If you find the topics I write about to be mildly interesting, yet you skim over the articles because they’re “too long” or “you get the gist of it" then you, my friend, have a problem.

Before you cancel me. Hear me out first.

Because I also have the same problem.

Which is that our brains have become so conditioned for instant gratification, that we’ve lost our ability to willingly endure any amount of discomfort.

There used to be a time when people read newspapers as their main source of both news and entertainment. Back then, if you didn’t like what was published, you were stuck with it, so you read it anyway.

Contrast that with today where if you’re not hooked in the first few seconds, you’re moving on to the next.

It’s not lost on me that people spend hours every day scrolling on social media, continuously being drip-fed small shots of dopamine like an addict, all while finding the prospect of reading a 20-minute essay to be a waste of time.

Giving something your focused attention, and slogging through it, even if there are points that are boring or cumbersome has lost it’s perceived value.

I mean.. we might know there’s value in it, but our actions say otherwise.

Society has collectively moved in a direction that’s resulted in a mass erosion of cognitive skills. Memory, attention, focus, deep thinking - these are all very necessary skills for driving your life forward in the direction of peace, abundance, and fulfillment.

As our ability to harness these very important cognitive skills is diminished, so is our ability to control our own lives.

You might think that dopamine makes us happy, but that’s a common misconception.

Dopamine gives us the motivation to pursue things that we THINK will bring us some sort of reward.

This makes it critical for survival because, in the past it gave us the drive to secure food, and build shelter, and produce offspring.

But today is a completely different reality because the anticipation of reward is also the driving force behind capitalism itself. Everything we consume from products, to services, to news, to online content comes with the expectation of some reward, even if we’re not consciously aware of it.

This very fact is the underlying basis of capitalism. To sell anything, someone must convince you that you will receive a reward for buying what they have to offer.

This means that for capitalism to work, it must find a way to infiltrate your dopamine reward system. It’s the only way you will have the motivation to give away your time, energy, money, or attention.

This isn’t inherently bad. But in its persistent quest to do things as efficiently as possible, the system of capitalism wastes no opportunities to feed you the cheapest sources of dopamine on a mass scale because they know that selling instant gratification is the fastest route to profitability.

In practical terms, what does this look like?

I can go on, but if you want a thorough breakdown of how your dopamine reward system is infiltrated, then I suggest you read Robert Lustig’s book, The Hacking of The American Mind.

The end of 2025 marks the completion of the first quarter of the century defined by the rise of the internet-based information economy.

We get our news through the internet. We communicate with other people digitally through emails and instant messages. Our entertainment is mostly online.

The first quarter of this century also coincidentally marks the rise of extreme dopamine overload from the proliferation of the digital economy which pumps roughly 75,000x more information into the human brain than it is capable of processing.

And most of that information are sources of cheap dopamine.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Because not only is it such a problem in my own life and basically everyone else’s, but I’ve also seen how transformational it is once you master the art of dopamine management.

Your bad habits and addictions become less of a problem, or could even go away entirely.

Your ability to channel your time, energy, and money into a really important area of your life, and then locking in with extreme focus dramatically changes your life for the better.

This is how you:

It all starts with making a healthy relationship with dopamine your priority in life, because you know that it will carry over into everything else that’s important to you. Your faith, your family, your health, your work, etc.

Grab a pen and paper, and read very closely, because this is where I stop pontificating, and you take control over your own destiny.

I’ve come up with a very simple 5 step framework that helps me to lock in and get focused without overcomplicating things.

And on that note, if you are interested in using this framework for yourself then I’ve created a free 5-day course. It’s called the Digital Detox and Focus Reset, and each day for 5 days you’ll get new lessons delivered directly to your inbox with an exercise that you can do to embody the framework I’m about to go over.

Now on to the process…

First you really need to know yourself. This should come as no surprise.

Awareness is the prerequisite for everything you’ll do after this.

If you don’t know where your main sources of distraction are, then you can’t make the necessary lifestyle alterations.

The best way to do this is to journal, then at a later point come back to your journal and review it through the lens of someone who is keen on identifying trends in digital habits. Then take time for introspection before writing down 3-5 core values that you will embody.

As a pro tip, just use ChatGPT … I know I object to technology throughout this article, but I’m pragmatic and I believe technology like AI is amazing when used strategically.

In the free 5-day digital detox course I mentioned earlier, I provide you with an exact prompt that you can copy and paste into ChatGPT to complete this process.

You’ve probably heard the saying “you are the product of your environment.”

Your environment includes the physical spaces you occupy, the digital spaces that you operate within, and the social circles that influence your life.

