Most of us have heard about dopamine.

It’s generally considered to be the ‘reward chemical’.

We talk about ‘dopamine hits’ like little injections of happiness and bliss that we receive from doing or taking specific things.

But dopamine actually has dozens of functions in the body, and one of the lesser-known applications is extremely important when it comes to changing habits.

Because dopamine is also ‘the expectation hormone’.

It’s what sets us up for a specific activity.

It’s the warm, positive, and exciting feeling we get when thinking about a substance or activity.

Before anything happens, before we even surrender to a habit, it already feels good and deeply enticing.

This is the craving part of addiction.

This is where longing for something becomes an overwhelming experience, a delicious taster of what’s to come.

A promise that feels really good (although in addiction it’s hardly ever fulfilled).

And it’s in that unique function where dopamine can help us out tremendously.

You see, I have changed many habits in my life that weren’t conducive to my health, so I know about hanging in there.

There are different reasons why I was able to do that and keep doing it, why I was capable of resisting the contradictory urge to indulge in whatever I desperately wanted to quit, but one of them has been especially important.

And that was this specific aspect of dopamine.

In other words:

I have learned to use the feeling of expectation as fuel for change.

I have mastered the art of pain and resistance.

I can turn dread and hesitation into inspiration, and take it from there.

Whenever I feel resistance in adopting new habits, whenever my mind starts telling me to give up (because our brains don’t appreciate change, at all), whenever I ‘just don’t feel like doing something’, I acknowledge it as a future victory.

It’s exciting, in a weird way.

The pain is actually sweet.

It’s invigorating.

It’s the first sign of change.

And even though it doesn’t particularly feel good by itself, it motivates me.

I have learned to translate this negative feeling into a positive notion, into a necessary power.

Because I know that pain and boredom and tiredness and all the other objections your body and mind can create are absolutely essential for growth.

This kind of pain, this particular sense of resistance, is the prerequisite for change.

Which means I am already feeling the change.

Pain is change.

Change is good.

So pain is good.

THIS pain is good.

Growing pain.

And if you can see it this way, somewhere along the line your experience will get sweetened by the production of dopamine.

Indulge in this feeling of expectation.

Use it, enjoy it, savor it.

Pain IS expectation, and it will start to feel good.

NOW you are definitely on track.

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(Photo by @sxoxm, for Unsplash)