Podcasts about dopamine nation

Host Andrea Samadi welcomes Dr. Anna Lembke to explain how pleasure and pain share the same neural circuitry and how dopamine governs motivation. The episode explores why overconsumption of easy rewards dulls motivation, creates withdrawal-like deficits, and shifts the brain toward pain. Through clear takeaways—delay borrowed rewards, try temporary abstinence, create friction for temptations, and practice purposeful effort—the episode shows how recalibrating the brain's reward system restores enjoyment in ordinary activities and builds sustainable motivation. Welcome back to Season 15 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I'm Andrea Samadi, and on this podcast, we bridge the science behind social and emotional learning, emotional intelligence, and practical neuroscience so we can create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, productivity, and results. Season 15 Orientation This season, we're exploring what I call: The Brain's Operating System for Human Performance. Instead of looking at neuroscience, health, learning, motivation, and emotional intelligence as separate topics, (like we did for the past 14 seasons) we're exploring how these systems come online in sequence. Each phase builds on the one before it: ✔ Phase 1 — Regulation & Safety Is the nervous system safe enough to learn? ✔ Phase 2 — Neurochemistry & Motivation What drives behavior, focus, and sustained effort? ✔ Phase 3 — Movement, Learning & Cognition ✔ Phase 4 — Perception, Emotion & Social Intelligence ✔ Phase 5 — Integration, Insight & Meaning By the end of this year my hope is that we can step back and ask: Where am I out of alignment? Is it regulation? Is it my thinking? Is it my focus? Or Belief? Is it how I'm learning or connecting with others? Or do I need some work with integration, insight and meaning? Because once we can see our gap… We can begin to close it. “The goal is not more effort—it's better alignment.” “And when these systems are aligned… Effort feels easier Learning becomes faster And results become more consistent Because peak performance is not about doing more. It's about aligning the systems that drive our results. Recap Where We've Been In EP 392[i], we introduced the Motivation Loop and explored how the brain decides what is worth doing. In EP 393[ii], we looked at how our beliefs trigger neurochemistry that drives action, feedback, and repetition. In EP 394[iii] we looked at how our thought patterns impact our neurochemistry and results with Dr. Caroline Leaf. Then in EP 395[iv], reviewing Dr. John Medina's work on Theory of Mind, we explored something equally important: The brain pays attention to what it believes matters. Dr. Medina showed us that attention and reward are deeply connected. When the brain predicts something will be valuable, relevant, or meaningful, attention increases. And when attention and reward align: ✔ Learning improves ✔ Memory strengthens ✔ Motivation increases ✔ Behaviors become repeatable But that leaves us with an important question: What creates that sense of reward in the first place? What makes the brain continue pursuing something? What makes us stay motivated and what makes us lose interest? And why can effort sometimes feel rewarding—and other times feel exhausting? Today's Episode To answer those questions, we're turning to Dr. Anna Lembke, author of the book: Dopamine Nation who we first met September 2021 on EP 162.[v] Her work helps to explain the neurochemical engine underneath the Motivation Loop that we've been covering. While John Medina helped us understand how attention and reward influence learning, Dr. Lembke helps us understand: ✔ Why the brain seeks reward ✔ How dopamine drives motivation ✔ Why pleasure and pain operate on the same neural system ✔ And what happens when the balance gets disrupted Because the real goal isn't simply just feeling good. The goal is understanding how the brain learns to associate effort with reward. And when that happens, something powerful occurs: Effort itself becomes rewarding. That's where sustainable motivation begins. EP 393 — Motivation Loop ↓ EP 394 — Belief triggers neurochemistry ↓ EP 395 — Theory of Mind: Attention + Reward determine what matters ↓ EP 396 — Dopamine Nation: Why the brain seeks reward and how effort becomes rewarding It keeps the loop intact and shows listeners that Medina answered "What gets our attention?" while Lembke answers "Why does the brain keep pursuing it?". CLIP 1: The Neuroscience of Pleasure and Pain Based on Dr. Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation CLIP SUMMARY Let's see what Dr. Anna Lembke has to say about the neuroscience of pleasure and pain. In this clip, Dr. Lembke explains one of the most important concepts in modern neuroscience: Pleasure and pain are processed in the same brain system and work like opposite sides of a balance. Whenever we experience something pleasurable—whether it's social media, sugar, shopping, gaming, alcohol, or even achievement—the brain's balance tips toward pleasure. But the brain is always seeking equilibrium. To restore balance, it responds by tipping the scale in the opposite direction, creating a corresponding feeling of discomfort, craving, dissatisfaction, or pain. The more often we seek quick pleasure, the harder the brain works to compensate. Over time, this can leave us in what Lembke calls a "dopamine deficit state" where we need more stimulation just to feel normal. The surprising solution? Activities that require effort and involve manageable discomfort—exercise, cold exposure, fasting, learning difficult skills, and meaningful human connection—can help restore balance and rebuild motivation. KEY TAKEAWAYS & HOW TO PUT THEM INTO ACTION 1. The Brain Is Always Seeking Balance IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation. Dr. Lembke explains that pleasure and pain are not separate systems. They operate like opposite sides of a seesaw. When we repeatedly tip the brain toward pleasure, (you can see an image in the show notes with some examples like with eating chocolate, shopping or using social media) the brain compensates by tipping toward pain to restore balance. Brain Rule: Every pleasure has a neurobiological cost. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: Where am I getting large rewards with very little effort? Examples might include: ✔ Social media ✔ Sugar ✔ Constant news consumption ✔ Streaming ✔ Or Online shopping The goal isn't to eliminate pleasure. The goal is just with our awareness. Because what we measure, we can begin to manage. 2. Overconsumption Changes the Brain What feels exciting today becomes normal tomorrow. The brain adapts to repeated dopamine spikes through a process called neuroadaptation. Over time: ✔ Rewards feel weaker ✔ Cravings increase ✔ Motivation decreases ✔ More stimulation is needed to create the same feeling Put This Into Action Choose one highly stimulating habit and observe it for a week. Notice: ✔ How often you engage in it ✔ What triggers it ✔ How you feel afterward Simply collecting data can reveal patterns you didn't realize existed. 3. Not All Dopamine Is Created Equal: Borrowed vs. Earned Dopamine (we have covered this topic previously). Dr. Lembke's pleasure-pain balance helps explain an important distinction: Borrowed Dopamine Borrowed dopamine comes before effort. Examples include: ✔ Scrolling social media ✔ Energy drinks before a workout ✔ Sugar when stressed ✔ Online shopping ✔ Gaming ✔ Endless entertainment These rewards feel good immediately. But because they require little effort, they often weaken motivation over time. The brain begins expecting reward before work. Earned Dopamine Earned dopamine comes after effort. Examples include: ✔ Finishing a difficult workout ✔ Completing a challenging project ✔ Climbing to the summit of a hike ✔ Finishing a podcast episode (for me) ✔ Learning a new skill ✔ Solving a difficult problem These rewards feel different. The brain learns: Effort leads to reward. And over time: Effort itself becomes rewarding. This strengthens the Motivation Loop. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: Where am I borrowing dopamine? And where am I earning it? For the next week, look for opportunities to delay rewards until after effort. Examples: Instead of: Reward → Effort Try: Effort → Reward Instead of checking your phone before starting work... Complete one task first. Instead of rewarding yourself before your workout... Reward yourself after the workout. Instead of seeking immediate comfort... Lean into a small challenge. Each time you do this, you're teaching your brain: "Reward follows effort." And that's how motivation becomes sustainable. 4. Temporary Abstinence Reveals the Truth One of Dr. Lembke's most powerful strategies is taking a break from a highly rewarding behavior. When we step away from constant stimulation, the brain's reward system has an opportunity to recalibrate. Only then can we see whether a behavior is serving us—or controlling us. Put This Into Action Consider a short experiment. Choose one behavior that may be overstimulating your reward system and reduce or eliminate it temporarily. Notice: ✔ Energy ✔ Focus ✔ Motivation ✔ Mood ✔ Cravings The goal isn't punishment. The goal is information. 