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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents 2

Introduction 3
What is Dark Mode? 3
Origin of Dark Mode 4
War (v4.0) 6

Follow Me 7

Rules 8
How To Create Your Own Rules 8
Additional Considerations for Modern Times 10
My Rules 12
Exceptions 13

Goals 14
Type & Number of Goals 14
Dark Mode Goal-Setting Metrics 16
My Goals 18

Schedule 24
My Schedule 24
Creating Your Own Schedule 25

Parting Words 25

Definitions & Explanations 26

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INTRODUCTION
What is Dark Mode?
Dark Mode is a simple system designed to guarantee the successful
completion of personal goals.

The idea is to create and adhere to a set of rules that will allow you
to focus as close to 100% of your energy on a specific goal or set of
goals.

We call it ‘Dark Mode’ because the rules you create will ideally
prohibit you from ANYTHING that is not directly facilitating the
manifestation of your goals.

In most cases, this means going ‘Dark’ (i.e. no going out, no social
media accounts, no television, no unnecessary communication, etc).

Dark Mode consists of three key parts

RULES GOALS SCHEDULE

You cannot break the rules until you have accomplished your goals.
Adhere to a ‘schedule,’ enforced by Rules, to achieve your Goals
more efficiently. Simple, right?
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Origin of Dark Mode

I created Dark Mode in 2017, after just having come out of a one
year relationship where I felt like, for the first time since 2011, I had
completely stagnated.

The relationship was one in which I become very ‘comfortable’ - and

it was only when it ended that I realized how far I had drifted from
the path towards the person that I aspire to become.

Feeling depressed, desperate, and like I had just lost a year of my

life, I wanted a way to be able to get back onto my path as quickly
and efficiently as possible.

I took a really hard look at myself and how I could go about doing
that. I determined that not only would I need to set difficult goals,
and commit to conditions that guaranteed the realization of those
goals.

And so ‘Dark Mode’ was born - I set ambitious goals within what I was
able to identify as my 4 ‘parts’ (body, mind, expressive,occupational),
and created rules that I would not break under any circumstance
until I had achieved my goals.

Going through my first Dark Mode was a profound experience, and

continues to be.
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As examples:
• Removing myself from my phone and social media allowed me
to fully realize how dependent I had become on those things in
the first place.
• In exploring my mental through meditation, I was able to
• cultivate a permanent ‘observational’ state, where I now
• experience life as both ‘me’ and ‘something that observes me’
which has helped me to better understand the real ‘me.’
• I discovered that ‘expression’ was actually a legitimate remedy to
the problem of ‘over-consumption’, which I think is perhaps the
single greatest problem of our time.
• Physical goals allow me to explore and appreciate my body
in new ways. To see it less as ‘me’, and more as a vehicle that
transports ‘me.’
• Occupational is often neglected when considering what ‘we’ are,
when it precisely the means through which we sustain ourselves
within any modern society.

These are just a few observations within a sea of endless observations.

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War (v4.0)
For every Dark Mode, I like to pick an individual theme or metaphor
through which to help better contextualize the entire experience.
For this fourth Dark Mode, I’m choosing the metaphor is ‘War.’

War is a temporary, ‘heightened’ state of affairs generally

characterized by ‘conflict’, of which there are only two possible
outcomes, victory or defeat.

I may be inclined to believe that what stands between me and my

goals is something external, but I know on a more profound level
that my true adversary is myself, and so victory is equivalent to
overcoming myself.

I’m fascinated by the individual mechanics of war - balancing

offense with defense, utilizing misdirection and feints.

To the victor, go the spoils.

I’ll explore this metaphor in more depth as Dark Mode 4.0

unfolds. Make sure to subscribe if you’d like to join (or check out the
Dark Mode 4.0 playlist if I’ve already finished).
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FOLLOW ME

Youtube is simultaneously where I share all of my core philosophies

(via Focused videos) as well as show myself putting them into prac-
tice (via Vlog style videos)

My channel is intended to be something more authentic for you to

be able to relate to within a society and system designed to have
you relating to inauthentic things.

SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE

@nelsonquest
Here’s where I share random thoughts, photos, and behind the
scenes. It’s also where I typically ‘announce’ things.

FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
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RULES
How To Create Your Own Rules
If you’re anything like me, you’ve failed a lot at accomplishing goals.
What most of us do is set goals, fail, and then ‘try harder’ the
next time. While I can’t speak to your direct experience, in my
experience, this has never worked.

The reason being that ‘try harder’ has more often than not been a lie
that I tell myself. My experience has been that ‘trying’ is an illusion -
we either do or we don’t.

To ‘try’ isn’t even worth thinking about and ideally we should work
to remove the concept from our conscious understanding of the
process required to successfully achieve a goal.

The purpose of ‘rules’ with Dark Mode are to create optimal

conditions for the realization of your goals.

As such, you should take some time and do some intense personal
inventory to identify everything that you perceive is preventing you
from accomplishing your goals, and then create rules to eliminate
those things.
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Example 1
If you’re spending too much time
on Instagram or Facebook, don’t
just set a rule of ‘no Instagram’
- instead, create a rule that you
will remove them from all of your
devices or, more ideally, that you
will deactivate your accounts until
Dark Mode is completed.

Example 2
If you’re having a hard time
developing a gym habit,
don’t just set a rule of ‘go to
the gym every day’ - instead
set a rule that you aren’t
allowed to eat until you’ve
gone to the gym, or that
you must go to the gym and
at least lift one weight
(the outcome usually being
that you’ll lift more than one
weight).
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Example 3
If you have trouble with procrasti-
nation, identify all of the ways that
you procrastinate, and eliminate
those things. Take some time to
really consider this. Obvious forms
of procrastination are Television
and Netflix, but some people
procrastinate with motivational
videos, others with books! (which in
many cases may give the illusion of
learning, while in reality we only
learn what we apply).

Setting proper rules will require you to be extremely honest with

yourself, which is surprisingly difficult, since we’re really good at
lying to ourselves.

Your ability to be honest with yourself will be closely tied to how

authentically you understand yourself, and this is a painful, difficult
process that takes time.

Additional Considerations for Modern

Times
I highly recommend that you set ‘no social media’ as a rule for your
Dark Mode. And don’t just commit to it, literally deactivate your
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accounts and remove the applications from all of your devices.

I also highly recommend setting ‘no going out’ as a rule. We

spend so much time ‘plugged in’, not only to screens, but to social
situations and scenarios, and to ‘unplug’ is what will give you the
objectivity to make better decisions of ‘what’ to plug into, and ‘when’
to plug in.

Extended periods of solitude have been absolutely essential for me

to better understand when I am not in solitude.

One of my favorite things about Dark Mode is that it gives you a

reason to not be available. A legitimate excuse to disconnect.

If you have particularly needy friends or family, they may be upset,

but the reality is that most will understand and respect what you’re
doing.

Remember that this isn’t permanent, and what you’re trying to do

in setting rules is to create optimal conditions for the realization of
your goals.

In all likelihood - social media and going out are not helping you to
reach your goals - it’s much more likely that they’re doing the exact
opposite.
 MY RULES 12

bla bla bla

3 No TV

1
No unnecessary
communication

2
No ‘going out’ with friends
without an
objective

4
Uninstall all distracting phone
applications and disable all
notifications

5
(the only apps I keep on my
phone are Calm, Audible, What-
sapp, and Goodtime)

I can only use

Instagram

6
when on the
stairmaster at
10pm bedtime
the gym

7 6am wake-up

10
8 Intermittent Fasting
(16 hours / day)
Minimum 10 minutes of
Meditation & Red Light
therapy per day

9 Only eat meat

(Carnivore Diet)

11 Only decaf coffee

first 30 days
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Exceptions

UFC
If there’s a big UFC event, I can watch the replay during the week-
end so long as I stretch / yoga while watching.

Holidays
I can spend the holidays with friends & family (if I choose to)
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GOALS
Type & Number of Goals
It is my belief (and experience) that the best growth is experienced
in a balanced way. I believe that as humans we are divided into four
dimensions, which I like to refer to as our Four Dimensions of Self.

