What is Dopamine Detoxification?

Let's talk about dopamine. 

People call it the chemical of want and desire. 

 

But why is that?

 Well, here's how it works. from an evolutionary standpoint, your brain rewards you for anything that will increase your likelihood of survival by releasing a neurotransmitter called dopamine in your brain. That's the reason why it feels so damn good to have sex are, to eat a steak because our brain thinks that sex equals the reproduction of our species. And that a fat piece of meat equals a long lasting satiation. 

Let's look at an example. As soon as you're standing in front of your fridge, and you have the choice to either pick a carrot or a piece of chocolate, your brain will tell you to pick the one which releases more dopamine, as it knows that will make you feel more pleasure. So naturally, you will choose the chocolate.

 Now you might say, well, that's not too bad to eat a piece of chocolate every now and then. And that's true. But as soon as our brain releases a lot of dopamine, it will try to stimulate the craving for that thing over and over again until we develop an urge for it. And that's when the addiction kicks in, and we can't live without it. For this reason, people become overweight alcoholics or drug addicts. The thing is that dopamine doesn't know what's good for us and what isn't, it doesn't know that eating too much chocolate is unhealthy for us. All it sees is the potential of pleasure without any context. And for this reason, drug addicts are willing to let their whole life fall apart, only to get that one hit of dopamine again and again. The terrifying reality is that almost every company in our modern society exploits this deeply rooted reward system. By putting it on steroids.

 There are millions of experts specifically designing their products on internet platforms to release as much dopamine as possible in order to make us come back over and over again. That's why social media platforms switch from chronological feeds to an algorithm based feed. And that's why video games have levels and ranking systems to keep us coming back. They give us constant dopamine hits as we jump from one post to the next one and from one level to the next one. And what makes it even easier for us to engage in social media junk food, porn, alcohol, drugs, or any other source of instant gratification is that it doesn't take us any effort, we simply have to consume and are instantly rewarded with massive hits of dopamine. It's crazy to believe but we live in a world which is designed to stimulate our emotions. In order to maximise profits. It is scientifically proven that dopamine has a direct influence on the decisions we make and the actions we take. That's why ultimately, dopamine controls us on a daily basis. And that's why billions of people unconsciously focused their whole life on consuming instead of creating the lives they actually want to live.

 Alright, so I honestly believe that this problem is much bigger than we think and that every single person is impacted by it. And that's why I want to tackle it by doing a seven day dopamine detox in order to change my relationship with dopamine, and hopefully inspire you guys to do the same. So here are the rules. For the next seven days, I won't be allowed to consume the following things no social media, I deleted all social media apps from my phone and won't be able to access these sites on my laptop as well. No digital entertainment. I'm not allowed to watch TV or Netflix and I can't play any video games, no junk food, which means that I can't eat any unhealthy food like chips or sweets. Regarding beverages, I will only drink water. So also no Coke Zero, no alcohol and drugs, no pollen, and no music. This is something I wanted to try for myself because I'm constantly listening to music and never really have a moment of silence. So now as the rules were set, I was ready to embark on this journey. Joining the last coke I'm gonna miss it. I'm ready to go. And I'm looking forward to the next couple of days on the hope that I'm going to see some real benefits coming from this. Let's go. Unlike many of my other mornings, this one was without music instead of grabbing my phone right away and playing a random song, I started my day in silence. 

Come on, this is like the cutest dog ever right?

 All right, yeah, I'm just going for a walk here. And to be honest, it feels great. I'm already loving it. I haven't really kept up my routine. For the last 30 days that I was here on my Orca. It's always a little bit difficult if you switch locations, so I didn't go for any walks, didn't do any work outs, and all that kind of stuff. So it's definitely a goal to get it going again. When I came back home, I said hi to the other dogs and made myself cereals with milk for breakfast. Instead of watching a YouTube video while having breakfast I basically did nothing, which was kind of boring. After that, it was time for work. In the next hours, I reviewed the script for my notion workflow video and planned the shortlist for the intro of this video, I pretty quickly started to get into a good flow because my phone was still at the side of my bed. I didn't see any good use in having it with me as I couldn't access social media or listen to music. So I just focused on my work and got a lot of things done. After that it was time for a good old Spanish lunch with wet and tortilla. Spanish food is the best. First thing I noticed when I came into the car, there was music running immediately turn it off, but it's just so weird. To drive. without music. I normally listen to music all the time, especially when I'm driving in the car today, I'm not going to listen to anything. Next up, I went to the supermarket where I bought a tonne of chocolate bars in order to shoot the intro of this video.

