Don't Believe The Dopamine Lie

What Happens When You Abuse Dopamine

Everyone wants to feel good. That’s what drives almost everything people do.

They’re chasing that feeling of motivation, focus, and satisfaction. And for most people, that feeling is powered by dopamine.

But here’s the problem...

Most of what society pushes as “feel good” is actually destroying the very chemical that makes success possible.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that drives motivation, energy, and ambition. But if you abuse it, if you spike it constantly through cheap dopamine habits, it stops working.

You burn it out. And what you’re left with is a life that feels flat, heavy, and unmotivated.

This is how guys end up stuck. They want more, they want to grind, they want to win, but they can’t find the energy. Not because they’re lazy. Because they’ve been tricked.

Let’s get into what’s really going on.

Most People Are Dopamine Addicts and Don’t Even Realize It

The guys who say they have no motivation?

It’s not because they’re broken. It’s because their dopamine system is fried.

Dopamine works like a fuel tank. You’ve got a baseline level in your body at all times, and that baseline determines how much energy and drive you feel. When it’s high, you’re sharp. You’re locked in. You’re excited about life and ready to go hard.

But when it’s low?

You’re sluggish. You procrastinate. You start to question yourself, and nothing feels worth doing.

And here’s what nobody tells you: every time you chase instant pleasure, you’re draining that tank.

Porn, social media, junk food, video games, partying, casual sex, arguing online, it all gives you a spike in dopamine, but it comes with a crash. You feel good in the moment, then worse after. And if you keep doing it, the crash becomes your new baseline.

You go from feeling amazing once in a while to needing more and more stimulation just to feel okay.

This is why some guys can’t even enjoy normal life anymore. Simple stuff like going for a walk or building something meaningful feels boring. It’s not because life got worse. It’s because they burned out their dopamine system chasing cheap highs.

And the worst part?

You still have the desire to win. But now you’ve got no fuel left to chase it.

That’s how you end up stuck in a loop, feeling like you should be doing more, but not having the motivation to actually do it.

It’s not a mindset issue. It’s biochemical. And if you don’t fix it, no amount of ambition or hustle is going to save you.

Winning Can Actually Make It Worse If You’re Not Careful

Most people don’t see this coming.

They think once they hit the goal, get the body, the money, the followers, they’ll be set. Like that win is gonna unlock permanent motivation.

Nah.

That’s not how it works.

You hit that big milestone…and instead of feeling unstoppable, you feel empty.

I’ve been there.

When I hit a million subs on YouTube…

When I got the 2 Comma Club award for doing $10M with one funnel…

When my businesses were stacking record month after record month…

I could still feel that crash creeping in.

Why?

Because winning spikes your dopamine too.

It’s a high. And every high has a low right behind it.

You hit the goal, your brain floods with dopamine, and then, boom, it drops below baseline. That’s why people feel depressed after weddings, after vacations, even after having a kid. The spike is so intense that the crash feels like something’s wrong.

But there’s nothing wrong with you.

That’s just how dopamine works.

And if you don’t understand that, you start chasing the wrong fix. You try to patch the crash with more partying, more sex, more scrolling… more distractions. And every time you do that, you drop further below baseline.

You burn out the system that’s supposed to drive you.

So what’s the move?

Stop celebrating like a clown every time you win.

Don’t throw yourself a party. Don’t take a week off like you earned it. Don’t act like the win is the goal.

Because the second you attach dopamine to the result instead of the process, you start killing your drive.

You want to stay motivated?

Get addicted to the daily work. The cold showers. The training. The to-do list. The grind.

That’s the only way to keep stacking wins without falling apart.

The dopamine can’t come from the outcome.

It’s gotta come from who you are.

You Need to Train Yourself to Love the Work, Not the Win

Here’s what nobody tells you…

Winning can mess you up.

Yeah, the plaques are cool. The money, the milestones, the “you made it” moments, all of it feels good. But if you let that become your source of pleasure, you’re setting yourself up to crash.

I used to celebrate hard. Big goals meant big rewards. But every time I did that, I’d get hit with this weird low afterward. Like… I should feel amazing, but I didn’t. That’s the dopamine crash.

So I stopped chasing that feeling.

Now? I don’t celebrate sh*t.

I didn’t throw a party when I hit a million subscribers. I didn’t pop bottles when I got the ClickFunnels award. I went to the gym. I went back to work. Same day.

Because I don’t get high off the win.

I get high off being the kind of man who shows up every day and does what he said he would.

I don’t need applause.

I don’t need a crowd.

I don’t even celebrate my birthday.

Because I’ve trained myself to enjoy the grind more than the reward. I built my identity around doing the work, not chasing the result. And when you live like that, you don’t burn out. You don’t crash.

You just keep stacking wins.

Not because you’re chasing dopamine… but because this is just who you are.

BMM Takeaway

You don’t need more willpower. You need to stop playing the dopamine game like everyone else.

You need to build a life where the hard sh*t feels normal, and the easy sh*t feels beneath you.

That’s how you stay consistent. That’s how you win long term.

Because when you stop getting high off results, and start getting high off execution…
You never run out of fuel.