How to Hormone-Hack Your Goals, Part 1: Dopamine

Ever wonder why you're so excited to start something new, but then get quickly fall off track? It all comes down to HORMONES! Over the next few episodes, I’m unpacking the hormones you need to know to boost motivation, stay consistent, and see your dreams through to the finish line. 

Today in Part 1, you’ll learn how everything you do comes down to chasing dopamine, how detrimental it is to have either low OR high dopamine levels, and, of course, tons of practical tips to apply all this to your advantage.

👉 Don’t miss next episode to find out which hormone matters even MORE for women’s motivation than dopamine! 🔥 

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

• Why motivation fails, yet willpower and discipline ARE NOT the answer
• The ‘motivational triad’ that explains ALL human behavior
• What gives your brain more dopamine than anything else (hint: it’s NOT the reward itself!)
• How both low AND high dopamine levels are problematic and associated with a host of challenging health conditions (including ADHD, depression, mania, trouble sleeping, and more)
• How to harness dopamine to your advantage to ensure you hit your goals

FOR SO MUCH MORE:

Join the Moms Making TimeTM Society to get the structure, resources, motivation, accountability, and SUPPORT you need to reclaim your time, rediscover yourself, and reignite your joy so your whole family can flourish. Lock in your exclusive 20% off discount by September 18, 2025 so you can “Anchor + Achieve” with us this fall!

To explore personalized 1:1 support, book your FREE 60-minute consult here!

HOMEWORK:

Your homework for this episode is to identify whether you personally have a low or a high dopamine problem, and then choose two or more ways I suggested to start working on improving that. Share your thoughts with me via email or DM me on Instagram @solutionsforsimplicity. Would love to connect further! 

COMING UP NEXT:

Join me back next episode to find out which hormone motivates everything women do even MORE than dopamine! This is super cutting-edge so stay tuned.

CONNECT WITH AMBER: Website | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn

Ready to finally get to the root of your problems and change your life FOR GOOD? Book your free 60-minute consult to learn more about working 1:1 with Dr. Amber.

