October 17, 2024 • 27 mins
#019- Today, we’re diving into dopamine—the chemical that drives motivation and the pursuit of goals.
A lot of people think dopamine is just about pleasure, but it’s really the force behind why we act, why we chase after things, and how we stay motivated.
Whether you’re trying to build better habits, overcome burnout, or understand why some things seem more exciting than others, dopamine is at the core.”
By understanding how dopamine works, we can learn how to use it to our advantage—helping us stay motivated, avoid addictive behaviors, and thrive long-term.
In this episode, we’ll break down how dopamine works, why it’s so important for motivation, how it can help or hurt us in habit formation, and how to boost it naturally.
If you want to get the HIRT Workouts that I mentioned in this episode, you can find them right here:
https://www.athrivingcatholic.com/workouts
Are you ready to build high-impact habits of body, mind, and soul that actually stick? Check out the Catholic Path to Excellence today to find out how you can be more consistent in your habits and excel in every aspect of your life.
Feeling "stuck" in your life? Coaching could be the solution you need to break through whatever is holding you back. Book a FREE Call with me today to find out how I can help you.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You're listening to the Catholic Pursuit of
Excellence, the show that helpsyou accomplish more, stress less
and become the saint Godcreated you to be.
I'm your host, jessica Castillo, and this is episode number 19.
Today we are diving intodopamine.
This is the neurochemical thatdrives motivation and the
(00:24):
pursuit of goals.
Now a lot of people, when theythink about dopamine, think that
it's just about pleasure, butit's actually the force behind
why we act, why we chase afterthings and how we stay motivated
.
So whether you are trying tobuild better habits or overcome
burnout, or understand why somethings seem so much more
(00:46):
exciting than others, dopamineis at the core.
By understanding how dopamineworks, we can learn how to use
it to our advantage.
It can help us to staymotivated, it can help us to
avoid addictive behaviors andmake sure that we are thriving
long-term.
In this episode, we're going tobreak down how dopamine works,
(01:09):
why it's so important formotivation, how we can help you
or hurt you in your habitformation, and also we're going
to go into a number of ways thatyou can actually boost dopamine
naturally so that you have moreof this motivation molecule
floating about.
So quick note before we getstarted, on just why I'm doing
(01:32):
this episode and why I named itthis.
It actually stems from a postednote that I had stuck onto my
computer monitor a few weeks agoa few weeks ago where I wrote
in all capital letters stopchasing dopamine.
And this note to self for mewas because I had noticed that I
(01:54):
was kind of developing andfalling into patterns of really
self-destructive behaviors thatI recognized at the root, all I
was after was dopamine.
And so for me and the reason Ihad to put it on my computer
monitor was because I wasgetting really sucked into
watching videos on YouTube aboutrandom things that I'm
(02:15):
interested in and I've shared onmy other podcast, thriving
Catholic Podcast, and on myemail list and in other places
that I've recently beendiagnosed with ADHD as an adult.
So now that I know that a lotof the ways that I've behaved in
the past are starting to make alot more sense to me, like why
I can go into rabbit holes, whyI can get into hyper focus, why
(02:38):
I'm so interested in learningnew things and novelty and you
know, if I'm bored, how hard itis for me to actually function
One thing is that certainconditions, including ADHD, but
also depression and Parkinson'sdisease, these kinds of
conditions.
These brains have lower thannormal dopamine levels already.
(03:00):
These brains have lower thannormal dopamine levels already.
So my brain is constantlyseeking more stimulation, just
to function, just to get througha normal day, and so that can
actually lead me to be on aconstant searching for dopamine
(03:20):
kind of pattern.
And it's not necessarily a badthing.
Dopamine is, of course, morallyneutral.
In fact, it's really a greatthing that God has created
dopamine, because without it wewouldn't do anything.
In fact, in studies on rats, Ithink they modified their brains
so that their dopaminereceptors didn't work, and these
(03:43):
rats, they just lay down anddied of starvation, even though
they were sitting right next tofood and water.
And it's because withoutdopamine, you don't have the
motivation to do anything, eventhe basic life-sustaining
functions, and so, of course, weall have some level of dopamine
, or we would just lie down anddie too.
(04:03):
The problem is, when dopamine isreally really low, we're not
motivated to pursue things thatrequire more effort.
And, yeah, most valuable thingsrequire more effort.
Most things that are worthpursuing are a little bit
difficult, and so it really doesbehoove us to understand what
(04:25):
is going on with this molecule,what is going on with dopamine
and then how can we use what weknow about dopamine to improve
our lives and to cut out andlimit and stop doing some of
these self-destructive behaviorsthat we all are prone to that
we really do as humans, we'reall prone to be addicted to
dopamine and some people, like Isaid, if you have ADHD or you
(04:49):
suffer from depression or youknow God forbid you have
Parkinson's disease, then guesswhat?
You're more likely and there'sother conditions too, I'm sure
that have lower circulatinglevels of dopamine.
So if that's you, then this isextra important, but it's really
it's important for all humans.
So let's talk about the role ofdopamine in motivation.
(05:10):
So One thing that'smisunderstood about dopamine is
we think about it as the rewardmolecule, but actually dopamine
is most active during thepursuit of a goal.
So it's not the moment ofreward that dopamine is most
active.
It's actually what makes theprocess of working towards
something exciting.
(05:32):
So if you think about theanticipation you feel before an
exciting event, dopamine isfueling that feeling, but once
the event is over, your dopaminelevels drop and that's actually
sometimes.
