WP3: A Battle of the Neurotransmitters
Prologue
2020 felt like a fiction movie, in which I woke up to the exact same daily routine over and over again.
For the past year and a half, my life revolves pretty much entirely around takeouts, video games, and occasional online classes. It is becoming more vividly ironic to me how I had always blamed things on not having enough time; yet when I am given all the time in the world, I struggle to implement any of my grand plans. As if I have been chained to my own thoughts, I cannot seem to take any steps towards real self-improvement. I feel like a zombie, going through the motions of life without inspiration.
It is said that ‘the price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment’ (William Arthur Ward). The transformation that we all long for simply does not happen overnight; it comes from the daily accumulation of efforts, brick by brick without giving up. Simply put, having daily discipline is the most crucial and practical recipe for success. Personally, I define this ‘success’ as making improvements in the gym, increasing focus through reading and meditation as well as excelling in school. So far, I am on track towards none of these things due to procrastination. In my WP1, I talked about a shift in my mentality after the implementation of Zoom University; to be more accurate, it has made me completely uninterested and even anxious about learning. Instead, quick forms of entertainment took over and became the byproduct of quarantine, leaving my brain craving for more and rejecting anything that doesn’t make me feel good; similar to a kid who gags at the taste of broccoli after being exposed to nothing but delicious pizzas, discipline has become the mental veggie that my brain refuses to take.
Since the start of the summer 21' semester, I have read several pieces on procrastination (Jacob King, Dr. Judy Ho, and others) and interviewed my close friends for some of their productivity life hacks. I have decided that all of the research means nothing if I can’t unpack it further and come up with my own methodology towards self-discipline. Thus, I want to dedicate this paper to myself and others like me to be aware of our lack of motivation and hopefully learn to appreciate the beauty in giving up short-term satisfaction to achieve long-term greatness.
Let us now divide self-discipline into three stages
- Early-stage: The easiest due to initial intrinsic motivation and momentum
- Middle-stage: By far the most difficult stage as we don’t see immediate progress, lose patience, and give up
- Late-stage: Beginning to see the reward of our hardship
As someone who constantly jumps into new methods of self-discipline and gives up after a couple of days or so, I want to figure out this question: How can I (and others like me) overcome the challenging middle stage and eventually develop good habits?
Part I: Dopamine
“Self-discipline starts with dopamine and ends with dopamine”
Firstly, I want us to examine the relationship between self-discipline and dopamine
What is dopamine?
“Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our uniquely human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting” (WebMD). In 2000, Arvid Carlsson correctly identified dopamine as the role of the brain’s information transmitter, which sends our brain the desire to do something, now known as one’s ‘drive’.
The human brain has formed an instinct during tens of thousands of years of evolution to the way it is. Our primal instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain is based on the mechanism of neurochemicals. Once we begin to or plan to conduct pleasurable activities, the brain will secrete dopamine to make us feel happy, which in turn motivates us to repeat that action again (possibly in the near future). From something as little as drinking water to grand adventures such as climbing Mount Everest, all of it is driven indirectly by dopamine; it is the driving force of all our behaviors. In contrast, if the synthesis of dopamine is blocked, we will lose interest in pretty much everything.
So what is the connection between dopamine and self-discipline?
Self-discipline is actually the process of making a decision between receiving future happiness or an immediate buzz. It is our expectation and imagination of the future that makes us willing enough to give up the present moment and choose something hard and painful to do. When we are imagining the end result which brings us feelings of excitement and eagerness, dopamine is prompting us to accomplish the things we just pictured. For example, we are told that consistent exercise and a good diet will give one an amazing physique with even a six-pack. Upon hearing this, most of us get enthusiastic about what we’d look like in the future. This dopamine hit takes us to the treadmill and with the desire of getting fit; even though that uphill run was brutally tiring, we were able to generate motivation thanks to our supporting neurochemicals. The clearer picture of long-term goals we have, the quicker and stronger we will acquire motivation. This also means that the drive provided by dopamine is the most effective in the early stage of self-discipline and this is where most of us will face the biggest problem: Relying on dopamine will only get us so far. Like a naughty child, it doesn’t always listen.
Here are the three main characteristics of dopamine:
1. The principle of diminishing marginal utility: It likes new and exciting things. Once a task is performed enough times, there will be significantly less dopamine involved.
2. Feedback mechanism: It needs positive, visible, and sometimes tangible feedback to secrete. If we begin to work out and don’t seem to lose any fat handles after a week or two, dopamine will surely be reluctant to be secreted.
3. Instant gratification: It is very short-sighted. Things such as short TikTok videos, video games, and delicious food are most sought after.