Transcript

0:00

Get ready, because over the next few episodes, I'm going to help you hormone hack your goals, so you can boost motivation, stay consistent, and see your dreams through to the finish line. Today, you will learn how almost everything you do comes down to chasing dopamine, how detrimental it is to have either low or high dopamine levels, and of course, tons of practical tips to apply all this to your advantage. Welcome to More Time for Mom, where overwhelmed moms get science-backed strategies to overcome the hidden sources of stress stealing your time and joy. I'm your host, Dr. Amber Curtis. Ready to make more time for you? Let's dive in. If you haven't already, you are about to be bombarded by productivity and personal development gurus telling you now is the time of year to go hard on your goals and accomplish amazing things by the end of the year. I am just as guilty of it and fall is a prime time to harness that fourth quarter energy and see how much you can do. But how many times have you set big goals or wanted to change your habits and then fallen short? That's because there is so much that no one is telling you. All human behavior comes down to three things, known as the motivational triad, the brain's desire to ensure survival, seek pleasure, and avoid pain. Motivation is essential for getting things done, but it waxes and wanes, comes and goes. Motivation often fails you. In those moments, you might think willpower or self-discipline are the answer, but they too are shallow. The basic reality of human existence is we only do things because we want to do them or because we are afraid of the consequences. All human behavior is rational and makes sense in light of this. We are either motivated to get something or avoid something. And that desire or fear has to be strong enough to pull you out of homeostasis, your current state, Because any action takes effort, which the brain never wants to exert. Your brain will always prefer to conserve energy and stay exactly as it is. So how do you work with instead of against this reality? The truth is, it all comes down to hormones. Now, I know, I know, the word hormones can seem really scary or boring, and it has become quite the buzzword in recent years, as if everything can be blamed on hormones. But that's because it can. And the more scientists are discovering from the nuances and implications of different hormones, the more you can benefit from all their cutting edge findings. As an academic researcher, behavioral science professor, and certified life coach, I love nothing more than distilling those insights down for you into simple takeaways you can immediately implement to improve your own life. This episode begins a two-part series in the crucial hormones you need to know to boost motivation and success. This first episode is all about dopamine, particularly the consequences of having either too much or too little, and something you have probably never heard about before that will change the way you approach habits and goals for good. Then, next episode, we are going to talk about something that matters even more than dopamine for motivation. So be sure and join me back next week. Quick side note that if you are listening in real time, it is early September and I invite you to check out the link in the show notes to take advantage of the special sale I am running on my Mom's Making Time Society membership. Everything about that group was designed with all these science-backed truths in mind. The Moms Making Time Society gives busy moms everything you need to prioritize yourself and your goals so you can be the wife and mom you dream of. You decide what you want more time for, and then the Mom's Making Time Society helps you actually do it. Link in the description. Come join us. Now, if you have followed me for a while or been in any of my programs, been in my circle, you know that I am obsessed with goals and helping you achieve whatever dreams God has put on your heart. I have studied the science of habits, happiness, and quote, unquote, success. for over a decade now. The more I learn, the more it's helped me see why I struggled to stay on track with so many things in the past, and the more I've finally been able to accomplish huge things, even as a crazy busy full-time working mom of four young kids. I know you have the best of intentions. There is something you want to change, a goal you want to go after, self-sabotage you desperately want to stop, and yet you can't. Even if you are good for a while, you eventually revert back to your old ways, your progress stalls, and you feel like a failure. When you fall off track, It's easy to think that's because of external circumstances. A kid got sick, a parent fell ill, the car broke down, job demands got crazy, whatever it is. As hard as each of those things legitimately is, the reality is that your success or failure all comes down to hormones. Motivation isn't static or linear. Your drive and energy levels naturally fluctuate as your physical and mental capacity change every day, week, month, and year. It's ultimately hormonal. We are going to cover multiple hormones that factor in here, but the first one we are covering today is dopamine. Almost everyone has heard of dopamine and absolutely everyone has felt the effects of it. You know your brain loves to do things that feel good. Things that give you that dopamine hit for doing something that's exciting or pleasurable. Now, not to get too scientific, but to make sure we are all on the same page, dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which simply means it is a chemical messenger in the brain that gets released during enjoyable activities and then reinforces those behaviors to make you want to do that thing again. It's also a hormone produced by the adrenal gland and a neurohormone released by your hypothalamus. Evolutionary biologists have offered that dopamine makes sense because it's your brain's way of rewarding you for doing things you ultimately need to do to survive, like eat, drink, sleep, and reproduce. Dopamine is huge for behavior and cognition because its release helps your brain want to stay focused on