Earn Your Dopamine

“Earn your Dopamine” FOMO is a new acronym now, the Fear of Missing Out. The attention economy, a hundred million distractions all at once. Dopamine is a brain hormone, it's the feel good rush we get of being “engaged” with something. Our brains love dopamine, it makes us feel good. We also are addicted to it. Tweets, texts, notifications, emails, Instagram, popups, pictures, likes, loves, comments 2000 BC to 2017 AD, our brains are not any different, nor are the hours in our day. But WHAT we leverage our attention to, by god has that changed. Most of us cannot go more than 5 minutes without needing to fed by SOMETHING. God forbid we mist a reply, comment, or update. The cruel reality is that we are addicted to nothingness. No smarter, no wiser, no more educated, no more able to change our lives. We've got the most powerful technological devices in human history, and we use them to watch Cat videos, laugh at dank memes, and read the headlines of articles and then believe our opinion is informed. It's not, and we are not. We know nothing, and we don't want to admit it. And we are dopamine junkies, addicted to the cheap and easy rush that comes from all of the above. You’re an addict, I'm an addict. So let's break the cycle. On top of knowing nothing, we cannot focus on ANYTHING. We might miss a damnable update. Our dopamine betrays us. So here is my challenge to you; EARN your dopamine. Do things that delay gratification. Read a book Have a conversation Practice a skill Talk to someone, face to face, eye to eye Do your WORK, and do nothing BUT your work Go to the gym, follow a program, and TRAIN Engage in conversation, and do not check devices for updates Focus is a deadly skill in the world, as so few people now have it. He who can do one thing and one thing only shall master something, and be far far ahead of everyone else.