The Dopamine Effect (Desire | Motivation | The Anticipation spike)

The Dopamine Effect (Desire | Motivation | The Anticipation spike is equal or greater than the Reward spike)

A lot has been written about Dopamine. “Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in the brain. Basically, it acts as a chemical messenger between neurons. Dopamine is released when your brain is expecting a reward. When you come to associate a certain activity with pleasure, mere anticipation may be enough to raise dopamine levels.” - https://www.healthline.com/health/dopamine-effects. In the Atomic Habits, James Clear has a chart on page 106 of the book (Fig 9, Kindle version). The chart indicates upward spikes in activities that trigger high levels of Dopamine in our brains, causing excitement and happiness. The spike in anticipation of something we desire seems to always be equal or higher than the reward or the very thing we desire once we get it. Extremely interesting! (to me, anyway). Thus, happiness at the end of an achievement or conquest is short-lived and overrated. The happiness you’ve been working so hard for and waiting for has an expiration date. This tells me that happiness is a by-product, not a goal to be achieved at a threshold point. The looping of spike in Dopamine at points of anticipation and reward is the stuff happiness is made of. My 2 cents anyway.

Be observant of yourself or others. Watch how one feels in anticipation of a desired event or activity; and how one feels when that target is reached or achieved or goal accomplished. How long did the feeling last in each scenario? Which scenario produced joy or happiness? How long did that joy or happiness last? Do you still desire that feeling of joy or happiness? Moral of the story: you get to loop around again; a by-product of the continuum in life (or as shown in Fig 9 on the chart on page 106 of the Atomic Habits, Kindle version). Such is the stuff that happiness is made of, dopamine.

#lifestyle #habits #change