Recent neuroscience research has revealed that dopamine isn’t primarily about reward – it’s about motivation and craving. A key experiment demonstrated this using two rats: one normal and one with depleted dopamine. Both rats could enjoy food and pleasures, but when effort was required (even just moving one rat-length to get food), only the rat with dopamine would make the effort.

This finding shows that dopamine drives us to pursue rewards rather than creating the pleasure itself. Humans with low dopamine can still experience pleasure (like eating or watching TV), but struggle to find motivation to exercise, pursue goals, or create things.

Our dopamine baseline constantly adjusts in response to our experiences. When we repeatedly experience easy pleasures (such as scrolling through social media or ordering food delivery), our baseline rises, making everyday activities feel less rewarding. This can create a destructive cycle – like constantly watching TED talks until they become boring, or needing increasingly intense experiences to feel satisfied.

The solution involves understanding the balance between pain and pleasure. The more friction or difficulty you experience, the greater the subsequent dopamine reward. For example, after a hard X Gym workout, dopamine levels can double over baseline for 2.5 hours. The pain itself doesn’t release dopamine – it’s the contrast after the pain ends that creates the surge.

The reason so few people nowadays can produce regular dopamine surges that lift their baseline is because of their low tolerance for pain. Life is too easy with our modern conveniences. The familiar saying is true:

We find rewards too easily now. We live in a world of instant gratification, filled with buttons, thermostats, food abundance, screens, and countless other conveniences that help us avoid physical effort and pain to achieve our rewards. This lowers our dopamine baseline, leading to an increased tendency to engage in behaviors that chase dopamine, leaving us feeling tired and unmotivated.

To reset to a higher dopamine baseline, first, take a break from the easy pleasure-seeking behaviors. “Fasting” from social media for 2-4 weeks, for instance, creates a period of relative “pain” or discomfort, but afterward, simpler pleasures become rewarding again.

Success in modern life increasingly depends on managing this balance – being able to delay gratification, embrace necessary difficulties, and understand that the pursuit itself, rather than just the reward, is what drives lasting satisfaction.

Next, put more effort into things before the reward. Exercise is the perfect example of this, but even things like cooking your dinner instead of going out or ordering in bring more reward and pleasure when eating it. In fact, the more effort you put in, the more dopamine you get back, and thus a higher baseline. This is why people who inherit money often become so depressed and unmotivated, while those who are self-made remain motivated, happier, creative, and inspired.

All this being said, there are two main ways people are motivated:

1. “Away From” motivation is when someone is trying to move away from something like, “Becoming like my mom, who is obese with diabetes,” or some form of pain such as arthritis, or avoid knee replacement surgery, etc. This type of motivation can be effective in getting someone started, but as they move further away from that initial goal, motivation tends to drop off.
2. “Toward” motivation. This is when people are inspired to move toward a goal, such as completing a marathon or looking good for a reunion or wedding, for instance. Toward motivation can last longer than away from motivation, but it also often wanes over time.

The key is to view dopamine as a motivator for pursuit, rather than just seeking immediate rewards. This capacity for motivated pursuit, and more specifically, enjoying the process, when properly managed through an understanding of our dopamine system, is essentially unlimited, which makes exercise (and other activities) easier to do, to the point of even craving them. This is where we delve deeper into the realm of discipline versus motivation. For more on that subject, click here to see that post.

Some people read an article like this and still feel like they can’t get started. They know it’s all true and they SHOULD do it, but still can’t seem to muster the initial energy to get started. Here are some easy hacks that might help you get rolling (and then continue them because they are great habits regardless):

• Post your goals somewhere you will see it often (bathroom mirror, refrigerator, etc.). When you are thinking of doing a workout or eating something healthy versus sitting on the couch or eating something unhealthy, think of your goals, and think of the outcome of your decisions instead of the effort involved. Most people do this backwards, and that’s why they end up making the wrong choice.
• Quality sleep: Get to bed before 11 pm (the earlier the better) and focus on quality sleep because that is when you are actually downloading dopamine into the “tank” for use tomorrow.
• Good nutritious foods give you the nutrients necessary (especially tyrosine) to continue to keep that “tank” full through the day.
• Sunlight, especially within the first two hours of waking (5 minutes sunny, or 15 minutes cloudy) primes your dopamine pump tp work better the rest of the day.
• Exercise – because of the effort, gives you an excellent motivation burst that lasts for hours afterward. If you do light exercise, you will need 2-3 hours. If you can handle intense X Gym exercise, though, you will only need 21 minutes, as the effort is condensed and the pain is higher, both working to spike your dopamine and fill that tank. Even a single Xercise snack, which takes only 3 minutes, can put significant amounts of dopamine into your tank. This is why so many people like the X Gym App: you can pick just one 3-minute Xercise. If you have limited time and motivation, it could be your secret weapon!

Lastly, when motivation isn’t enough, and especially if it wanes, it may be time to determine your brain type so you can discover your superpower brain training techniques and find your inner fire to achieve your goals!