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Become INSANELY Productive: The Dopamine 'Switch' Technique
- Written by NelsonQuest
- September 2, 2022
Table of Contents
Up until a few years ago, I had no idea what dopamine even was…
And if you’re like me and have watched any of thousands of ‘dopamine detox’ videos on YouTube, you might be led to believe that Dopamine is just some ‘thing’ the human body releases in little ‘pleasure hits’ whenever we browse through social media feeds, play video games, or watch porn.
That’s not what dopamine is, and when we look at it this way we see it exclusively as a ‘problem’ that we need to detox from.
But after reading virtually every dopamine research study I could find on PubMed, combined with lots of my own personal experiments, what I’ve discovered is that Dopamine is just as much a problem as it is a solution.
And that by properly administering it within my own life, I’m able to literally transform into a different person capable of achieving virtually anything.
As I’ve detailed in other videos (which I’ll link below and at the end of this video), our bodies actually produce dopamine to MOTIVATE us to do things, which is precisely why social media and video game companies, the porn industry, and fast food corporations have collectively spent at least hundreds of millions (and possibly billions) of dollars learning how to manipulate it.
They’ve learned how to hijack our dopamine to alter neural pathways in our brains so that we feel motivated towards consuming more of their stuff, leaving us with ZERO motivation for anything that requires more effort than this.
But much in the same way that we can and do easily form these types of ‘negative’ dopamine addictions, we can also easily form ‘positive’ dopamine addictions, where we can become addicted to improving our bodies, learning skills, building businesses… becoming ‘better.’
So in this video, I’m going to share with you guys a dead-simple 3 step system that once implemented, can fundamentally change who you are as a person – reprogramming your brain to steer AWAY from low value, instant-gratification type rewards, and TOWARDS high-value, long-term rewards.
We’re essentially going to be ‘switching’ how our dopamine is used, which is why I’ve named this system ‘Dopamine Switch’.
You’re free to run this system for however long you’d like but my recommendation is to do it one day at a time. Even after a single day you’ll feel a big difference and learn important lessons.
Step 1: Identify Negative Dopamine Addictions and Remove Them
Take as much time as you need to identify every single negative dopamine addiction currently present in your life and then work to completely remove as many of them as is possible.
Addicted to video games? Don’t just just say ‘ok I’m not going to play video games today’
Literally unplug the console and stick it in your basement or storage – give it to a friend, sibling, or parent to hide for the day… get rid of it.
Addicted to unhealthy food? Don’t just say ‘ok I’m not going to eat unhealthy food today’ – take every-single- piece of junk food in your house and either give it away or throw it away.
Addicted to Facebook? Instagram? Tik Tok?… YouTube? Get rid of your phone for the day. Give it to someone else, put it in a safe where only someone else knows the code… figure it out.
If for some reason you need your phone, then uninstall those apps and delete or deactivate your accounts.
In case I’m not being clear enough, you need to be as extreme as possible.
Look at it this way:
If you had a friend that was addicted to drugs – and they told you that they wanted to stop using drugs for a day, but had a massive bag of drugs in their house, what would you tell them?
Would you tell them to just use their own willpower? Probably not.
Would you tell them to throw out the drugs? That’s a bit better, but more drugs are still just a phone call away.
The best advice would be for them to put themselves somewhere with no drugs AND no way to get more drugs.
Treat yourself like your drug addicted friend. It’s actually not that different. Your drugs are Social Media, Video Games, Porn, and unhealthy foods.
Step 2: Identify Positive Dopamine Addictions and Perform Them
Remember, Dopamine itself isn’t the problem – it’s how our dopamine is motivating us towards low value activities with false rewards that’s the problem.
We want our bodies to instead use our dopamine system to START motivating us towards high value activities with life-fulfilling type rewards, ideally in a balanced way.
So for your Dopamine Switch, I recommend choosing roughly one activity or habit to work on from within each of our 4 dimensions – physical, occupational, expressive, and mental.