5. Lasting Change Requires Systems, Not Willpower Many people believe success comes from discipline alone. Dr. Lembke argues that creating the right environment is often more powerful. Instead of relying on willpower every day, create barriers that make unwanted behaviors harder to access. Put This Into Action Ask yourself: How can I create more friction between myself and temptation? Examples include: ✔ Turning off notifications ✔ Keeping unhealthy foods out of sight ✔ Scheduling device-free time Small environmental changes often produce large behavioral results. CLIP 2 How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State When The Motivation Loops Breaks In this clip, Dr. Anna Lembke explains why many people struggling with depression, anxiety, insomnia, low motivation, or emotional distress may actually be experiencing the consequences of chronic overstimulation. Her first recommendation is often surprisingly simple: Remove the "drug of choice" for a period of time. The "drug" isn't necessarily alcohol or drugs. It can be social media, gaming, shopping, sugar, constant entertainment, or any behavior that repeatedly floods the brain's reward pathways. Lembke explains that people often feel worse before they feel better because the brain has adapted to high levels of dopamine stimulation. When the stimulation is removed, the brain temporarily experiences withdrawal-like symptoms as it works to restore balance. Over time, however, the brain's pleasure-pain system recalibrates, allowing people to experience pleasure from ordinary, everyday rewards again. Her larger message is: We live in a society with unprecedented access to pleasure, and many of us have unintentionally shifted our pleasure-pain balance toward pain. The solution is not necessarily more pleasure. The solution is restoring balance. How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State KEY TAKEAWAYS & HOW TO PUT THEM INTO ACTION 1. Feeling Worse Can Be a Sign of Healing One of the biggest misconceptions about behavior change is that improvement should feel good immediately. The brain doesn't work that way. When a highly stimulating behavior is removed: ✔ Cravings increase ✔ Discomfort rises ✔ Mood may temporarily decline This is often the brain recalibrating rather than failing. Put This Into Action When reducing an overstimulating habit, don't judge success by how you feel in the first few days. Instead ask: "Could this discomfort be evidence that my brain is adjusting?" Sometimes the discomfort isn't a sign you're moving backward. It's a sign you're recovering. 2. The Brain Adapts to Excess Dopamine The brain is remarkably efficient. When exposed to constant stimulation, it reduces its sensitivity to reward. What once felt exciting becomes normal. What once felt normal may eventually feel boring. This is why people often need more stimulation to achieve the same feeling. Put This Into Action Identify your "drug of choice." Ask yourself: What do I consistently turn to when I'm stressed, bored, anxious, or uncomfortable? Examples: ✔ Social media ✔ Sugar ✔ Streaming ✔ Shopping ✔ Gaming ✔ Constant notifications Awareness creates choice. 3. Modern Life Makes Overstimulation Easy This is one of the central themes of Dopamine Nation. For most of human history, pleasure was scarce. Today: ✔ Entertainment is unlimited ✔ Food is always available ✔ Social media never stops ✔ Information is endless The challenge is no longer finding pleasure. The challenge is regulating access to it. Put This Into Action Look for places where you can create friction between yourself and temptation. Examples: ✔ Turn off notifications ✔ Keep unhealthy foods out of sight ✔ Schedule screen-free time ✔ Create boundaries around technology use Small barriers often create significant behavioral change. 4. Sustainable Motivation Lives Near Baseline The goal isn't to feel intensely excited all the time. The goal is to restore the ability to enjoy ordinary rewards. IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation Put This Into Action Reconnect with activities that once felt naturally rewarding. Ask yourself: What activities did I enjoy before constant digital stimulation? Examples: ✔ Reading ✔ Walking ✔ Meaningful conversation ✔ Learning something new ✔ Creative work As the reward system recalibrates, many people discover these activities become enjoyable again (if the pleasure for them had disappeared). 5. Doing Hard Things Strengthens the Brain One of the most exciting findings in neuroscience involves the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (AMCC), sometimes called the "Do Hard Things" circuit. This region appears to strengthen when we voluntarily engage in difficult activities. Examples: ✔ Exercise ✔ Learning challenging skills ✔ Delayed gratification ✔ Difficult conversations ✔ Endurance challenges The brain learns: "I can handle discomfort." Put This Into Action Ask yourself each morning: What's one hard thing I can do today on purpose? Because we've learned that doing hard things is valuable. Every time you choose effort over comfort, you're strengthening the circuits that support resilience, persistence, and long-term motivation. REVIEW & CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week's EP 396, Clip 1 taught us that pleasure and pain share the same neural circuitry. Clip 2 teaches us what happens when that balance is disrupted. The lesson isn't that pleasure is bad. The lesson is that when pleasure becomes too easy and too abundant, the brain stops valuing effort. But when we reduce overstimulation, embrace manageable discomfort, and begin earning our dopamine instead of borrowing it, something remarkable happens: Motivation returns. Effort feels worthwhile. And the Motivation Loop begins working the way it was designed to work. As we close today's episode, let's return to our Phase 2 roadmap. If you're looking at this graphic, you'll notice that Dr. Anna Lembke sits right in the center. And that's intentional. Because everything we've covered so far in Phase 2 flows through this central motivation system. We began with Bob Proctor and the power of belief. Belief creates expectation. Expectation shapes what we think is possible. Then Dr. Caroline Leaf showed us how our thoughts influence our neurochemistry. The thoughts we repeatedly think shape the chemical signals that influence our behavior and performance. Last week, Dr. John Medina helped us understand attention and reward. The brain pays attention to what it believes matters. And what gets rewarded gets repeated. Today, Dr. Anna Lembke helped us understand the missing piece. She showed us that dopamine is not simply about pleasure. It's about motivation. It's about anticipation. It's about pursuit. And ultimately, it's about what the brain decides is worth the effort. When dopamine becomes disconnected from effort through constant stimulation and easy rewards, the Motivation Loop begins to break. But when reward becomes connected to effort, challenge, growth, and progress, the loop strengthens. And that's where sustainable motivation begins. THE "DO HARD THINGS" CONNECTION One final insight from today's episode. Dr. Lembke's work helps explain why doing hard things matters so much. Every time we choose effort over immediate gratification... Every time we choose growth over comfort... Every time we voluntarily do something difficult... We strengthen the brain circuits that support persistence, resilience, and long-term motivation. The brain begins learning: Effort is worth it. And eventually: Effort becomes rewarding. That's when motivation becomes self-sustaining. Not because the work gets easier. But because the brain learns that the effort itself has value. Dr. Anna Lembke isn't just another stop in the loop—she's the core motivation system that sits in the center of everything. But there's 2 more pieces still to cover in the Motivation Loop we haven't explored yet. We've learned that belief shapes expectation. Thoughts shape neurochemistry. Attention and reward determine what matters. And dopamine helps the brain decide what is worth pursuing. But once we're motivated... How do we turn that motivation into action? That's where we'll turn next. Next Week: Dr. Chuck Hillman Movement, Motivation, and Brain Activation We'll explore: ✔ How exercise activates the brain ✔ Why movement improves attention and learning ✔ The connection between physical activity and motivation ✔ How movement strengthens cognitive performance ✔ Why action often comes before motivation ✔ And how movement helps keep the Motivation Loop moving forward Because in Phase 2, we're not just asking: What makes effort feel worth it? We're also asking: What helps us take action once motivation is present? And Dr. Chuck Hillman's research shows that movement may be one of the most powerful ways to activate the brain for learning, performance, and sustained effort. Until next time, I'm Andrea Samadi, reminding you that when we understand how the brain works, we can align our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and actions to create measurable improvements in well-being, achievement, productivity, and results. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next week. RESOURCES: Full Interview with Dr. Lembke from Sept 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pu82wZRZwo CLIP 1: The Neuroscience of Pleasure and Pain CLIP 2 How Chronic Overstimulation Creates a Dopamine Deficit State REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 392 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/belief-first-the-neuroscience-of-motivation/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 393 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/belief-first-the-neuroscience-of-motivation/   [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 394 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/thoughts-as-biology-how-your-mind-shapes-neurochemistry/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 395 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/theory-of-mind-the-missing-link-between-attention-reward-and-motivation/   [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 162 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/medical-director-of-addictive-medicine-at-stanford-university-dr-anna-lembke-on-dopamine-nation-finding-balance-in-the-age-of-indulgence/

