This is not another article about doing this or doing that. This is about realization.

You hear the word dopamine detox everywhere.

As if all human problems on earth come down to dopamine issues, phone addiction, etc.

It’s arguably one of the issues, that we all have high screen time, But dopamine is not a new thing to our body and we are not a new thing to dopamine too.

When our ancestors used to live in caves, their source of dopamine came from hunting a big deer and cooking it on fire.

Pretty hard and painful work I would say.

With technology and ease of access to food where we can provide it from supermarkets, was have started getting our dopamine from elsewhere.

I don’t know about the science behind why we produce these hormones or why we need them.

I’m just sharing what has worked for me and how I managed to be more productive.

Dopamine detox? or a brain hack? or just a simple realization?

Pain as a Motivator

I’m going to be honest with you.

I have never done any sort of dopamine detox. For years, and I mean years I was struggling with procrastination and consistency.

I have done many meditations, yoga practices, discipline hacks, productivity hacks and you name it.

Nothing worked.

Until I realized that, the world is based on pain and pleasure.

If you seek pleasures you end up with pains, if you seek pains you end up with pleasures.

You can stay in your comfort zone, drink, party, spend money, and go through life with pleasure and have a painful life after.

Or, you can be disciplined, wake up early, learn, read, write, try a new business, and have a pleasant life later.

But what is pain?

Pain is when resistance meets effort. (Resistance + Effort = Pain)

We all know what we need to do to be healthy, to be successful to achieve our goals.

You know if you do certain things daily, 5 years from now, down the road you will achieve your goals.

Deep in ourselves, we all know the path to success.

But we are not willing to take that path.

Why?

Because we are not willing to go through pain and face it.

Our brain is wired to avoid pain. It’s our survival mechanism that tries to keep us in our comfort (safe) zone all the time.

But this survival mechanism is counter-intuitive to our achievement, especially in this modern world.

So what to do?

Understanding Resistance

We all have these excuses, noise, and conversations in our head that with logic stop us from doing things that we know we need to do.

Forms of Resistance:

• Fear: Most common — not working because you’re afraid of what happens if you do.
• Instant gratification: Not working because you want/expect instant gratification.
• Doubt: Not working because you have doubts about yourself, or that it’s even possible.
• Anxiety: Not working because it makes you feel nervous, anxious, and uncomfortable.
• Rationalization: Not working because you’ve rationalized not to do it.
• Learning: Not working because you want to “learn more” about it first.
• Research: Not working because you “want to do some more research” first.
• Comfort: Not working because you feel comfortable right now and don’t want to feel uncomfortable.
• Perfection: Not working because you want everything to be perfect before starting.
• Waiting: Not working because you would rather wait to see if things change.
• Justifying: Not working because you’ve justified it.
• Warped priority: Not working because you think you should be working on something else.
• Distraction: Not working because “that thing” keeps distracting you.
• Support: Not working because you don’t have the support of an accountability partner.
• Feeling vulnerable: Not working because it makes you feel vulnerable or psychologically exposed.
• Addiction: Not working because you are addicted to something other than working. Example — Video games, Instagram TikTok
• Criticism: Not working because you’ve critisied other than to do work, or being critical of others instead.
• Denial: Not working because you’re in denial, refusing to see or accept the reality.
• Drama: Not working because you’re drawn to, create, or more to drama in your personal life.
• Procrastination: Not working because you’re putting it off till tomorrow.

You got the point.

But how to overcome them?

The first step is realizing you have resistance and listening to the conversation your mind is having with you. Be conscious of this.

Second, just tell it to shut up, and go away, I’m going to do it anyway.

Third, this creates pain… holding the line, suffering this pain, and doing it until you reach your goals is what separates you from others.

The only thing that stops you or is between you and your goals is this tunnel of pain/fire that you need to walk in and pass.

On the other side of this fire tunnel is the place where you meet your goals.

All successful people, or millionaires know this. They subconsciously, seek pain, because they know on the other side is a world of pleasure and success.

So to overcome procrastination:

Find your resistance, consciously be aware that, that’s just resistance, it’s ok, tell it to go away, do the work, and constantly fight your internal resistance.

Now let’s talk about dopamine and how I see it.

Dopamine Addiction

I see dopamine addiction differently.

I see it as a way to train your mind, to gain reputation and respect.

For example, if I go to the gym and I say I want to do a workout for 30 min, then I have to do it for 30 min. Not 25 min, not 28 min.

You see, is not about the physical practice, it’s about training my subconscious mind to obey me.

What happens if I finish let’s say in 25 minutes?

My dopamine or mind or whatever you name it, learns that if he has some level of conversation in my mind I can give up. Instead of 30 min, I can make it 25 min, to avoid pain.

You might say, what workout got to do with business?

Your mind doesn’t care what activities you are doing. If you let it control you, as soon as pain sets in, it gives up.

You need to have respect for your words and do what you say. Precisely.

If not, your mind knows that you are capable of giving up. With little conversation and reasoning.

And you know what’s good about this?

Once you do what you say, after completion, this sense of satisfaction sets in your body, which I believe releases a lot of good dopamine in your body.

Over time you get addicted to a good source of dopamine which comes after pain and suffering.

That’s why successful people seek pain all the time because it gives them this sense of joy and releases a lot of dopamine in their bodies.

It’s all about training yourself, my friend.

The Game of Consistency

I have talked about how to overcome procrastination, and also how to manage your dopamine.

Now let’s talk about consistency.

Consistency = Emotional control

If you could do a task yesterday, and you can’t do it today. What has changed?

The state of your mind… your emotions.

Has anything in your surroundings or physical world changed?

Most probably not.

So, your mind, with your thoughts, created this state of mind that you are sad, emotional, not in a mood, and not focused.

How to overcome it?

Think about your emotions, feel them in your body, and find the source of it. Where does this emotion come from?

Remember, the first step is always realization.

Once you find the source of bad emotions, use your mental ability, to chill it, calm it down. It’s ok we are emotional beings.

But there is a better way to even prevent it from happening in the first place.

How?

You heard a lot about meditation. But to me, meditation means something different.

It’s not about concentrating at a certain time, in a specific place, a quiet room with a robe around you.

Oh, don’t think about anything, watch your breath. naah

That’s not meditation.

Meditation is the art of staying in the present. As simple as this.

Imagine you are on top of your house roof, if you go far left, you fall off, if you go far right you fall off. It would be best if you just stay close to the middle.

Far left is your past, and far right is your future.

You can either think left (your past) which brings many negative, ugly, and bad memories, or you can be hopeful and think of the future which takes your current moment away from you.

Both the past and future bring unwanted emotions and thoughts to us. whether we like it or not.

If Consistency is equal to emotional control and emotions come from our thoughts.

Then we should be in a constant state of mediation, by being aware of our thoughts. Not too left, not too right.

This is like a lever to control emotions.