Wondering about NoFap and dopamine stimulaiton?

And how much of a good thing could potentially be holding you back?

Well, in this video I'm going to explain why you might want to be a bit careful with stacking different dopamine activities on top of each other. 

Let's begin...

NoFap And Dopamine Stimulation

One of the best things about the NoFap journey is that you get a better functioning dopamine system. But if we really want to get the most out of our brains, NoFap is not enough. We are going to talk about stacking dopamine and how that can hold us back in the long run.

Stacking your dopamine is simply a term I use when I'm talking about you doing several dopamine-raising activities at once in order to get through something.

And according to the neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, if you do this, you run the risk of killing your motivation and joy for the main activity. And let me tell you, he is right.

It's possible to stack many dopamine activities on top of each other...but it's not necessarily good...

For example, I have been playing the trumpet since I was 5 years old. It has always been one of my biggest sources of joy in life. However, every now and then, I start losing my drive and joy for practicing, and I go, "Oh man, what is this? What's the problem here? I used to love practicing."

Then, most of the time, what has happened there is that I have been stacking my dopamine for a few weeks.

During my practice sessions, I have also been making myself coffee, and so I have been drinking coffee between the trumpet exercises.

Now, before you start shouting, "Well, what's wrong with that?"...

Hear me out, because it gets worse...

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Stacking dopamine stimulations on your NoFap journey can make you lose motivation...

After a few weeks, I also started watching YouTube videos as well. You see, I can do that since 90% of my practice session consists of routine-based exercises that I do by heart, you know, just as muscle conditioning for my face muscles.

And as if the YouTube wasn't enough, I sometimes even chatted with some of my friends on WhatsApp during my practice sessions.

Now, I can still get through my exercises perfectly fine while doing it like this, but the problem is, by stacking all those dopamine activities on top of each other like that, before long, I start losing my joy and motivation for practicing.

It's no longer fun!

Stacking takes away some of the dopamine for the main thing...

And listen to this line here: "All that stacking takes away some of the dopamine for the main thing."

The solution then is to kill everything but the main thing.

So when I notice that, I take away the coffee, I take away the YouTube, and I put my phone on silent mode in another room during my practice sessions.

And let me tell you, since I'm used to stacking all that dopamine, now practicing is even more boring.

Kill every but the main thing...

Oh man, I've really got myself into a mess. However, after a few days, I feel my motivation and joy starting to return. And after about a week or so, it's super fun again. I have learned how to self-motivate.

Now, I hope you see how this information can be helpful. For example, are you working out? Do you sometimes feel that your workout sessions have become a chore?

Well, let me ask you...

• Are you drinking energy drinks during your sessions?
• Are you listening to music or podcasts during your sessions?

And I can already hear many of you go, "Oh, come on, there's nothing wrong with that."

You're right. It's not like there's anything wrong with it. But if you do it like that, you are stacking your dopamine. And long-term, that can definitely kill your motivation and drive for the main thing you should be doing right then and there.

This is not really desensitization of your dopamine system...

Now, don't worry because it's not like we're talking desensitization here, like you get when you overuse adult sites. It's more like a temporary dopamine deficiency for the main activity at hand. And I'm not saying to never stack your dopamine either.

But you could start playing around with it a bit.

For example, if you self-motivate two out of three times so that you form a baseline of being able to do so, then you could try dopamine stacking every third time or so, or when you really want to go hard one day. Because then, dopamine stacking will also be much more effective since you didn't do it every time.

Guys, life is an adventure. We have so much more exciting things to discover. And just as long as we keep moving forward, there are good things to come for sure. So remember, if you happen to go through hell right now, just keep going.

Thanks for reading!

-Scandinavian Bob

Related posts:

• Social media and your dopamine receptors
• What would happen if you had no dopamine? (or very low levels)