Dopamin funguje stejně nehledě na to, jestli jsme závislí na drogách nebo sociálních sítích. Přebytek dopaminových stimulů zásadně přispívá k nárůstu duševních chorob. Náročné činnosti i cílená abstinence nám ale mohou pomoci znovu najít ztracenou rovnováhu. To jsou hlavní teze autorky světového bestselleru Dopamine Nation a profesorky psychiatrie ze Stanfordovy univerzity Anny Lembke. Jak ve zdraví zvládnout dnešní dobu? A co odbornice vzkazuje mladým Čechům?Všechny díly podcastu Bedny můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

Dopamin funguje stejně nehledě na to, jestli jsme závislí na drogách nebo sociálních sítích. Přebytek dopaminových stimulů zásadně přispívá k nárůstu duševních chorob. Náročné činnosti i cílená abstinence nám ale mohou pomoci znovu najít ztracenou rovnováhu. To jsou hlavní teze autorky světového bestselleru Dopamine Nation a profesorky psychiatrie ze Stanfordovy univerzity Anny Lembke. Jak ve zdraví zvládnout dnešní dobu? A co odbornice vzkazuje mladým Čechům?

Many of us ask the question if phone addiction is similar to other addictions. In this episode, Cal is joined by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Anna Lembke to explore this question. They dive deep into her book, Dopamine Nation, that captivated readers.  Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Send an email to podcast@calnewport.com.  Video from today's episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia (0:00) Am I addicted to my phone (w/ Anna Lembke) (1:04:41) Digital minimalism and good uses for your phone (1:14:31)  AI in academic publishing (1:20:35) What I read (1:24:10) What's coming up Books: What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowldge (Jim Collins) Links: Buy Cal's latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow  Get a signed copy of Cal's “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/  Cal's monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba? https://internetaddictsanonymous.org/guide-for-newcomers/ Thanks to our Sponsors:  https://www.shopify.com/deep https://www.monarch.com/deep (Use code “DEEP”) https://www.expressvpn.com/deep https://www.cozyearth.com/deep (Use code “DEEP” for 30% off) Thanks to Jesse Miller for mastering and production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Anna Lembke on Addiction, Dopamine, and the Joy of RecoveryIn this episode, Isaac sits down with Dr. Anna Lembke — Stanford psychiatrist, bestselling author of Dopamine Nation, and leading voice in addiction medicine — for a wide-ranging conversation about how she found her calling treating addiction, the science behind why we struggle to stop, and why she believes this work is one of the most rewarding in medicine.Dr. Lembke shares her winding path from Yale to China to Stanford, a pivotal clinical mistake involving a patient addicted to heroin she never thought to ask about, and what that experience taught her about the failures of medical education. Together, she and Isaac discuss the rise of poly-addictions and designer drugs, how to help patients understand cannabis is driving their anxiety, the case for radical self-disclosure in clinical care, and why people in long-term recovery are — in her words — "modern-day prophets."Whether you're a future physician, a curious mind, or someone who has struggled with addiction personally, this conversation will shift how you think about dopamine, healing, and what it means to truly help another person.Topics covered:Dr. Lembke's circuitous path from pathology to psychiatry to addiction medicineEmerging addiction patterns: digital media, kratom, designer drugs, and poly-substance useHow to diagnose addiction using the "Four Cs"The 80/20 rule: why stopping often resolves psychiatric symptomsHelping patients experiment with abstinence to test their own beliefsIntegrating addiction care across medicineAdvice for medical students choosing a specialtyThe power of self-disclosure in the doctor-patient relationshipWhat she'd keep — and what's evolved — since writing Dopamine NationYou can check out Dr. Lempke's book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dopamine-Nation-Finding-Balance-Indulgence/dp/152474672XMusic from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/cruen/city-streetsLicense code: 2JJVCBQKEE2GJH5N

