Do you remember the last time you wanted something, but your enthusiasm vanished when it came to taking action? This is common because wanting something doesn't mean realizing it. However, there is one crucial factor that can help us with this—the dopamine hormone, which is responsible for the expectation of reward. We can feel this hormone in action when we expect pleasant things, such as a trip, a positive grade, a salary, delicious pasta, or a kiss. This lovely feeling of approaching what we want motivates us to act.

To understand how the human brain works, imagine a city where every building is a neuron. For a person to feel, think, speak, and move every day, these neurons must communicate with each other. How do they do this? With the help of neurotransmitters, chemicals that move from neuron to neuron to transfer information. One of these neurotransmitters is dopamine.

However, we sometimes experience a "dopamine overload," especially when chasing quick gratification. To grasp this phenomenon better, imagine that instead of doing a workout or cooking something delicious to get your dopamine dose, you choose to scroll through your feed for hours. In this case, wasting time on your phone is a quick dopamine fix. When we opt for quick gratification regularly and do progressively less work, we can develop procrastination and deep apathy.

This can encourage the development of addictions because dopamine is often called *the molecule of more*. That is, it always requires more reinforcement to maintain the same level of pleasure, leading to numerous addictions, including alcohol, drugs, and gambling. In such situations, the way out is to do a so-called *dopamine detox*. What is it? For a few days, you have to give up social media, television, and other things that used to give you quick pleasure. Instead, spend time walking in nature, meditating, playing sports, or doing your favorite hobby. In this way, you give your brain a break from the quick dopamine rush and learn to appreciate meaningful moments.

Moreover, such detoxification allows you to immerse yourself in reflection, realizing what you want and how you can achieve it. During this period, it is also good to write down all your fears on paper to figure out where they come from and how you can solve them. This will help you understand yourself and improve your emotional state.

The constant pursuit of quick gratification does not bring happiness in the long run. You may even become addicted to activities like video games or social media. Because of these instant gratifications, you'll be putting off important things like creating your project or writing a book.