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😶 Why dopamine detoxing isn't the best way to feel motivated

😶 Why dopamine detoxing isn't the best way to feel motivated

Here's what to do instead. Plus, good news for coffee lovers, +1 reason to lift weights and more.

August 07, 2023

Happy Monday. Just a friendly reminder that there are only two days left to enter to win 💰️

If you have no idea what we’re talking about, you can get all the juicy details at the end.

Now, here’s what you’ll find in today’s issue:

😃 How to keep motivation high without a dopamine detox.
☕️ Good news for coffee and tea lovers.
🌿 Is “nature’s Ozempic” real or a hoax?
🍑 Florida is in the headlines (again) for a scary reason.

Let’s get into it.

THIS WEEK’S FEATURE

Low Motivation & Drive? What to Do Instead of a Dopamine Detox

If you feel unmotivated or like activities that used to bring you joy have lost their spark, the Internet may tell you it’s time for a dopamine detox.

A dopamine detox consists of abstaining from activities that spike your dopamine, such as scrolling on social media, playing video games, drinking alcohol, etc.

However, detoxing from things you enjoy isn’t the only way to reset your dopamine baseline. Today, we’re going to cover another approach you can use to optimize dopamine and keep motivation sky high.

Dopamine is your friend

Dopamine, sometimes called the molecule of motivation, is a hormone that plays an essential role in helping you achieve your goals.

When you have high dopamine, you feel extremely motivated and just plain good. You can increase your baseline dopamine with specific actions, substances and food.

For example, chocolate spikes dopamine 1.5x over your baseline, while drugs like amphetamines skyrocket your baseline dopamine 10x.

…but it does have a dark side

Now, we are definitely not suggesting anyone start doing drugs for motivation. In fact, this brings us to the dark side of dopamine:

Every time your dopamine shoots above baseline, it must come back below baseline before evening out again.

Dopamine spikes feel great, but the higher the high, the lower the low, which makes the initial spike even more appealing. This is why addictions are so powerful and hard to break.

Even if you don’t feel addicted to something, too much dopamine spiking can push your dopamine baseline lower, forcing you to need more to feel the same level of satisfaction.

Enter: Intermittent dopamine spiking

Instead of completely cutting out something that’s spiking your dopamine, a better approach is to rely on intermittent use. By randomizing your pleasure, you can keep motivation high.

Let’s look at two different scenarios:

You’re hopelessly addicted to TikTok and spend all your free time scrolling, and you feel like you must scroll longer and longer just to feel something

The only way you could convince yourself to work is by blasting your favorite music and treating yourself to some chocolate afterwards, but now your motivation is even worse

In scenario #1, instead of deleting TikTok entirely, another option would be to use the app randomly to break the habit and reset the dopamine baseline. How do you define randomly? Well, one way is to flip a coin every time you consider opening the app.

Scenario #2 illustrates dopamine stacking, which depletes dopamine even faster. The best approach here is to attempt your work without music or a post-work treat.

If working in complete silence sounds like misery, know one of the best ways to keep motivation high consistently is to find pleasure in the actual process of whatever you’re doing.

“It's not the destination, it's the journey”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

As cheesy as it sounds, our buddy Ralph was spot on. You probably know this intrinsically if you’ve ever hit a big goal just to feel unsatisfied, even though you thought you’d be ecstatic.

So, to recap:

Every time dopamine spikes above baseline, it must drop below baseline, which makes you feel more pain
If you engage in activities you love on a random schedule, you can prevent dropping your dopamine baseline too low
Be careful of stacking too many dopamine-inducing activities, as this can drop your baseline, too
For consistent motivation, aim to find intrinsic pleasure in your process

With this in mind, you can optimize your dopamine levels for enhanced motivation and drive — without experiencing excessive pain or dissatisfaction.

Thanks for reading and go crush your week 💪

— JC

📈 Focus Optimization Tip of the Week

☕️ ☕️ Supercharge dopamine signaling with caffeine ☕️ ☕️

Unlike chocolate and nicotine, which increase dopamine, caffeine works to increase dopamine receptors in your brain. With more receptors, you are able to take in more dopamine, resulting in increased motivation and alertness without affecting your dopamine baseline. Pretty cool right? Drinking coffee may also have other health benefits if you consume between 3-4 cups per day. We’d coffee cheers to that.

📱 Trending on TikTok #wellnessTok

A supplement called Berberine is blowing up on TikTok as a weight loss drug, with users calling it “nature’s Ozempic”.

@drashleypower
Clarifying some facts about berberine. Berberine is a compound found in various plants, including the barberry plant. It has been used in ... See more

If you don’t know Ozempic, it’s a Type II diabetes medication that has gained notoriety as a powerful weight loss drug, but has serious side effects (and a serious price tag to match).

While people claim to shed pounds on this supplement, there isn’t much evidence to support these claims, and Berberine has potential side effects. Despite what TikTok says, it’s not a magic pill and it’s always best to talk to a doctor before using any supplement.

⏯️ Watch it here

What the experts say:

❌ Nope, definietly not 🍊 Talk to your doctor ✅ Sure

📆 This Week in Wellness

Every week, we scan the web for the good, the bad and the downright intriguing in the world of health and wellness.

😻 The good:

Lifting weights is the new Botox. Well, not really, but a new study shows strength training 🏋️ can boost the underlying health of facial skin cells and rejuvenate aging skin.

👎️ The bad:

A concerning report suggests that leprosy might now be endemic in Florida. 📍 Central Florida, in particular, has been hit hard with a disproportionate share of cases.

🧐 The interesting:

Could listening to this animal sound act as a helpful tool in easing anxiety and depression? One study suggests that listening 🎧️ for as little as 6 minutes can help improve mental health.