This will be the extension of the second edition on my full guide to long-term motivation, feel free to check it out below if you have not already. I would highly recommend reading the last edition first to have a better understanding of this post.

Your Full Guide on: How to Build Long Lasting Motivation (beehiiv.com) 

In this edition of peak performance, we will be discussing:

• What is dopamine in simple terms?

• The POWER of Bad Habits

My Goal with this Newsletter is to provide education on productivity, mental, and physical performance that will change your life.

This newsletter not only is a place of education but also, an opportunity to cultivate a fostering community of strong and ambitious young men so that we are able to help out one another in these times of weakness and comfort.

Because the hard times are coming soon.

I don’t know exactly when, but I assume that it will happen in our generation’s lifespan, like how the saying goes, easy times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.

Throughout these posts, I will be only talking about my stories and the mistakes/lessons that I’ve made along the way. So hopefully this will be a place where people can talk about their problems and uplift one another.

If that resonates with you, I’ll highly appreciate it if you subscribe to this newsletter so that you will be up to date with the latest information and get access to exclusive posts like this one, it’s a win-win for both of us.

Just as a reminder, this is going to be a two-part guide on dopamine and dopamine detox. The first part will be posted today while the second part will be released on THURSDAY, on October 17th, at 12:00 PM.

The reason why I’m splitting into two parts is to experiment on different lengths of posts. It’s also to see if you would prefer shorter, more digestible posts like this one, or if you prefer longer, full guides like my previous posts. Comment your thoughts below on which one that you prefer more.

Let’s Begin!

What is Dopamine in Simple Terms?

If you have already read last week’s post, this will be a brief explanation of dopamine plus some extra information on the topic. Dopamine in simple terms is a chemical that gets released in the brain whenever you perform an action that is deemed enjoyable. Whenever dopamine is released, the brain further reinforces the habit and wants you to repeat it again. So, what are some examples of these types of actions?

Examples of these actions are:

• Scrolling social media

• Video games

• Junk food

• Smoking

• Etc.

These set actions are pleasurable because it these are actions that we refer to as “high stimulating activates” This high stimulation causes the brain to release a tremendous spike of dopamine in comparison to other everyday actions.

Now this is what I left out in the motivation guide when it came to discussing the structure of your dopamine receptors in relation to self-improvement.

So, you might be wondering, are these high stimulating actions considered bad for you?

Well, the common answer is that, yes these are considered bad habits not only for your body, but most importantly to our dopamine receptors.

But why is that the case? To answer this question, we need to dive deeper on how your dopamine receptors work. Shall we begin?

The POWER of Bad Habits

Now we have learnt on what dopamine is, the actions that yield the highest amount of stimulation, and a tad bit on dopamine receptors. I believe that in this section of the guide, you will be able to learn the most important actions of a dopamine detox and why it is considered to be so effective. With the POWER of a dopamine detox, you will be able to shed a layer of your old identity and become a completely different person, this is the competitive advantage of a dopamine detox.

So, what does this have to do with self-improvement you might ask?

To answer this question, let’s look into the profound impacts on your dopamine receptors when it is exposed to high stimulating activates.

The reason on why stimulating content is so bad for you is because of how your dopamine receptors are structured. This is because your receptors have a base level that it gradually goes back to when it is not receiving any stimulus. Even under stimulus high or low, it will always revert back to zero, which is your base level of dopamine. Your base level dictates your future actions, your mood, and most importantly your perception of fun when it comes to doing the good or bad habits. But the problem is that, when you are exposed to high levels of stimulation over long period of time, your base level changes to where it is no longer at zero.

The specific percentage doesn’t matter, but we can now confirm that your base level is now higher than zero. This causes a lot of issues when it comes to performing habits. Depending on where your base level is, regardless of the current situation, your brain will always want you to meet the demand of that set point. So, for example, if your base is at 0, then all you need to do is to meet the demand of zero to feel satisfied and not bored. Sounds pretty easy right?

Now let’s say in this scenario, your base level is higher than zero because you had too much stimulation. This is just a random number but let’s say that your base level is now 35. Now instead of meeting the demand of zero, you now have to meet the demand of 35 to feel satisfied. Most people would admit that sounds a lot harder than meeting the demand of 0. Now why does this happen? This is because your receptors build up tolerance.

Imagine the guy who is an alcoholic, he is drinking multiple bottles a day, over and over again, week after week, month after month. (a.) So, in his current state, do you think that he would need to drink more bottles a day overtime to feel satisfied or (b.) does he only have to drink just 1 bottle a day overtime to feel satisfied?

If you chose (b.), then you would be correct. This is because the alcoholic builds up his tolerance overtime, so now his base level is increasing, which means that he is now going to need to meet that higher demand to feel satisfied. That is only going to keep on increasing overtime.

So, to summarize this and to answer your previous question before, stimulating habits like video games and scrolling on social media, causes in increase in your base level of dopamine. This makes it so that you are now required to meet this demand, which will only increase more and more overtime. This constant cycle can lead to overuse, and even worse possibly addiction.

(To Be Continued. Part 2 releasing Thursday, October 17th, 12:00 PM)

Here are some sneak peaks on the topics that we will discuss in part 2.

• How do bad habits negatively affect your ability to perform the goods habits?

• This is where a dopamine detox comes into play.

• How to perform the dopamine detox

Stick around for part 2, this is where we will discuss on how to actually perform the dopamine detox and change your habits, which will ultimately change your life for the better. You don’t want to miss it; this will be my most life-changing post yet to this day.

Are you enjoying the post so far? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Does it help you out? Tell me about your thoughts in the comments below. It would really help me gauge the type of content that you prefer seeing the most on this newsletter and allow me to make better, high-quality posts that align to my audience.

If you did enjoy it, feel free to share this post to someone who might find it helpful and also subscribe to the Peak Performance Newsletter to get up to date with future posts and stay notified whenever I release a new one, I’ll see you on Thursday for PART 2 of this post, Peace 😎