Good for you. I’m in awe of people who keep it controlled like that. I sometimes think I might be able to if I had real world professional/social responsibilities. My isolation gives me a lot of latitude to push things way to far and I have no objective measure of how much I’m actually losing it. I actually have written half my dissertation and have 14 months left to finish the other half - such a long time frame doesn’t provide much motivation.
I also have a lot of trouble finding motivation with long deadlines, I need shorter deadlines to keep me in check, even if it's just an artificial deadline.
Yeah I think you're right about having responsibilities. If you're not engaged in anything meaningful then there's no real reason not to get high as shit and enjoy purely hedonistic activities.
Everytime I find myself in that kind of situation I usually have some version of the following thought: "What else am I going to do? Boredom and meaningless activities vs getting high, I'd rather get high if I can."
I think it's not entirely about willpower, it's a combination of luck and the way you organize your life. I don't take 500mg shots not because I have complete control over my desires, but simply because it wouldn't be enjoyable to me (guess that part is just about being lucky).
On the days I smoke let's say 20mg in the morning I often think about doing more. My willpower only intervenes for a couple of seconds, the moment I decide to go outside and leave my stuff at home. The rest of day I'm just working and keeping myself busy so I don't even think about meth.
On the other hand kratom is a different thing because I would actually start feeling WD symptoms even if forgot to take it. So I don't know, I guess life is weird. I just try to take advantage of the opportunities I have in front of me, but I also have many flaws and my brain often tricks me and prevents me from doing stuff I want/need to. But then I also play tricks on my brain to force myself to pursue meaningful stuff, but it ain't easy. I hope to get better at it in the future.
Speaking about that, I'm gonna take some kratom.