Dreams Start With Patience #63

Reading time: 5 minutes

Over-stimulation and the inability to focus come from the same place.

It took me years to realize, but the labels I placed on myself were nonexistent.
All I needed to solve my crippling experience was to remove external stimuli.
And it wouldn't even be permanent.

What is a detox?
Detoxification is defined as the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism.
The mind is a living organism, yet we constantly bombard it with stimuli.

Bodies and minds dominated by stress are common—but that doesn’t mean it’s normal.

The dopamine detox system gives you back control of your attention.

You have to fight to protect your focus. It’s under constant attack from:

• Your phone

• Your computer

• Your environment

• The drugs you take

• The people you allow into your life

There’s a quote I like:
"The internet is a hostile design environment."

I restored my baseline dopamine levels—on hard mode.

The protocol sequence:

Stage 1: You can do three actions outside of work.
A) Meditation
B) Reading
C) Writing

It’s difficult to stop working entirely for 10 days. But when it comes to your free time, that’s where the dopamine detox system comes into play.

Stage 2: The lack of mind modifiers

This looks like:

• No drugs (caffeine and nicotine for me)

• No scrolling of any kind

• Semen retention / retain your sexual energy (monk-style)

What I noticed:
I didn’t have any stimulants to give me “fake-energy” on the first day.
I felt like death. I only wanted to sleep because there was nothing propping up my exhaustion.

Tired, dazed, and confused is how I would describe the first two days of this detox.
My body has been trying to tell me something for only God knows how long.

On the 3rd day, I woke up and felt completely energized.
I believe this happened because my body and mind finally got the sleep they deserved.

Stage 3: Rigid schedule outline

I only recommend doing this detox when a season of intensity approaches. Working in sprints is the most productive and mentally obsessive system you can do.
Any season of intensity has a sprinkle of obsession.

The ride is painful
Detox is physically and mentally challenging.

Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation, talks about limiting exposure to addictive experiences/substances by using a 24-hour refrain. It’s simple but powerful. It also requires a daily commitment to abstain from your poison.

If you struggle with addictions (even novel ones), know you’re not alone.

You shouldn’t partake in a dopamine detox if you indulge in extreme levels of substance abuse—it can do more harm than good.
Alcoholism is a perfect example. From my work as a bartender, it’s easy to recognize the ones who have the hardest time: they show up every day, often at the same time, for the same fix.

Everybody has a different context with addiction, but the story and emotions are typically the same.

This presents an opportunity to learn. Addiction is fascinating and all around us.
We can learn from those in our society who struggle the most. For example, people who continue going to AA meetings even after being clean for thousands of days. The battle is ongoing—from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep.

From diet soda addictions, to smutty fantasy novels, to erotic porn, to hardcore drugs…
Every single person you meet has an addiction to something—even if we think it’s “good for us.”

Why restoring your baseline dopamine is the best investment you can make this year:

I’m not going to lie to you—this process is grueling and boring. But it brings so much joy back into everyday activities.

Novel experiences raise our baseline levels, but every significant rise brings a crash on the back end.
I know I need to detox and reset when I find myself staring at screens rather than talking with people.

The work is easier—this is a superpower for productivity.

When everything you do gets progressively more boring due to an influx of external stimuli, life becomes black and white.
You wake up and do the same things every day—all while reaching for the same levers to pull for a quick hit of gratification.

Most things that instantly gratify you aren’t bad in isolation.
The problem occurs when you use them to escape the reality you’ve created.

Reality and experience are a river; the contextual stories we place on them make them into a sewer.

When you begin messing with your neurotransmitters, these things change:

1. The way you feel about yourself

2. The way you feel about others

3. The way you feel about your position in life

Feeling is a compass, but sometimes the polarities flip.
The stress and pain you feel should elevate you, but because of so much "cheap dopamine," you see it as a danger sign.

"How do I know if I need a detox?"

A dopamine detox is a form of discipline. If you have absolutely no self-control with the minor things (outside of hard-core drug addiction), you are a perfect candidate.

Become one with the present moment, accept the experience you are observing, and be gentle with yourself.
All addiction does is point to places where you are attempting to run away.

It’s a form of escapism that makes us feel good—because within the human experience, we do not like pain at all. Chances are, you’d refuse pain even if the greatest pleasure was on the other side of it.

Another quote I love:
"Desire is the root of all suffering. Suffering is the root of all greatness."

You can see the people who will achieve greatness—they are constantly taking risks that hurt until one day they don’t mind the hurt.

The restoration process will take a few active attempts, but after the first experience you’ll ask yourself, “Where has this method been my whole life?”

• Reading restores your attention span.

• Dopamine detoxing fixes your novelty-seeking behavior.

• Meditation hardens your resolve with emotional issues.

All these things come together to turbocharge your mind for an optimal state of flow.

Once a month, shorter bites of detox

Going forward, I’m going to start my detox for 5–7 days a month, beginning on the first of each month.
I love my work, but the digital life that surrounds us isn’t going anywhere. I never want to create a reality where I can’t do painful, hard things.

But the vast majority of us exist here.