Stanford addiction psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains the neuroscience of dopamine and why our brains respond to social media the same way they respond to drugs. Drawing from her book Dopamine Nation, she shares how a dopamine fast can reset reward pathways and why the solution requires both individual discipline and systemic change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

En este episodio de Spicy4tuna entramos en algunas de las polémicas más fuertes del momento: desde las “cárceles” para adelgazar en China hasta la posible burbuja de OpenAI y el caos dentro del equipo de Willy. Hablamos de las demandas contra Meta por adicción, el poder oculto de los precios psicológicos y cómo piensa Elon Musk para ejecutar al más alto nivel. Además, analizamos el sorprendente giro de Volkswagen y cerramos con “Dopamine Nation”, una clave para entender por qué vivimos enganchados. Crea tu cuenta de empresa con INFOJOBS y publica tu primera oferta de empleo estándar GRATIS con el código SPICY: https://bit.ly/4lcQtUC Crea tu Página Web con Hostinger: https://www.hostinger.com/spicy4tuna Cupón de 10% de Descuento para planes de +12 meses: SPICY4TUNA ️ Reserva tu REVISTA SPICY4TUNA antes de que sea tarde: https://store.spicy4tuna.com/pages/larevista2026 Contacta con el equipo de Executive Lab para acceder al siguiente Bootcamp de Inteligencia Artificial para Empresarios y Ejecutivos: https://executivelab.ai/ Prueba gratis la Cuenta de empresa de Qonto y simplifica las finanzas de tu negocio: https://bit.ly/4lPuNxU : Invierte de forma segura y recibe un 2,02% sobre tu efectivo con Trade Republic: https://trade.re/spicy4tuna Invertir conlleva riesgos, los rendimientos no están garantizados. Aplican T&Cs. Prueba GRATIS la app de Odoo y gestiona todo tu negocio desde una misma aplicación: https://www.odoo.com/r/Avs Inspecciona tu futura vivienda y evita que se convierta en una pesadilla: https://hausum.com/?utm_source=spicy4tuna&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=premier Invierte en inmuebles de forma pasiva y sin dolores de cabeza con Inversiva: https://inversiva.com/invierte-en-inmuebles/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=spicy4tuna Aprende a hablar inglés como un Nativo: https://youtalkonline.com/spicy4tuna ️ El curso digital #1 de Oratoria y Comunicación para Hablar en Público con Confianza: https://go.hotmart.com/D101156241X ⚪️ Consigue tu pulsera Whoop: https://join.whoop.com/Spicy4tuna ════════════════ ️ Accede a la Web de Spicy4tuna y Suscríbete a nuestra Newsletter: https://www.spicy4tuna.com Contacto para Sponsors ➡ https://tally.so/r/nrPNE5 Email de Contacto ➡ podcast@spicy4tuna.com ════════════════ Todos los episodios completos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9XxulgDZKuzf6zuPWcuF6anvQOrukMom ════════════════ REDES SOCIALES DE SPICY4TUNA ➜ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/spicy4tunapodcast/ ➜ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@spicy4tuna ➜ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/spicy4tuna ════════════════ ️ ESCUCHA SPICY4TUNA EN FORMATO PODCAST Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QPC17Z9LhTntCA4c3Ijk9?si=39b610a14bb24f1f iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/spicy4tuna/id1714279648 iVoox: https://www.ivoox.com/escuchar-audios-spicy4tuna_al_33258956_1.html ════════════════ ¿QUIÉNES SOMOS? · Euge Oller: https://www.instagram.com/euge.oller/ · Willyrex: https://www.instagram.com/willyrex/ · Marc Urgell: https://www.instagram.com/marcurgelldiaz/ · Alvaro845: https://www.instagram.com/alvaro845/ ════════════════ CAPÍTULOS 00:00:00 A continuación... 00:05:54 China y sus polémicas “cárceles” para adelgazar 00:18:57 ¿Estamos ante una burbuja en OpenAI? 00:39:21 Los problemas internos del equipo de Willy 00:51:35 Meta en problemas: juicios por adicción digital 01:11:39 El dilema oculto de los precios específicos 01:23:53 Así piensa y trabaja Elon Musk 02:00:24 Volkswagen mira al pasado: ¿error o estrategia? 02:05:25 “Dopamine Nation”: el libro que explica la adicción

