Ultimate Guide To Brains-Maxxing Series - Part 3 - Rewiring Your Brain For Success

Happy Sunday!

Welcome to the 8th edition of The Elevated Mindset.

Today we will be continuing on the Brains-Maxxing series with Part 3 - Rewiring Your Brain For Success through a dopamine detox.

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Dopamine: The "Feel Good" Molecule

Would you rather watch TV or read a book?

Chances are a majority of us would pick watching TV > book.

Even though we know logically that reading a book would be good for us, we still choose the latter.

Why?

Because we don't like to leave our comfort zones.

We learned about Dopamine in the first part of the series found here.

The amount of dopamine released during an activity is proportional to our motivational levels

✅ Little amounts of dopamine released = Less motivation to do it

✅ Large amounts of dopamine released = More motivation to do it over & over

However, when we rely too much on instant dopamine hits, it can do more harm than good.

The Downfall Of Our Generation: Instant Dopamine

In today's digital society, our brains are constantly bombarded with unnaturally high amounts of dopamine on a daily basis.

Examples of high dopamine behaviors:

❌ Doom scrolling through social media

❌ Playing video games

❌ Eating junk food

We know that we will get a reward instantly with each of those behaviors. That's why we keep engaging in those activities.

Our bodies naturally adapt & over time it develops a tolerance to high levels of dopamine.

This can be problematic, because the things that don't give you that hit of dopamine won't interest you any longer.

This is why we prefer to watch TV rather than reading a book.

Watching TV makes us feel good & comfortable as they release a lot of dopamine.

This is where performing a dopamine detox comes in.

Dopamine Detox

Dopamine detox is a practice of reducing or eliminating the consumption of dopamine-inducing activities for a period of time to allow our dopamine receptors to recover.

Follow these 5 steps to perform a dopamine detox:

✅ Work on improving your mental health - Learn how to do that here. 

✅ Identify your instant pleasure activities - social media, video games, & junk food.

✅ Set a period of time for the dopamine detox. During this time, avoid all pleasure activities. Embrace boredom.

✅ Focus on activities like: reading, walks, meditation, reflection, & journaling.

✅ Create a timetable & try to follow it every day.

Example of my timetable below:

Payal's Pick Of The Week

TL;DR

5 Steps For A Dopamine Detox:

✅ Work on improving your mental health - Learn how to do that here. 

✅ Identify your instant pleasure activities - social media, video games, & junk food.

✅ Set a period of time for the dopamine detox. During this time, avoid all pleasure activities. Embrace boredom.

✅ Focus on activities like: reading, walks, meditation, reflection, & journaling.

✅ Create a timetable & try to follow it every day.

The goal of dopamine detox is to reset the brain's reward system and decrease the tolerance to dopamine-inducing activities. By doing so, it is believed that we can become more productive, focused, and ultimately, happier.

Remember, with anything, moderation is key

That's a wrap! Thanks for reading! 

Want to read more? Check out my past editions here!

Till next time! 👋

-Payal