Ep 21 - Dopamine Hits and Micro Habits: How Small Wins Rewire Your Brain

In this episode of Midlife Audacity, Celeste explores the powerful role dopamine plays in shaping our habits, motivation, and daily choices. After noticing a moment of synchronicity between a social media post she wrote about dopamine and a reel from Mel Robbins discussing why doing hard things clears the path ahead, Celeste dives deeper into the science behind why small hard things matter.

Many of us spend our days chasing quick dopamine hits through scrolling, notifications, and easy distractions. The brain receives the reward without effort, which can slowly weaken our motivation for the meaningful actions that actually move life forward.

The fascinating part is this: your brain also releases dopamine when you complete small, intentional actions.

Those tiny wins matter more than we realize.

In this episode, Celeste shares the neuroscience behind motivation and introduces a framework she teaches often:

Micro moments → Micro habits → Micro miracles

You will learn how tiny daily actions can build momentum, strengthen resilience, and help you reconnect with the woman you are becoming in midlife.

Real transformation rarely happens through dramatic overnight change. More often, it begins with one small step repeated consistently.

In this episode we explore:

• What dopamine actually does in the brain
 • Why easy dopamine hits can weaken motivation
 • How small wins build discipline and momentum
 • The power of micro habits in creating lasting change
 • How tiny actions compound into meaningful transformation

Celeste leaves listeners with one powerful question to reflect on:

What kind of dopamine are you feeding your brain each day?

Soulful Sunday Newsletter:  Each week, you’ll hear from me in a way that’s simple, intentional, and easy to stay connected to.

Book Study Seminars:  Soul School has opened up new room called, Book Study Seminars.  This room meets four times a year to read, study and unpack not only the words, but our lives, together.  Our spring theme is identity expansion and we start May 7th. For four weeks, we’ll study together using, The Big Leap by Gay Henricks, as our anchor text. Together, we will explore what has been keeping you in your upper limit, how your identity may be capping your expansion, and how to begin feeling safe stepping into your next level self.

Soul School: A curriculum for midlife women who are ready to remember their wisdom, protect their energy, project their power and come back into alignment. You don’t need fixing. You need to remember. Open for enrollment NOW.