En este episodio de Spicy4tuna entramos en algunas de las polémicas más fuertes del momento: desde las “cárceles” para adelgazar en China hasta la posible burbuja de OpenAI y el caos dentro del equipo de Willy. Hablamos de las demandas contra Meta por adicción, el poder oculto de los precios psicológicos y cómo piensa Elon Musk para ejecutar al más alto nivel. Además, analizamos el sorprendente giro de Volkswagen y cerramos con “Dopamine Nation”, una clave para entender por qué vivimos enganchados. Crea tu cuenta de empresa con INFOJOBS y publica tu primera oferta de empleo estándar GRATIS con el código SPICY: https://bit.ly/4lcQtUC Crea tu Página Web con Hostinger: https://www.hostinger.com/spicy4tuna Cupón de 10% de Descuento para planes de +12 meses: SPICY4TUNA ️ Reserva tu REVISTA SPICY4TUNA antes de que sea tarde: https://store.spicy4tuna.com/pages/larevista2026 Contacta con el equipo de Executive Lab para acceder al siguiente Bootcamp de Inteligencia Artificial para Empresarios y Ejecutivos: https://executivelab.ai/ Prueba gratis la Cuenta de empresa de Qonto y simplifica las finanzas de tu negocio: https://bit.ly/4lPuNxU : Invierte de forma segura y recibe un 2,02% sobre tu efectivo con Trade Republic: https://trade.re/spicy4tuna Invertir conlleva riesgos, los rendimientos no están garantizados. Aplican T&Cs. Prueba GRATIS la app de Odoo y gestiona todo tu negocio desde una misma aplicación: https://www.odoo.com/r/Avs Inspecciona tu futura vivienda y evita que se convierta en una pesadilla: https://hausum.com/?utm_source=spicy4tuna&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=premier Invierte en inmuebles de forma pasiva y sin dolores de cabeza con Inversiva: https://inversiva.com/invierte-en-inmuebles/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=spicy4tuna Aprende a hablar inglés como un Nativo: https://youtalkonline.com/spicy4tuna ️ El curso digital #1 de Oratoria y Comunicación para Hablar en Público con Confianza: https://go.hotmart.com/D101156241X ⚪️ Consigue tu pulsera Whoop: https://join.whoop.com/Spicy4tuna ════════════════ ️ Accede a la Web de Spicy4tuna y Suscríbete a nuestra Newsletter: https://www.spicy4tuna.com Contacto para Sponsors ➡ https://tally.so/r/nrPNE5 Email de Contacto ➡ podcast@spicy4tuna.com ════════════════ Todos los episodios completos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9XxulgDZKuzf6zuPWcuF6anvQOrukMom ════════════════ REDES SOCIALES DE SPICY4TUNA ➜ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/spicy4tunapodcast/ ➜ TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@spicy4tuna ➜ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/spicy4tuna ════════════════ ️ ESCUCHA SPICY4TUNA EN FORMATO PODCAST Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QPC17Z9LhTntCA4c3Ijk9?si=39b610a14bb24f1f iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/spicy4tuna/id1714279648 iVoox: https://www.ivoox.com/escuchar-audios-spicy4tuna_al_33258956_1.html ════════════════ ¿QUIÉNES SOMOS? · Euge Oller: https://www.instagram.com/euge.oller/ · Willyrex: https://www.instagram.com/willyrex/ · Marc Urgell: https://www.instagram.com/marcurgelldiaz/ · Alvaro845: https://www.instagram.com/alvaro845/ ════════════════ CAPÍTULOS 00:00:00 A continuación... 00:05:54 China y sus polémicas “cárceles” para adelgazar 00:18:57 ¿Estamos ante una burbuja en OpenAI? 00:39:21 Los problemas internos del equipo de Willy 00:51:35 Meta en problemas: juicios por adicción digital 01:11:39 El dilema oculto de los precios específicos 01:23:53 Así piensa y trabaja Elon Musk 02:00:24 Volkswagen mira al pasado: ¿error o estrategia? 02:05:25 “Dopamine Nation”: el libro que explica la adicción

 ¿Sientes que ya nada te emociona o te satisface? Descubre por qué el exceso de placer moderno está arruinando tu capacidad de ser feliz y la fórmula exacta para revertirlo.

Thanks to Cozy Earth for sponsoring this video. Go to cozyearth.com/LOVERS for up to 20% off!—----------------------- In this episode of Lovers, I share something personal: the ways my own social media habit began affecting my presence, my focus, and ultimately my intimacy. Jared joins the conversation to reflect on the intervention he had with me when he realized my relationship with my phone wasn’t just a habit, it was beginning to shape our connection. Then we’re joined by psychiatrist and Dopamine Nation author Dr. Anna Lembke, who explains why addiction today looks different than it did even a generation ago. We live in a world where high-dopamine substances and behaviors, from alcohol and porn to social media, smut, gaming, and endless scrolling, are instantly accessible and socially normalized. Dr. Lembke breaks down how these habits rewire the brain’s reward system, dull pleasure, increase craving, and quietly erode intimacy. We talk about porn addiction, phone addiction, alcoholism, erotic content consumption, and the broader crisis of overconsumption that defines modern life. Most importantly, Dr. Lembke offers practical tools, many of which she teaches in her class on MasterClass and outlines in Dopamine Nation, to help us reset our dopamine systems and reclaim our relationships. This isn’t just an episode about addiction. It’s about presence, connection, and what it takes to love well in the most addictive era in human history. To Watch Dopamine on MasterClass go to http://masterclass.com/lovers (this link will get you 15% off an annual plan to watch over 200 classes there including mine)Follow Dr. Anna Lembke Dr. Anna Lembke is a Stanford psychiatrist and New York Times bestselling author specializing in addiction, dopamine science, and behavioral health. Official Website → https://www.annalembke.com Bestselling Book → Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781524746728 Stanford Profile → https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Anna_Lembke Watch her class on MasterClass → http://masterclass.com/lovers Want more Lover?Receive the weekly Love Letter → http://loversbyshan.com/newsletterJoin the Lovers Community → https://www.loversbyshan.com/communityExplore quizzes and worksheets → http://loversbyshan.com/quizzes If you haven’t subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now’s the perfect time → lemonadapremium.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Think Thursday episode, we explore how the human brain evolved to use discomfort as information—and what happens when modern life removes nearly all friction, effort, and delay.Our brains weren't designed for constant comfort. Discomfort once served as critical feedback, helping guide behavior, attention, rest, and problem-solving. But in today's world of instant gratification and instant relief, discomfort is often treated as a problem to eliminate rather than a signal to interpret.This episode unpacks why that shift matters for brain health, motivation, resilience, and long-term satisfaction—and how intentional discomfort can support a hedonic reset.In this episode, we discuss:Why discomfort evolved as a key feedback mechanism in the human brainHow instant relief interrupts the brain's ability to learn from discomfortThe difference between regulation and comfort from a neuroscience perspectiveHow highly concentrated, low-effort rewards shape motivation and satisfactionThe concept of hedonic adaptation and why “enough” keeps movingWhat a hedonic reset actually is (and what it isn't)How intentional discomfort supports nervous system regulationThe role of dopamine, effort, and delay in sustaining motivationWhy distress tolerance is a foundational skill for behavior changeHow identity shifts through repeated, slightly uncomfortable choicesExpert perspectives referenced:Dr. Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation, on pleasure–pain balance and modern reward concentrationDr. Andrew Huberman on dopamine signaling, effort, and motivationJames Clear on identity following behaviorInspiration from a conversation on the Mel Robbins Podcast with Dr. LembkeOne gentle experiment to try this week:Choose one moment per day when you notice mild discomfort—boredom, restlessness, or the urge to distract—and pause instead of fixing it.Examples:Standing in line without reaching for your phoneSitting with boredom for 60–90 secondsLetting an urge rise and fall without reactingNotice:Where you feel the sensation in your bodyWhat thoughts show upWhether the feeling changes on its ownThis isn't about forcing discomfort or pushing through distress. It's about teaching your nervous system that discomfort is tolerable and temporary—and that awareness alone can create change.Key takeaway:Discomfort isn't a problem to solve. It's information to work with.In a culture built around instant relief and effortless reward, intentional discomfort can be a powerful way to restore balance, protect motivation, and support long-term brain health. ★ Support this podcast ★