We feel a bit low, and youmight have experienced this too
if you're working on a projectlike for work or for anything,
(05:53):
you feel good when you're doingit.
It feels great, you're workingtowards a goal, and a lot of
people expect to feel reallygood after that goal is
accomplished.
And then they get disappointedbecause actually right after
accomplishing the goal they feelkind of let down, so a little
disappointing, and that's reallynormal.
Actually, that's just howdopamine levels drop after
(06:15):
completion of something and sosometimes just knowing that and
just expecting that that's goingto happen helps normalize that
experience so that you don'twonder like what the heck is
wrong with me.
I should be happy, I just wonthis thing or achieved this
thing or completed this project.
That's just normal.
That's kind of how it works.
(06:35):
Now, dopamine actually spikesmore when we put in more effort
towards something.
So if we are like passivelyreceiving a reward, it doesn't
spike our dopamine level quiteas much as effortful action does
.
So if you try settingchallenges for yourself and you
(06:55):
achieve those challenges likeyou're learning a new skill or
you know maybe you're you have agoal of running in a race or
you want to create something newor create a project in your
business and you're doing thisthat kind of challenge brings
more.
You know it keeps that dopaminelevel higher.
(07:16):
And yeah, of course you willhave a post-accomplishment slump
, but if you can focus more onenjoying the process of working
towards a goal rather than justthe end result, that actually
helps you maintain steadydopamine and keeps you motivated
long term.
So one kind of workaround toavoid that post-accomplishment
(07:40):
schlump is to just be constantlysetting up for yourself little
mini goals that you canaccomplish, and it doesn't have
to be a big thing.
It can be something reallysmall, like, I mean, I would say
, a quick dopamine hit.
You can do like I'm going tosweep my kitchen floor.
It's small, it's tiny, but it'stangible and when it's done I'm
(08:02):
like, oh, I just did something.
You know you feel good whileyou're doing it, while you're
pursuing the goal too.
So there's lots of little waysand little mini goals.
It doesn't have to be likecreate my whole website.
It can be write the about pageof my website.
It can be something small.
So set yourself little, smallgoals so that you're constantly
(08:23):
working towards something, andwe'll talk a little bit more
about practical strategies in aminute.
Okay, so we talked a little bitabout how dopamine levels aren't
constant, right, so theyfluctuate, with spikes when
you're having moments ofexcitement or effort, and then
they dip afterwards.
So the bigger the spike, thedeeper the dip.
(08:47):
And this is why constantlychasing big dopamine hits, like
the kind you get when you'rescrolling your phone or you're
eating junk food or even justlike checking your email.
Those kinds of big spikes canleave you feeling more drained
and less motivated over time.
(09:09):
And this is kind of problematicbecause your brain is actually
wired to keep a balance betweenpleasure and discomfort when we
overuse dopamine by seekingconstant rewards in the forms of
quick fixes.
So our phones, junk food, sugar, alcohol our brains are going
(09:34):
to try to restore balance bymaking us feel more sensitive to
pain or boredom.
So you're actually hurtingyourself more in the long term
because now it's even harder foryou and you've probably
experienced that if you've spenta long period of time where you
were on your phone a lot maybeyou were doing a lot of
scrolling or, in my case,watching YouTube videos and then
(09:58):
you try to cut it off and nowthe boredom is like extra bad.
You're like, oh, I'm so bored,this is so uncomfortable.
Yeah, that's probably thiswhole dopamine balance thing
going on in your brain and it'sokay to be uncomfortable.
So one way to avoid that postreward crash is to spread out
(10:21):
rewards.
You know, to pace your rewardsin.
That can help you have a morehealthy relationship with it.
Like, so I'm not saying nevergo on your phone, never watch
videos on YouTube, never eatjunk food, but you know,
spreading them out and makingsure you're not doing it all the
time can help keep thatbaseline level of dopamine more
(10:43):
healthy and it can prevent someburnout.
So let's talk about dopamine andhabit formation.
Dopamine, of course, is crucialin building your habits because
it rewards your progress andnot just the completion of a
goal.
So all habits are basicallyjust progress, right?
(11:05):
So we eat healthy, we exercise,we pray regularly, we, you know
, we get good sleep, we do workin our business, we spend time
with our kids All of the thingsthat are habits.
These are progress andprocesses, not just completion.
(11:26):
Like you're never going tocheck the box on being a good
parent and like done, done anddone.
That's a process.
You keep doing it.
But when you can break biggergoals into smaller steps and
smaller challenges and you cancelebrate small wins, you can
actually trigger dopamine allalong the way.
So, like the example I usedearlier.
(11:48):
If you're working on redoingyour website, how can you break
that into smaller milestones sothat you can still be
celebrating wins along the way?
Because it's the feeling ofprogress where motivation, where
dopamine and motivation are attheir highest.
So you want to have thatfeeling of progress as much as
possible, instead of waiting tofeel good about yourself until
(12:13):
after you've accomplished thething, about yourself until
after you've accomplished thething.
So you know you don't have tohave finished running the race
to feel good and to feel thatboost of dopamine and motivation
.
You can celebrate all of yourlittle accomplishments, like I
put on my running clothes and Iwent outside today and you know
(12:34):
just little things.
Sometimes it has to be thelittle things to get you moving.
Obviously, we talked a littlebit about this, but dopamine is
involved in addictive behaviorslike gaming or social media
binge, watching TV, eating tonsof ice cream and sugar and
(12:54):
scrolling our phones All ofthese activities.
They give us constant dopaminespikes, but the more we rely on
them, we're definitely depletingour baseline levels.
