How to Boost Dopamine for Every Smoke Sesh!
I was recently commissioned to write a book about focus and reaching your goals, and there was one hack within the book that I believe is definitely something that could be applied to your smoking rituals. In this article, we’re going to be taking a closer look at how dopamine works, and how you could potentially utilize the mechanics of dopamine to be able to make your smoking sessions more pleasurable, add a “gamified element” to your life and just spice things up a bit.
So let me show you a few hacks on how to become more productive, and how to enjoy weed sessions just a bit more. Of course, it’s fair to say that these are merely suggestions and that by no means do I believe that people will be able to sustain this technique for every session, however, perhaps it could spark some interest for people who want to have “weed related social gatherings” or who would like to construct a “healthier” relationship to weed, where it acts as a motivator in their lives. This is especially good for those who believe that they are being less productive due to cannabis
So without any further delay…
WTF is Dopamine and how does it work?
Many people call “dopamine” the pleasure molecule, however, this definition might not be entirely accurate – at least to some research.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a renowned neuroscientist and biologist, has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of dopamine and its role in the brain. One of his notable studies involving monkeys shed light on the complex interplay between dopamine and behavior.
In his research, Sapolsky explored the effects of dopamine on monkeys' behavior in response to rewards. He discovered that dopamine isn't just about experiencing pleasure; it's more about anticipating pleasure. When the monkeys received an unexpected reward, their dopamine levels surged, not when they actually consumed the reward. This indicated that dopamine plays a crucial role in motivating behavior and seeking rewards rather than solely providing a sense of enjoyment.
Sapolsky's findings challenged the conventional notion of dopamine's role as a "feel-good" neurotransmitter. Instead, he demonstrated that dopamine is intricately involved in shaping our actions, decisions, and even our expectations. This study had profound implications not only for understanding addiction but also for comprehending how our brains drive us to seek rewards and engage in goal-directed behavior.
Through his work, Sapolsky emphasized that dopamine doesn't simply deliver pleasure after achieving a goal; it fuels our pursuit of those goals by creating a sense of anticipation and motivation.
This little piece of information gives us the insight we need to hack our minds and harvest dopamine in order to get shit done.
Within the context of “smoking weed” the mere act of “thinking about smoking weed” is already triggering the dopamine spike in order to get you motivated to:
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Get up and find your stash
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Open the bag, select a nug
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Put it in your grinder
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Grind (All of which utilize complex biomechanical motions)
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Take out a pape
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Roll that sucka!
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Reach for the lighter
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Spark
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Enjoy!
You see, dopamine works on a molecular level, and really the purpose of dopamine is for the “completion of tasks”.
The Trigger for the dopamine release IS NOT the act of smoking, but the thought of the act of smoking.
Which means, that if you can train your mind to “think” in terms of dopamine harvesting…you can literally conjure up motivation on command.
Isn’t that fucking trippy!
But when you add an element of “mystery” to the equation…you get some next level dopamine release.
The Mind LOVES Organized Chaos
Uncertainty of reward increases dopamine release. In cases where reward happens 50% of the time, rather than 100%, the dopamine release doubles! (Source) This is why people go apeshit in Casinos.
They have what I call, “Organized Chaos”.
When you spin a wheel or play a slot machine. There are pre-defined parameters that inform the player on how to win the game. Then, there’s the element of chance.
You spin the wheel or push the button (like a common lab rat), and you wait for your sur-Prize. Ding, ding, ding! You won $100 but spent $120, and dopamine is flooding your brain. If you win big, which is even more unexpected – you dance around like an idiot celebrating your wins.
That’s the excess dopamine motivating you to express gratitude with nonsensical bodily movements. This is why people LOVE casinos. Well, some people.
Irrespective, knowing that the Mind loves unpredictable chaos, and that the mere act of imagining an outcome increases dopamine – we can now utilize weed as our perfect trifecta for getting shit done. Forever, changing the narrative that weed makes you lazy.
Far from it, when used correctly and with the right mindset, you can achieve a lot of things with the assistance of phytocannabinoids.
The Spinner Wheel of Dank!
Now that we know that thinking about a reward, such as smoking cannabis, is enough to get the dopamine cycle started of which you’d have a surplus of dopamine. I wonder what would happen if you were able to re-direct the current of dopamine and use it for another task?
For example, imagine being able to write an article, or do your reports, or your project, or whatever task you don’t want to do – with the same enthusiasm as smoking a blunt. Well, there might be a way for us to pull this off.
For those who read my work regularly, you know I’m kind of a “mad scientist” when it comes to personal development systems. And while smoking a blunt and doing research for a book, I stumbled upon all of this information laid out in this article.
This got me thinking, “How can I create a system that will incentivize me to be proactive, but also be fun and have good rewards?”
And as a result I came up with the “Spinner Wheel of Dank!”
This reward system can be used digitally and customized according to your own personal preferences. Or, you could take the concept and make a physical spinner wheel as well. There’s plenty of DIYs online that will walk you through it.
The idea about the Spinner Wheel of Dank is to use it at the “end of a significant milestone”.
For example, I write virtually every single day. Sometimes, I have 15,000 words I have to get through, which means I will write for multiple days.
Let’s say that those 15,000 words are five chapters. I would then create a milestone for each completed chapter, which gives me a chance to spin the wheel.
The Wheel is customized so that more or less 80% of the rewards is a method of smoking weed. Granted, if you don’t have a particular method, you can swop it out for other activities. You can even add a social element to it such as “invite a friend for a smoke sesh” or something along those lines.
When it comes to ascribing your own rewards, get creative. Add things you really want to do. Even things you always find excuses not to do. If you allow chance to dictate your actions, and that helps as a motivator – go for it!
However, if you look at the Wheel of Dank, not all the activities are weed related. I also added chores and wellness activities. There’s also the chance I get nothing or nothing but double spin next milestone, and Spin again.
All of these elements add a sense of danger to the spin. Imagine, after having done your house chores or advanced on your milestones, that you spin the wheel hoping to smoke a joint, only to have to go and wash the car!
While you could say, “fuck that, I’m going to spin again!” That would diminish the importance of the spin. If you can’t commit to whatever is written on the Wheel, don’t put it on the wheel.
Make sure that every single item, even the ones that aren’t “pleasure oriented”, are things you are willing to do. You need to be able to commit to the reward system for it to work.
When you do, you’ll begin to notice that each activity increases in pleasure. Your rewards will feel better because on top of completing your task – you won!
And if you “lose”, you still are getting shit done. Stuff you’d always find an excuse not to do. Now suddenly, the chore is part of a game, and the weight of the chore is reduced as well.
Implementing this technique can help you become far more productive while enjoying cannabis. You see, only those without a plan of action, without tasks laid out, without a blueprint towards success – get sucked up into doing nothing when smoking cannabis.
If you have shit to get done that actually matter to you…you’d get it done!
Now, with this technique, you can gamify and harvest dopamine on command. You can set yourself up for a dynamic of getting addicted to getting shit done and enjoying even the not so fun activities.
Give this a try, and let me know how it went. Take a Screen Shot of your Wheel and drop it in the comments!
BIOHACKING MARIJUANA, READ ON...
