---
date: 2017-12-27
modified_at: 2019-01-03
tags: [lifestyle, philosophy, productivity, social-media]
description: Seeking dopamine from productive activities like work and exercise rather than quick hacks like social media, gaming, and sugar to align with long-term goals.
---
# Justified Dopamine

Dopamine gets you high. It makes you satisfied and confident. There are a few
drugs that trigger it: alcohol, cocaine, morphine.... but what triggers it more?
Gambling, porn, sugar, social media, Netflix.... It is triggered by things that
look like the real thing, but they aren't - gambling isn't winning (you loose
first). Porn isn't sex.... sugar isn't good nutrition... social media isn't
social. Watching Netflix isn't actually experiencing it yourself... They're
quick hacks. Don't even get me started on gaming.

In my humble opinion.... These ways of getting your dopamine-needs are not the
right ways. You should seek justified dopamine: dopamine that you get from
things that align with your long-term goals.

Where do you find them?

Well...

For one, just be productive when you work. The good thing is that hard work also
gives you dopamine. It just takes a little more effort. Whenever you accomplish
a goal, it will release a little bit of dopamine.

There are some 'hacks' that make this feeling of dopamine when you work more
apparent. One is to talk about your achievements and share them openly...
Another is to divide your huge goals into 'SMART' tasks (Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound) and be conscious of the fact of achieving
every single task. Also, you need to focus on how you think you will feel when
you achieve a big, big goal. This enhances the actual feeling when you reach it.

Another thing that works incredibly well for me is exercising and kitesurfing.
The exercises make me feel strong. Kitesurfing makes me feel excited, time and
time again because you never know what's going to happen. The combination of
fear and reward in kitesurfing is enormous and this releases high amounts of
adrenaline and dopamine. The good thing is that it keeps me fit which is a
long-term goal. It also makes great conversation (social) with fellow
kitesurfers.

Last but not least, real social interaction will give you plenty of dopamine
that many people tend to find in porn, Netflix, and social media.

There are probably many more justified dopamine triggers. I am in the process of
completely abandoning the dopamine-hacks and immersing myself with the justified
ones.

Why do I care so much about all those little quick hacks? Why do I despise them
more and more? Because in the end, it makes us all unhappy as it drags us away
from achievement. In the meantime, the planet is getting destroyed and taken
over by robots. And nobody gives a fuck.