So the first thing to do hereis to actually break that cycle.
You've probably heard peopletalk about doing a dopamine fast
, which I mean, like we saidearlier, your brain needs
(13:15):
dopamine.
So there's no way to completelyfast from dopamine because you
would just die.
That's impossible.
But when people talk about adopamine fast, what they're
talking about is reducing yourexposure to instant dopamine
hits and that just kind of givesyour brain a chance to reset.
You're going to feel moremotivated and less reliant on
(13:36):
quick fixes by removing thattrigger.
There's a pretty good book aboutthis.
I can't remember the name ofthe author, but the book is
called Dopamine Nation.
I think it's Anna something.
Anyway, in this book thisdoctor, she's a psychiatrist and
she's basically just talkingabout how the molecule dopamine
(13:58):
plays into addiction.
She's a specialist in addictionand addiction recovery and she
has an acronym in that book thatuses the letters dopamine.
To go through the acronym.
But the first step you know theD in dopamine is like a detox
time where you really do have to, time where you really do have
(14:21):
to.
It's hard really to kind ofstep away from the thing that is
your addiction at that time.
But when you go through thatdetox period you can also
observe how you're feeling andwhat you were using that thing
for and I think that's the P inher acronym too is what was the
purpose.
There was something that youwere getting out of that thing,
like, for instance, for me in myYouTube video Obsception.
(14:42):
I was getting rewards ofnovelty and excitement and
learning something new.
All of that was like my brainlighting up with stimulation.
It was like, yay, this is sogreat, let's do this instead of
recording your podcast or doinganything else of value today.
So detoxing from that for mecould include, you know,
(15:04):
deleting the YouTube app on myphone or, you know, setting up
things that block differentwebsites and apps.
There's all sorts of technologyand apps you can download and
use to outsmart yourself whenyou want to engage in things
like this.
But yeah, I'm not going to gothrough her whole acronym.
(15:27):
That is an interesting book ifyou're interested in just
digging into more.
How is dopamine related toaddiction and how you know just
taking that time to detox fromit, to literally cut yourself
off, how that can really helpyou reset.
And then you might be thinking,okay, I'm going to cut myself
(15:49):
off, I'm going to detox fromthis thing.
But now you want to think abouthow can you boost your dopamine
levels naturally so that yourbaseline dopamine is already a
little bit higher?
Because if you have so, whenyou have low dopamine, the
symptoms are a lot likedepression, right, and of course
(16:09):
depression has low dopamine.
So you will be sad, you will belethargic, you won't have the
motivation to pursue things.
Sad, you will be lethargic, youwon't have the motivation to
pursue things.
That's not really a great placeto be, because you're not
taking progress and doing thethings that you want to do, that
are going to move your lifeforward, help you reach your
goals.
So ideally, your baselinedopamine levels can be a little
(16:33):
bit higher so that even on aday-to-day basis you're feeling
more motivated.
Naturally, you want to pursuemore difficult or effortful
activities because that dopaminelevel is a little bit higher.
So there's a few ways that youcan boost this dopamine baseline
.
One way is cold exposure, sotaking a cold shower or an ice
(17:00):
bath.
If you're crazy In a good way,like people have these cold
exposure tubs you can get, oryou can just turn the water on
your shower really cold, butthis can boost dopamine by over
200% in some studies, they say.
And what's even better aboutthis is that this boost can last
for hours and it doesn't causethat big post-reward dip.
(17:26):
So if you are feeling really lowenergy or low motivation, try a
cold shower.
It is a natural dopamine reset,so it doesn't have to be.
You don't even have to be inthe cold water for very long 30
seconds to a minute, I mean, itdoesn't have to be long but this
can help you reset yourdopamine levels.
So cold exposure, that's onething.
The next thing is exercise.
(17:49):
So particularly endurance orresistance training, this will
gradually increase your dopaminelevels over time.
So it's not just about feelinggood afterwards, which you will.
You will feel good afterworking out and exercise, but
regular exercise is going tokeep your baseline levels higher
afterwards.
And I actually did a wholeepisode on exercise and I have
(18:12):
some free exercises or freeworkouts that you can download.
So I don't remember whatepisode number that was right
now, but go back and look forthe episode I did on exercise
and you can get that freedownload for some high intensity
resistance training exercisesthat will help boost your
dopamine level, and I will linkto that in the show notes.
(18:32):
Okay, another thing you can dosunlight and circadian rhythms.
Morning sunlight is actuallyone of the best natural ways to
regulate your dopamine becauseit helps your body maintain a
healthy circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm is goingto help keep your energy and
motivation levels steadythroughout the day.
(18:53):
So super simple here Go outsidefor 10 to 15 minutes each
morning, preferably go for aquick walk.
That's how I most like to dothis little hack.
You will be amazed at what animpact this will make in your
life.
In fact, I'm thinking of oneclient I had in particular, who
(19:13):
one of the first changes weworked on together was just
getting outside and going for amorning walk and I cannot tell
you the impact this made in herlife.
It literally turned around herwhole life, her energy levels,
her sleep.
She had restless leg syndrome,really bad before that.
It went away completely withina few days.
I mean just incredible.
(19:35):
You would not believe theimpact that this will have until
you just try it.
So getting outside for 10 to 15minutes to go for a quick walk
in the morning, it's great.
Even if the weather's crappyand cloudy, there's still more
sunlight or more natural lumensfrom a cloudy, overcast day than
there are indoors or fromartificial light.
