I was always struggling with discipline. I’m a big fan of stoicism where temperance (discipline) is one of the cardinal values that one is supposed to practice. But until now I never really ‘got’ how discipline worked.
Then a few days ago I stumbled upon Huberman’s podcast on dopamine. It didn’t directly touch on discipline, but understanding how dopamine works was the key for me to get disciplined.
Practical take-aways that have been working really well for me:
- To get started, break up high dopamine activities. Don’t layer high dopamine activities. Spread them out. e.g. Porn, break, masturbate, break, drink. This counts for healthy activities too. Don’t eat and watch your favourite show at the same time, even if it’s healthy food.
- Don’t peak your dopamine before or after work/study. I’m trying to learn Japanese. It’s hard and boring. But only because I do high level dopmine activities before it and/or after. If you drop those, or do them later on in the day, after only a couple of days studying becomes a lot easier and more fun. The activity itself gives me the most dopamine.
- Don’t start your day with a high dopamine activity. So studying first thing in the morning is a good idea. Maybe meditate or do something you’ve always wanted to get good at. This allows you to slowly raise your dopamine level, cementing that activity in your mind as pleasurable. Don’t forget rule 2 though.
- If you’re completely unmotivated; move first thing in the morning. Go for a walk. Movement releases dopamine (without cause too much of a peak). Have a warm shower and gently make it as cold as you can handle. Warm up through movement after. This raises your baseline dopamine for several hours so you can get things done.
- Look for things you’re grateful for (about what your doing) while studying/working. This gives you small peaks of dopamine that train you to enjoy what your doing, even if right now it’s kinda boring. Give it a couple of days.
- Don’t reward yourself every time. This one’s a bit counterintuitive, but the (expected) reward will spike your dopamine and make the activity itself less pleasurable. If you then don’t get the reward for some reason, the activity will seem less attractive. Randomise when you get the reward. This is why gambling and lootboxes are so addictive, use it to your advantage. Personally I haven’t implemented this point yet, I just don’t reward myself. Anyone have any good ideas?