Follow @the_conscious_coach_ 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Midlife Audacity. I'm your host, Celeste Dona, teacher, writer, speaker, and guide for women who are ready to rise into their next chapter boldly, soulfully, and unapologetically. Today we're going to talk about something that quietly shapes your habits, your motivation, and even the direction of your life. Dopamine. It's definitely a buzzword lately. Now, this conversation was already on my list of things that I wanted to talk about here on this podcast. And then something funny happened this morning. And so I have a quick story that I want to share with you. The snow has finally left our backyard. Yes, it's been a long cold, snowy winter. We haven't had a winter like this in quite some time. And let me tell you something. Now that the snow has melted, our backyard is literally a dog shit graveyard. We have two. We have an English Mastiff and we also have an Australian Shepherd mix. And anyone who has dogs or a dog in the Northeast knows exactly what I mean by a dog shit graveyard. So all winter long, the snow piles up, the ground freezes, and everything gets buried. And then we get some warm weather, and the snow begins to melt, and suddenly there it is. Three months of dog poop staring at me. And here's the thing: no one wakes up excited to go out and scoop all of that dog poop. No one. Yet you have to deal with it. You can't really enjoy your backyard once the good weather starts to come, if that is all occupying the space. You cannot walk through it, you cannot sit out there, you really just can't use the space at all. So I thought that it was really funny when Mel Robbins, and I think most of you know who that is, posted a reel on Instagram sharing her outside scooping up her own pile of dog shit. And she made such a great analogy in the reel, and I really felt like I had to share it with you because it's so aligned with what I wanted to talk to you about today. She said something like, Nobody wants to do the hard stuff, but doing the hard stuff, like scooping up the dog shit that is outside after three months of winter, creates a clear path ahead. And I thought, oh my god, that's brilliant. And it all leads perfectly into what I wanted to talk today about, which is micro moments, microhabits, and then micro miracles. So let's start here. A lot of people talk about dopamine, like it's just the pleasure chemical. And that's really like a simple version. The more accurate version, and I really had to do some digging and some research to kind of find this out because I didn't know that dopamine is really connected with motivation, anticipation, reward, and learning. I too thought that it was really just about pleasure, right? Like the dopamine hit. It's about getting that quick fix. But when you really dig into dopamine, it's about motivation, anticipation, reward, and learning. And it's one of the chemicals involved in helping your brain to say, hey, pay attention, do that again. That mattered. So, yes, dopamine can be involved in pleasure, yet, more than that, it's really involved in reinforcing behavior. It helps train your brain around what to repeat. That means the question is not just, do I want dopamine? Of course you do. We all do. Your brain is wired for it. The better question is: what kind of dopamine are you feeding your brain each day? And I promise you, I will connect it this back to my intro. And so this is where things get really interesting. Most of us are living in a world of very easy dopamine. We've trained ourselves to get that dopamine hit from scrolling on social media, maybe refreshing emails when we're waiting for something to come in, checking notifications, online shopping, snacking, watching YouTube, right? And so it's like one quick hit, one quick reward, very little effort. And this day and age, we're able to get these hits with very little effort. And the brain gets the signal, right? It still gets that rush, that dopamine hit rush. So it's starting to train itself, like, oh, this works. Let's come back here again and again and again. And you become addicted to getting quick dopamine hits very easily with like almost no effort. Now, to be clear, I'm not saying social media is evil. I'm on social media quite a bit, and I definitely recognize the amount of time that basically gets sucked from my day by consuming all of this content because let's face it, some of these reels are just so darn creative that I do get kind of swept away and lost in time when I am scrolling. Right? So I'm not saying that you can never scroll Instagram again or TikTok or watch these YouTube shorts. I'm just saying that um being aware about the type of dopamine hit that's your train that your brain is getting trained on, right? So this is about understanding that your brain is always learning from what you end up doing repeatedly. And so if we continue to get these very easy hits, then we're training our brain that easy reward. Like we get an easy reward with very little effort, and it be it can begin to resist, then the kinds of actions that actually make our life move forward. We are training our brain to resist the hard, anything that's hard, and that's directly connected to this beginning concept that I was talking about. Like going outside and scooping up the dog shit, it's it's hard and no one wants to do it. Trust me, I tried to bribe my youngest son to go and do it, but no one wants to do it because it feels hard. And so when we train our brain to get that quick dopamine hit easily, let's say, for example, scrolling social media, then we start to resist doing anything that feels harder. Okay. And it's not because we're lazy, it's not because something's wrong with us. It's literally that we've just trained our brain to expect it to be easy. And so, like, if our brain is saying, hey, I could get a