So go outside, get somesunlight in your eyeballs Super
(19:58):
good.
Okay, another way to raise yourdopamine levels naturally is
delayed gratification, so youcan train your brain, just like
you would train a dog to waitfor rewards, and this is another
way to keep dopamine working inyour favor.
So, the more that you can trainyourself to delay rewards and
(20:21):
delay gratification, even ifit's something small, this
teaches your brain to valuelong-term goals over quick hits,
and you can get better at this.
And you know, in Catholictradition, of course, we fast
and then we feast, and there areso many little things that you
can do, whether it's I'm goingto clean my kitchen first and
(20:45):
then I'm going to have a squareof dark chocolate, or whether
it's, you know, more traditionalfasting, where you're like I'm
going to not eat until this timeof day and then I'm going to
have a good meal.
So, whatever it is, you canlearn to delay gratification,
and that does help your brainreset this dopamine level.
That does help your brain resetthis dopamine level.
(21:09):
Okay, another tip here fornaturally increasing baseline
dopamine is gratitude.
So practicing gratitude,especially if it's directed
towards others or if you'regrateful for your own efforts,
this can increase dopamine.
So it can also help.
If you wanted to take this justa little bit further, like a
step further here would be toexpress that gratitude to
(21:33):
another person.
So whether you write a thankyou text or a letter or email or
tell someone in person howgrateful you are for them,
that's going to not only helpthat other person feel so much
better, but it's going to reallyhelp you too as you reflect on
that gratitude.
And then, of course, again, inCatholic tradition, you know, we
in the examine prayer, or inmost Catholic prayers, we start
(21:57):
with thanks and praise.
So turning that focus togratitude to you know, this is
God, because the more we canthank and praise God in all
circumstances, like we hear inthe mass, this is right and just
this is going to help you feelmore dopamine, more positive
(22:19):
energy.
The final tip I want to givehere about how to increase your
dopamine naturally is not somuch how to increase baseline
dopamine.
So all of those tips were okay.
These are going to increaseyour baseline dopamine over time
.
But sometimes you are in aschlump of a day and you are so
tempted to reach for your phoneor to hunt through your pantry
(22:43):
for Doritos or whatever it isthat you are looking for as a
quick fix for this dopamine hit.
You need something immediate.
You need something that you cando right now that's going to
boost your dopamine.
That's not the self-destructive, negative behavior that you're
trying to avoid.
So in this instance, Irecommend creating for yourself
(23:06):
what's called a DOPA menu.
Dopa menu like a menu at arestaurant.
You want to have a number ofquick activities or things that
you can pretty reliably turn towhen you're in a low dopamine
state to boost you back up to alevel where now you can actually
(23:27):
function.
And this is super important forpeople who have ADHD too,
because if you're in a lowdopamine state, you know that
it's super hard to motivateyourself to do anything at all.
So you kind of want to have inyour toolkit some quick things
you can do that are immediatelygoing to boost your dopamine, a
(23:51):
few of those things.
I mean this varies from personto person, so you're going to
have to experiment with whatworks for you and create this
list for yourself.
For me, I love having a cup ofcoffee.
I love coffee.
I just love it.
I love the smell, I love thetaste.
It does boost dopamine in thebrain scientifically.
A lot of people with ADHD lovecoffee.
This is why.
So maybe for me it's maybehaving a cup of coffee If it's
(24:15):
not too late in the day.
I like to do that.
Other things that might helppeople are listening to a
favorite song, doing a quickdance party, going outside,
literally just stepping outside,doing a couple of jumping jacks
or jump rope Sometimes peoplereally like doing jump rope.
Just experiment with thesethings.
(24:38):
That are something you can dosuper quick.
That's not terrible for you.
Now I will say, of course, myexample of I love coffee.
I cut myself off.
I try not to have more thanthree cups of coffee on any
given day.
So you know, you have toobviously know that some of
these things are going to havelimits, because you don't want
to replace one addiction withanother addiction.
(25:00):
But ideally we become addictedto things that are better for us
actually.
So let's do a quick summaryhere, okay.
Dopamine is not just aboutfeeling good.
Dopamine is about drivingmotivation and the pursuit of
your goals or, in the case ofthis podcast, the pursuit of
(25:21):
excellence.
So by understanding thedopamine cycle, by understanding
spikes and dips of dopamine, bybalancing rewards and using
strategies that boost dopaminenaturally, you can stay
motivated and avoid burnout.
So what you want to do is focuson effort-based rewards.
(25:42):
You want to manage yourdopamine levels by pacing out
those rewards.
You want to manage yourdopamine levels by pacing out
those rewards.
You want to focus on usingnatural boosters like exercise,
sunlight, cold exposure, delayedgratification, gratitude these
are things that you want to useto boost your dopamine levels
naturally.
(26:02):
Another thing to remember hereis that taking small steps and
celebrating progress, makingsure you have little mini
milestones and things that youcan accomplish along the way,
that keeps dopamine working foryou and keeps you excited about
progress and you know.
Finally, just a little closingreflection If you think about
(26:25):
how dopamine influences yourday-to-day life, you might start
to think about how there arecertain habits or activities
that you're doing right now thatare actually depleting your
dopamine or that are you justchasing dopamine.
So what small changes can youactually make to boost your
(26:47):
dopamine more naturally, toimprove your motivation, to
literally stop chasingself-destructive and
self-sabotaging forms ofdopamine, and how can you use
all that you know about dopamineto improve your life?
How could things be better foryou?
How can you form healthierhabits?
How can you pursue your life?