1 2

3 4

When setting your own goals for Dark Mode, I highly encourage you
to set goals for each ‘part’ of yourself - in this way, not only are you
growing in a balanced way, but you will find that at higher levels,
the boundaries between each of your ‘parts’ will begin to dissolve.
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As examples:

• I practice things I learn through salsa in business negotiations

and in sex
• I express myself in physical movements at the gym, and use
mental to better ‘listen’ to my body.
• I use mental, physical, and expressive to help create ‘flow’ states
that amplify my occupational, etc.
• I use expressive and physicality to amplify my ability to
communicate

These are just 4 examples of what is really an infinite number of

possibilities.

I also highly recommend that this is your FIRST Dark Mode, to

only set one goal for each of your four dimensions.
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Dark Mode Goal-Setting Metrics

Part of the difficulty in setting goals, is that you don’t want to aim
too high or too low, and it can be difficult to find at what point that
should be.

I recommend the following:

1. Set Goals that Are Realistic To You but Unrealistic
to Everyone Else

Society is designed to limit you… this is not a critique as much as it

is a very simple observation.

Your friends and family will often say (and fully believe) that they
want the best for you… and they probably do… but they don’t fully
understand what that means.

They will project their own perceived limitations onto you. If you
have the ambition to do something that they themselves don’t
believe themselves capable of doing, they’ll give you advice and
recommendations based on if they were you, not considering that
you are you.
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This is useful.

Set goals that you know that you’re capable of (and perhaps just a
touch higher than what you believe yourself capable of), but that
your friends and family don’t believe you (themselves) capable of.

2. Create Goals That Are Measurable

As an example, let’s say that you want to “get good at dancing salsa.”

Rather than setting the goal of “to be a good salsa dancer” - identify
what’s needed to achieve the goal (i.e. to practice and dance salsa)
and then set a measurable goal.

So, if you want to be a salsa dancer, your goal could be to get invest
1000 hours into salsa practice, or to get to the point where you have
1 social dance where you don’t make any mistakes, or to compete
in a salsa dancing competition, etc.

If you want to start your own business, your goal could be to ‘find 5
clients,’ or ‘generate XXX in revenue’.
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My Goals
Remember, I highly recommend setting measurable goals that
are realistic to you an unrealistic to everyone else, within your 4
divisions (body, mind, expressive and occupational) so that you
grow in a balanced way.

Body:
CLIMB A MOUNTAIN

I’m just coming off of knee surgery and it will be a long road to
recovery. Climbing a mountain is something I’ve always wanted to
do, but have been unable due to physical limitations.

My goal will be to climb Mont Blanc (France) in August of this year,

and if that doesn’t work… well until that happens, that’s not an
option.
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Mind:
3 SESSIONS OF AYAHUASCA

Meditation is a super-skill - and has helped me to understand

myself and my experience in ways that transcend myself.

Ayahuasca is an ancient plant medicine dating back to at least

1000 A.D., that is taken during a special ceremony and under the
supervision of a Shaman, that can allow the taker to experience
‘truth’ on a more profound level. (depending on when you’re
reading this, I may already have a video on the topic up on the
channel).

To reach my goal, my plan is to do roughly 1 Ayahuasca ceremony

per month.
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Expressive:
3 PUBLIC SPEAKING EVENTS

I am ‘technically’ an extreme introvert. Most of my teenage years

were spent indoors immersed in online worlds, and I’m generally
very anxious / uncomfortable around people.

I say ‘technically’ because over time, I’ve realized that I can be

anything I choose to be, and right now, I choose to do extroverted
things (like this YouTube channel).

I believe that my message is most powerfully communicated through

videos, and I’d like to become a better speaker and eventually host/
headline my own conferences.

3 public speaking events is a good, measurable goal on that path.

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Occupational:
1. NELSONQUEST: LAUNCH 15
‘FOCUSED’ VIDEOS | 150K
SUBSCRIBERS | 25K EMAIL LIST

‘Focused’ videos are essentially the ‘pillars’ of my philosophy and

content, and it’s absolutely essential to have a library of those
available before I start publicizing the channel again.

