Dopamine

Over-stimulation is the reason for the vast majority of the population remaining in a sub-optimal lifestyle, soothed by video games and social media, living a life directed by impulsivity, rather than intentionality.

Dopamine

Dopamine is one currency of craving, motivation and desire and pleasure. There is only one currency.

Understand dopamine levels

Don’t spike your dopamine through so many acitivities during the week. That is a sinister way dopamine works. Once it drops to a certain level, what used to work doesn’t work anymore. So it starts to look like a more severe addiction or more acute addictions.

We should all pursue activities/things that we enjoy. The key thing is to understand the differences between the peaks and the baseline - understand how they influence one another. Once you do that, you can start to make really good choices, in the short run and in the long run, to maintain your level of dopamine baseline, maybe even raise that level of dopamine baseline, and still get those peaks, and still get those levels of elevated motivation, desire and craving.

Those peaks and having a sufficiently high level of dopamine baseline are what drove the evolution of our species and really what drove the evolution of anyone’s life progression. So dopamine is a good thing.

Fake dopamine spikes destroy our passion for life

1. Fake sources of dopamine are an extremely underrated destroyer of your passion for life.
2. Because you get big dopamine spikes from porn or playing video games, which slowly destroys the sensitivity of your dopamine receptors.
3. Over time, you need more and more stimulation to get the same ‘hit,’ and this numbs you further.
4. Normal life becomes boring to you.
5. Being motivated to write, paint, and create is now the last thing you want to do. Congrats — you’re officially a robot.

Use dopamine to your advantage

1. Do not give into emotions.
2. People think that dopamine is related to pleasure. But dopamine is more related to motivation than pleasure.
3. When we are waiting for a reward, dopamine is at work.
4. Microgoals are the answer.
5. Set up a rewarding system for yourself.
6. Dopamine is the reason why things that provide instant gratification are more attractive to people than things that reward people in the long run.

Need more research

Nsdr or yoga nidra

How to replenish dopamine levels

Tags

1. Addictions
2. Boredom
3. Increase your capacity to be bored
4. Willpower is not the Key to Success - Environment design is