How could things be better foryou?
(27:07):
How can you form healthierhabits?
How can you pursue your goals?
How can you cut out addictivebehaviors.
So that's it for me this week.
I really hope that you foundthis episode helpful, that you
can take action on it, and ifyou happen to know anyone else
who could benefit from thiscontent, please share it with
(27:27):
them.
It might be just what they needto hear today to take their own
faith and life to the nextlevel.
So until next time, rememberthat it is Jesus who inspires
you to do something great withyour life, so don't let yourself
be ground down by mediocrity.
Bye for now.
You're listening to the Catholic Pursuit of
Excellence, the show that helpsyou accomplish more, stress less
and become the saint Godcreated you to be.
I'm your host, jessica Castillo, and this is episode number 19.
Today we are diving intodopamine.
This is the neurochemical thatdrives motivation and the
(00:24):
pursuit of goals.
Now a lot of people, when theythink about dopamine, think that
it's just about pleasure, butit's actually the force behind
why we act, why we chase afterthings and how we stay motivated
.
So whether you are trying tobuild better habits or overcome
burnout, or understand why somethings seem so much more
(00:46):
exciting than others, dopamineis at the core.
By understanding how dopamineworks, we can learn how to use
it to our advantage.
It can help us to staymotivated, it can help us to
avoid addictive behaviors andmake sure that we are thriving
long-term.
In this episode, we're going tobreak down how dopamine works,
(01:09):
why it's so important formotivation, how we can help you
or hurt you in your habitformation, and also we're going
to go into a number of ways thatyou can actually boost dopamine
naturally so that you have moreof this motivation molecule
floating about.
So quick note before we getstarted, on just why I'm doing
(01:32):
this episode and why I named itthis.
It actually stems from a postednote that I had stuck onto my
computer monitor a few weeks agoa few weeks ago where I wrote
in all capital letters stopchasing dopamine.
And this note to self for mewas because I had noticed that I
(01:54):
was kind of developing andfalling into patterns of really
self-destructive behaviors thatI recognized at the root, all I
was after was dopamine.
And so for me and the reason Ihad to put it on my computer
monitor was because I wasgetting really sucked into
watching videos on YouTube aboutrandom things that I'm
(02:15):
interested in and I've shared onmy other podcast, thriving
Catholic Podcast, and on myemail list and in other places
that I've recently beendiagnosed with ADHD as an adult.
So now that I know that a lotof the ways that I've behaved in
the past are starting to make alot more sense to me, like why
I can go into rabbit holes, whyI can get into hyper focus, why
(02:38):
I'm so interested in learningnew things and novelty and you
know, if I'm bored, how hard itis for me to actually function
One thing is that certainconditions, including ADHD, but
also depression and Parkinson'sdisease, these kinds of
conditions.
These brains have lower thannormal dopamine levels already.
(03:00):
These brains have lower thannormal dopamine levels already.
So my brain is constantlyseeking more stimulation, just
to function, just to get througha normal day, and so that can
actually lead me to be on aconstant searching for dopamine
(03:20):
kind of pattern.
And it's not necessarily a badthing.
Dopamine is, of course, morallyneutral.
In fact, it's really a greatthing that God has created
dopamine, because without it wewouldn't do anything.
In fact, in studies on rats, Ithink they modified their brains
so that their dopaminereceptors didn't work, and these
(03:43):
rats, they just lay down anddied of starvation, even though
they were sitting right next tofood and water.
And it's because withoutdopamine, you don't have the
motivation to do anything, eventhe basic life-sustaining
functions, and so, of course, weall have some level of dopamine
, or we would just lie down anddie too.
(04:03):
The problem is, when dopamine isreally really low, we're not
motivated to pursue things thatrequire more effort.
And, yeah, most valuable thingsrequire more effort.
Most things that are worthpursuing are a little bit
difficult, and so it really doesbehoove us to understand what
(04:25):
is going on with this molecule,what is going on with dopamine
and then how can we use what weknow about dopamine to improve
our lives and to cut out andlimit and stop doing some of
these self-destructive behaviorsthat we all are prone to that
we really do as humans, we'reall prone to be addicted to
dopamine and some people, like Isaid, if you have ADHD or you
(04:49):
suffer from depression or youknow God forbid you have
Parkinson's disease, then guesswhat?
You're more likely and there'sother conditions too, I'm sure
that have lower circulatinglevels of dopamine.
So if that's you, then this isextra important, but it's really
it's important for all humans.
So let's talk about the role ofdopamine in motivation.
(05:10):
So One thing that'smisunderstood about dopamine is
we think about it as the rewardmolecule, but actually dopamine
is most active during thepursuit of a goal.
So it's not the moment ofreward that dopamine is most
active.
It's actually what makes theprocess of working towards
something exciting.
(05:32):
So if you think about theanticipation you feel before an
exciting event, dopamine isfueling that feeling, but once
the event is over, your dopaminelevels drop and that's actually
sometimes.
We feel a bit low, and youmight have experienced this too
if you're working on a projectlike for work or for anything,
(05:53):
you feel good when you're doingit.
It feels great, you're workingtowards a goal, and a lot of
people expect to feel reallygood after that goal is
accomplished.
And then they get disappointedbecause actually right after
accomplishing the goal they feelkind of let down, so a little
disappointing, and that's reallynormal.
Actually, that's just howdopamine levels drop after
(06:15):
completion of something and sosometimes just knowing that and
just expecting that that's goingto happen helps normalize that
experience so that you don'twonder like what the heck is
wrong with me.