dopamine hit by like sitting on the chair and just scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, I'm gonna do that rather than go out and clean the backyard. Because even though that's hard, there is a reward after that. And it is a dopamine hit. Because when you finish doing a harder task, you get that hit. Because anytime you finish something that's challenging, that reward automatically triggers your brain to get to get that hit. And so, you know, this is the cycle that's actually happening. And that's why this conversation I think is really important, especially for women in midlife, right? Like so many women I talk to feel frustrated with themselves. And I hear them saying things like, Why can't I just do the thing? Or why do I keep avoiding what I know would help me? Why do I feel stuck? Why can't I follow through the way that I used to? And while there are obviously many layers to that conversation: hormones and stress and burnout and nervous system dysregulation, emotional exhaustion, identity shifts, there's also this piece of the puzzle that matters. Your brain is constantly being trained by what you repeat. So that means small choices really do matter. Micro choices matter. And I have talked about microhabits on this podcast before, but micro choices will lead to microhabits. So what you do in the ordinary moment matters. And so here's the helpful part: your brain does not only release dopamine for easy distractions, right? Your brain can be trained through meaningful completion too. Like the example of cleaning your backyard after the snow has thawed. Okay, some examples of like meaningful completion. Let's see, like making your bed. I make my bed every morning. You know why? Because for me, that is every day, first thing in the morning, I'm giving myself a dopamine hit. Because it is satisfying to have my bed made. Definitely is. That is not a big task. That is a micro moment, a micro choice. And if you do that repeatedly, then that becomes a habit. And that reinforces the brain to be able to get a dopamine hit from things that are a little bit more challenging, right? Each one of those examples that I mentioned, they create a small completion. And when the completion is done, it sends a message to the brain. Hey, look, brain, progress is happening. That matters. Do it again. And over time, these small wins really do begin to build momentum. And that momentum is not just emotional, it's neurological. And this is really what fascinates me. We often think that we need these giant things to make change. We think that we need to feel inspired, we think we need the perfect plan, a perfect routine, a perfect Monday, a perfect month. It has to be in the perfect season. And meanwhile, and this is what I advocate a lot, is that it's for real change, it's often built in the small, like less glamorous moments. The small moments that you do when nobody's looking, that really build upon each other, and the moments that are simple, right? I'm going to do the next right thing. This is why I talk so much about micro moments and micro habits. A micro moment is a moment of awareness. You pause, you choose, right? And a tiny opening where you could be doing what you always do, or you make this more aligned choice, you know. So maybe the micro moment is noticing that you're overwhelmed and you stop and you take a deep breath before reacting. I do that a lot. In fact, my kids even know, like my little go-to, where I kind of like rub my forehead and like put my hand on my heart, and they're always very aware that mom is taking a moment because they know that if I don't, then maybe there would be things that are said that are not so great. Right? So maybe it's catching yourself reaching for your phone for that quick dopamine hit, that easy dopamine hit, and deciding instead to step outside for 60 seconds. Maybe it's noticing the negative self-talk and interrupting that. Maybe it's feeling resistance and choosing one tiny action to do so that you move toward what it is that you want to get accomplished. That is a micro moment. And when a micro moment is repeated, not only are you training your brain now to remember that doing a hard thing also will give you the dopamine hit that you want, but you're also creating a microhabit. And a microhabit is small enough to do consistently. It doesn't overwhelm your nervous system, it does not require this heroic energy. It's simple, it's doable, it's repeatable. So it could be one page of reading, it could be one page of writing, it could be a walk around the block, it could be one minute of stillness, it could be five minutes of quiet meditation. It could be writing, you know, down an answer to one journal prompt. Could be one glass of water first thing in the morning, could be a load of laundry, you know, instead of like feeling like your whole house has to be cleaned, maybe it's just one load of laundry. And these tiny habits really do matter. Not because they help you get things done, because they do, but they matter because they begin to change your self-concept. Every small act of follow-through becomes evidence. And the evidence that your brain actually receives is wow, I kept a promise to myself. I can trust myself. I am someone who follows through. I am someone who can create change. And this, you guys, this is where the miracles begin. Which brings me to the third part of this framework. So we have micro moments where we notice these things and we make a different choice, that begins to build, and you do that repeatedly, and that becomes a microhabit, and then we have micro miracles. And I love this phrase so much because it captures like the real transformation and how like that really does work in real time. It's really not through these giant breakthroughs, although those are powerful and those can be um definitely shifting, right? For each of