But as you can hear there's music running here, there's just nothing I can do. That doesn't count as my fault here.When I came back home, I filmed all the different B roll footage for the intro and the fridge scene, which turned out to be a lot funnier than expected.This is definitely the most stupid intro I've ever filmed. I'm not actually eating the chocolate. So the day is getting to an end, the sun is already setting back here. And yeah, it has been a successful day, to be honest. Overall, I felt very, very focused today because there were just no distractions that could pull me out of my flow. Yeah, I got a lot of things done, I reviewed a script and send it out to a client. I shot the whole intro of this video and a lot of additional Bureau. I just felt super, super productive today. So you might wonder why would you do a dopamine detox and the thing is that for the last o

ne or two weeks, I've been feeling really off, I was just not focused, I didn't have any motivation to create videos, I didn't want to stand in front of a camera. And I was super indecisive. Like I thought at least 10 times if I should shoot this video, or if I should push it back and shoot it later. That's what I thought like, Okay, I've got to get rid of all of these distractions, and I have to focus on the things I actually want to get done. And a dopamine detox doesn't mean that you're going to detox from all kinds of dopamine, like my dopamine level is hopefully going to stay consistent.

 But what I'm focusing on are all of the external factors like social media, like alcohol, and all the other things that just create those impulsive behaviours. Like everybody knows when you're just sitting on the toilet, and suddenly, you just have your phone open with Instagram. And you're like, how did I get here. And that's just the thing, like, as soon as we get a lot of dopamine from one source, then our brain just rewires, and we have these impulsive behaviours, where we don't even think about it, but we just do it right away automatically, because our brain tells us Okay, I'm going to get a lot of dopamine from there. So I'm going to do it. And that's something I definitely want to get rid of. I want to control my own decisions and and control my own actions. And yeah, and that's why I'm going to detox from these sources in order to just see what kind of benefits they bring me and hopefully to do it in long term. The sun has set, the birds are still out. And I still have a couple of hours to kill for today. And I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet don't know what's wrong with this stuff. She just has so much energy, bad news. All of my cereals are empty. Actually, I wanted to just eat a couple of those ones and staff have breakfast, but I'm going to stick to Spanish food again. I want one of those really bad right now.

You're not gonna get anything. I'd say that the second day was just as productive as the day before. I spent all day long editing on a YouTube video where I made a lot more progress than usual. And most importantly, I really enjoyed to edit again, it felt like the motivation that I had been missing for these past weeks was Finally back on. So for the majority of the day, I've been editing my video on how I learned to fly FPV made some real progress. And now I'm actually going to get out and do a workout in order to get back to my daily routine to stay fit. Honestly, sports without any music kind of sucks. You know, what's the funniest thing about the stock that he's just like one big muscle like he can't relax at all.

Look at this.

He's just always under pressure, right? Say hello.

Hello.

I love the stock. When it comes to food, I had the huge advantage that my stepmother is really talented at cooking. So in the evenings, I always had very healthy and tasty meals. The evenings after dinner were usually the time when the boredom kicked in. And instead of working another few hours on my videos and Odyssey escaped that boredom, I decided to play with the animals and started to watch more and more sunsets, which really helped me to slow things down and be more mindful.

So I just watched the sun go down. And yeah, to be honest, I'm feeling super present. I'm always just like listening to the butts and not having any distractions.

That's just like, it's so liberating. Because normally, I would obviously take out my phone all the time to capture everything. And right now is just like a moment of calm.

So right now it's 5:40am this is much earlier than I normally get up, but today I'm gonna go for some race because I want to fly my FPV drone. Let's do this. Currently on the way to the viewpoint, haven't been here before, to be honest. I think it's gonna be a good sunrise. Look at that drop going down here. This is epic. Hey. I think the sun is coming up in a minute. I think we have the perfect timing. Look at that. Let's go.

To be honest, I've always struggled with dedicating my time to new hobbies. I never got started with flying an FPV drone because I thought it will take too long to learn it and I wouldn't have time for my other work. But as I didn't spend any time watching Netflix or scrolling through my phone, I was able to replace those toxic activities with things that I always wanted to do like flying my FPV drone.

Being up in the air cruising through this beautiful landscape, I felt super excited not only because I was fine with more than 70 kilometres per hour through trees, but because I finally prioritise my time in the right way and engaged in a new hobby. So just finished my flights if you've been watching my last videos, you know that I am currently practising on learning how to fly FPV and yeah, it's going well so far, and I'm definitely making some progress here. Amazing location, one of my favourite spots on my Orca. There's just so many cliffs and trees and everything. And yeah, I don't know, I don't really go often for sunrises anymore, because I'm always too lazy. But I have to say it's 100% worth it all the time. Luke has been waiting for me. So the bad thing about all of these instant gratification sources is that you can very, very easily get addicted to them. And I definitely saw that happening in my own life with many of those like I was addicted to video games when I was 15 where I played like six to seven hours a day. I definitely had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and also with social media. And as I just realised that all of these different things don't contribute To the things I want to pursue in my own life, I really decided to make some drastic changes. And that's why I didn't play any video games for the last five years, I stopped eating any junk food at all for like two years now, I think like, I don't eat any sweets, but I just replaced them with fruits, which is a lot more healthy. Also, I definitely improved my relationship with alcohol. And also with social media, and especially during COVID times where you're locked at home and you don't have many things to do, then it just becomes a lot easier to get drawn back into that vicious cycle. And I also saw that happening for myself.

