The unbankruptable bill that *must* be paid

Few things are more crushing than owing a significant sum and feeling trapped by it.

If you know, you know – it ruins your internal peace in a big way.

(Unless you're a soulless conglomerate with an infinite lending line like the US gov't, in which case, just keep rackin' it up and worry about it another day!)

And just like there are deficits in people's spending that dig them into a hole…

So too are there deficits in people's dopamine.

You see, when we have too much of certain high-stimulation activities in our lives… AKA, "supernormal stimuli" which are things that release a very high level of dopamine for very little work… an interesting (and devastating) self-preservation mechanism takes place in the brain.

🧠 The Dopamine Connection
Learn how porn hijacks your brain's reward system through dopamine and why this creates a neurological debt that must be repaid.

To put it simply:

When the brain is being overstimulated by supernormal stimuli releasing an overabundance of dopamine, the brain becomes overwhelmed. So it, in essence, says "whoooaaaa, slow it down there bud!" like a horseman slowing his steed. But then, when the dopamine doesn't slow down, and the brain is still overwhelmed, it goes into self-preservation mode. Which is a mechanism called downregulation, where the brain "sucks up" it's dopamine receptors so that dopamine can't bind to them anymore, which reduces how much it's "feeling" the dopamine.

Which is the mechanism that leads to 2 distinct effects:

Desensitization - the loss of pleasure from things that were previously enjoyable. Escalation - the need for ever-higher amounts of dopamine. Those ideas defined me for years.

I'd lost the joy that I once felt from simple things like reading, socializing (unless there were alcohol or weed involved), sunsets or going for walks, and even talking to my own family.

While I was doing those things, I'd feel this subtle itch at the back of my mind that made me feel dissatisfied with whatever I was doing.

Because it wasn't stimulating enough.

The consistent porn several times each week, video games, social media, youtube, and netflix I'd been consuming had desensitized my brain to normal, healthy amounts of dopamine from typical day-to-day activities. For me to feel satisfied, I needed to escalate into more stimulating things instead. Different, more shocking genres of explicit content, more and different video games, booze, more hunting for the right YouTube videos… I'm sure you've got the idea.

And unlike the US Government who will probably bankrupt eventually, and individuals being able to do the same with their personal finances…

I realized that this spending deficit, my dopamine deficit, couldn't even be bankrupted.

There was no way out but through.

No way to shortcut the process and no other option except to stop playing the game, disconnect the fountain of dopamine I was bombarding myself with day after day, and let my brain re-regulate itself.

Which is one of the special gifts of our spectacularly advanced brains:

Neuroplasticity.

It will adjust to its circumstances.

In the same way that it adjusted to the higher levels of stimulation through downregulation, it will adjust to lower stimulation with upregulation.

Which is exactly what I experienced:

A complete resurgence of my dopamine receptors once I quit porn and made some other healthy lifestyle choices. My world went from grey, flat, and uninteresting… back to full 4K HD with vibrant colors. Beautiful and engaging. I rediscovered my joy in so many of the things that had become "understimulating" to me over the years — reading, spending time in nature, socializing, etc just to point out a few — and discovered a newfound joy in other activities too. Like working on my fitness, business, learning, playing sports, having a much deeper and more fulfilling level of intimacy and more.

Truly, there isn't a single aspect of my lifestyle that hasn't been touched by the change.

If you can relate to some of how things used to be for me, know this:

You can and will turn things around and rediscover your own joy and fulfillment.

It just requires a full-stop commitment to changing your relationship with supernormal stimuli.

Especially the #1 most destructive — pornography.

Nothing else (except something like meth) releases that level of dopamine, while being instantly available in your pocket 24/7, while also hijacking the male reproductive system and tricking the primitive part of the brain into thinking it should be an extremely high-priority activity.

Those things make this a uniquely challenging vice to overcome.

But because of that, when you learn how to beat this one, you'll quickly find that everything else both good and bad becomes much easier to control too. Because the skills you'll develop to quit porn and stay clean are transferable to many other things.

And if you've been struggling to make it happen… riding that rollercoaster up and down, and really not getting anywhere… or simply not getting there quickly enough for your liking…

Maybe it's time to try something different.

Things can change a surprising amount in just a couple months when you have the right tools, process, guidance, and accountability to show you the way.

Download the BeFree App today and start repaying your dopamine debt.