You must be extraordinarily intentional about making sure that your environment sets you up for growth. The path of least resistance should lead to the actions and habits that are aligned with your vision for life.

So let’s say you realize that you need to seriously cut back on social media.

Physical environment:

These steps combined create an environment in your home or office which is more conducive to focus.

Digital environment:

Social environment:

Be intentional with how you structure your environment and you’ll already have solved half of the problem.

You lower your reliance on discipline or willpower, both of which are failing strategies.

Now that you’ve redesigned your environment for less distraction and more focus, next you need to take a closer look at the information you consume.

Your diet is more than the food you eat. The information you take in also determines your physical, psychological, and cognitive health.

An information diet that consists of LinkedIn posts about job announcements, IG or TikTok reels, or sensational news stories that lack nuance is a … akin to a diet of fast food and candy.

It’s highly stimulating, and hacks the dopamine reward system with instant gratification. This is why most people are addicted to it.

This leads to what I call “cognitive obesity,” which is essentially the biproduct of excessively consuming an information diet high in calories, but low in nutritional value.

On the other hand, an information diet consisting of lectures, books, current events documentaries, and long form articles/newsletters (such as the one you’re reading) is the equivalent of fresh whole foods sourced straight from the farmer’s market.

It may not bring the same rush of excitement as the other option, but you’re consuming information that’s going to keep you functioning at a high level, now and for years to come.

You need to be ruthless in changing your information diet, because just like the standard American food diet which has 70% of the population overweight or obese, the general population is also consuming an information diet that is equally as unhealthy.

Being intentional about the information you consume is one of the highest value steps you can take to control your dopamine reward system, and transform your life in the process.

Once the environmental and informational distractions are taken care of, you’re in position to seriously focus.

Focus on what? Well that’s for you to decide. Your health and fitness. Your career or business. Your children, spouse, or aging parents. Your hobbies.

But you need to pick ONE area of life, and commit to transforming.

If you need help doing this then you can find a few resources here, or you can book a call directly with me.

Once you know what to focus on, you need to create a routine that consists of between one and four 90-minute deep focus time blocks every day.

These are the dedicate blocks of time that you will lock in and get $#!t done.

Workouts. Cooking healthy meals. Taking courses or studying. Reading and writing. Building… whatever it is, you need time explicitly carved out in your schedule.

But you MUST do a full 90-minute block. Not three 30-minute blocks. You can go over 90 mins if you’re in a state of flow. But if cognitive fatigue starts to set in after 90 mins, then do not force it.

You also need to find your ideal time for engaging in deep focus. Your body follows an ultradian cycle, which is a naturally occurring oscillation of peak focus and alertness followed by a recovery period. The full cycle lasts between 90 and 120 minutes.

You need to become hyper aware of your natural ultradian cycle, and then align your deep focus time blocks accordingly.

For example, I know that when I wake up, I’m entering into an upward swing in the cycle, so I immediately get to work first thing in the morning. Then I take a mid morning break, and go right back into another deep focus period.

So by noon, I’ve accomplished more work than I would have accomplished in 2 or 3 days of not being cognizant of my natural cycles.

So that’s step four. Figure out what you need to focus on. Lock in for at between one and four 90-min time blocks.

Now you’re really starting to re-engineer your life.

This is the part where you establish your own protocols for navigating through a world of digital distraction, and getting focused.

You are creating your own “Focus Algorithm.”

I talk all the time about building systems, automating your life, and finding your flow. This all falls under the umbrella of your focus philosophy.

To put it simply, you need to have a position on what it means to be focused in the digital age. There’s no right or wrong answer here. But you should be thoughtful about it.

These are just examples of the types of things you want to think about.

Whatever you do, you must define exactly where you stand in all of this. Think of it as a “constitution” by which all decisions will be made.

Write it down. Take as long as you need to. Ask ChatGPT to help you if you need it. But make sure doesn’t just stay in your brain. You must transfer whatever is in your mind from the internal to the external world.

Make it concrete.

It all comes down to the single decision of mastering your dopamine. Having control over THE most influential thing that dictates your ability to override self-destructive habits, get extremely focused, and build your ideal life is going to be what sets you apart from everyone else.

You’re taking specific steps to prevent the corporations, other people, and society at large from hacking into your dopamine reward system and this is the difference between constantly trying to make life work for you and cracking the code to living life on your own terms.

So if you want to get ahead of everyone else, you can start by enrolling in my FREE Digital Detox and Focus Reset mini-series, which will deliver a module directly to your inbox for 5 days.