The Comfort Crisis and Dopamine Fasting in a Pleasure-Rich World

You would think it would be a good thing that we live in a world of comfort, where our most basic needs are readily met (food, warmth, shelter). On top of this, many of our “wants” are only a click away; entertainment, shopping, news and more. But, if you ever find yourself wanting to eat something, even though you’re not really hungry, or check your phone, even though you just started to focus on work, you are noticing a consequence of having too much comfort.

 

What’s Going On?

 
In a word - dopamine. For our ancient ancestors, dopamine was important to help them survive in a world of scarcity, where “rewards” that fostered survival were rare. Dopamine motivated us to keep looking for food, a mate and security. Tthe pleasure we feel when we eat chocolate is dopamine plugging into our brain’s receptors, which drives our behaviour to seek out calorie-dense food like chocolate and eat more.  Today, we are surrounded by dopamine-rich rewards like: scrolling, shopping, sugar, chips, binge watching, coffee, alcohol, news, to name just a few.
 
But most of don’t realize that dopamine is also intrinsically linked to pain. In her book Dopamine Nation, psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains how our physiology is designed to keep pleasure and pain in balance. This means that after we have indulged in pleasure (a dopamine hit) our body wants to balance this out by increasing the corresponding “pain” response. Our “high” is short-lived, and thus begins the addictive cycle. We evolved this way to stay motivated, and not get too comfortable or lazy.  
 
Today, with the abundance of cheap, easy dopamine hits, we are able and motivated to keep that pleasurable feeling alive as much as possible. The problem is, we will always feel the down that follows our short-lived “high”. So we reach out for more, mistakenly believing that this time it will work. But it doesn't.

The other issue is that we have developed a lower tolerance for discomfort than in the past. While inequity still exists in our world, many of us have managed to remove much of the discomfort and insecurity our ancestors experienced regarding food, warmth, shelter, security and travel.  We’ve even removed the discomfort of boredom with the advent of the smart phone. Where does this leave us? We get lost focusing on non-issues like comparing ourselves to others, complaining about first world troubles, and trying to alleviate even the smallest of discomforts.  
 
The good news is that we can use this understanding to break free of the cycle and to create pleasurable feelings in healthier ways.
 

Three Ways You Can Break Your Addictive Tendencies


1. Reframe Discomfort. In his book The Comfort Crisis, Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, Michael Easter argues that we have become too comfortable. That it is too cheap, easy and convenient for us to eliminate the many discomforts our ancestors faced in the past. But wasn’t that the whole goal of progress? To a degree, yes. But he makes a compelling point that we have moved the goal posts so far that we are left looking to eliminate almost all discomfort and not realizing we will always be chasing the long-tail of irritations that annoy us.

Rather than see discomfort as something you need to make go away, embrace it. Don’t panic at the first sign of hunger. Stay focused and keep working when your mind balks and wants to check email. Try to stay engaged and focused throughout your meeting even if you feel bored.  Show yourself that everything doesn’t need to feel good and you don’t need to make every little inconvenience, irritation and problem go away. 

2. Dopamine Fasting.  Now that you have reframed discomfort, you can experiment with resetting your need for dopamine. What does this look like? Fasting or intermittent fasting to move past your need for food at the first sign of hunger. Setting boundaries and digital fasting, where you go without technology for periods of time. Quit sugar. Limit coffee. Go alcohol-free for a month. Pick just one and get started. The key is to stay playful and curious, not morally righteous. Can you ride through the discomfort to the other side where the urge dissipates, and you get to experience being free of needing the pleasure all the time? Yes you can!  

3. Press on the Pain Side of the Equation. Instead of focusing on the pleasure side of the pleasure-pain balance, go the other way. The neuroscience indicates that you can find more joy and pleasure in life by briefly exposing yourself to uncomfortable events. This is because the nervous system is designed to bring things back to balance. I’ve reintroduced a cold shower to the end of my showers. It was hard at first, but now it’s easy, and I feel invigorated afterwards. Endorphins feel good!

Embracing any of life’s difficulties or discomforts is a step in this direction. Michael Easter challenges us to “Go outside and be cold or hungry for a few days — be uncomfortable”. Periodically run, swim, workout, or hike outside of your comfort zone and test yourself, taking health and safety into account. This builds confidence, feels great when the challenging experience is over, and diminishes your need for pleasure all the time.
 

How About You?


How do you seek out dopamine in unproductive ways during the day? What if you could break the cycle and be free of its grip? And where have you lost your tolerance for life’s minor discomforts? What if you could more mindfully notice, accept and ignore them without needing to chase dopamine and make them go away?
 
To learn how you can be more resilient, focused and at ease in a dopamine-rich world, check out webinars like Finding Focus in the Age of Distraction on my website. Or reach out to me directly to learn more about how coaching can support you to break the bad habits that are holding you back and install the good habits you need to be at your best.  

Finding Hope in a Changing World

Finding Hope in a Changing World

Witold Pilecki is probably one of the craziest, bravest (and ultimately hopeful) war heroes you have never heard of. After invading Poland in the fall of 1939, the Germans began building a massive prison complex in the spring of 1940 – yes, that would be Auschwitz. By the summer of that year, thousands of military officers and leaders were disappearing from western Poland, presumably being taken to Auschwitz.

