Thread by @stijnnoorman

The most misunderstood self-help topic:

Dopamine.

It's why you feel tired, depressed and unmotivated.

Here’s how you control your dopamine for maximum motivation (backed by science):

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter.

Most people think it's the pleasure molecule.

But it's actually the molecule of craving and pursuing.

Pleasure is the reward you get for pursuing something worthwhile.

Dopamine shows you that you're on the right path.

It's release when you achieve a milestone.

Or when you make progress.

Humans are aiming creatures.

We get positive emotion from moving toward a meaningful goal.

The more meaningful the goal, the bigger the dopamine release.

Instant gratification is dangerous because:

• It's fast to get
• It's easy to get
• It's a supernormal stimuli

Limit your consumption to prevent desensitization.

The main danger is getting dopamine without putting in effort.

This trains your brain to learn that you don't need to put in effort to get a reward.

Too much consumption leads to desensitization.

This gives you a numbed pleasure response.

Which means you need more stimulation for the same effect.

This means you'll need increasingly more stimulation.

A study in sheep showed that novelty also plays a huge role in this.

This is a problem because big peaks also lead to big crashes.

So let's talk about how you can use dopamine properly now...

Intermittent rewards are the key to dopamine use.

Allow yourself to release dopamine intermittently.

This keeps it fun without desensitizing your brain.

Also get your dopamine from the right activities:

• Sauna
• Sunlight
ª Journaling
• Workouts
• Good food
• Meditation
• Cold showers
• Supplementation
• Social connections

When you do this, you maintain a healthy dopamine baseline.

Which is important for motivation and drive.

A dopamine detox can help to restore your motivation.

You need 30 days to reset your dopamine system.

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