For example, with social media, I did a social media detox one year ago. And I honestly remember it as some of the best times that I had, because I was just feeling so present. And I was just feeling purely alive in those 30 days without any social media. And after I finished this detox, I decided to not use any social media on Sundays, and had some different rules and all that kind of stuff. But eventually, as time progressed, I stopped paying attention to them. And I also got back to spending a lot of time on social media, which is something I don't want to do. To be honest, this is something I'm always trying to work on every single day to get rid of these bad habits. And to take a distance from all of these things that can make me addicted in a bad way, keep your distance to these things like everything is alright if you do it in balance. But as soon as you do it all of the time, then you don't have the ability to make your own decisions anymore.

I've been editing on my FPV video and recording voiceovers for it all day long. And yeah, normally, I watch YouTube videos of other creators when I have lunch or in the evening. But as I didn't do that, for the last days, I really feel like there is some weight lifted off my shoulders because I don't have to compare myself with those other creators and my videos are okay just the way they are. That really helps me kind of like get into a flow and move forward with my own projects without thinking too much about if they should be a certain way and all that kind of stuff. And also, I'm feeling a little bit more creative at the moment. So that's really good. But I think it's enough work for today, I need to get some motion and do some sports. And that's why I'm going to go for a run now.

Let's go. Also running without any music, I actually enjoy it because you can focus so much better on your breath. And also you just take in all of the things around you instead of like just being in your own world. I wasn't only able to notice my surroundings while running. But actually during every moment along the way. Before I started this detox, I was so self absorbed that my mind was constantly occupied with everything else. Besides the actual things happening around me, I would think about a social media post that I saw an hour ago while talking to a friend or be lost in a song instead of listening to the birds. But the less time I spent bombarding my brain with those short term dopamine hits, the more I was able to drown out the noise and embrace the present moment, I felt like my brain had some sort of reset. So I'm currently on the way to one of my favourite sunset spots in the area here. That's called San Salvador, which is a small mountain. I'm actually just going there to enjoy the sunset, take a couple of drone shots and just have a good time. That's all I don't know why but I'm just falling in love with sunsets and sunrises again. Overall, I really feel that my mental clarity immensely improved because I just don't hop from one activity to the next one. But I give my brain some time to actually process all of the experiences I take in and therefore I'm overall just more calm and settled and actually also a friend of mine with who I Skyped last nights he also told me by himself that dude, like you're a lot more calm than normally like what's happening. And so yeah, I definitely enjoy it so far because all of my thoughts are just ordered and I'm not distracted that much and it just feels like I experience everything twice as intensive as before because I'm just in the mood. And I'm not always on my phone, thinking about the next Instagram posts or Instagram story. And I'm just spending all of my time in my life and not in somebody else's, which is really nice.

So I'm currently making my way to the beach and I didn't swim in the ocean this year so far. So I thought today would be the day. And that's why I'm going to make use of it. screen to be cured. So my dopamine detox is slowly coming to an end. And I have to say that I really enjoyed those last couple of days, obviously, there was some temptations here and there. And sometimes I also felt bored, especially in the evenings, when I just didn't have anything to do. I couldn't watch Netflix, I couldn't go on social media, but I just compensated for the time by Skyping, with my friends, which is a pretty good alternative to social media, to be honest. And I just feel like you have to escape that constant stimulus that we have in our modern world in order to just zoom out and to reflect on where you're at at the moment in order to just see everything objectively and in order to make changes. And I really feel that I was able to do that by just having these moments of boredom, I think that they are necessary and that everything around us is kind of holding us back from having them. So yeah, I really enjoyed this detox. And I hope that I can keep up the benefits for a couple of more days or weeks and hopefully also make some changes for my overall life right now. The only thing I've got to do is jump in the ocean. 

So what do I take away from these last seven days while things like junk food, alcohol and porn were pretty easy to avoid other things like social media and music were a lot harder for me. Driving without any music is fucking boring. But from one day to another, I noticed more and more benefits coming from this detox. First off, I was able to restore my daily routine by going for walks and working out that way. I felt amazing. As my brain was not constantly overwhelmed by so many dopamine hits from external sources, I was able to replace those toxic activities with things that actually make me feel present and alive. I don't know why but I'm just falling in love with the sunsets and sunrises again, I was able to focus my time on the things which bring me fulfilment, like working on my business, doing sports or learning a new hobby.

 I normally needed a lot of motivation in order to get started with those activities. But it's from time to time, they kind of became effortless 5:40am Let's do this. I not only became more productive and focused, but I overall feel like everything around me started to slow down. Can you see how fast the clouds are moving? It's insane. Not having all of these distractions at my fingertips allowed me to finally catch a breath and wipe my mind clean of any stressful thoughts. These seven days really showed me once again how much noise we usually expose ourselves to on a daily basis. It was mind opening to see how lowering our excessive consumption can improve so many different aspects of our lives, and therefore our overall happiness. I think that a detox like this can help everyone to see what it's like to live without this noise and it is the first step to gain back control over your own life. So try it for yourself.