choose your dopamine.

There's this frustrating spot I'm finding myself in right now, and that is that there's this old Aaron version of me that makes daily— that makes like videos every single week on YouTube, that has like to stay consistent to that because that's what's helped me build everything that I have in my life. Like back in 2017 when I was working that 9-to-5 job I hated, I then made the choice to go daily on YouTube, and then my whole entire life transformed within months of me committing to my vision, me committing to me being the ideal version of me. And since then, it's been like 3, 4 years now. There's this old part of me where like I'm attached to making YouTube videos even though I know that this isn't the actual focus of what's going to take me to this like new version of me. So I'm doing something that has brought me safety of making YouTube videos. And especially now, like I used to be really passionate about making YouTube videos. Like I'd be excited to make a video that I thought would add value. And I would study like, you know, different video topics and things I knew that I had my own perspective on. And then I would make videos that I thought you guys would like. But then what happens is as things grew and as there's like more and more people getting brought into the channel, more and more views and all that stuff, there's like this internal pressure that was created on me where I'm like, I have to continually reinvent myself. And then it turns into like this thing where I'm always trying to come up with new topics and new videos. And it's like, I've made 2,000 videos on YouTube, like no joke. Videos on YouTube. How many more topics can I come up with? And what I've realized, that for myself to move to this next, this new version of me, I have to step out of my own comfort zone in a way. Um, I don't really like that when you say step out of your own comfort zone. The thing I don't like about that is, uh, it is kind of true. In order for me to expand my sense of self, of who I am, of being the YouTuber that's making like 3 videos a week. Doing something new is gonna help me redefine myself. And that new thing for me is doing live events. And not only just live events in person, but also virtual live events, like doing live events here on YouTube. That's something that I know I wanna do is I wanna do more live things, things that push my own comfort zone. But the thing with stepping out of your comfort zone is that by the time that thing is stepping out of the comfort zone, it then eventually becomes natural. So like it used to be out of my comfort zone to make YouTube videos and to put my information out there out there and to put myself out there, uh, where people could criticize me and all that. Now it's just natural for me. It's a part of my identity. So really stretching my own identity is me doing new things. And one new thing I knew that I need to do is start doing live videos, live videos, both in person and also live videos on YouTube. So if that is something, by the way, you're excited about, go ahead and like this video and subscribe or whatever we do on YouTube. Um, comment below, let me know. But in general, what I've realized just with my own perception is there's a lot— it's a scary to let go of the old. Like, not that I want to stop making videos, but the way that I do it's going to completely change. But I can tell that there's such a momentum there and that when it's like that, it's just not as authentic. Like, now that I'm sharing authentically how I feel, because I literally sat down here earlier, like, was coming up with video topics of things to, to make and and I was like, I feel like I need to make a video because I haven't made a video in like a week. Um, even though you guys see videos like, you know, Monday, Wednesday, Friday or whatever, it's kind of changed a little bit as I've gone where I, I'll make videos in a cluster and I'll go like a week without making videos. I'm like, I need to make one, but why do I need to make one? Like, that's what I'm realizing is I've always done things that I thought I needed to do and basically also realizing I'm doing a lot of things that bring me safety. But the main message of this video that I want to share with you is to stop doing things for the end result only. Start doing things and make it an end of itself. Back when I was doing well on YouTube and like, you know, things were growing and everything was exponential back in 2017, 2018, it was because I was excited to be on YouTube and I was very in the moment with it. Like I'd get up every day and I'd make 3 videos a day. It was easy. It was a part of my identity. And one of the things I want to share with you is what and who and how do you define yourself? Because how you define yourself is natural. How you define yourself, these things naturally fall in place with that. Like your values naturally reflect that. And the thing that I'm learning for myself is the more I can be present to the moment and enjoy the process along the way, the more benefit gets out of it. And also the better things do. 