us. It's oftentimes, though, in these tinier moments, not the dramatic ones, you know, but these tiny moments of alignment repeated over time, where your life does slowly start to feel different. And the micro miracle is what happens when those tiny choices compound. I read a book called The Count The Compound Effect. I'm trying to think of who that was by. I don't have it up here in my office. Um, but this is exactly what he talks about. It's it's doing these little things every day, and then over time the compound effect is that you actually do wake up to a new life. Um, so for example, it's when you feel stuck, you know, um, and then you start to feel the momentum, right? Um, it's when you thought that you had no discipline and you realize that you just needed a smaller entry point, and then you can start seeing that discipline take shape. Um, you know, it's when you feel disconnected and then you begin to trust yourself again. And when clarity starts to appear and the path begins to open. It's kind of like what I started this entire conversation with, right? Like after doing this hard task, because let's face it, no one wanted to clean the dog shit. But once it's done, my backyard is clear, there's a path, it's ready for spring, it feels good to look at, and I'm trained, I trained my brain in that moment that I can do something hard and also receive that dopamine hit. It's like retraining my brain, actually. Um, and so I really just loved that whole picture. And I'm not sure if you're familiar with the book Atomic Habits, but James Clear wrote that every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. And I love that. Every action is a vote, not the grand declarations, not the vision board alone, although I'm a big fan of vision boards, not the overthinking, the action, even the tiny one, especially the tiny one. Your brain is tallying those votes. Your identity is being shaped by those votes, and that is where. Why I think microhabits are so powerful. Let's like make it a little bit practical here. Like, let's take a concrete example. Let's say you want to read more, right? Like, so a lot of times I notice people make the mistake of saying, okay, I want to read more. I'm going to read an hour every night. Well, that sounds great, and it might even begin with the hour, and then it starts to become laborious and difficult to maintain and sustain. So I encourage people to pick something really much smaller. So instead of reading for an hour every night, why don't you start with one page? Like one page, that's it. Your brain gets the reward of completing something. And that's the whole point. That's how the loop is completed. You do something, it's not an easy passive hit. It's something that earned the reward. And then you complete the task. You did it. It mattered. You do it again. Maybe tomorrow you increase to two pages, then maybe to five, then maybe to ten. This is how you train for a marathon. You know, it's bite-sized pieces. And before long, maybe you are someone who reads regularly. You are someone who reads for an hour every night. Not because you were forced, right? Or you forced yourself into a dramatic new identity of like I'm a reader right away. You trained your brain through these small little wins. That completion cycle is what trains the brain to really um build the momentum and the resilience. So, you know, you don't need to become a woman who spends 90 minutes at the gym overnight. Like that's a big one. Lots of people take these things on. Um, you can be a woman who walks five minutes after dinner. And you could be the woman who stretches while the coffee's brewing. And you could be the woman who puts the sneakers on and just steps outside. You know? These are not throwaway actions, these are identity-building actions. And again, your brain is gonna respond the whole time with every single micro move that you make. That's the neuroscience piece of this. The spiritual piece, at least for me, is that small faithful acts matter. These tiny aligned steps matter. The life you want is not only created in giant leaps, it's created in ordinary devotion, in choosing what you know to be good again and again, showing up again and again. And there is something really sacred about doing that for yourself. There's something deeply hopeful about realizing that transformation does not have to start off really big, it just has to start. And that's really the miracle, is the starting of it. You know, your whole life isn't gonna change overnight, but you begin trusting that these small things that you're doing with intention will actually change your life over time, not overnight, over time. So today I'll leave you with this question, and it's the same question that I that I posed in my Facebook post the other day or this morning. What kind of dopamine are you feeding your brain each day? Is it the easy hit that keeps you distracted, or the earned ones that slowly build a life you actually respect? That question is not meant to shame you. It's meant to wake you up, to bring awareness, to invite you back into choice. So here's your invitation, ladies. Choose one micro habit today. Just one. One small action that moves you toward the life that you say you want. One micro moment, one micro habit, and let that be enough for today. Let your brain experience the reward of meaningful completion. Let yourself build momentum gently. Let yourself remember that miracles do not arrive loudly. Sometimes they arrive quietly in the smallest faithful choices that you make. In the tiny hard things that clear the path ahead. And that's the invitation here. Micro moments, microhabits lead to micro miracles. So thank you so much for listening today. If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who needs this reminder. Until next time, keep living boldly, soulfully, and unapologetically. Bye bye.