This week we're celebrating our 300th podcast by taking you through our top 10 podcasts. The episodes that have had the most downloads since we started the podcast back in 2020. So coming in at number 10 is James Swanwick who has some great advice about Alcohol and your Body Fat He explained how Alcohol consumption can compromise sleep quality, metabolism, and overall health. It can also disrupt the body's natural processes, leading to weight gain, reduced productivity, and increased cravings for unhealthy foods. Coming in at number 9... Recovery it's a Brain Thing – which is the name of the book by my two guests – David & Susan Kenney They run a program to train Recovery Coaches and one of our Tribe members Darren was so impressed by their approach he signed up for their course and is now a qualified recovery coach working with our Breaking Free program  Coming in at number 8 is Dr. Loretta Breuning, who helped me to unpack the cause of my own early sobriety blues. Have a listen to the first interview I did with her, which was in August 2021 We called her episode - how to be sober...and happy At number 7 we have the brilliant William Porter William is a lawyer with a passion for the science behind alcohol dependence, and he's written two books, Alcohol Explained and Alcohol Explained 2. They're both essential reading, and I think the more we understand the damage that alcohol does to our bodies and brains, the less likely we are to want to drink it. His episode is called Why we get Hangxiety Coming in at number 6 we have Neuroscientist Staci Danford  Stacy taught us about our lizard brain and how we need to manage it before it manages us. She even recommended that we give it a name. She calls hers Ernie. My interview with Stacy came out in August 2021 and is called Your Lizard Brain At number 5 is Stanford Psychiatrist Dr Anna Lembke  Anna has written a top selling book called Dopamine Nation. It's an awesome book, which I highly recommend if you're interested in the science of addiction. Her explanation of the pain pleasure balance is superb. That episode is called, Why We Get Addicted, and it came out in November, 2023. Next up at number 4 is a firm favourite with Tribe Sober – Ken Middleton with his “How Drinking Limits our Potential” episode He's the author of Bamboozled, which has the clever subtitle of How Alcohol Makes Fools of Us All,  Do grab a copy if you haven't yet read it. Such a brilliant description of how we've been manipulated by big alcohol for decades. I often quote Ken, who says, "even if alcohol doesn't destroy us, it will limit our potential".  His Tribe Sober episode is called How Alcohol Limits Your Potential - released in April 2023 Ken was also one of our guests back in November 2020 when he shared his own story and explained the science behind alcohol dependence. And why drinking regularly for 20 years means you're very likely to develop a problem Next up at number 3 is me sharing my story - our very first podcast episode, which was released in May 2020 to celebrate my fifth soberversary. At number 2 we have another episode by William Porter - called Managing Cravings Finally, still hogging the number one slot is Australian sobriety coach, Kathryn Elliott. It's called "How to Stop Binge Drinking" and came out in June 2022. Like me, Catherine's had breast cancer, which prompted us to do an episode together recently. Because neither of us had realized that our heavy drinking was putting us at risk of breast cancer, so we celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month by having a conversation about it, spreading the word to other women that more than three glasses of wine a week increases your risk of breast cancer. We called it "Drink Less for Your Breasts" and it was released in October 2023. So that's our top 10. I'd like to say a big thank you to all our listeners. Thanks to you, the Tribe Sober podcast has had nearly  450, 000 downloads, which keeps its global ranking in the top 2 percent of all podcasts. More importantly, nearly 20 percent of our members found their way to us via the podcast. So don't forget to make a playlist of our Top Ten and you might want to check out our Top 100 Playlist  So if you want to join our tribe and connect with others on this path, just hit Join Our Tribe  More Info This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today Read more about our program and subscribe HERE Help us to Spread the Word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts. Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober's Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We'll send you something special to say thank you! We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. You can join our private Facebook group HERE. PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You'll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it's always good to read your experience).  

Are sugar cravings really a willpower problem—or is your brain working against you? In this episode of Healthy Looks Great on You, Dr. Vickie takes you to mini medical school to unpack the real neuroscience behind cravings, dopamine, and brain health. If you've ever found yourself standing in the pantry at night wondering “Why is this so hard?”, this episode is for you. You'll learn how the prefrontal cortex—the CEO of your brain—regulates decision-making, impulse control, and focus, and why stress, poor sleep, and hunger can shut it down completely. We break down how dopamine drives motivation and reward, why sugar creates a powerful and immediate dopamine surge, and how that sets off a cycle of blood sugar crashes and intensified cravings. Dr. Vickie explains why cravings are not a character flaw, why willpower is wildly overrated, and how chronic sugar intake is linked to brain fog, mood changes, insulin resistance, and long-term cognitive decline. This conversation shifts cravings from a moral issue to a brain health issue—and offers hope. You'll also learn how to support healthy dopamine production without sugar through nutrition, movement, sleep, sunshine, stress regulation, and other lifestyle medicine strategies that actually work. Finally, Dr. Vickie shares details about The Lab, her private community where February is focused on conquering cravings using a simple, science-based framework: regulate, replace, and retrain—no restriction, no shame, and no white-knuckling. Because when the pantry calls your name, it's not you—it's neuroscience. And healthy looks great on you. Healthy Looks Great on You - the LAB, a private Facebook Community for women Interview with Dr. Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation

In today's episode, you'll learn how to get motivated, even when you don't feel like it. If you feel unmotivated, scatter brained, or exhausted… If you keep reaching for your phone, wine, or the remote even when you want to stop… If you're frustrated with yourself for lacking discipline…. This conversation will help you stop wasting time and finally understand why it's so hard to do the things you know you should do. Joining Mel today is Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, who is the world's leading expert on dopamine and compulsive behavior. Dr. Lembke is a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University, chief of Stanford's Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of Dopamine Nation and the upcoming Radical SurrenderShe has served on the boards of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, and has testified before the United States House of Representatives and Senate.But even with all of her knowledge, she will share with you: she also falls into the same traps you do!In this episode, Dr. Lembke explains the truth most people don't understand: Modern life has trained your brain to chase constant dopamine hits, and that's why motivation, focus, and joy feel harder than ever. But here's the good news: you can reset your brain. Dr. Lembke walks you through the science of dopamine, pain, pleasure, and motivation, and shares a practical protocol for rebuilding focus, energy, and self-control in a world designed to hijack your attention. In this episode, you'll learn: -The “pleasure–pain seesaw” that explains why you keep reaching for the thing you swear you're done with -How dopamine really works (and why chasing pleasure backfires) -The hidden reason scrolling, snacking, and multitasking make you feel worse, not better -The simple but powerful way to rebalance pleasure and pain -What to do when you feel stuck in compulsive habits you “can't quit”  This is not a conversation about shame, addiction labels, or self-control. It's about taking your brain back. If you want more energy, clarity, and motivation, and if you're ready to stop fighting yourself and start working with your brain, this episode is for you. For more resources related to today's episode, click here for the podcast episode page.   If you liked the episode, check out this one next: How to Create a Successful Mindset: The Science of Passion and PerseveranceConnect with Mel:   Order Mel's new product, Pure Genius ProteinGet Mel's newsletter, packed with tools, coaching, and inspiration.Get Mel's #1 bestselling book, The Let Them TheoryWatch the episodes on YouTubeFollow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast InstagramMel's TikTok Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-freeDisclaimer Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ever noticed that the more you “treat yourself” with Netflix, snacks, scrolling or online shopping… the more anxious, restless or flat you feel afterwards?You're not imagining it, my friend. In this episode we're talking about dopamine layering – stacking multiple feel-good hits at once & how that cocktail can quietly crank up anxiety & numbness, especially in ADHD brains.We'll unpack what's actually going on in your brain using Dr Anna Lembke's work (Dopamine Nation), plus my very real Christmas break story where I accidentally turned my nervous system into a dopamine sh*t storm.Inside the episode, we explore:What dopamine layering is & how it shows up in everyday lifeWhy ADHD brains are extra sensitive to dopamine spikes & crashesHow “treat yourself” habits can secretly fuel anxiety & emotional numbnessFast vs slow dopamine, explained in simple ADHD-friendly languageHow to do a gentle “dopamine audit” without shame or self-judgmentPractical ways to un-layer your dopamine so you feel calmer & more presentMini dopamine resets & how to build your own “slow dopamine menu”If you've ever wondered, “Why do I feel so anxious & empty unless I'm watching something, eating something or scrolling something?” this episode will help you see your experience through a whole new lens.LINKS TO GOOD SH*T:*Join Adulting with ADHD your ADHD toolbox & everything you need to work with your brain*Get our ADHD Coach in your pocket! *12 Things I wished my Doctor had told me about Adult ADHD*Find out if you might be living with ADHD - Download Symptoms List*Check out Courses & Coaching with Xena*Learn, Inspire, Share & Connect inside our Facebook Community *Come hang out with me on Instagram!

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Matthew LaPine to have a conversation about mental health, and how his work in this area has informed his view of how the church engages with the idea of mental health.ResourcesThe Logic of the Body by Dr. Matthew LaPineThe Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Dr. Bruce D. Perry and Maia SzalavitzWayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care by Warren KinghornStatus Anxiety by Alain De BottonA Quiet Mind to Suffer With: Mental Illness, Trauma, and the Death of Christ by John Andrew BryantDopamine Nation by Dr. Anna LembkeThe Soul of Shame by Curt ThompsonConnect With Us providenceomaha.org | Instagram | Facebook Email Us formation@providenceomaha.org

Dopamine expert DR ANNA LEMBKE reveals how addiction is hijacking your brain, why dopamine addiction is rising fast, the danger of social media, porn, AI, GLP-1 drugs, and how to regain control FAST! Dr Anna Lembke is Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She has spent over 25 years treating patients with substance and behavioral addictions and is the bestselling author of “Dopamine Nation”.  She explains: ◼️Why endless pleasure quietly trains your brain to feel worse, not better ◼️How digital habits replace real connection with instant validation ◼️Why dopamine spikes always come with a hidden crash ◼️How easy comfort erodes discipline, motivation, and intimacy ◼️The practical reset that restores balance and control 00:00 Intro 03:05 Dopamine and Overabundance 04:22 How to Shake Bad Habits 06:16 Why Are Harmful Substances Addictive? 07:15 The Dangers of AI Simulating Human Connection 12:54 Sex Addiction Case Study 19:29 Elon Musk's Age of Abundance 22:23 We're Entertaining Ourselves to Death 23:35 How Our Brain Processes Pleasure and Pain 28:51 Why Do We Fall Off Our Good Habits? 30:40 When Are We Most Susceptible to Self-Destructive Behaviours 31:53 Who Is More Vulnerable to Addiction? 32:59 Link Between Addiction and People With ADHD 34:26 Link Between Childhood Trauma and Addiction 35:57 Parents Soothing Child's Emotions With Technology 37:24 AI Replacing Parenting 40:05 Are You Hopeful People Will See the Downsides of AI? 43:23 Social Media Trials 45:12 Ads 46:07 The Science Behind How to Get Rid of Bad Habits 53:31 Is Addictive Personality a Real Thing? 54:20 4-Week Resolutions 56:24 Psychological Strategies for Adopting Good Habits 59:00 How to Trick Your Brain to Enjoy Doing Hard Things 01:02:06 How to Avoid Relapse 01:04:23 Is It Possible to Become Addicted to Good Things Too? 01:05:11 Daily Routines to Kick the Habit 01:07:10 The "Count Back" Trick to Start New Habits 01:10:24 Ads 01:12:24 Brains of Addicted vs. Non-Addicted People 01:17:42 Dopamine Research That Stood Out for You 01:19:22 Impact of Dopamine Addiction on Personal Relationships 01:22:52 Dopamine Agonist Drugs 01:26:27 Dopamine Release Associated With Learning and Impediments 01:32:13 Radical Honesty 01:37:06 What Is Agency and Why Does It Matter 01:38:58 The Biggest Problem With New Year's Resolutions Follow Dr Anna Website - https://bit.ly/4pS0ckD Stanford Medicine - https://stan.md/4oXiyzq  You can purchase Dr Anna's book, ‘The Official Dopamine Nation Workbook: A Practical Guide to Overcoming Addiction in the Age of Indulgence', here: https://amzn.to/4oZKEdl  The Diary Of A CEO:  ◼️Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/  ◼️Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook  ◼️The 1% Diary is back - limited time only: https://bit.ly/3YFbJbt  ◼️The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards (Second Edition): https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb  ◼️Get email updates - https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt ◼️Follow Steven - https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb  Sponsors: Shopify - https://shopify.com/bartlett Intuit - If you want help getting out of the weeds of admin, https://intuitquickbooks.com Bon Charge - http://boncharge.com/diary?rfsn=8189247.228c0cb with code DIARY for 25-30% off

