Your Brain is Getting High on Dreams You Never Chase

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Ever notice how good it feels to dream about that business you'll start, that trip you'll take, or that project you'll finally finish?

There's a reason for that intoxicating rush – your brain is literally throwing you a chemical party. Dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and norepinephrine flood your system, creating a natural high that feels amazing... but often leads nowhere.

The uncomfortable truth? Most of us have become dream addicts.

We get high off possibilities without doing the work to make them real. And what nobody tells you about change is that it comes with a time limit. There's a neurological window – maybe 20 minutes, maybe a few hours – where your motivation chemicals peak.

Miss that window, and your primitive brain pulls you right back to what's familiar, even if familiar is slowly killing your dreams.

In this 8-minute episode, you'll discover:

• Why your brain releases a chemical cocktail when you think about dreams
• The 20-minute to few-hour motivation window that changes everything
• How to use the Emotional Response Cycle to break the pattern
• One question that can shift your next 24 hours (and your future)

The real transformation happens when you stop being hijacked by your brain chemistry and start working WITH it instead.

Ready to break the cycle? Don't let this be another dopamine hit without follow-through. Your dreams don't belong in the clouds – they belong here in your messy, beautiful reality.

Drop a comment: What's one action you're committing to in the next 24 hours?

🔗 For more tools: www.liftoneself.com 🎯 Ready to go deeper? Join the Emotional Sobriety Workshop where we practice breaking this cycle together.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome home to the Lift when Self podcast.
I'm your host, nat Nat.
And here's the brutal truth.
Most of us are dream addicts.
We get high off the fantasy,the possibility, the someday
when I'm ready, story, we tellourselves, but we never actually

(00:25):
bring our dreams down from theclouds into our messy, imperfect
, beautifully human reality.
This episode is going to bringsome truth, and with truth can
come discomfort, because I'mgoing to ask you to look at how
you've been holding your dreams.
But I'm not here to just pointout the pattern.

(00:45):
I want to give you tools tomove through it.
So, before we dive in, let'sprepare your body, your nervous
system, to actually receivewhat's about to land.
Let's take this mindful moment,place one hand on your chest.
One hand on your chest, onehand on your belly and, if it's

(01:07):
safe to do so, gently close youreyes.
Bring an intention to the bodyof being open to listening and
supporting what you're dreaming.
Now, when breathing, you'regoing to inhale down to the
bottom of your spine, feel thebreath rising upwards and when

(01:32):
you exhale softly through yourmouth, draw the belly in to let
it all go.
Let's begin Inhale slowlythrough your nose, feel that
dream, that longing rising up.
Exhale softly through yourmouth.

(01:55):
Actually be present with yourvision instead of just
fantasizing about it.
Tell your body it's safe tofeel the expansion and delight

(02:19):
of this dream.
Inhale slowly through your nose, exhale slowly through your
mouth.
You know that feeling.
When you think about the job youreally want that project you've
been dreaming about that trip.
You keep saying I'll take oneday that business you want to
start.
Your whole body gets energized.

(02:42):
You're like yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah.
This is it inside.
That's a cocktail of chemicalsflooding your system.
Dopamine gives you theanticipation rush.
Norepinephrine I hope I said itright.
I always butcher that onecreates that energized feeling.
Endorphins deliver that briefeuphoria.

(03:04):
Serotonin boosts yourconfidence.
You believe you can do this.
Your brain is literallythrowing you a chemical party
for just thinking about change.
Feel into your body right now.
Can you sense that cocktailrising when you think about your
dream?
But here's the trap You'regetting the chemical payoff

(03:28):
without doing any of the work.
And what happens?
You don't follow through, youwait, you let the wave of energy
pass by.
Each time you do this, the hitgets weaker.
Eventually, even your biggestdreams feel flat, like the
spark's been drained.
Here's why this is happening.

(03:49):
What nobody tells you aboutchange is that it comes up
strong, but it doesn't waitaround.
There is a neurological window,maybe 20 minutes, maybe a few
hours, where your motivationchemicals are peaked.
Few hours where your motivationchemicals are peaked, miss that

(04:10):
window and your nervous systemwill pull you right back into
survival mode, back to what'sfamiliar, even if it's slowly
killing your dreams, because, toyour primitive brain, familiar
equals safe, even when familiaris keeping you trapped.
The real shift, the one thatchanges everything, comes when

(04:30):
you stop running from thisuncomfortable truth.
Most of us do this.
We reach for the dopamine hitinstead of the actual work.
It's not weakness, it's how ournervous system protects us, but
staying there keeps us small,because starting is easy, ending
is easy, but staying showing upwhen the excitement wears off,

(04:54):
when it's boring, when it's hard, when your nervous system is
screaming to go back to safe,that's where dreams either die
or come alive.
I'm going to share a tool tohelp you catch yourself before
you get trapped again.
It's called the emotionalresponse cycle and I use it in
my emotional sobriety workshop.

(05:14):
Think about that dream wetalked about earlier.
What triggered that dopaminehit?
Was it a conversation, a post,a quiet moment where your soul
spoke.
What's your automatic response?
Notice your body, your mind.
Are you excited, planning,already talking yourself out of
it?
How are you going to react?

(05:37):
Will you let this energy passor channel it into one action?
What will reinforce the pattern?
Avoiding action trains yoursystem that dreams are just
fantasies.
Acting proves inspiration canbe reality, and this is what
emotional sobriety teaches youhow to stop getting hijacked by

(06:00):
brain chemistry.
How to catch the waves ofinspiration and ride it into
action.
How to teach your nervoussystem that rest is safe, the
unknown is safe.
Growth doesn't equal threat.
This is just one tool.
We dive into the workshopbecause awareness is the first
step, but systems, practices arewhat create lasting change.

(06:23):
You to feel excited.
Every day they're asking you toshow up, to choose expansion
over familiar, again and again,until it becomes who you are.
So here's your moment of truth.
What's one action you can takein the next 24 hours that, six

(06:45):
months from now, your futureself will thank you for?
From now your future self willthank you for.
Feel it in your body, write itdown and then do it like your
future depends on it, because itdoes.
Don't let this be anotherdopamine hit.
Let it be the start ofsomething real.
If this landed for you, hitthat like button.

(07:08):
It tells me this work mattersto you.
Share it with somebody whoneeds to hear this truth and
drop a comment below what's theone action you're committing to
in the next 24 hours?
If this resonated, theEmotional Sobriety Workshop is
where we actually practicebreaking this cycle together.
You don't just hear it, youembody it.

(07:30):
For more tools to stop livingin survival mode and start
living your truth, visitwwwliftoneselfcom.
Until next time, remember youbelong to yourself and your
dreams.
They don't belong in the clouds, they belong here in reality.