what you are doing, and it motivates you to keep doing that thing precisely because it feels good and rewarding. Here's the kicker and something I would be willing to bet you have never heard about. Low dopamine levels can lead to Parkinson's, depression, or ADHD. It's where you feel lethargic, unmotivated, unhappy, you have concentration problems or mood swings. High dopamine is then associated with addiction and mania. You feel energized, maybe even euphoric, but can wrestle with poor impulse control and have trouble sleeping because the dopamine interferes with the melatonin trying to get your body to relax. Then, research has uncovered something even more powerful that you need to know. It's called the anticipatory dopamine theory, where it is shown that you actually get more dopamine from the anticipation of something than from doing or having the thing itself. In The Dorito Effect, a 2015 book by Mark Schatzker, he talks about how the food industry has intentionally added flavor and engineered food that makes you crave more and more of it, right? This explains why junk food and sugar are so addictive. But in some of these examples, like eating a Dorito, It's the brain's excitement over what it thinks it's going to taste. And then you have one chip and you're like, well, maybe that was good, but maybe the next bite is going to be even better. And so you keep eating and you're always moving to the next one and the next one, wanting more and more because the dopamine released from the anticipation of the next one is so strong. Additional studies now underscore that the level of dopamine released increases with unpredictability or when the expected reward is greater. This means that the actual thing ends up feeling blah, less than great, because you ultimately already got your hormonal high from the anticipation stage. It's why you love buying and filling out a new planner or get so hopeful that this new chore chart is going to solve all your problems, but then executing your plans is hard and boring, so you deviate from them. It's why you buy book after book. You got excited to find out the thing you heard it said. Someone told you it was really good, but then actually reading the book can feel dull. It's why you change the channel over and over, thinking that there's got to be something better on somewhere else. This is so true for online shopping or addictive behaviors like drug or alcohol use, because lab studies and brain scans show even the mere thought of these things, not even the sight of it, but just you thinking of that thing. can trigger a dopamine release. It explains why gambling is so addictive, because you never know what the next card is going to be, or if the next pull of the slot machine is going to give you that huge win. It's why you pick your phone up over and over, because the allure of wondering if you have any new emails or likes or DMs is so powerful. Even social media scrolling and short-form content is so addicting because you get more dopamine from swiping to find out what the next thing is going to be because you're sure it's got to be better than whatever you just saw. All these examples become compulsive behaviors because the dopamine they give you is so addicting. It's not the thing that's addicting, it's the dopamine you are addicted to. That's why someone might quit drinking but then develop another form of addiction. We also know that the body gets used to certain levels of dopamine, so after a while, the old amount doesn't have the same pleasurable effect and you need more and more of it to feel the same high. All this explains why it is so easy to want to change or say you're going to do something but then never actually do it. Like when you download a freebie but never open it or sign up for a program but then quit a few modules in. It's because you already got the reward your brain was seeking just from buying the thing and thinking you had the solution. Actually taking action and implementing the advice it contained feels like the opposite of pleasure. It takes effort and hard work, so of course your brain is going to resist it. If you struggle to follow through with things, There is a very good chance you are addicted to your bad habits because of the high dopamine reward you get and thus crave from doing them, mixed with the fact that the new things you are trying to do might not have enough of a dopamine reward built into them to make you feel motivated to do them. I mean, nobody loves broccoli more than chocolate cake. Nobody loves walking more than sitting and watching their favorite TV show. You have to create rewards and incentives that make doing the thing that's better for you feel better and more rewarding. I've got just the thing to do that, so check out the link in the description to join my mom's making time society where all of this science on motivation and rewards is literally built in to our community. Here are some practical strategies for using dopamine to your advantage. If you have low dopamine, low motivation, low energy, you're feeling lethargic and dread doing what you know you should do, here are some tips. The first one I know you've heard before, but it is proven to help. That is pairing enjoyable activities with less enjoyable ones, like listening to your favorite podcast while folding laundry or doing dishes. Second, celebrate every little milestone. Pre-establish ahead of time what reward you're going to give yourself the moment you do the thing. Don't wait for the very end to reward yourself. But as always, be mindful that the rewards you choose aren't sabotaging your efforts. Third, find a friend, enlist your spouse, or hire a coach that will pat you on the back and say, well done, when you do the things that you're wanting to reinforce as habit. Fourth, research shows exercise is a natural way to boost dopamine. And it also, of course, boosts serotonin, the happiness hormone, and other endorphins. So working out first thing is a great way to boost motivation for doing other effortful things throughout the rest of the day. Eating red meat and nuts is good because they are high in tyrosine, which is necessary for dopamine