You know, at first I was going to chastise you for using "monk mode" as a superficial excuse to avoid talking to scary women. But you actually had specific goals. So fuck you for actually doing it correctly and ruin my attempt to mock you.

The easiest way to fix AA is literally by just going up and talking to women with no intent of closing. The next woman you see in public, go up and ask what the time is. Do that twenty times. Then go up to a woman and say "hey there, that's an interesting whatever that you're reading/wearing/making. Is there a story behind it?" Listen attentively to whatever she says, thank her for her time, and leave. Repeat 20 times. And so on. Escalate whenever you start thinking that you can handle what you're doing.

Your goals in these interactions are not to close, they're just to have a good interaction. That's it. Confidence in talking to women is just repeated successful contact internalised. When you know that you will live happily if rejected, you have won the game.

I'm doing a short 2 week Monk Mode break myself. (need to think about my future and lifestyle decisions)

What I've found tremendously useful is a timetable covering my whole day, filling it with useful activities and, most importantly, providing a constant change between periods of work, reading, and relaxation/meditation.

This leaves you no time to dick around, but rather makes you focus on your tasks, and not get drawn into your old habits. As Benedict of Nursia himself once said: "Doing nothing is the enemy of the soul."

Also, eliminate smartphone/computer use from your daily life as much as you can. Especially helpful when you are addicted to porn, gaming or whatever. Productive use is fine though.

I'm currently in Monk Mode myself. I'm probably only going for at most a 3mo. term at this (Started Dec. 1st). It sounds like you have a good plan. I'm focusing on the following things:

• Meditating: the best way to re-program your brain IMO ("Wherever you go there you are")
• Teaching myself Jazz piano
• Diet (Here's my diet)
• Fitness (Here's my fitness bible)
• Career Development (This)
• Productivity & Time Management (too many books to mention, OP PM me if you want this list)
• Not watching Porn & Masturbating less frequently (Highly recommended /r/NoFap)
• No Alcohol

For learning to cook I highly recommend this book.

For addressing approach anxiety I recommend The Rules of the Game.

This is an excellent book on habit change. (OP this is how you start to break down those "masturbatory" habits)

Also, Monk Mode is basically an exercise in stoicism. This book is awesome.

Since you'll have plenty of time to read here are some other Books I recommend:
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
"Models: Attracting Women Through Honesty"
"The Talent Code"
"Man's Search for Meaning"
"Flow"

Final thoughts OP. 6 months is definitely a worthy goal however studies show that 90 days is usually what it takes to create new habits and routines. You have to be consistent though. Just food for thought.

(Edit: I suck at formatting)

Well done. Defining the areas you want to improve will help guide your processes. I highly recommend tracking your progress in these areas for analysis and reflective purposes. For example:

-Keep a notebook (or spreadsheet) of the different lifts/weights you accomplish so that you may identify trends and set new goals. Keep in mind, form is the main priority.

-Track how many recipes you have tried/tweaked/ or even mastered. Leaving yourself notes of what worked well or poorly will be helpful in becoming a better cook.

-Set a weekly goal for the number of conversations you strike up with strangers. They can be very superficial conversations about the weather, sports, or whatever. You will find that people will really open up to you if you can learn to initiate well.

Best of luck to you. Remember to enjoy the journey because there is no destination, only the path.

I'd be lifting at least 5 days a week. And make sure your diet is correct.

Also your job in retail is a perfect opportunity to get over your approach anxiety. You can approach literally anyone, risk free, and just strike up a conversation. It's easy.

starting in January

fuck off, why not 20 of december? This whole special date thing is shit.

I will not actively pursue women

easier said than done, tell youself that even if someone is pointing a gun at your mothers head you will not bend your will. We are created to suplicate to women, it's bred in our cognition.

I am not too sure if I will increase my days at gym for the moment but I will continue to meet 3 days a week and any additional day is encouraged.

again, start a program, rather than just doing it like gym bros...it will make it much easier to integrate it in your lifestyle if you don't need to think about it.

Reading: I must always be reading something. It doesn't have to be self-improvement related or even a challenging book but just reading something to keep my mind active.

scratch that...that is weakness(I completely agree with reading but the compulsion is bad), replace it with meditation and do it religiously, it will help your development more that reading

so that I can better my diet.

absolutely, and no easy half assed attemts...everything from ingredients to your tools need to be pure. Ramen is not food, it's just slow, cheap,bad tasting take out.

I will address approach anxiety: This may seem to contradict the first point, but I'll be viewing the construct of AA separately from focusing on women to focusing on myself,

well it does sound like a load of shit with your premise, but if you are decisive and start of with the premise you will not have anything to do with that woman after that initial interaction that is pachaged outcome independence right there: feel free to experiment and have fun for those 30-240 seconds. Also, eating healthy, meditation, working out will help you with the brain noise.

I will eliminate "masturbatory" behaviours: I spend too much time wasting time (i.e. refreshing facebook, TRP) and not actually doing productive things. Addressing this aspect of my lifestyle will help achieve some of the other goals.

again kinda vague: put a hard ban on facebook, replace it with something different and productively stimulating. If you find you can't go cold turkey, heroin is hard for a reason, you have a couple of days of a tech fast(your brain will literaly go crazy and start consuming it's self) and afterward introduce less stimulating but more productive habits.(speaking of masturbatory, reduce your masturbation to once a week)

Any resources/advice/experiences with monk mode or how to ensure the success of this period is appreciated fellas.

stop this new years resolution bullshit. Concentrate on each one for a week and then let them overlapp in february. Starting up is the easy part, (it's only hard for those that don't start) keeping it up is hard, and that should be your focus.