Dig for your dopamine.

We all know that internal rush we feel when we complete a difficult task, do something kind for someone else, or listen to the riff on our favorite song. It is the same rush that comes from eating that extra piece of cake when you don’t need to, a lingering gaze at someone you find attractive when you know you shouldn’t, or talking behind someone’s back. Both of these engage dopamine. A similar rush, coming from two completely different places. One leaves you fulfilled an energized, the other is a quick hit that bottoms out leaving you feeling worse than before. Dopamine can be a blessing or a curse. When exposed to a rewarding stimulus, regardless if it is healthy or not, the brain responds by releasing more dopamine. Put simply, it creates reward-seeking loops that we find ourselves entrenched in every day.

The dopamine that many of us often revert to is easily attainable and surface-level. It comes in the form of the seven deadly sins. These include pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. You don’t need a shovel, gloves, or a hard hat to get that quick hit. The more you find yourself entrenched in the pleasure-seeking loop that you don’t have to work hard for, the easier it becomes to deal with the self-loathing that comes with it when the high is over. Many of us, myself included, have become way too comfortable with the easy way out when activating the dopamine we receive.

Our lives are a war of attrition. An intricate web of tasks and rewards. If you let them, the external forces that you face day to day will wear you down little by little. We are all pleasure-seeking, but the way we seek that release can either make or break us. I know there are certain medical conditions that can contribute to someone with already low levels of dopamine, and that is an uphill battle, but for most of us, we can either fight this war of attrition by getting our hands dirty and earning the dopamine we need or taking quick hits, leaving us feeling empty.

There are many positive ways we can reinforce the reward-seeking loop system and boost our dopamine levels in a positive way as seen below. But you don’t need me to tell you what is good for you and what isn’t. At the end of the day, it is a conscious choice to deny ourselves instant satisfaction for long-term gratification.

1. Do something nice for someone else daily, with no expectation of anything in return.

2. Exercise regularly, and when you exercise push your limits.

3. Say one positive thing about someone you don’t get along with daily.

4. Cut out the 500 calories you know you don’t need, and replace them with 500 calories you do need every day.

5. Even on the worst days, find something that you can enjoy and be thankful for.

6. Pray with intent and purpose.

I say we wage war on ourselves, and our natural tendencies. I say we decide to take our shovels and dig for a reward-seeking loop that we must sacrifice for first. That type of dopamine causes you to want, desire, seek out, and search. It increases your general level of arousal and your goal-directed behavior. It makes you curious about ideas and fuels your search for information. It's a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us focus, find things interesting, and strive to be the best possible version of ourselves.