When my first channel was suspended, it had approximately 125,000

subscribers. And to get back on my path I want to go further than
that this time around.

This time around I know that I also need to build a presence outside
of YouTube, and so I’ll create free ‘value’ items (like this guide that
you’re reading) to grow a newsletter list of at least 25k emails.
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2. AGENTFIRE: LAUNCH ‘20’ HIGH

VALUE VIDEOS | ‘10’ HYPERLEADS
VIDEOS | 5K SUBSCRIBERS | 150 NEW
CLIENTS

I own a real estate web company that I founded in 2013 and we’ve
identified that content marketing is where most of our traffic and
new sales come from.

Considering that I basically have an entire media production team

(thanks to NelsonQuest) and I think there’s a huge opportunity
within ‘video’ to drive more sales and get more attention to the
AgentFire brand, I’ve decided to focus this goal around video
content marketing.
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I know this may seem like a lot of goals but they’re all very much
tied together, and all ‘pieces’ that I’ve identified need to be
completed to get our video content marketing to where It needs to
be for us to be successful in that endeavor.

20 High Value videos are what I anticipate that I’ll need to be able
to get to 10k subscribers on YouTube.

Hyperleads is an idea I have for a video course that will be

available to our clients, which we’ll market via YouTube videos as
well as other content marketing efforts. 10 videos will legitimize it.

All of this doesn’t matter if we’re not also getting new clients! Which
is why I’m also setting a goal to adding another 150 new clients,
which will represent roughly $15k in additional monthly recurring
revenue.
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SCHEDULE
My Schedule
While this isn’t required for Dark Mode, it’s highly recommended
that you create a loose schedule for yourself.
What follows is my schedule - I will follow this exact structure every
day but the times may vary. It has been my experience that the only
way to maintain a schedule is to allow for flexibility, and if some-
thing isn’t quite working, to tweak it.

6:00 am 4:00 -5:00 pm

Wake Up / Morning Ritual Physical Activity #2

6:30 am - 10:00 am 6:00 pm

NelsonQuest Focus Dinner

10:00 am 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Physical Activity #1 AgentFire Focus

11:00 am 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Breakfast Night Ritual

11:30 am 10:00 pm
Sleep
Relax / Nap / Sun

12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
AgentFire Focus
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Creating Your Own Schedule

Try to ‘block’ time to focus on individual goals or pursuits... and
remember... be flexible!!

A schedule is not something that is set in stone - it’s a guideline

designed to maximize your productivity and efficiency, and thus,
your proficiency in completing your goals.

PARTING WORDS
Create honest rules that create optimal conditions for achieving
your goals… then achieve those goals - and you will find Dark Mode
is far more profound that what it may initially seem to be.

I’ll let you experience that for yourself.

Good Luck!

Nelson Quest
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DEFINITIONS & EXPLANATIONS

Listed below are additional definitions and explanations of various
things that I do.

Morning Ritual
This is different for everyone. For me this consists of:
1. Set my coffee to brew on the stove, and while that’s happening
-->
2. Make my bed
3. Cold shower & get dressed
4. I take my coffee mostly black and often decaf - and will some-
times with Ghee, MCT, or even MCT Hot Chocolate
5. Meditate (breath focus, 10 minutes) while I do red light therapy
6. Light stretching
7. Start my work day on my treadmill desk
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Night Ritual

Starting around 7pm I’ll gradually start to lower lights and ensure
that I’m using blue-blocking glasses and blue-blocking software on
all of my devices.

At around 9pm I’ll stop working and begin preparing for the follow-
ing day. This preparation this will include preparing my gym items,
setting out my work clothes, tidying up around the house, and put-
ting all of my devices to charge.

After that’s done, usually listen to a fiction audio book while I do

some stretching.
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every 3
decide work on the sessions
on the task task until the take a long
to be done set the timer rings take a short break
timer to 5 minute
25 minutes break

Pomodoro Technique
Dark Mode isn’t about burning yourself out, it’s about being
maximally efficient during the time that you work. For those
reasons I utilize the Pomodoro Technique during my work sessions.

