Thanks for being here. If this was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here to join The Root 9 Community.
On Wednesdays, we’ll reflect: See below for some some of what I’ve learned from the week to inspire reflection. 🙂
W.I.L.T.W (What I Learned This Week)
I shared some takeaways from Jay Shett’s podcast episode with Brain Neuroscientist Emily McDonald a few weeks back, but as I was planning for this week, I kept going back to another note I had written down from it:
Takeaway: “A dog does’t learn to sit for free”
Paraphrase: “I don't negotiate with myself. Recently, I have been struggling with filming content. You are the one that would always tell me to withhold the reward. Get clear on what you want and get it only after the big thing has been accomplished. That is how you start training your brain that it is more rewarding to do the thing. If you want to teach a dog how to sit, you have to give it a treat. That treat boosts dopamine, and that dopamine drives learning. When you learn it, it becomes a habit that is wired in, and you just do it without needing the reward.”
Particularly what stands out to me is the difference in negotiating with oneself vs. attempting to motivate oneself. Negotiation functions like an internal dialogue where we allow our brain to acknowledge that skipping the work is a valid choice. When we entertain that debate, we leave the door open for an exit.
The idea of dopamine mediated learning is a concept many of us understand intuitively. We see it when we train a pet or even when we encourage our loved ones to treat themselves after a long month of hard work. It is a functional bridge to help us cross the gap between an intention and a habit. However, there is a subtle danger here that I think is worth noting. If motivating ourselves with a treat becomes the primary reason for our pursuit, we might inadvertently turn our productivity into a transaction.
We have to remember that the human brain functions as a prediction machine. If the reward for our effort is the exact same every single time, the dopamine release eventually decreases because the brain has already predicted the outcome. This cycle can lead us directly toward burnout or a state of hedonic adaptation where nothing feels quite satisfying enough. To keep our systems healthy, we should look for ways to vary our rewards. We want to celebrate the effort itself rather than just looking at the finish line. By diversifying how we acknowledge our progress (e.g., how we reward ourselves), we ensure that our motivation stays rooted in the actual process, not just eating the dog treat.
Want to live with intention and find more joy in your daily life? The Root 9 Community is for you. You’ll get inspiration, reflection, and mindful indulgence straight to your inbox three times a week. Unlock your potential for a more balanced, fulfilling life, one week at a time. Join The Root 9 Community here and find your balance.