat their sa. plus i still gotta iron out some kinks with sa, but the it doesnt control my life anymore, I feel free to do anything, and thats what counts

[bowlingpins]

You have more determination and persistence than I have, hats off to you.

[alohomora]

the canadian meet ups made me jealous, :P so i actually started meeting up with SAers too...a couple of them are/were from sas. i'm really glad about it. i've been getting out every week now as a result. anyway, way to go- especially about the being out of debt part and having a good job. that's still something that's frustrating me- more so than sa at the moment. if i had that, i'd be happy too. worrying about money is quite stressful. anyhow, it was interesting to read your story. i always wondered how you got to where you are. good luck in the future.

[Hellosunshine]

I am very jealous AJ! You seem to have everything figured out for yourself and looks like you are making incredible progress. I wish I could have the motivation to work hard on beating my issues like you. The determination you have is truly admirable. Way to go you #1 stunna .

[Setolac]

Dude, where did you get the motivation to change?

[XxArmyofOnexX]

Way to go AJ!

[_AJ_]

thanks everyone!

[_AJ_]

Originally Posted by Setolac

Dude, where did you get the motivation to change?

it all kinda started from tony robbins personal power2 30 day course. there was this one excersize where you lie down and visualized where your life will be in 5 years and 10 years if you follow bad beliefs, and where you'll be if you follow good beliefs. and damn i visualized myself following bad beliefs and ending up all fat and nasty looking and it freaked me out.

that was the main turning point in my life

[scrotobaggins]

Congratulations man - this shows not only hard work, but strong character. Good luck to you with everything, AJ, although I'm sure you don't need luck now.

And thanks as well, because you just inspired me.

[IllusionOfHappiness]

Originally Posted by _AJ_

and damn i visualized myself following bad beliefs and ending up all fat and nasty looking and it freaked me out.

that was the main turning point in my life

I lol'd.

[gold132]

Well done and good luck

[emofree]

wow congratulations hehe hats off to you my friend keep up the good work there ... never turn back ... go forward

[silenced]

Respect!!

All credit to you, you not only had the desire to change but the motivation, and in the end you were actually able to do it, which really is an inspiration to me. It speaks to your amazing determination, toughness, courage, and discipline.
Looking at how you overcame SA, it looks like you tried everything possible, ready to do whatever it took, regardless of what fears/resistance you may have had initially. That perseverance is what got you to this point.
It's great that you are still gonna be in this forum and help the rest of us beat our SA, I know you will find a way!