중독 해소와 삶의 통제 비법: 도파민 디톡스 방법 총정리

Let's talk about dopamine.

 People call it the chemical of wantand desire, but why is that? Well, here is how it works.

 From an evolutionary standpoint, your brain rewards you for anything thatwill increase your likelihood of survival by releasing a neurotransmittercalled "dopamine" in your brain.

 That's the reason why it feels so damn goodto have sex or to eat a steak, because our brain thinks that sexequals a reproduction of our species and that a fat piece of meat equalsa long-lasting satiation.

 Let's look at an example.

 As soon as you're standingin front of your fridge, and you have the choice to eitherpick a carrot or a piece of chocolate, your brain will tell you to pick the onewhich releases more dopamine as it knows that it will make youfeel more pleasure.

 So naturally you will choose the chocolate.

 Now you might say "well, that's not too badto eat a piece of chocolate every now and then" and that's true.

 But as soon as our brainreleases a lot of dopamine, it will try to stimulate the cravingfor that thing over and over again until you develop an urge for it, and that's when the addiction kicks inand we can't live without it.

 For this reason people become overweight,alcoholics or drug addicts.

 The thing is that dopamine doesn't knowwhat's good for us and what isn't.

 It doesn't know that eating too muchchocolate is unhealthy for us.

 All it sees is a potential of pleasurewithout any context, and for this reason drug addicts are willingto let their whole life fall apart, only to get that one hit of dopamineagain and again.

 The terrifying reality is that almostevery company in our modern society exploits this deeply-rooted reward systemby putting it on steroids.

 There are millions of experts specificallydesigning their products and internet platforms to release as much dopamine as possible in order to make us come backover and over again.

 That's why social media platforms switch fromchronological feeds to an algorithm-based feed and that's why video games have levelsand ranking systems, to keep us coming back.

 They give us constant dopamine hits as we jump from one post to the next oneand from one level to the next one, and what makes it even easier for usto engage in social media, junk food, porn, alcohol, drugs orany other source of instant gratification, is that it doesn't take us any effort.

 We simply have to consume and are instantlyrewarded with massive hits of dopamine.

 It's crazy to believe, but we live in a world which is designedto stimulate our emotions in order to maximize profits.

 It is scientifically proven thatdopamine has a direct influence on the decisions we makeand the actions we take.

 That's why ultimately dopaminecontrols us on a daily basis and that's why billions of people unconsciouslyfocus their whole life on consuming instead of creating the livesthey actually want to live.

 Alright.

 So, I honestly believe that this problemis much bigger than we think and that every single person is impacted by it, and that's why I want to tackle itby doing a 7-day dopamine detox in order to change my relationship with dopamine and hopefully to inspire you guys to do the same.

 So here are the rules.

 For the next 7 days I won't be allowedto consume the following things.

 No social media.

 I deleted allsocial media apps from my phone and I won't be able to accessthese sites on my laptop as well.

 No digital entertainment.

 I'm not allowed to watch TV or Netflixand I can't play any videogames.

 No junk food.

 Which means that I can't eatany unhealthy food like chips or sweets.

 Regarding beverages, I will only drink water, so also no Coke Zero.

 No alcohol and drugs, no porn and no music.

 This is something I wanted to try for myself because I'm constantly listening to musicand I never really have a moment of silence.

 So, now as the rules were set, I was ready to embark on this journey.

 Enjoying the last coke.

 I'm gonna miss it.

 I'm ready to go, and I'm looking forwardto the next couple of days, and I hope that I'm going to seesome 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 awayand playing a random song, I started my day in silence.

 Hey.

 Come on, this is like the cutestdog ever, right? Alright, yeah, I'm just goingfor a walk here and.

.

.

 To be honest, it feels great.

I'm already loving it.

 I haven't really kept up my routine forthe last 30 days that I was here on Mallorca.

 It's always a little bit difficultif you switch location, so I didn't go for any walks,I didn't do any workouts and all that kind of stuff, so it wasdefinitely 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 YouTube videoswhile having breakfast, I basically did nothing.

.

.

 Which was kinda boring.

 After that, it was time for work.

 In the next hours, I reviewed a scriptfor my notion workflow video and planned the shortlistfor the intro of this video.

 I pretty quickly started to get into a good flow because my phone was stillat the side of my bed.

 I didn't see any good use in having it with me asI couldn't access social media or listen to music, so I just focused on my workand got a lot of things done.

 After that it was time for a good oldSpanish lunch with fuet and tortilla.

 Spanish food is the best.

 First thing I noticed when I came into the car:there was music running.

 I immediately turned it off, but it's justso 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 supermarketwhere I bought a ton of chocolate bars in order to shoot the intro of this video.

 So, as you can hear, there is 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 differentb-rool footage for the intro and the fridge scene, which turned out to be a lotfunnier than expected.

