The Dopamine Dilemma: Can Mastering the Brain's Reward System Truly Lead to Success?

By Alson Lam, Year 12 Student

Introduction

Imagine yourself at home after a long day at the office. You settle down, take a shower, and decide to watch TV to relax. After an hour, you feel bored and reach for your phone to scroll through Instagram. Another hour passes. Still bored, you finally head to bed. You repeat this cycle day after day for a month.

Eventually, you realise you're falling behind at work, your energy levels are all over the place, you're constantly tired, and boredom seems to follow you everywhere. And then you ask yourself: “How did this happen? Poor time management?”.

I’ve been there too. And after tons of research, I found a surprisingly simple answer behind it all — dopamine. This essay explores how dopamine, the brain's reward chemical, can both fuel and sabotage our productivity, motivation, and long-term success — and whether it's truly possible to 'master' it.

What is Dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in learning, motivation, and reward processing. It is often described as the brain’s “motivation molecule” because it drives us to pursue goals and seek rewards. That’s why we feel euphoric after winning a competition or achieving something meaningful (Berke, 2018).

While early theories associated dopamine directly with pleasure, more recent research suggests its role is more subtle. According to Berridge (1998), dopamine may not directly produce pleasure, but instead mediates the incentive salience of rewards — in other words, it helps determine how desirable a goal or stimulus feels, which motivates us to act. This means dopamine might intensify our desire for something without necessarily increasing the pleasure of receiving it.

In addition to reinforcing goal-directed behaviour, dopamine also promotes exploration and curiosity, especially in unfamiliar or uncertain environments. A widely supported theory — the reward prediction error hypothesis — proposes that dopamine neurons respond to differences between expected and actual outcomes. If a reward is better than expected, dopamine activity spikes, reinforcing the behaviour that led to it (Schultz, 1998). This helps explain why receiving your salary today may bring more satisfaction than merely thinking about receiving it in the future — the actual reward exceeds your immediate expectation.

Linking this to our daily life, whether you watch a movie, spend time with friends, or eat a dessert… We’ll group them as natural dopamine spikes. These activities release moderate and balanced levels of dopamine for a short-term, and return to baseline naturally. These events reinforce healthy behaviours, maintain sensitivity to dopamine and support motivation and wellbeing, which associates with low risks and low addiction.

On the other hand, activities such as taking drugs or certain medications, scrolling, etc, we may group them as artificial dopamine spikes. These activities release an intensive level of dopamine over a prolonged period, which can desensitise dopamine receptors over time. This is associated with high risks as it can lead to addiction, tolerance, and long-term changes to brain chemistry.

But how does this actually work?

The Dopamine Reward System

Picture a roller coaster which starts from 20 metres above the ground, then it goes up and down (below the starting point) and finally back to its original position. This is the same as the dopamine-reward system and how your brain balances between pleasure and pain. When you do something you enjoy, your dopamine levels will rise, but it needs to drop below the normal position in order to balance the dopamine levels. Here is where challenges arise — addiction, boredom, and discomfort take over, driving us to keep eating, scrolling, or gaming while avoiding productive tasks. That’s the reason why when we scroll on our phones, we can last for an hour or more, but after that we feel fatigued mentally, causing burnout, productivity drop, lack of concentration and so on. (Nuttall, 2021)

Another downside in dopamine-driven behaviour is choosing instant gratification over delayed gratification. Not saying it’s bad to always feel happy instantly, but in the long-term it will disrupt our brain activity. In this age of artificial intelligence, people are too dependent on AI due to its convenience, fast-access and multifunctionality. As a result, our brain is repeatedly rewarded for short-term actions — such as checking social media, snacking, or binge-watching — which provide quick dopamine boosts. Over time, our brain will adapt to this, weakening our ability to resist immediate pleasure in favour of a larger, long-term goal. This concept was demonstrated in the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, where children were given the choice between one marshmallow now or two if they waited. Longitudinal studies found that those who were able to delay gratification tended to achieve higher academic scores, better health, and greater life satisfaction in adulthood (Mischel, 1989; Campbell, 2024).

The ability to delay rewards is now seen as a core component of self-regulation and executive function, which are essential for long-term success in both personal and professional domains (Duckworth, 2013). Further research shows that activity involving dopamine neurons can signal how close a person is (physically or mentally) to a reward that is still far away. This signal is thought to help keep people focused on their goals, even when there are distractions, by motivating them to keep going until they reach the reward (Gao, 2021). Therefore, the capacity to manage dopamine-seeking behaviour may be one of the most powerful predictors of success — not because dopamine itself is harmful, but because unchecked short-term reward-seeking can sabotage our ability to pursue meaningful, sustained achievement.

Dopamine Detox

As we can see, dopamine controls how we behave and act in situations, and to succeed in a world overloaded with quick dopamine hits, we need strategies to retrain our brain’s reward system. Here’s how.

One popular approach is the “dopamine detox” — a practice where individuals temporarily eliminate stimulating activities (such as social media, video games, processed food, or even music) in order to reset the brain’s reward system. Although not supported by extensive clinical trials, the logic is grounded in neuroscience: by removing constant artificial dopamine triggers, individuals may resensitise their brain to natural rewards and increase motivation for long-term goals. This idea reflects a broader principle in behavioural science — that controlling our environment and routines can help reshape our neural pathways and build better habits (Clear, 2018).