I should be happy, I just wonthis thing or achieved this
thing or completed this project.
That's just normal.
That's kind of how it works.
(06:35):
Now, dopamine actually spikesmore when we put in more effort
towards something.
So if we are like passivelyreceiving a reward, it doesn't
spike our dopamine level quiteas much as effortful action does
.
So if you try settingchallenges for yourself and you
(06:55):
achieve those challenges likeyou're learning a new skill or
you know maybe you're you have agoal of running in a race or
you want to create something newor create a project in your
business and you're doing thisthat kind of challenge brings
more.
You know it keeps that dopaminelevel higher.
(07:16):
And yeah, of course you willhave a post-accomplishment slump
, but if you can focus more onenjoying the process of working
towards a goal rather than justthe end result, that actually
helps you maintain steadydopamine and keeps you motivated
long term.
So one kind of workaround toavoid that post-accomplishment
(07:40):
schlump is to just be constantlysetting up for yourself little
mini goals that you canaccomplish, and it doesn't have
to be a big thing.
It can be something reallysmall, like, I mean, I would say
, a quick dopamine hit.
You can do like I'm going tosweep my kitchen floor.
It's small, it's tiny, but it'stangible and when it's done I'm
(08:02):
like, oh, I just did something.
You know you feel good whileyou're doing it, while you're
pursuing the goal too.
So there's lots of little waysand little mini goals.
It doesn't have to be likecreate my whole website.
It can be write the about pageof my website.
It can be something small.
So set yourself little, smallgoals so that you're constantly
(08:23):
working towards something, andwe'll talk a little bit more
about practical strategies in aminute.
Okay, so we talked a little bitabout how dopamine levels aren't
constant, right, so theyfluctuate, with spikes when
you're having moments ofexcitement or effort, and then
they dip afterwards.
So the bigger the spike, thedeeper the dip.
(08:47):
And this is why constantlychasing big dopamine hits, like
the kind you get when you'rescrolling your phone or you're
eating junk food or even justlike checking your email.
Those kinds of big spikes canleave you feeling more drained
and less motivated over time.
(09:09):
And this is kind of problematicbecause your brain is actually
wired to keep a balance betweenpleasure and discomfort when we
overuse dopamine by seekingconstant rewards in the forms of
quick fixes.
So our phones, junk food, sugar, alcohol our brains are going
(09:34):
to try to restore balance bymaking us feel more sensitive to
pain or boredom.
So you're actually hurtingyourself more in the long term
because now it's even harder foryou and you've probably
experienced that if you've spenta long period of time where you
were on your phone a lot maybeyou were doing a lot of
scrolling or, in my case,watching YouTube videos and then
(09:58):
you try to cut it off and nowthe boredom is like extra bad.
You're like, oh, I'm so bored,this is so uncomfortable.
Yeah, that's probably thiswhole dopamine balance thing
going on in your brain and it'sokay to be uncomfortable.
So one way to avoid that postreward crash is to spread out
(10:21):
rewards.
You know, to pace your rewardsin.
That can help you have a morehealthy relationship with it.
Like, so I'm not saying nevergo on your phone, never watch
videos on YouTube, never eatjunk food, but you know,
spreading them out and makingsure you're not doing it all the
time can help keep thatbaseline level of dopamine more
(10:43):
healthy and it can prevent someburnout.
So let's talk about dopamine andhabit formation.
Dopamine, of course, is crucialin building your habits because
it rewards your progress andnot just the completion of a
goal.
So all habits are basicallyjust progress, right?
(11:05):
So we eat healthy, we exercise,we pray regularly, we, you know
, we get good sleep, we do workin our business, we spend time
with our kids All of the thingsthat are habits.
These are progress andprocesses, not just completion.
(11:26):
Like you're never going tocheck the box on being a good
parent and like done, done anddone.
That's a process.
You keep doing it.
But when you can break biggergoals into smaller steps and
smaller challenges and you cancelebrate small wins, you can
actually trigger dopamine allalong the way.
So, like the example I usedearlier.
(11:48):
If you're working on redoingyour website, how can you break
that into smaller milestones sothat you can still be
celebrating wins along the way?
Because it's the feeling ofprogress where motivation, where
dopamine and motivation are attheir highest.
So you want to have thatfeeling of progress as much as
possible, instead of waiting tofeel good about yourself until
(12:13):
after you've accomplished thething, about yourself until
after you've accomplished thething.
So you know you don't have tohave finished running the race
to feel good and to feel thatboost of dopamine and motivation
.
You can celebrate all of yourlittle accomplishments, like I
put on my running clothes and Iwent outside today and you know
(12:34):
just little things.
Sometimes it has to be thelittle things to get you moving.
Obviously, we talked a littlebit about this, but dopamine is
involved in addictive behaviorslike gaming or social media
binge, watching TV, eating tonsof ice cream and sugar and
(12:54):
scrolling our phones All ofthese activities.
They give us constant dopaminespikes, but the more we rely on
them, we're definitely depletingour baseline levels.
So the first thing to do hereis to actually break that cycle.
You've probably heard peopletalk about doing a dopamine fast
, which I mean, like we saidearlier, your brain needs
(13:15):
dopamine.
So there's no way to completelyfast from dopamine because you
would just die.
That's impossible.
But when people talk about adopamine fast, what they're
talking about is reducing yourexposure to instant dopamine
hits and that just kind of givesyour brain a chance to reset.
You're going to feel moremotivated and less reliant on
(13:36):
quick fixes by removing thattrigger.
