View every activity (easy/challenging, destructive/constructive) through the lens of whether it spends your dopamine reserves or invests them. This helps access greater focus, motivation, avoid compulsive behaviors, and derive deeper meaning from relationships and leisure time.
Continuously push the edge of your comfort zone by doing challenging things, as this expands your capabilities and helps you become a better person. By consistently doing uncomfortable things, you find that the ’edge’ tends to expand, not lead to a fall.
In daily life, choose the slightly more uncomfortable option (e.g., taking stairs, walking during phone calls, carrying groceries) over the easier one, as these small efforts accumulate for long-term health and well-being benefits. This mindset shift helps you do the slightly harder thing that you know will give a long-term return.
Once a year, undertake a ‘Misogi’ by doing something really hard with a 50/50 chance of completion (but no risk of death). This practice reveals your true capabilities, teaches you where you might be selling yourself short, and fosters significant personal change.
Be wary of activities that offer high-speed, frictionless ‘foraging’ (e.g., infinite scrolling, quick bets, rapid consumption of junk food) as these are designed to exploit dopamine circuits. Such activities can lead to a progressive narrowing of pleasure and potential addiction by draining your ‘dopamine bank account’.
Frame life events, especially challenging ones, by focusing on what you can learn and how you can grow from them, rather than letting them define your personality. This approach improves mental health and positively influences your future trajectory.
Engage in experiences where problems are more acute (e.g., volunteering, recovery meetings, extreme adventures) to reset your perception of what constitutes a real problem. This practice fosters a deeper sense of gratitude and appreciation for your comfortable life.
Intentionally remove yourself from outside stimulation and sit with boredom, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. This practice can lead to calmness, mental reset, and the generation of new, valuable ideas by allowing your mind to wander productively.
Regularly walk with weight in a backpack (rucking), starting light (5-20 lbs for women, 10-30 lbs for men) and gradually increasing. This activity provides both cardiovascular and strength benefits, burns more calories than walking, and encourages outdoor activity with a low injury rate.
Actively seek out and engage in in-person interactions with others, whether with friends, family, or new communities. This fosters deeper connection, shared identity, and a more accurate, less distorted view of the world compared to solely online interactions.
Actively pursue unfamiliar, challenging adventures to break from predictable routines, figure things out, and experience the ‘rapture of being alive.’ These experiences enhance life, provide new skills, and offer rich material for personal growth.
Set up barriers to casual smartphone use (e.g., using an old phone for social media, employing apps like Clear Space that introduce a pause before access) to foster intentional engagement and reduce unconscious ‘dopamine spending.’ This helps you be more deliberate about how you use technology.
Attach the reward and satisfaction to the process and effort of doing challenging work, rather than solely to the outcome. This mindset fosters sustained motivation, resilience, and a deeper sense of accomplishment.
Structure your day by dedicating mornings and early days to challenging, effortful tasks (e.g., deep work, exercise) and allowing evenings for genuine relaxation and low-stakes enjoyment (e.g., mindless TV, connecting with a spouse). This creates a balanced and fulfilling routine that prevents burnout.
When good ideas come to mind, especially during moments of low stimulation like walks or showers, write them down or record voice notes immediately. This ensures you capture their essence before they are forgotten, as the inspiration often carries a unique value at that moment.
Consciously link desired states of deep focus and productivity to specific events or times (e.g., making coffee at 9 AM). This entrains your nervous system to unconsciously predict and enter these ‘attractor states’ more easily, improving your ability to engage in deep work.
Spend a few nights camping or in nature, away from artificial light and technology, to naturally reset your circadian rhythms for melatonin and cortisol. Even two to three nights can lead to improved sleep, calmness, and overall well-being.
Instead of immediately escaping boredom with hyper-stimulating content like a phone, sit with it to allow your mind to wander and generate creative ideas. Many thinkers throughout history found their best ideas came from moments of quiet, unstimulated reflection.
Identify and intentionally push against personal fears, even seemingly small ones (like trying a new food). Overcoming these fears can open doors to trying other new things and significantly expanding your comfort zone in various aspects of life.
Use kindness as a primary tool in all your interactions, as most people will reciprocate, leading to better relationships and a more positive experience of the world. Face-to-face interactions often reveal more commonalities than differences, fostering connection.
After significant ‘dopamine investing’ through effortful work and challenging activities, allow yourself to enjoy low-stakes, comfortable pleasures without guilt. This balance enhances appreciation for both effort and relaxation, preventing self-punishment and burnout.
Make it a point each week to do one thing that is truly uncomfortable, such as Andrew Huberman’s personal practice of doing something truly uncomfortable weekly. This consistent engagement with discomfort can transform mental health and lead to personal growth.