Why do I Always Give into Temptations? | Take Control of Anticipatory Dopamine Urges
“Dopamine Hacking” - YouTube
Good morning!
Between Tiktok and Instagram, takeaway literally being DELIVERED to your door, drugs, the normalisation of excessive drinking, the widespread access to pornography and the abundance of content and TV shows you’re able to consume nowadays, people are DYING of dopamine.
If you want to stop being constantly weakened by giving into these things and giving into your urges and temptations, you need to learn how to recondition how your brain releases dopamine.
With something I like to call “Dopamine Hacking™”.
You’ve wasted hours every week just absorbing sh*t content for the sake of it, eating things that’re slowly destroying your body because you can’t ever be bothered to make a good meal or go shopping, and wasting your sexual energy thirsting over attractive people online or in pornography.
ALL of these things have been globally expanded because YOU consume it all.
That’s how most businesses are established or grown nowadays; maccas is convenient and so is UberEats.
You’ve been letting outside forces influence how you live your life for too long, and your potential is slipping away.
That stops today, and every day after, because of one thing that you’re about to learn.
That dopamine is an “Anticipatory” chemical, and is NOT released once you get a reward.
Dopamine is released in anticipation of a reward, not the fulfilment of it.
This basically means that the excited feeling you get before hopping on a video game, watching a movie, ordering McDonalds, getting on Tiktok or watching pornography, is the BEST you’re gonna get.
Because once you indulge in that activity, there is NO incentive for your brain to keep releasing that motivating chemical, dopamine, since you now HAVE the thing that it pushed you to get, indulge in or consume.
You don’t need ANY of the shit that you consume.
So, if you want to learn how to completely “Rewire” your brain to get excited for healthy activities and to feel NO urges for unhealthy habits, read on.
And pay attention.
How to stop giving into temptations | “Dopamine Hacking”
“Dopamine Hacking” Definition: Reconditioning your brain to associate dopamine release with positive habits, rather than with unproductive and damaging ones.
So whenever you get the dopamine release for an instant pleasure and get that temptation, say something that pretends that you’ve just acknowledged how silly of a habit that would’ve been and how great it is that you’ve done something more positive instead.
Examples of how to stop being addicted to dopamine | How to “Dopamine Hack”
Here are a few examples; and if you want steps on how to ensure you actually start saying these OR if you want steps PERSONALISED to whatever you’re struggling to stop or start doing, check out the Peaky Pioneer rank over in our Peaky Pines Community.
As soon as you get the urge to play video games instead of do some work or study, say, "I'm so glad that I don't get much enjoyment out of video games when I'm actually playing them, I rather just forge my brain into a more powerful tool that can withstand adversity and solve problems effectively. I've known plenty of people who don't understand that just thinking about playing video games would be MORESO or almost as enjoyable than actually playing the games. Anyways, time to get some work done.
Do 5 pushups and then say to yourself “F*ck yeah, I just demonstrated that I’m a disciplined and hardworking individual instead of [insert negative habit, like masturbate]. That was more rewarding, and it’s weird to think that people would prefer to masturbate”.
Here’s a similar one: Whenever you get the urge to touch yourself or indulge in pornography online, instead of message real people, going out and connecting with human beings, working on your physical fitness or working on a project, say, “I’m so glad that I never feel any desire to touch myself besides when I’m washing in the shower, or watch fake sexual stuff online. I’ve known people who SEEM to prefer masturbation and watching other people over real connection, working out, or working diligently on important tasks. I know they don’t prefer that, but for some reason they do it anyway. Hm, they should start reconditioning what their brain perceives as valuable”.
As soon as I get the urge to watch ASMR before bed instead of simply meditate, I say , “I’m so glad that I get so relaxed when I’m in my chair on my downtime. I love the feeling of sitting with my eyes closed, breathing in and out through my nose, being mindful of my body and surroundings. I’ve known people that just watch ASMR to relax. I think it’s unfortunate that they go for the short-term and less effective option, over active meditation to get closer to yourself and build an ever-calm presence”.
As soon as you get the urge to check for any interesting TV shows online or watch YouTube or whatever, instead of study or work, say, “I’m so glad that the short-term pleasures of random shows and videos don’t excite me. I’ve known people that will literally sit, blank-faced, just staring at their screen instead of working out or working on a project that would progressively turn them into an extremely competent and admirable individual. How unfortunate”.
Whenever you get the urge to go on your phone when you could be doing some productive work or study, say, “I’m so glad that I despise the feeling of wasting time on a phone or laptop. I seriously feel THAT much better getting some solid work done or learning something new”.
Whenever you get the urge to snack, rather than either eating a proper meal or waiting for your body to slip into a fasted state where you’d have more energy, say, “I’m so glad that I get NO urges at this point to eat things that don’t benefit my body. I’ve known people who just give into their mindless snacking desires and just eat unfulfilling food all day. They could have so much more energy and better physical and mental health, if they simply learnt to feel pleased to eat good food. I love knowing that I’m nourishing my body”.
Before you start a work or study session, remind yourself of the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction you'll feel when you complete it. Say, “Nice. I’m so glad I’m the kind of person who gets sh*t tons of study done because they enjoy the feeling of actively making progress. I’ve known people who prefer to [insert something you enjoy but is unproductive and takes up a lot of your time. For example, ‘watch tv shows’.] That’d suck”.
Before you start a meal, remind yourself of the benefits of eating healthy and how good your body will feel after you've finished eating. Say, “I’m so glad that I enjoy nourishing literally the only vessel I’ll ever have control over in this lifetime. I’ve known people that just eat random sh*t that they think of or that’s convenient, and their body’s becoming weaker and weaker over time because of that. It’s great to genuinely love eating healthy foods”.
Before you start your workout, remind yourself of how strong and capable you are, and how good you'll feel after you're done. Say, “I’m so glad that I embrace my natural desire to become more powerful and physically harder to kill. Plus, I love the release of endorphins in my veins. I’ve known people that are scared to challenge their bodies and think it’s only painful. They think that sitting around, watching movies and scrolling on Tiktok will make them happier than working out and becoming harder to kill like I’m doing. How unfortunate for them”.
As you can see, the examples just kept getting longer and longer as I REALISED just how f*cking easily you can condition your brain to believe literally WHATEVER you say.
The truth is, it’s scary, and I’d say that this article’s going to be the one that’s helped ME the most so far.
And that’s it!
As I mentioned before, if you want personalised steps like these for ANYTHING you’re currently struggling with, join the Peaky Pioneer rank in the Peaky Pines Community.
Because besides these personalised steps AND everything else on there, there’s something extra you’ll get that I forgot to mention… WEEKLY step-by-step instructions for every single post I put up, which is also on a weekly basis.
For free, you get insight into WHAT a topic is and all of its details and WHY it’s relevant for you to learn if you want to start fulfilling your “Peaky Potential”.
Then, you can join the paid Peaky Pines Community ranks and get the HOW delivered to your inbox weekly.
Talk soon, my friend.
Riley.
P.S. Download the FREE Template to discover your “Peaky Path”.