There's a pretty good book aboutthis.
I can't remember the name ofthe author, but the book is
called Dopamine Nation.
I think it's Anna something.
Anyway, in this book thisdoctor, she's a psychiatrist and
she's basically just talkingabout how the molecule dopamine
(13:58):
plays into addiction.
She's a specialist in addictionand addiction recovery and she
has an acronym in that book thatuses the letters dopamine.
To go through the acronym.
But the first step you know theD in dopamine is like a detox
time where you really do have to, time where you really do have
(14:21):
to.
It's hard really to kind ofstep away from the thing that is
your addiction at that time.
But when you go through thatdetox period you can also
observe how you're feeling andwhat you were using that thing
for and I think that's the P inher acronym too is what was the
purpose.
There was something that youwere getting out of that thing,
like, for instance, for me in myYouTube video Obsception.
(14:42):
I was getting rewards ofnovelty and excitement and
learning something new.
All of that was like my brainlighting up with stimulation.
It was like, yay, this is sogreat, let's do this instead of
recording your podcast or doinganything else of value today.
So detoxing from that for mecould include, you know,
(15:04):
deleting the YouTube app on myphone or, you know, setting up
things that block differentwebsites and apps.
There's all sorts of technologyand apps you can download and
use to outsmart yourself whenyou want to engage in things
like this.
But yeah, I'm not going to gothrough her whole acronym.
(15:27):
That is an interesting book ifyou're interested in just
digging into more.
How is dopamine related toaddiction and how you know just
taking that time to detox fromit, to literally cut yourself
off, how that can really helpyou reset.
And then you might be thinking,okay, I'm going to cut myself
(15:49):
off, I'm going to detox fromthis thing.
But now you want to think abouthow can you boost your dopamine
levels naturally so that yourbaseline dopamine is already a
little bit higher?
Because if you have so, whenyou have low dopamine, the
symptoms are a lot likedepression, right, and of course
(16:09):
depression has low dopamine.
So you will be sad, you will belethargic, you won't have the
motivation to pursue things.
Sad, you will be lethargic, youwon't have the motivation to
pursue things.
That's not really a great placeto be, because you're not
taking progress and doing thethings that you want to do, that
are going to move your lifeforward, help you reach your
goals.
So ideally, your baselinedopamine levels can be a little
(16:33):
bit higher so that even on aday-to-day basis you're feeling
more motivated.
Naturally, you want to pursuemore difficult or effortful
activities because that dopaminelevel is a little bit higher.
So there's a few ways that youcan boost this dopamine baseline
.
One way is cold exposure, sotaking a cold shower or an ice
(17:00):
bath.
If you're crazy In a good way,like people have these cold
exposure tubs you can get, oryou can just turn the water on
your shower really cold, butthis can boost dopamine by over
200% in some studies, they say.
And what's even better aboutthis is that this boost can last
for hours and it doesn't causethat big post-reward dip.
(17:26):
So if you are feeling really lowenergy or low motivation, try a
cold shower.
It is a natural dopamine reset,so it doesn't have to be.
You don't even have to be inthe cold water for very long 30
seconds to a minute, I mean, itdoesn't have to be long but this
can help you reset yourdopamine levels.
So cold exposure, that's onething.
The next thing is exercise.
(17:49):
So particularly endurance orresistance training, this will
gradually increase your dopaminelevels over time.
So it's not just about feelinggood afterwards, which you will.
You will feel good afterworking out and exercise, but
regular exercise is going tokeep your baseline levels higher
afterwards.
And I actually did a wholeepisode on exercise and I have
(18:12):
some free exercises or freeworkouts that you can download.
So I don't remember whatepisode number that was right
now, but go back and look forthe episode I did on exercise
and you can get that freedownload for some high intensity
resistance training exercisesthat will help boost your
dopamine level, and I will linkto that in the show notes.
(18:32):
Okay, another thing you can dosunlight and circadian rhythms.
Morning sunlight is actuallyone of the best natural ways to
regulate your dopamine becauseit helps your body maintain a
healthy circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm is goingto help keep your energy and
motivation levels steadythroughout the day.
(18:53):
So super simple here Go outsidefor 10 to 15 minutes each
morning, preferably go for aquick walk.
That's how I most like to dothis little hack.
You will be amazed at what animpact this will make in your
life.
In fact, I'm thinking of oneclient I had in particular, who
(19:13):
one of the first changes weworked on together was just
getting outside and going for amorning walk and I cannot tell
you the impact this made in herlife.
It literally turned around herwhole life, her energy levels,
her sleep.
She had restless leg syndrome,really bad before that.
It went away completely withina few days.
I mean just incredible.
(19:35):
You would not believe theimpact that this will have until
you just try it.
So getting outside for 10 to 15minutes to go for a quick walk
in the morning, it's great.
Even if the weather's crappyand cloudy, there's still more
sunlight or more natural lumensfrom a cloudy, overcast day than
there are indoors or fromartificial light.
So go outside, get somesunlight in your eyeballs Super
(19:58):
good.
Okay, another way to raise yourdopamine levels naturally is
delayed gratification, so youcan train your brain, just like
you would train a dog to waitfor rewards, and this is another
way to keep dopamine working inyour favor.
So, the more that you can trainyourself to delay rewards and
(20:21):
delay gratification, even ifit's something small, this
teaches your brain to valuelong-term goals over quick hits,
and you can get better at this.
