On Procrastination and Dopamine
“In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.”
[The citation is from the book Meditations]
First thing to do when you are trying to figure out what the author was trying to say is to break it down, so let's start.
"In your actions, don't procrastinate"
Ah, yes, procrastination. The all hated thing we enjoy doing. The curse of any student, employee or just any other person in their daily life. We've all been guilty of it at least a dozen times in our lives. And the connected dopamine society we live in doesn't make it any easier. In fact it makes it harder. Our brain loves dopamine. That's how we got here as a species. That's how we have 7,7 billion people on this planet. It's the reason why we have airplanes and all the worlds knowledge in our pockets. But, the society took a wrong turn in my opinion. Every single thing is made to create as much dopamine by the second. Every single game. Every single mobile app. Every commercial. Majority of internet sites (especially porn). And the curse of Gambling. They are all centered on rewarding us for every little thing, to feed our desires. To create as much dopamine as possible. The sole purpose of it is for you to love using their product and return as much as you can. And that's how they make their money.
If you had to pick between chocolate and carrots, to eat for the rest of your life. Which would you choose? the chocolate of course. Even tho it's a lot less healthier for us? Dopamine wants to help you but it's currently stuck in a loop. You see the sugar in the chocolate is energy, and the brain doesn't know when is the next time you will eat, so it creates dopamine for you to pick food that provides more energy for the body. The same way is with internet. And it's bad.
The solution? I've found something called a dopamine fast. The same way you would do food fasting but with dopamine. People have known about it for a long time. I've only discovered it about a year ago. It's simple. You don't have to do it often but the most important thing is it works. The point is to completely deprive your brain of dopamine for 24 hours every week, so when you do a boring long task such as writing an essay. The brain will be so deprived of dopamine that when you start writing your essay it will cause a dopamine rush. Making it easy and enjoyable. How to get there? Well, for 24 hours all you have to do is not use; your phone, your computer, eat food, watch porn, do drugs (no cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine etc.), gamble, listen to music and talk to people. Not one of those things for 24 hours. You can only drink water, take a walk, journal and meditate. That's it. Trust in it and it will work. If you ever fasted on food you know that the first meal after your are done tastes amazing whatever you eat. That's the point of a dopamine fast.
"In your conversations don't confuse"
Don't lie. Any lie you tell will eventually rise up. Believe me. I used to lie all the tame and make things up just so I come off as a cooler, better person. And after some light is shed on it. People slowly leave, and you are left alone.
"In your thoughts, don't wander"
What Marcus meant was to stay grounded. Don't fantasize to much and go out of reality. You just become angry, anxious, unsatisfied and unhappy after the things you wanted don't come true. "He who is happy doesn't have more, he wants less". Meaning, if you constantly want more things you will constantly be unhappy, going around in a circle. The solution is to try and want less. To have no needs or wish for more possessions. This could be out of fear of losing everything you have. Because the more you have the harder it is to lose it all. One thing you could do to solve it is to practice misfortune. Go a couple of days without much food. Sleep on the floor or on another uncomfortable place. Wear the same old clothes. This way you will realize that it's not that bad. Losing your possessions doesn't end your life. It becomes less scary over time.
"In your soul, don't be passive or aggressive"
Don't be passive when someone is in need, don't be aggressive when you are in need. Every day people need help. If you notice it don't look away. Ask them, try to help. The same way when you are in need don't have aggression towards yourself. Humbly ask for help. Anger in any way, shape or form is harmful for you and the people around you. You destroy relationships and you destroy yourself.
"In your life don't be all about business"
Work is not worth revolving around. There are things much more important than any career you can ever achieve. One day when you are old you will look back and wonder where your life has gone. How it disappeared so fast. You've spent it working all day trying to achieve something but in the end you like many who didn't achieve their dreams will face the same fate. Death.
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