This is why, once we get past the early stages of self-discipline, dopamine starts to get angry:
1. Dopamine becomes tired of our imagination: Whenever we want to coax our brain into doing hard things, the voice within us will tell us: “Hey you, stop it! We will never get there so why even try?”
2. Temptations become much more attractive: The bad habits we eliminate during self-discipline will become more attractive as we hold restraint. Being on a diet will only make sugar and carbs more appealing, which can easily lead us astray into our old mistakes
All things considered, this lack of motivation and positive feedback on top of rising temptations contribute to the huge stumbling block on our road to self-discipline.
Part II: Endorphins
“Endorphins love to be abused.”
Now that we laid the basis for dopamine, let us briefly look at another very important neurotransmitter: the endorphin.
“Endorphin is an endogenous (secreted by the pituitary gland) morphine-like biochemical synthetic hormone. It is an amino compound (peptide) secreted by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus of vertebrates. It can bind to morphine receptors to produce the same analgesic effect and euphoria as morphine and opiates. It is equivalent to a natural analgesic.” (HealthLine)
We may not be too familiar with endorphins on their own, but we all more or less heard of the power of opium and morphine — the most powerful analgesic used in medicine. Endorphin is an endogenous morphine biochemical synthetic hormone secreted by the pituitary gland. It can bind to morphine receptors to produce the same pain and euphoria as morphine and opiates. Therefore, endorphins are also referred to as “natural brain drugs”. As soon as we release endorphins, we will have a sense of happiness with a weaker perception of all possible pain.
What are the benefits of endorphins?
1) Relieve body pressure and relieve pain: Endorphins are an important part of our body’s pain system. It will be released when our body feels stressed, which is the primary reason why marathon runners can surpass themselves upon “runner’s high”.
2) Alleviate mental stress, bring in a sense of tranquility and happiness: It will release when we are mentally stressed and ease our emotions, which is why workaholics work overtime until late at night without getting tired
3) Deepened memory: When endorphins are released, our concentration will drastically improve and we will be able to overlook negative emotions.
If dopamine is our naughty kid who is always on to something, endorphin can be compared to a competitive child who fights even harder under pressure.
Part III: The ways dopamine and endorphins affect self-discipline
Although dopamine and endorphins are both substances that make us feel happy, their functions are drastically different. My mythology towards becoming a self-disciplined man can be summarized like this: to get rid of dopamine and seek after endorphins. What I mean by this is that we must get rid of the habit of relying on a rapid dopamine kick to do something and begin performing without the need for the constant positive feedback. Instead, if we focus on the present moment and immerse ourselves through enjoying the pain, endorphins will guide us to the destination.
It is true that greater expectation = greater chance of disappointment. Under this condition, relying too much on potential rewards (such as an amazing physique or a 4.0 transcript) often results in us feeling terrible about ourselves. I have once pictured an extremely productive online semester where I could maximize my time by listening to lecture recordings while driving and working out, leaving time to hang out with friends for a great balance; this certainly did not pan out the way I wanted. Once I realized my semester was slipping away from me, I lost the motivation to study altogether and almost gave up for a month until an email from my TA explaining that I must complete every assignment that’s left to even pass the class. Here is what I learned from my mistake: real life is nothing like playing video games. We do not press a button and get an instant response; nor do treasures come exploding in our faces every time we level up or beat a nearby monster. In fact, that rewarding feedback we desire may take a very long time, as long as six months to a year, just to see its effect. We must understand this is a natural process for everyone and hold on to our initial vision for the future. Social media tells us we can get massive arms in 2 weeks or make millions of dollars from their $54.99 amazon dropshipping course but these are simply unrealistic and utterly misleading. Doing anything for immediate gratification will set us up for failure; there is just no easy way around it, sorry dopamine.
The middle stage of self-discipline that I still struggled to surpass became much more doable as I got rid of my dependence on rewards. You see, the mechanism of endorphin relation lies in compensations; it does not require us to have a strong motivation, to begin with, but will continue to support us the more effort we put towards accomplishing the hard things. The comfort zone that we prefer ourselves in must be broken in order to push past the plateau. There is really no need to overcomplicate the path to self-discipline, all it takes is for us to immerse ourselves in our efforts so much so that we stop thinking about the potential rewards altogether — this is also known as the flow state. Headspace, the biggest online meditation platform to date, describes the magical feeling this way: “The mind’s usual chatter begins to fade away, placing us in a non-distracted zone. The feelings that would consume you under normal circumstances (inhibition, hunger, fatigue, or aches and pains) melt away, and all that matters is your dedication to your craft.” Dopamine will never take us this far into “the zone” while endorphins willingly do so when we push ourselves just a bit more every day.
Fulfillment and comfort, once replaced by total concentration, can only then be our secret recipe towards total discipline.