The Pomodoro Technique is where a timer is used to break the

work session into set intervals. Each work session is followed by a 5
minute break. After every 3 to 4 intervals, you can take a ‘long’ break
of 15 minutes. decide on the task to be done set the timer to 25
minutes work on the task until the timer rings take a short 5 minute
break every 3 sessions take a long break 7

The traditional Pomodoro length is 25 minutes, although I prefer 40

minute intervals - and because my day is already so fragmented, I
do not take any ‘long’ breaks.

Before each Pomodoro Interval, you must decide what task you
want to focus on and only focus on that task.
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Because you have eliminated all distractions and are only focused
on one task, your goal should always be to achieve a ‘flow’ state.

I have lots of small miscellaneous tasks each day (answering email,

responding to communications from my employees etc) - and so to
get around that, I dedicate 1-2 Pomodoro’s per day specifically to
‘small tasks.’

During my breaks and before starting new sessions, I monitor team

communication to ensure that nobody is waiting on me for an
important answer to something.

Intermittent Fasting w/ Non-Fats

I will only eat between roughly 10am and 6pm (8 hour eating
window, followed by a 16 hour fast).

I typically have a ‘bulletproof coffee’ upon waking, which only

contains healthy fats (and so nothing that will spike my insulin).
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Meditation
I meditate daily (generally as part of my
Morning Ritual) using an application
called ‘Calm.’

I consider meditation to be the most

important activity that I perform on a
consistent basis, because it helps me to
stop perceiving things as good or bad,
but to simply observe them, and being
able to ‘observe’ has helped me more
than anything else to better understand
myself and those things outside of myself.

Taoism
An ancient Chinese Philosophy that
is at the center of my own personal
philosophy. Taoism teaches us how
to move through life in a simple
and balanced way - how to move
with our actions.
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My Teacher
Years ago, when I began my study
of the ‘Tao’, I found myself having
trouble translating it’s ancient
teachings within a modern
context, and so I sought out a
teacher. His name is Casey and his
website is personaltao.com. I speak
to him roughly once per week,
and I consider him one of the most
important people in my life.

Work Stations
To preserve my body and mind - I will effectively alternate between
4 work stations. My treadmill desk - where I can be active - my sofa,
where I use pneumatic compression boots for recovery - my desk-
top computer - where I traditionally work on multi-task type items
- and the “4th workstation” is a cafe or co-working space, which I’ll
work from for a few hours each day, usually around mid-day.
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Ketogenic / Carnivore Diet

I typically follow a mostly Ketogenic style diet - which is essentially
a diet consisting of 75% fats, 25% protein, and under 30g Net Carbs
/ Day (High Fat, Moderate Protein, Low Carb).

I’ve been following this diet for a few years and feel best on
this sort of diet. I’ve experienced reduced body inflammation,
improved muscle mass and definition, which has also been easier to
maintain - better sleep - and most importantly for me, greatly
improved energy & mental clarity.

More recently, I’ve been experiencing energy/sleep issues, and so for

this Dark Mode I’ll be experimenting with a Carnivore diet, which
will consist entirely of meat (tail to nose) and animal products
(dairy, eggs).

I’ll explain why in videos on my channel.

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Red Light Therapy

Red Light Therapy is supposed to decrease
skin inflammation, smooth skin tone, repair
sun damage, fade scars and stretch marks,
and even build collagen. Since I’ve just
started experimenting with it, I’ll hold off
with any opinions for the first 30 days.

RPG Video Games

RPG stands for ‘Role Playing Game’ - these are games where where
the player controls the actions of a character (or group of characters)
and leads them through a storyline, taking place in a well-defined
world. In short, beautiful works of art with rich stories and well-
developed characters (at least the good ones). I discovered RPG’s
during a particularly tough period in my life where I had no friends,
and they played a huge role in shaping the world and my place
within it. I’ve added this to my schedule because when I play video
games, I stop thinking and instead immerse myself into the lore
and characters of these worlds.