production. Sunlight and being surrounded by nature can enhance dopamine. You can find ways of mixing things up and building in novelty because, as mentioned, that uncertainty and anticipation really make a difference. Caffeine not only slightly increases dopamine but also increases the availability of dopamine receptors. And then you can use what's called intermittent reward training, where you randomly celebrate some wins, but not all, to keep yourself guessing. I have found this is really hard to do for yourself because, of course, it's hard to surprise your own brain. But again, that's where a group program or a coach can really come in handy. Now, if you have high dopamine and you want to better regulate it to break harmful addictive behaviors, really rein your brain back in and stop being so hooked on things you know are bad for you, here are some tips. You've got to train yourself in delayed gratification. This is where you are building more and more time between when you feel the desire for something and if or when you actually let yourself have it. You do this by learning to be aware of an urge but then sitting in the discomfort of that urge without responding to it. It takes time, but it is proven that eventually your brain will stop offering you that urge as often or as strongly because you've shown yourself you don't answer to it. Next, you can notice and appreciate yourself for effort, not results. The more you associate effort with positive feelings, the more dopamine you will receive in your brain from putting in a lot of good hard work. This is where your inner dialogue and your self-talk are so critical. Because if you are just shaming and criticizing yourself, then, of course, that is the opposite of a pleasure response. And it's going to make your brain not want to do the thing that makes you feel like a failure. Whereas if you are praising yourself for effort, it will feel good and you'll start getting dopamine from that. It is so true that consistent sleep and a low sugar diet help keep dopamine stable so you avoid huge swings or crashes. And then you're not going to like this, but it might be really beneficial to do a dopamine detox. I don't have to tell you that our modern lifestyle is so full of toxic influences where your brain is almost constantly getting dopamine from thing after thing to the point that we subconsciously think something is wrong when we are not super stimulated and engaged every second. It feels really uncomfortable to sit still, to wait, to lock your phone away, or even just turn it on silent so you're not hearing every little ding of a new notification. Take off your smartwatch. Go back to using a regular alarm clock so you don't get sucked into your phone first thing in the morning. Take email off your phone so you're not tempted to constantly check for something new. Have specific times that you check email on your computer or certain days that you do or don't watch screens. Increase the amount of time you spend in the real world. It is especially important to avoid bright lights or blue light at night, specifically between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. Because that light stimulates the circulation of dopamine and often the activities that you are doing that are exposing you to light at those times, like TV, phones, or tablets, is just further reinforcing addictive habits like online shopping, scrolling, gaming, etc. It's also worth mentioning that as parents, we should really consider the extent to which our family's lifestyle is creating dopamine addiction in our kids. I have been horribly guilty of letting my kids have too much screen time or gaming, and I've realized how each of my kids has a worse and worse habit and a shorter and shorter attention span. Over the summer, I randomly decided to show my kids the old TV show Little House on the Prairie. They loved it, but I was immediately struck by how slow the show was, not just in the plot line, but in the cinematography. The video footage was so simple, hardly changing camera angles much, let alone flashing thing after thing across the screen with tons of cuts and edits as today's TV shows and games do. It was so refreshing and I really realized how, again, as a culture, as a society, we are bombarded by all of this dopamine with everything we do 24-7. But it's not doing us any favors and it's up to us to break that so we can get our brains back to getting the dopamine we need and want from doing the things that are actually good for us, that are actually pushing your goals forward and helping you live your best life. Okay, you can see why I am breaking this series on motivation and hormones down into multiple episodes. I sincerely hope this information helps you because I have spent years compiling it and I just wish someone had helped me understand so much sooner how it is behind everything you do so you can utilize it to your advantage stick to your habits and goals, feel better about yourself, and give yourself and others more grace when you do fall short. Because those shortcomings make perfect, rational sense when you know what motivates all human behavior. Your homework for this episode is to identify whether you personally have a low or a high dopamine problem and then choose two or more ways I suggested to start working on improving that. Then again, check out my Mom's Making Time Society to learn how our online community automatically factors in all this wisdom on hormones and motivation to help you prioritize yourself and what brings you joy so that both you and your family can flourish. Join me back next Tuesday where we are going to dive into the hormone you need even more than dopamine if you really want to boost your motivation, stay consistent, and improve your life. Until then, remember nothing you do changes how wonderful and worthy you are. Have a great day. I know more than anyone how precious your time is, so the fact that you spent it listening to this podcast means the world. Make sure to subscribe, and if you got value out of this show, I would be so honored if you'd leave a review and share this episode with another busy mama who needs to hear it. We've got this.