Already a decorated war hero from the Polish-Soviet War of 1918, Pilecki volunteered to “sneak into Auschwitz” by letting himself be captured by the Nazis. Over a period of two years inside Auschwitz, Pilecki built a resistance unit, and created a chain of command, a logistics network, and lines of communication to the outside world.

How to Deal With Unmet Expectations

How to Deal With Unmet Expectations

As you throw open the curtains and see the morning sun stream in, you think “Today is going to be a great day!” In anticipation, your mind plays out the day ahead, with all the tasks accomplished, productive meetings, and perhaps an after dinner walk as you enjoy the long days. 
 
But your buoyant and positive outlook is quickly shaken as you realize you are out of coffee. And then traffic is worse today than expected. And then the big task you meant to finish in the morning gets bumped for an urgent meeting. IT challenges disrupt your afternoon and by the end of the day, you find yourself still working on the big task from the morning. You are feeling tired, frustrated and you skip your evening walk.

Why Unmet Expectations Wear Us Down

 
Unmet expectations fly in the face of one of the oldest and most primal needs we have: our need for certainty and having a sense of control. When things go as planned, we feel in control, allowing us to feel safe and secure. But when things become unpredictable, we feel vulnerable, not in control, and our stress response is activated. 

Exaggerated Thinking. Catastrophizing. Forgetting.

Exaggerated Thinking. Catastrophizing. Forgetting.

“The client is upset about a mistake we made.” Fact. “They are going dump us for another firm, I could even get fired over this.” Conjecture. “That pain in my abdomen has been there for two days.” Fact. “What if I have cancer and am going to die?” Catastrophizing.

Our minds tend to do this kind of exaggerated thinking all too easily. It colours our mood, robs our energy, creates stress, and holds us back from performing at our best. But what can we do about it?

The Problem

When our ancient ancestors focused on surviving one day to the next, their minds had to

Radical Acceptance for Life's Challenges

Radical Acceptance for Life's Challenges

As we witness the impact that devastating hurricanes can have on the people in our world, we are all left realizing there are things outside of our control. And while our own challenges may not be as catastrophic, every day there is the possibility that we will run into a roadblock at work or at home that we wish wouldn’t have happened. Someone missed a deadline. An extra charge on our credit card because we forgot to cancel or opt out of something. An illness. Or at times, the force of nature.

If you are at all like me, you might resist or resent some of these happenings. You may get frustrated or angry. You may even shift into a victim mindset and look for someone to blame, thinking “this isn’t fair”.

You Know Better, and Yet...

You Know Better, and Yet...

Have you ever known you need to leave for a meeting at a certain time, and yet thought there was enough time to send one more email, only to now find yourself running late?

Or have you ever ran out the door now that you are late, and forgot to bring something important like your phone?

We all do this at times. We know better than to squeeze in one more email, and yet we forget this. My 13-year old often says “But Dad, I can’t remember to remember” when she forgets something she knows she needs to do.

The irony is that,

Clear Your Mind

Clear Your Mind

A good friend is at one of those important junctions in life where he has to make a choice: accept the opportunity to move into a senior management role, or see through a hands-on engaging corporate initiative that is his passion and is changing the organization in powerful ways. Which way to go? There is no right or wrong decision here. Either choices has its share of pros and cons and in many ways this is a good problem to have - choosing between two good paths!

While there are many ways we can come at the decision making process, I'm going to make an argument on behalf of clarity.

Own Your Day

Own Your Day

What if You Could "Own Your Day"?

You know that amazing feeling you get when you wake up in the morning when you are on vacation, you feel rested, and you have that sense that the whole day is stretched out in front of you waiting to be experienced? You aren't tied to other people's demands and the day is yours. Wow - what a feeling!

What if we could create that exact same feeling of "owning our day", even when we’re not on vacation?

Why Meditate?

Why Meditate?

I often get asked“do I have to meditate?” The simple answer is“No, you don’t!” Just like you don’t have to brush your teeth, eat your veggies, do your physio exercises or spend time with your family. It is a choice. And one that only you can make.

Meditation as Good as Coffee?


I had always hoped that I could make meditation as good as a morning cup of coffee for people (or tea, if you are a tea drinker). The morning cuppa is something that most people look forward to and generally savour as a part of their day. And it is more than just a morning pleasure, most people experience a boost of energy and focus from the caffeine. Thank goodness for coffee!

Meditation is trickier to get to that kind of an experience from. For many people, it is

Maintaining Motivation

Maintaining Motivation

How’s your motivation these days? With things opening up and Spring in the air, some people are feeling a surge of energy. Yet, for many of us the war in Ukraine has added a new stressor and emotional weight to our already weary lives. And for the CPAs who are in the thick of Q1 and tax season, they carry an additional burden due to the “busy season.” It wears on them, particularly when combined with everything else going on.

But we don’t have to simply accept low motivation in our work or our lives. Like so many things, it is something we can choose to influence and even create. And these days it is doubly important that we do.