Part IV: How to utilize endorphins and achieve self-discipline
Applying all the knowledge and theory from a biological standpoint, here are the five actions I believe we can easily incorporate into our daily lives to maximize our chance at overcoming procrastination and transform our mental and physical selves.
#1. Breakdown any goal into smaller and visible setpoints
The length of a marathon is 42.195 kilometers. Here in China, we refer to the forty-second kilometer as ‘the Victory Point X’. At this point, runners can see the finish line within sight; prior to this specific moment, one is only able to visualize the finish line but unable to see it. The brain, within seconds of recognizing the endpoint, releases large amounts of endorphins as well as dopamine to provide that final push towards the end. In other words, when the brain sees that success is only inches away, the body will react the strongest.
Usually, most of us would never make it to the 42nd km in one take; similarly, the goals we set for ourselves are usually impossible to achieve in a short amount of time. Once the end goal feels indefinitely away, even those with strong power can be easily put down. Therefore, we must create the perception of a new endpoint that is within reach. Set weekly goals instead of annual goals, break down weekly goals into daily plans and focus entirely on what you are going to do right now. Rather than thinking about the indefinite possibility of what might happen tomorrow.
#2. Make a to-do list (in combination with action #1)
Upon waking every day, list down three tasks you must complete today and keep one long-term goal on the side. It is important to only prioritize and list the most important three tasks. After completing the three tasks by the end of the day, tick them off and place a smaller check under the long-term goal. This is to remind ourselves that we are moving in the right direction with tangible baby steps. An added bonus: whenever we check off a tab on a long to-do list, it feels absolutely amazing (due to endorphin secretion).
#3. Set a fixed time every day for work, study, or develop a new habit
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant has developed the habit of making 500 shots every day from 4–7 am. This section of time needs to be blocked and we cannot move it no matter the circumstances. By creating a rigid schedule, not only promotes regularity but makes sticking to our commitments much easier. Doesn’t matter if it is 7 am before work or 8 pm after dinner, we must find a time that works best for us and incorporate this fixed routine into our lives. If we persist in this for more than 21 days, our subconscious mind will develop it into a habit.
An important tip to bear in mind is that we must be strict with ourselves no matter how painful or boring the task may feel. Sometimes, it will be easier with the assistance of a friend or chaperone. When the critical point of improvement prevails, endorphins will take over the pain and form a positive cycle.
#4. Exercise every day, even if it is only 10 minutes
Exercise is the single most effective way to promote the secretion of endorphins. During any form of workout, the pituitary gland releases endorphins, which directly affect our daily mood and productivity. By doing so regularly, the rising levels of endorphins can allow us to cope with critical thinking and decision-making more easily, even for the things that require a high degree of concentration. Our diet, sleep, and interpersonal relationships will all be positively affected.
#5. Practice positive mental health through gratitude
There is a term in psychology called the “automatic defense mechanism”. When we face pressure and unhappiness, this mechanism armors us to prevent any incoming psychological imbalance. This explains why people who recently have broken up and got fired are more likely to indulge in excessive sugar intake. The dopamine we receive from food, sex, and games is only there to help us cope with temporary pain; it also hijacks our brain and will likely break the good habits that we previously practiced.
We must learn to discover and appreciate the beauty of our daily lives in order to stay happy. One of the practices I begin to include in my daily life is keeping a gratitude journal. It enables me to reflect on my daily life and focus on the good. Harvard Health published an article on gratitude, claiming “gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.” This feeling of serenity and happiness, although not directly linked to productivity, will contribute greatly to our endorphin and daily drive.
Concluding thoughts
Thinking about something a thousand times is not going to cut it; in my case, writing and reflecting on self-discipline will do me no good if I don’t dedicate time and effort towards putting in real work. As COVID-19 and zoom university are finally both leaving, I am taking baby steps every day despite my unwillingness to do so at times. Social media tells us to get quick pleasure and great results but I now know that those are all gimmicks. I will now march forward with the desire for post-hardship endorphins instead of dopamine, no matter how sweet.
Works cited
Ackerman, Courtney E., MA. “28 Benefits of Gratitude & Most Significant Research Findings.” 22 June 2021
Cristol, Hope. “What Is Dopamine?” WebMD, 19 June 2019
Davidson, Anthony. “Why Does Often the Higher the Expectation, the Higher the Disappointment?.” Asana, 21 Dec. 2015
“Dealing with Disappointment.” Harvard Business Review, 26 Oct. 2018
Harvard Health. “Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier.” Harvard Health, 22 Nov. 2011
Relentless, Forever. “Overcoming Hardships with Fitness.” Forever Relentless, 15 July 2020
Snyder, Carly. “How to Achieve Flow.” Verywell Mind, VeryWell, 9 Apr. 2021
“What Is a Flow State and What Are Its Benefits?” Headspace, Aug. 2019