Thread by @sovereigntylea1

Don’t be a puppet to your pleasure & pain.

Master your dopamine system & you master your life.

Full EZ to understand dopamine thread.

Your dopamine system regulates pleasure and pain

You can fall victim to it or you can hack it.

It is like a teeter-totter with little monsters on it.

One side is pleasure and the other side is pain.

The teeter-totter wants to be even. It will always go back to even.

That is how we evolved.

It is important to understand why.

Your caveman grandpa needed to eat. So the brain pushes down on the pain side of the teeter-totter to get him to hunt.

Once he eats he is rewarded with a lot of pleasure.

Have you ever hunted a dinosaur and eaten it? Must have been a rush!

But that pleasure pushes the teeter-totter too far the other way. You are now TOO satisfied.

NO! This will not do.

How in the hell is your brain going to get you to hunt the next day?

It gets you to move by pushing back down on the pain side of the teeter-totter the next day.

”ME SO HUNGRY!!!”

Knowing this fact now, think of today's world.

We often indulge in too much pleasure.

The brain has to even it back out & it delivers you pain in return.

Also, the more pleasure you consume the less effective it is.

You must add more and more for the same effect. (ever heard of addiction?)

And the more pleasure you consume the more PAIN your brain must dish out to get back to even. (ever heard of withdrawal?)

Here is the coolest thing ever.

Ready?

YOU can push on the pain side and your brain HAS to deliver you pleasure in return.

Exercise —> runners high

Fasting & eating —> best meal ever

How shower when cold & filthy —> BRO!

Sauna & cold exposure —> feeling like a superhero

Push pleasure a bit less & voluntarily push pain a bit more.

You will master the pleasure and pain center of your brain.

IMPORTANT WARNING…

You can get addicted to pain as well.

“Everything in moderation, including moderation.”
- Oscar Wilde

Nothing is simple in this life.

"Supernormal Stimuli" are death.

An exaggerated version of our real wants & needs.

- Porn → sex
- Videogames → entertainment
- Fast food & refined sugar → whole foods
- Social media → human connection

They push the teeter-totter WAY too far.

Good news.

If you stay away from supernormal stimuli you will reset back to even.

Bad news, it will hurt, psychologically & physically as you reset.

Remember if you push on pleasure too much, nature pushed back with pain.

You cannot beat this system.

Dopamine fast.

Consider cutting out supernormal stimuli for several days.

Your teeter-totter will reset. Normal things will please you again.

You are lost & not creative because you are never bored.

We are supposed to be bored sometimes.

This is why ideas appear when we shower or go for walks.

If you can’t be alone seek therapy.

Quitting “Cold turkey” rarely works

Try to replace or limit

Refined sugars → stevia or monk fruit as sweeteners

Porn → a real partner or a SEARS catalog

Videogames→ books, board games

Social media→ Ok you can cold turkey that, LOL

Learn Your Dopamine System.

- Pursuing pleasure (& avoiding pain) leads to pain

- Voluntary pain will give you pleasure (watch for pain addiction)

- Dopamine fasting resets a broken teeter-totter

- Supernormal stimuli are dangerous

Control your dopamine, control your life

“Unearned dopamine will destroy you” @hubermanlab

Solution = work for your pleasure.

Nature's intended process.

Your caveman grandpa would be proud.

If you haven’t read “Dopamine Nation” by #annalembke you must.

Follow @sovereigntylea1 for more mental goodness

Please RT the first tweet & give me earned DOPAMINE!!!

https://twitter.com/sovereigntylea1/status/1622581320965672962