'Cause then I'm able to like really be there, really be present. You know, a lot of times I would focus on, back in the day, I'd go to work selling my 9 to 5 job selling women's shoes. Many of you know the story if you've been watching my videos. And I'd be focused on making the money. I'd be like, okay, I have a sales commission job where I don't really get paid hourly and I just need to focus on making, if I sell $5,000 worth of shoes, That's $300. That's good. I need to focus on $5,000 and every customer I helped, it's like, are you going to help me get closer to my $5,000? Are you going to help me? You're going to help me. But then what I realized is then it gets into the, or I'm not really connecting with people. It becomes like this fiendish thing. And instead, you know, I'd go into work and be like, I'm going to enjoy helping these people. I'm going to have the intention of adding value to them. How much more pure does that energy feel when it's like, I want to add value, I want to help people and I want to have fun. I want to enjoy it. Versus I want to get the thing, the end result that I need. You know, if I make a video and I just want to have fun and I want to express an idea to you, like this one, there's a little bit less structure in this video. Normally the videos are like, okay, there's gonna be 3 things you're gonna do, XYZ, and then it's gonna go this, and it's gonna be intro, then I'm gonna pitch that thing, and then I'm gonna— you see what I mean? That it doesn't feel as good to you as me just kind of maybe going with the flow and just authentically expressing what I want to already be talking about. So when people focus on the money, okay, you can have an intention, you can have a goal. All right? That's the dopamine. That's something I've been learning a lot about recently. I've been learning a lot about dopamine. I've been studying like the neuroscience behind dopamine and think of it like this in our reality as well. Dopamine, they say, is the reward molecule. So in our body, we release dopamine. One of the reasons it's so damn hard to stop scrolling on Instagram is because when you scroll, you get mo— the molecule of more. That's kind of what they call that of dopamine. And then it's like you just keep doing it. You don't even know why you're doing it. You guys ever done that? You guys ever got on your phone, you scroll, like 5 minutes later, like, what the hell am I doing in here? And then you know— here's the, here's the crazy thing— you know that it's not beneficial to be in there, but you still freaking do it. Why? Why do you still do it? You do it because It's, it's just this, it's this like natural addiction. It's not natural. Maybe it is natural, but it's just dopamine. That's all it is. But here's the thing, we can choose our dopamine. We can choose the things that we put our energy into. When I was making daily videos, I became addicted to making videos. It made me release dopamine. And here's the thing, as I'm releasing dopamine when I'm making videos, you and other people watching the videos are feeling that dopamine because it's like mirror neurons. So people would watch the videos, say, I feel high watching the videos, and then And then they binge watch the videos. You like watching people that are, that are already like feeling dopamine because you feel like whatever I feel that's being reflected into the, into the people watching it as well. And you could feel like your version of that. Well, guess what? When I'm making like the old school style videos where I'm just talking out of camera, kind of like this right now, but I'm having a little more fun right now. So maybe there's a little bit more dopamine than normal. You're feeling that. But guess what? When I go live, when I do like my live challenges, like the 21 Day Magnetic Love Challenge or the 21 Day Raise Your Vibration Challenge, going live each day, I feel like I'm bringing people on, I'm coaching people, it's the newness as well, like anything could happen, ooh. And because of that, I'm feeling more dopamine and then people watching it feel it, it's like, it's a good thing. So dopamine's not actually bad, it's just that we've been so overly stimulated in our society and because of that, we're always seeking these end results. But what they found is that if we're always seeking these end results, by the time we get it, there's then a dopamine crash. If we don't, instead of, it's almost like if you celebrate too much, it's like, I did this thing, I did this amazing thing. Then what happens is there's, there's the crash after that. But if you see it as natural for you to be successful and you make it a part of the process, that changes everything. So in a way, think of it like this. It's going to sound kind of esoteric, but it's helped me understand this better because I've been choosing my dopamine more consciously. I've realized that a lot of foods, like when we overeat, when we eat more calories than our body, so that we end up storing, you know, some of