 This is definitely the most stupidintro 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 successfulday to be honest.

 Overall, I felt very very focused today, because there were just no distractionsthat could pull me out of my flow.

 Yeah, I got a lot of things done.

I reviewed a script and sent it out to a client, I shot the whole intro of this videoand a lot of additional b-roll.

 I just felt super super productive today.

 So, you might wonder whywould you do a dopamine detox, and the thing is that for the last oneor two weeks I've been feeling really off.

 I was just not focused, I didn't haveany motivation to create videos, I didn't want to stand in front of a cameraand I was super indecisive.

 Like, I thought at least 10 timesif I should shoot this video or if I should push it back and shoot it later.

 That's when I thought like "okay, I've gotto get rid of all of these distractions and I have to focus on the thingsthat I actually want to get done".

 And the dopamine detox doesn't mean thatyou're going to detox from all kinds of dopamine.

 Like, my dopamine level ishopefully going to stay consistent, but what I'm focusing on areall of the external factors, like social media, like alcoholand all the other things that just create those impulsive behaviours.

 Like, everybody knows when you're justsitting on the toilet and suddenly.

.

.

 You just have your phone open with Instagramand you're like "how did I get here?", and that's just the thing.

 Like, as soon aswe get a lot of dopamine from one source, then our brain just rewires and we have these impulsive behaviourswhere we don't even think about it, but we just do it right away, automatically, because our brain tells us "okay, I'm goingto get a lot of dopamine from there, so I'm going to do it".

 And that's something I definitely want toget rid of.

 I want to control my own decisions and control my own actions and yeah, that's why I'm going to dodetox from these sources in order to just see what kind of benefitsthey bring me and hopefully to do it in long term.

 The sun is 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.

 I don't know what's wrong with this dog.

 She just has so much energy.

 Bad news.

 All of my cereals are empty.

 Actually, I wanted to just eat a coupleof those ones instead for 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 justas productive as the day before.

 I spent all day long editing on a YouTube videowhere 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 beenmissing for these past weeks was finally back.

 So, for the majority of the day I've been editingmy video on how I learned to fly FPV.

 I made some real progress there and nowI'm actually gonna get out and do a workout in order to get back to my daily routine and stay fit.

 Honestly, sport without any music.

.

.

 Kind of sucks.

 Do you know what's the funniestthing about this dog? That he's just like one big muscleand he can't relax at all.

 Look at this! He's just always under pressure! Right? Say hello! Hello! I love this dog.

 When it comes to food, I had the huge advantagethat my stepmother is really talented at cooking, so in the evenings I always hadvery healthy and tasty meals.

 The evenings after dinner were usuallythe time when the boredom kicked in, and instead of working another few hourson my videos in order to escape that boredom, I decided to play with the animals andstarted to watch more and more sunsets, which really helped me to slow things downand 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 birdsand not having any distractions.

 That's just like.

.

.

 It's so liberating, because.

.

.

 Normally I would obviously take out my phoneall the time to capture everything, and right now it's just like.

.

.

 A moment of calm.

 So right now it's 5:40 a.

m.

 This is much earlier than I normally get up, but today.

.

.

 I'm gonna go for sunrise becauseI want to fly my FPV drone.

 Let's do this.

 Currently on the way to the viewpoint.

 I 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 withdedicating my time to new hobbies.

 I never got started with flying an FPV drone because I thought that it would taketoo long to learn it, and.

.

.

 I wouldn't have time for my other work.

 But, as I didn't spend any time watching Netflixor scrolling through my phone, I was able to replace those toxic activitieswith things that I always wanted to do, like flying my FPV drone.

 Being up in the air, cruising throughthis beautiful landscape, I felt super excited.

 Not only because I was flying withmore than 70 km/h through trees, but because I finally prioritized my timein the right way and engaged in a new hobby.

 So, I just finished my flight.

 If you've been watching my last videos, you know that I am currently practicingon learning how to fly FPV, and yeah, it's going well so far and.

.

.

 I'm definitely making some progress here.

 Amazing location, one ofmy favourite spots on Mallorca.

 There are just so many cliffsand trees and everything, And.

.

.

 yeah.

 I don't know, I don't really gooften for sunrises anymore, because I'm always too lazy,but I have to say.

.

.

 It's 100% worth it all the time.

 Hey! Hi! Look who's been waiting for me.

 So, the bad thing about all ofthese instant gratification sources is that you can very very easilyget addicted to them, and I definitely saw that happeningin my own life with many of those.

 Like, I was addicted to videogames when I was 15,where I played like 6 to 7 hours a day.

 I definitely had an unhealthy relationshipwith alcohol and also with social media, and as I just realized thatall of these different things don't contribute to the thingsI want to pursue in my own life, I really decided to make some drastic changes, and that's why I didn't playany videogames for the last 5 years.

