How I Fell In Love With Doing Hard Things — Dopamine Detox For Beginners
Imagine this… You’ve had a tough day at work. You’re exhausted and hungry. After reaching home, you head towards the bathroom and freshen up. Next, you walk towards the kitchen. You find out that you’ve some vegetables in your fridge and a packet of Doritos. You can make yourself a healthy snack or just go with Doritos. Which one would you pick?
Now, you sit on your couch with your food and switch on the TV. Once again, you’ve two options. Watch a Valuetainment podcast, or watch Money Heist. Which one would you go for?
Listen…
If you’re feeling guilty about your honest choices, first of all, I love you for being honest with yourself. Secondly, know that it’s not you who’s to be blamed for your choices. It’s a tiny molecule in your brain. You, in fact, have nothing to do with it.
What’s Dopamine?
Let’s talk about what made you choose an unhealthy snack and watch Professor execute his master plan with this team, over the alternatives.
Meet Dopamine — the best friend of your brain. It’s a cute, tiny molecule that’s responsible for your motivation to do something.
How?
It’s released after you’ve completed a task, as a reward for your brain. And believe me, your brain loves it!
So your brain tells you to study hard for your exam so that you score great, and the brain gets to enjoy a release of its favorite molecule.
The more Dopamine is released, the more you want to do something.
You’ll feel motivated to eat healthy food, exercise, study for an exam, take actions to build your dream business, and much more! If doing something gives you a high dopamine release, you’ll want to do it again and again.
The bad news here is, you’ll want to do it repeatedly, even if it’s disastrous for you.
My Teenage Love Experience
I remember seeing this pretty girl in one of my tuition. Every day, I’d use to watch her from the corner of an eye. I was happy. A month later, I decided to walk up to her and ask her to go out with me. She agreed and I was overjoyed. Our relationship continued for some time, and then we wanted something more. We wanted to make love.
What happened?
Dopamine released in my brain, every time I watched her brushing a few strands of hair from her forehead and tucking them behind her ears. After some time, it wanted more, which compelled me to ask her on a date. There was an increase in dopamine release. When that became normal after some time, we wanted intimacy.
How To Hack This Behaviour For Our Advantage
What happens when you don't get to eat anything for a few days? You’ll be so hungry that you’ll eat your least favorite dish, right? And the best part is, at that point of time, it won’t taste as bad as it normally does.
So basically, you’re gonna bore yourself so much, that your work would seem pleasurable. Your brain will be so hungry for its dear molecule, that it’ll be satisfied with whatever little it gets. This practice is called Dopamine Detox.
We’re going to apply this concept in our lives.
The Process
Let’s start small. Today (or tomorrow, if you’re done working) you’re gonna set a few hours aside (4–6 hours at least) where you’ll abstain from any kind of high dopamine activity. You’ll stay away from video games, pornography and masturbation, any food that you love, browsing your mobile, etc. In short, stay away from anything that you enjoy doing.
Your goal is to feel bored enough for your brain to crave dopamine. Then you’ll do something that’s “hard work” for you. Eg: working on an assignment, exercising, reading non-fiction books, etc.
And when you’re done working for 6 hours, treat yourself with a cup of coffee. Nothing too good. Please.
Try dopamine fasting for 24 hours, and gradually a week. Then a month.
Get ready for your new life.
A life where you’re at your peak productivity. A life where you’re way ahead of your competition. A life without any addiction. That’s your dream life.
Thanks for reading!
Have a great day ahead!