it as fat and we're overeating in the calorie surplus, we release dopamine and people become addicted to that dopamine and they just keep doing it. They don't know why. Well, it's because it's dopamine, and dopamine is pretty much telling you more. It's, it's, it's something that it's gonna go somewhere. When I started making videos in 2017, I became addicted in a way to making videos. Maybe it was the validation I got. Maybe it was just that I knew that it was like my freedom out of working that 9 to 5 job. And I knew that was my purpose, but that's what became my focus. And then after just YouTube videos, it became business. I became so fascinated with business and I put all my energy into that. Anything I've ever, you know, they say that people that have ADHD, they naturally have like this intensity to where they go all in and, and that's kind of the pattern I've had where whatever I do, I go all in on it. And that's something I noticed is like your dopamine, you're gonna release dopamine regardless, but you'll release dopamine when you're playing video games. You release dopamine when you're watching Game of Thrones, which I watched recently. I binged that shit in a month and a half. Before that, it was Vikings, okay? And it was like I could just tell that I was addicted to that dopamine. I said, what's on the next video? What's gonna happen to this? The ending of Game of Thrones sucked, but that was like part of it led me. Every episode before that led me to the crash ending. Of Game of Thrones, what had all this potential, and then it just— yeah, that's what happened. I know that's my own— I guess it's my own opinion. I just wanted to really get out. But dopamine is something we gotta use regardless. One thing I do is I do a cold plunge every morning, every single— if you follow me on Instagram at Aaron Doughty 4, you will see that there I post pretty much every day my accountability photo of me getting into that cold plunge. It's a little freezer that's been jerry-rigged. I get into that thing and then after that feeling of, I guess you could say pain, but like a minute or two of being in there, it, I release more dopamine for 2.5 hours. And because of that, that's what I'm doing my focus stuff. That's what I'm doing this right now. So the reason that I'm sharing with this you is choose your damn dopamine, choose your damn dopamine and do things. So it's a mixture of these two things. It's choosing your dopamine and realizing that whatever you're focusing on, you are inviting more of it into your life. And, and okay, the esoteric thing I wanted to share with you, I'll share with you in a second, but it's realizing that because that is what's going to, in a way, it's kind of like the carrot on a stick, but you don't celebrate once you get the carrot. It kind of like a nibble and then you let it go and you keep going, you keep going for it, but you, you also enjoy the process along the way. Now the esoteric thing that I wanted to share with you is that imagine that sometimes there's these macro views of reality I like to look at. Now imagine these are like 3D avatar bodies that we have and we are eternal spiritual beings having temporary human experiences. And imagine that dopamine is the molecule we put inside these avatars that would get us that anytime something would happen that we'd feel that we'd get some type of rewards that we kept doing it. Now you could— that could be watching and playing Call of Duty, and that's why some people are addicted to playing Call of Duty. Pornography— some people are literally addicted to dopamine rush they get from watching porn and masturbation. They keep doing it because it's the reward. It's like a reward molecule. But the thing is, if you're rewarding yourself for things that are toxic, then you're gonna keep doing those things. So now that I've done a cold plunge for like a week straight, I feel the reward, the high after I get into an uncomfortable uncomfortable situation right when I wake up in the morning of 38 degrees or whatever it is, but it wakes me up and then I feel the dopamine for 2.5 hours. So I associate that pleasure with it. And you can modify and put this in the things that you want by making the choice. Like getting on your phone is a choice, but sometimes it becomes an autopilot choice and then you're, you know, an hour and a half deep inside of Instagram algorithm and you don't know why it's so hard to stop doing it. But if you were to take you take that energy back and then put it into you living your dream life, your life would change. Once I became, in a way, the dopamine started coming from me making YouTube videos, it caused this momentum to where I was then able to shift into my dream life. And the thing with this though is you don't want to let it use you. So there's this balance of using dopamine. Most people are, first off, they're not picking and choosing their dopamine wisely. So they may be addicted to porn, they may be addicted to video games, they may be addicted to sex, they may be addicted to these different things. And