Practical techniques for mastering dopamine include goal setting, habit stacking, and engaging in delayed gratification practices such as journaling, cold showers, meditation, or “deep work” sessions with no distractions. These activities are boring or even “suffering”, which pushes our dopamine level below the original position, and so we can expect our dopamine levels to rise high to balance things. This provides us with an energetic start in the morning, allowing us to become more productive in our work later in the day. These actions are low in instant reward but high in long-term benefit — and over time, they can recalibrate the brain’s reward system to value effort and persistence. Neuroplasticity studies have shown that repeated effortful actions can lead to long-term changes in the brain's wiring, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, which plays a critical role in self-control and long-term planning (Tang, 2015). Therefore, while we may not be able to fully control dopamine itself, we can train the brain to respond to it differently — using it as a tool for our success rather than allowing it to dictate behaviour impulsively.

Advantages of Dopamine

Although much attention has been given to the negative effects of excessive dopamine stimulation, it is important to recognise that dopamine is not inherently harmful. In fact, dopamine is essential for survival, learning, and motivation. It is involved in reinforcing behaviours that are beneficial to us, such as eating, exercising, and achieving goals (Wise, 2004). Without dopamine, individuals can experience apathy, reduced motivation, and even clinical depression, as seen in patients with Parkinson’s disease or dopamine-deficiency syndromes (Palmiter, 2008). Therefore, rather than eliminating dopamine-driven behaviours entirely, the goal should be to balance natural and artificial sources of stimulation in a way that supports long-term wellbeing.

Furthermore, the idea that individuals can fully “master” their dopamine systems may oversimplify the biological and psychological complexity of human behaviour. While habit formation and lifestyle changes can influence dopamine responses, genetics, environment, mental health, and even socio-economic status all play significant roles in shaping reward sensitivity and behavioural regulation (Volkow 2011). This suggests that strategies like dopamine detox or strict avoidance may work for some but not all, and that a more realistic approach may involve working with dopamine, not against it — by building healthy routines, setting meaningful goals, and allowing for occasional pleasurable experiences without guilt. Success, then, may lie not in control, but in awareness and intentionality.

Conclusion

In conclusion, dopamine has emerged as both a powerful driver of motivation and a potential disruptor of long-term success. While it plays a crucial role in learning, reward-seeking, and habit formation, our modern lifestyles have made us increasingly vulnerable to its short-term allure — often at the expense of sustained effort and meaningful achievement. As explored in this essay, the dominance of dopamine in our behavioural decisions can lead to cycles of distraction, procrastination, and reduced self-control. However, by understanding the mechanisms of dopamine, particularly its relationship with delayed gratification and reward prediction, individuals may begin to reshape their environment, routines, and mindset to better align with their long-term goals.

Yet it is important to recognise that mastering dopamine is not a matter of suppression or elimination, but of balance. Dopamine is fundamental to survival, curiosity, and progress — and rather than framing it as a force to conquer, we might benefit more from learning how to channel it in productive and meaningful ways. With a deeper understanding of the brain’s reward system, individuals can move beyond impulsivity and instant pleasure, embracing habits that cultivate resilience, discipline, and purpose. In a world where dopamine is cheap and everywhere, perhaps true success lies in choosing to pursue what is difficult but worth it, rather than what is easy and instantly rewarding.

Bibliography

Berke J.D., 2018. What does dopamine mean? [online] Nature neuroscience, vol. 21, pp 781-793. Available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-018-0152-y (Accessed at 5th April 2025).

Berridge, K.C. and Robinson, T.E., 1998. What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? [online] Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), pp.309–369. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0173(98)00019-8 (Accessed at 5th April 2025).

Campbell J., 2024. Stanford marshmallow experiment [online] ebsco.com Available at: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/health-and-medicine/stanford-marshmallow-experiment (Accessed at 7th April 2025).

Clear, J., 2018. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. New York: Avery. [book]

Duckworth, A.L., Tsukayama, E. and Kirby, T.A., 2013. Is it really self-control? Examining the predictive power of the delay of gratification tasks. [online] Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(7), pp.843–855. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213482589 (Accessed at 8th April 2025).

Gao Z, Wang H, Lu C, Lu T, Froudist-Walsh S, Chen M, Wang X.J. , Hu J , Sun W, 2021. The neural basis of delayed gratification [online] science advances VOL. 7, NO. 41. Sciadv.abg6611 (Assessed at 9th April).

Mischel, W., Shoda, Y. and Rodriguez, M.L., 1989. Delay of gratification in children [online]. Science, 244(4907), pp.933–938. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2658056 (Accessed at 6th April 2025).

Nuttall, L., 2021. Are you stuck on the dopamine roller coaster? Form Studio. Available at: https://form.studio/resources/blog/are-you-stuck-on-the-rollecoaster-of-pleasure-and-pain/ (Accessed at 6th April 2025).

Palmiter, R.D., 2008. Dopamine signaling in the dorsal striatum is essential for motivated behaviors: lessons from dopamine-deficient mice. [online] Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1129(1), pp.35–46. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1417.003 (Assessed at 12th April 2025).

Schultz, W., 1998. Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons. [online] Journal of Neurophysiology, 80(1), pp.1–27. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1998.80.1.1 (Accessed at 5th April 2025).

Tang, Y.Y., Hölzel, B.K. and Posner, M.I., 2015. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. [online] Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), pp.213–225. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916 (Assessed at 10th April 2025).

Volkow, N.D., Wang, G.J., Fowler, J.S. and Tomasi, D., 2011. Addiction circuitry in the human brain. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 52, pp.321–336. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010611-134625 (Assessed at 13th April 2025).

Wise, R.A., 2004. Dopamine, learning and motivation. [online] Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(6), pp.483–494. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1406 (Assessed at 11th April 2025).