 I stopped eating any junk food at allfor like two years now, I think? Like, I don't eat any sweets but I just replacethem with fruits, which is a lot more healthy.

 Also, I definitely improved my relationshipwith alcohol and also with social media.

 And especially during Covid times, when you're locked at home andyou don't have many things to do, then it just becomes a lot easierto 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 assome of the best times that I had, because I was just feeling so present and I was just feeling purely alivein those 30 days without any social media.

 And after I finished this detox, I decidedto not use any social media on Sundays and had some different rulesand all that kind of stuff, but.

.

.

 Eventually, as time progressed, I stopped paying attention to them and I also got back to spendinga lot of time on social media, which is something I don't want to do.

 To be honest, this is something I'm alwaystrying to work on every single day, to get rid of these bad habits andto 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 abilityto make your own decisions anymore.

 I've been editing on my FPV video andrecording voice-overs for it all day long, and yeah, normally I watchYouTube 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 haveto 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 andmove forward with my own projects without thinking too much about if they should bea certain way and all that kind of stuff.

 And also I'm feeling a little bit more creativeat 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 gonna go for a run now.

 Let's go.

 Also, running without any music, I actually enjoy it because you canfocus so much better on your breath and also you just take inall of the things around you instead of, like, just being in your own world.

 I wasn't only able to noticemy surroundings while running, but actually during every moment along the way.

 Before I started this detox, I was so self-absorbedthat my mind was constantly occupied with everything else besides the actual thingshappening around me.

 I would think about a social media post thatI saw an hour ago while talking to a friend, or be lost in a song instead oflistening to the birds.

 But the less time I spent bombarding my brainwith those short-term dopamine hits, the more I was able to drown out the noiseand embrace the present moment.

 I felt like my brain had some sort of reset.

 So, I'm currently on the way to one ofmy favourite sunset spots in the area here.

 It's called San Salvador,which is a small mountain.

 I'm actually just going thereto 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 lovewith sunsets and sunrises again.

 Overall, I really feel that my mental clarityimmensely improved, because.

.

.

 I just don't hop from one activityto the next one, but I give my brain some time to actuallyprocess all of the experiences I take in, and therefore I'm overalljust more calm and settled.

 And actually also a friend of mine,with whom I Skyped last night, he also told me by himself "dude,you're a lot more calm than normally", like "what's happening?".

 So yeah, I definitely enjoy it so far becauseall of my thoughts are just ordered and I'm not distracted that much.

 And it just feels like I experience everythingtwice as intensive as before, because I'm just in the momentand not always on my phone thinking about the next Instagrampost or Instagram story, and I'm just spending all of my time in my lifeand not in somebody else's, which is really nice.

 So.

.

.

 I'm currently making my way to the beach.

 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 gonna make use of it.

 This is going to be good.

 So, my dopamine detox isslowly coming to an end and I have to say that I really enjoyedthose last couple of days.

 Obviously there were some temptationshere 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 that timeby Skyping with my friends, which is a pretty good alternativeto social media to be honest.

 And I just feel like you have to escapethat constant stimulus that we have.

.

.

 In our modern world in order to just zoom out and to reflect on where you're atat the moment, in order to.

.

.

 Just see everything objectively andin order to make changes.

 And I really feel that I was able to do thatby just having these moments of boredom.

 I think that they are necessary and that everything around us is kind ofholding us back from having them.

 So yeah, I really enjoyed this detox and I hope that I can keep up the benefitsfor a couple more days or weeks, and hopefully I'll also makesome 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 7 days? Well, things like junk food, alcoholand porn were pretty easy to avoid.

 Other things like social mediaand music were a lot harder for me.

 Driving without any music is.

.

.

 Fucking boring.

 But from one day to another, I noticed moreand more benefits coming from this detox.

 First off, I was able to restore my daily routineby going for walks and working out.

 That walk felt amazing.

 As my brain was not constantly overwhelmedby so many dopamine hits from external sources, I was able to replace those toxic activities with things that actuallymake me feel present and alive.

 I don't know why, but I'm just fallingin love with sunsets and sunrises again.

 I was able to focus my time on the thingswhich bring me fulfillment, like working on my business, doing sportsor learning a new hobby.

 I normally needed a lot of motivationin order to get started with those activities, but from time to time they kindof became effortless.

 5:40 a.

m.

 Let's do this.

 I not only became more productive and focused, but I overall feel like everythingaround 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 fingertipsallowed me to finally catch a breath and wipe my mind cleanof any stressful thoughts.

 These 7 days really showed me once again how much noise we usually exposeourselves to on a daily basis.

 It was mind-opening to see howlowering our excessive consumption can improve so many aspects of our lives and therefore our overall happiness.

 I think that a detox like this can help everyoneto see what it's like to live without this noise and it is the first step to gain backcontrol over your own life.

 So, try it for yourself.