And you know, in Catholictradition, of course, we fast
and then we feast, and there areso many little things that you
can do, whether it's I'm goingto clean my kitchen first and
(20:45):
then I'm going to have a squareof dark chocolate, or whether
it's, you know, more traditionalfasting, where you're like I'm
going to not eat until this timeof day and then I'm going to
have a good meal.
So, whatever it is, you canlearn to delay gratification,
and that does help your brainreset this dopamine level.
That does help your brain resetthis dopamine level.
(21:09):
Okay, another tip here fornaturally increasing baseline
dopamine is gratitude.
So practicing gratitude,especially if it's directed
towards others or if you'regrateful for your own efforts,
this can increase dopamine.
So it can also help.
If you wanted to take this justa little bit further, like a
step further here would be toexpress that gratitude to
(21:33):
another person.
So whether you write a thankyou text or a letter or email or
tell someone in person howgrateful you are for them,
that's going to not only helpthat other person feel so much
better, but it's going to reallyhelp you too as you reflect on
that gratitude.
And then, of course, again, inCatholic tradition, you know, we
in the examine prayer, or inmost Catholic prayers, we start
(21:57):
with thanks and praise.
So turning that focus togratitude to you know, this is
God, because the more we canthank and praise God in all
circumstances, like we hear inthe mass, this is right and just
this is going to help you feelmore dopamine, more positive
(22:19):
energy.
The final tip I want to givehere about how to increase your
dopamine naturally is not somuch how to increase baseline
dopamine.
So all of those tips were okay.
These are going to increaseyour baseline dopamine over time
.
But sometimes you are in aschlump of a day and you are so
tempted to reach for your phoneor to hunt through your pantry
(22:43):
for Doritos or whatever it isthat you are looking for as a
quick fix for this dopamine hit.
You need something immediate.
You need something that you cando right now that's going to
boost your dopamine.
That's not the self-destructive, negative behavior that you're
trying to avoid.
So in this instance, Irecommend creating for yourself
(23:06):
what's called a DOPA menu.
Dopa menu like a menu at arestaurant.
You want to have a number ofquick activities or things that
you can pretty reliably turn towhen you're in a low dopamine
state to boost you back up to alevel where now you can actually
(23:27):
function.
And this is super important forpeople who have ADHD too,
because if you're in a lowdopamine state, you know that
it's super hard to motivateyourself to do anything at all.
So you kind of want to have inyour toolkit some quick things
you can do that are immediatelygoing to boost your dopamine, a
(23:51):
few of those things.
I mean this varies from personto person, so you're going to
have to experiment with whatworks for you and create this
list for yourself.
For me, I love having a cup ofcoffee.
I love coffee.
I just love it.
I love the smell, I love thetaste.
It does boost dopamine in thebrain scientifically.
A lot of people with ADHD lovecoffee.
This is why.
So maybe for me it's maybehaving a cup of coffee If it's
(24:15):
not too late in the day.
I like to do that.
Other things that might helppeople are listening to a
favorite song, doing a quickdance party, going outside,
literally just stepping outside,doing a couple of jumping jacks
or jump rope Sometimes peoplereally like doing jump rope.
Just experiment with thesethings.
(24:38):
That are something you can dosuper quick.
That's not terrible for you.
Now I will say, of course, myexample of I love coffee.
I cut myself off.
I try not to have more thanthree cups of coffee on any
given day.
So you know, you have toobviously know that some of
these things are going to havelimits, because you don't want
to replace one addiction withanother addiction.
(25:00):
But ideally we become addictedto things that are better for us
actually.
So let's do a quick summaryhere, okay.
Dopamine is not just aboutfeeling good.
Dopamine is about drivingmotivation and the pursuit of
your goals or, in the case ofthis podcast, the pursuit of
(25:21):
excellence.
So by understanding thedopamine cycle, by understanding
spikes and dips of dopamine, bybalancing rewards and using
strategies that boost dopaminenaturally, you can stay
motivated and avoid burnout.
So what you want to do is focuson effort-based rewards.
(25:42):
You want to manage yourdopamine levels by pacing out
those rewards.
You want to manage yourdopamine levels by pacing out
those rewards.
You want to focus on usingnatural boosters like exercise,
sunlight, cold exposure, delayedgratification, gratitude these
are things that you want to useto boost your dopamine levels
naturally.
(26:02):
Another thing to remember hereis that taking small steps and
celebrating progress, makingsure you have little mini
milestones and things that youcan accomplish along the way,
that keeps dopamine working foryou and keeps you excited about
progress and you know.
Finally, just a little closingreflection If you think about
(26:25):
how dopamine influences yourday-to-day life, you might start
to think about how there arecertain habits or activities
that you're doing right now thatare actually depleting your
dopamine or that are you justchasing dopamine.
So what small changes can youactually make to boost your
(26:47):
dopamine more naturally, toimprove your motivation, to
literally stop chasingself-destructive and
self-sabotaging forms ofdopamine, and how can you use
all that you know about dopamineto improve your life?
How could things be better foryou?
How can you form healthierhabits?
How can you pursue your life?
How could things be better foryou?
(27:07):
How can you form healthierhabits?
How can you pursue your goals?
How can you cut out addictivebehaviors.
So that's it for me this week.
I really hope that you foundthis episode helpful, that you
can take action on it, and ifyou happen to know anyone else
who could benefit from thiscontent, please share it with
(27:27):
them.
It might be just what they needto hear today to take their own
faith and life to the nextlevel.
So until next time, rememberthat it is Jesus who inspires
you to do something great withyour life, so don't let yourself
be ground down by mediocrity.
Bye for now.
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