Because our days for the most part consist of 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, and 8 hours for everything else, I believe that out of our 4 dimensions, the occupational dimension should be the primary focus.
Here are some examples of activities you can choose within each dimension:
Physical things could include running , going to the gym or doing bodyweight exercises at home, swimming… anything combining movement in some way that requires effort.
Mental things could include meditation, cold showers, organizing your apartment or computer, fasting, doing the most difficult thing in your day before you do anything else… anything that challenges your mind.
Expressive things could include dancing, learning to play an instrument, creative writing, telling stories, drawing – anything that you perceive will allow you to EXPRESS that THING inside of you.
Occupational things could include… really anything you do that relates to how you’re going to improve your ability to earn within your chosen profession.
If you’re a student then you should probably focus on studying or getting that important research paper wrapped up.
Now listen, these are all just my personal recommendations. The fastest way to fail a Dopamine Switch is to make it overly complicated or to try to copy exactly what I’m recommending instead of figuring out what works best for you.
If you’ve never run more than a few blocks, and decide that today is the day that you’re going to run a full marathon, knock out a few hundred laps in the pool, and then start a powerlifting routine… don’t do that.
And listen, If I see anyone in the comments below asking for advice on which activities they should be focused on, I’m literally going to go to your house and f*cking slap you. If your mom opens the door I’m going to f*cking slap her too.
Do NOT overthink this stuff… just keep things simple by focusing on what feels right.
Get the Dark Mode guide
The Dark Mode Guide
is a simple system designed to help you achieve a specific goal by facilitating the development of relevant habits and creating the perfect environment to make failure impossible.
This guide is about actually walking the path. It creates a perfect environment devoid of excuses and forces you to face who you are and what you need to do in a way that’s sustainable.
Step 3: Reflect
So as you’re moving through the day, try not to think too much. Figure out your plan of attack (which should be as simple as possible) and then execute.
You don’t need to dive into the science or theory of WHY you should be doing those things, you just need to do them.
If at any point you feel tired – sleep! Take a nap – take as many as you need.
The goal of your first day and every day of a Dopamine Switch is to simply get to the finish line… get the victory… because if you can do that.
Well, I don’t want to ruin it for you, but I promise that you will learn things… very important, special things.
Once you’ve made it through a full day of Dopamine Switch, take some time first thing the following morning to reflect on the experience, at which point you now have full permission to think as much as you’d like.
How did you feel when you first started the day and then as the day went on? Did you notice that the world suddenly seems quieter?…More tranquil? What do you think you can achieve or who do you think you can become if you keep this up?
Most importantly – start to think about how you can begin to incorporate some of what you experienced into an actual lifestyle, and then start implementing those things immediately.
Conclusion
Alright guys – so let’s bring this all together now – starting with a helpful analogy.
Performing a Dopamine Switch is exactly like cleaning a computer.
Removing all of your negative dopamine activities is like getting rid of all the viruses.
You don’t just want to remove a few viruses, you want to remove them all.
Remember to be as EXTREME as possible, and everywhere you can, don’t just rely on willpower – identify the ‘source’ of whatever the negative activity is, and remove that.
By removing the source, you remove temptation – which will remove the distracting thoughts you’ll experience that will try to justify a “quick peek on instagram” while you go to the bathroom, or “just one YouTube video” while you eat lunch.
Then, choosing positive dopamine activities to focus on is like choosing which software you want to keep, and which NEW software you want to install on your computer.
You obviously don’t want to install a bunch of stuff right away which will slow your computer down and make it more vulnerable to viruses.
Instead – just keep whatever software is already working well, and only add the new software that you think is absolutely necessary.
Once you’ve got your plan in place, get the victory – always focus on just one day at a time. Then every morning when you wake up, reflect on the incredible experience you’re having.
Pay careful attention towards figuring out how to implement what you’re working on into an actual sustainable long-term lifestyle, and get to work.
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