because of that, they're draining their life force energy. They're already using their dopamine. So how would they have dopamine to use towards their vision, towards their purpose, because it's already being completely drained through these other activities? So one of the things you first off want to do is become aware of where you're putting your dopamine. Secondly, Once you become aware of what that is, you want to become aware of and eliminating different aspects of it so that you have more energy to put in your vision. You can make— this can be really easy for you to like live your dream life and to start that path. Once you start doing it, it's somewhat challenging for a week or two and then it gets easier and easier and easier because you start feeling the pleasure, the, the reward that you get from it. They say that dopamine is the reward hormone. Or the, the molecule, the word molecule, it's more so the anticipation molecule. We're anticipating things and we always want more. And even me, I moved to Austin, got this awesome house, then it was in the middle of downtown, perfect location. But then I realized I actually want to be more in nature. So then from there for 3 months I then got into this house. Now I'm in a new house and I'm renting out that house and it's like I realized that I'm always wanting more. Just my, my, uh, my garage just got taken care of, so now I have this this gym and it's like, what is next? What's next? What's next? I'm anticipating the new instead of getting lost with that. The key is to be here and now, here and now. It's riding the razor's edge of the dopamine, realizing, yes, what is my vision for the future? I know that when I'm making live videos that are an end of itself, that I'm enjoying doing, that I'm enjoying the process, it won't feel hard for me to make YouTube videos because I'll be enjoying it and I'll be releasing dopamine. Feeling great, and then I'm going to get not addicted, but I'm going to end up wanting to do more and more of these all the time. When I did the 21 Day Magnetic Love Challenge, I went live 21 days in a row for an hour, an hour and a half a day, brought on people. But after I got into the habit of it, guess what? I enjoyed doing it. I craved doing it. And if you haven't joined the 21 Day Magnetic Love Challenge, by the way, click the link below or go to aarondoughty.com/love. 21 days removing love blocks and becoming the most ideal version of you anyways. So these are different ways that we can look at our own sense of like power, of realizing that we can use dopamine consciously towards our goals and desires, or dopamine can use us. The choice is ours, and the choice is something that we can make from a sense of awareness and not get lost in it. But the other part of this video that is just so important is doing things and making it an end of itself. I'm making this video right now, not because of the views it's going to get me, because honestly, this video probably won't get a lot of views. It's like, am I— I didn't focus, you know, purely on the algorithm and what it wants and all this stuff, but I'm starting to lay a new foundation where I do and make the videos that I want to make, that I go live. Soon we're going to be doing that. And it's like a new way of me wiring in like a new sense of, of, uh, my own energy and how I prefer to be in reality because I'm realizing everything is a story. If I tell myself the story, the belief, uh, it's all, we're all lost, kind of stuck in our own belief systems. I'm realizing I believe that I'm the YouTuber, this is what I have to do. And if I'm feeling all this pressure, then guess what? It's not going to be as good as if it's just more authentic, it's free, and it's something that I'm actually passionate about doing. So make things an end of itself. Instead of focusing on the money, realize money is a side effect of you doing and being who you're meant to be and of the value that you can maybe give in the world too. Like that's how, that's how the abundance, the value system works of money because money is just a reflection of that. But when you stop focusing on the money, then you can allow it to come. We stopped focused on the views, then you can allow it to come. So make things an end of itself and realize that the way these avatars are set up is anything we do consistently that we start to get some type of payoff from, some type of like pleasure reward from, we continue to do. And you can change those addictions or whatever you call it by eliminating it and then putting that energy into something else that's actually going to progress your own reality of what you want, your dream reality, living in that reality right now. So if you guys want those live videos and are excited about those, like this video, comment below, let me know. Other than that, hope you guys enjoyed this more raw, authentic, vulnerable video that's not like optimized for views, but guess what? I'm doing what the fuck I want to do, okay? And anyways, I'll talk to you guys later. Peace, much love, and namaste.