Appropriately-timed gratification

One of the challenges when getting healthy is that it can feel like we are successful as soon as we buy the healthy cookbook.

As soon as we buy the mindfulness training course.

When we pay the gym membership fee.

As we press play on the “101 Tips for a Healthier You” podcast.

We get the sweet hits of dopamine for having set ourselves up for success, but yet that’s just it. All we did set ourselves up. The work has yet to be done.

This dopamine hit is premature. Shun the sensation of this misfired neurotransmitter and minimize its attempt to reward the behavior more than it’s worth.

Save the brain champagne for when the hard work gets done.

The real work worth celebrating is overcoming the resistance when we don’t feel like making the healthy choice and then choosing to use these tools anyway.

Making the salad when we could just order takeout pizza on the phone.

Practicing mindfulness instead of listening to a podcast of someone talking about it… again.

Going to bed early so we wake up early and go to the gym instead of hitting snooze… again… and again.

When we buy a tool, the people who win are the ones who made it, distributed it, and sold it to us.

If we want to join in the celebration, we must use the tool. When we find ourselves reflecting upon the results we’ve achieved from the hard work we’ve done using the tools we’ve accumulated, this is when we win.

This is the reward system we train toward move toward health.

And then we do it again.