In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools' Alisha Searcy interview Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and author of the NYT bestselling book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance […]

In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools' Alisha Searcy interview Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and author of the NYT bestselling book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. Dr. Lembke explains how dopamine functions in the human brain and contributes to addictive behaviors. She explores how modern American life fuels a culture of addiction, drawing parallels between past waves of opioid and alcohol abuse and today's dependence on the internet and smart phones. Dr. Lembke also examines how overuse of technology is influencing dopamine-driven addiction and contributing to rising rates of teen mental illness. Drawing on her extensive research, she offers practical strategies for people seeking to break addictive habits and be more restrained in using technology. Dr. Lembke concludes the interview by reading an excerpt from Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, offering a valuable lesson on how individuals can find greater fulfillment by living a more balanced life without excessive dopamine.

Season 14 Episode 374 reviews neuroscientist Friederika Fabritius on the limits of willpower with tips from Dr. Andrew Huberman's research on how to strengthen the anterior mid-cingulate cortex through deliberate focus and challenging tasks. The episode also reviews the brain's reward system and practical strategies—like Dr. Anna Lembke's 30-day dopamine reset—to protect motivation and long-term self-control. Practical takeaways include conserving willpower by simplifying choices, using meditation and focused exercises to build concentration, deliberately practicing difficult tasks to grow resilience, and rethinking how we reward children to avoid overstimulating their prefrontal cortex. On today's episode #374, we'll learn: ✔ Practical Tips for Building our Willpower/Resilience/Concentration ✔ The Importance of Understanding our Brain's Reward System for Ourselves and Our Children Welcome back to SEASON 14 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, and seven years ago, launched this podcast with a question I had never truly asked myself before: (and that is) If productivity and results matter to us—and they do now more than ever—how exactly are we using our brain to make them happen? Most of us were never taught how to apply neuroscience to improve productivity, results, or well-being. About a decade ago, I became fascinated by the mind-brain-results connection—and how science can be applied to our everyday lives. That's why I've made it my mission to bring you the world's top experts—so together, we can explore the intersection of science and social-emotional learning. We'll break down complex ideas and turn them into practical strategies we can use every day for predictable, science-backed results. For today's Episode 374, we continue our journey into our mind (and brain) with PART 2 of our interview review with neuroscientist, Friederike Fabritius, who we covered on our last EP 373[i] and her book The Leading Brain: Neuroscience Hacks to Work Smarter, Better and Happier. VIDEO 1 Click Here to Watch Today we're reviewing a topic we've covered a few times on this podcast — willpower — that Friederike says “is limited and (that she) tries not to waste on people and processes that are just not worth it.” She explains: “To a certain degree, I try to simplify my life—I have five kids, a career, and I write books. So, in order to manage all of that, I say no to almost everything else. If I say yes to everything, by the end of the day I'm exhausted. If I then sit down at my desk to write, the result would be a disaster because my willpower is already depleted and I feel like collapsing on the couch. So, you need to be wise about not wasting your willpower on things that aren't worth it.” On Episode 294[ii], “Beyond Our 5 Senses: Understanding and Using the 6 Faculties of Our Mind,” we explored how to develop and use this important mental faculty. I find all six faculties of our mind fascinating—but the will is one of my favorites. It's what I'm using right now, sitting at my desk on a Saturday, to stay focused long enough to write this episode. YOUR WILL gives you the ability to concentrate. It helps you hold a thought on the screen of your mind, or choose thoughts of success over thoughts of failure. With a highly developed will, you can lock into a task, block out distractions, and accomplish what you set out to do. We also looked at willpower in Episode 344[iii], “The Neuroscience of Resilience: Building Stronger Minds and Teams,” where we explored how grit and mental toughness relate to new research from Dr. Andrew Huberman. His work shows what happens in the brain when we develop strong willpower—the same kind of strength we need to overcome adversity or, as Friederike describes, to sit down and write a book after a long day. This discovery even made one of the world's leading neuroscientists jump out of his chair—and I was right there with him in excitement. I can still remember exactly where I was when I wrote my notes about this—on my cellphone notepad when I learned this brain fact. Did you know there's a part of the brain called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex? It's not just one of the centers for willpower—scientists believe it may hold the secret to the will to live. (Dr. Andrew Huberman)[iv] This region increases in size when we do things we don't want to do—like adding exercise when we'd rather rest, or resisting foods we really enjoy. OR, think about the tasks in your day that you would rather skip over. When you do them anyway, you are strengthening and growing this part of your brain.

Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.It's World Mental Health Day this Friday 10th October, so I'm delighted to be joined by a special guest who knows the power of martial arts for mental health better than most: four-time black belt, double gold medal champion and founder of Graham's Academy of Martial Arts, Steve Graham.Our dilemma this week comes from a concerned mother, whose teenage son is struggling with anxiety, depression and a loss of confidence and spends much of his time in his room. She asks: how can I support my son and encourage him to try something new, without making him feel pressured?To help this lovely listener, Steve and I go back to grassroots mental health as it has shown up in our own lives. We discuss the challenges teenagers are facing, especially on social media, the importance of role models to help them navigate those challenges, and how martial arts can serve as a powerful tool for building confidence and providing support.Steve also tells us the benefits of martial arts for our mental wellbeing and the practical steps we can take to get involved in physical activities, encouraging both parents and teens to take action for better mental health.---Useful links:Dopamine Nation by Anna LembkeChimp Paradox by Steve Peters---If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form. ---Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.---Social media:Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrellDial Emma @dialemmapodcastEmail: contact@dial-emma.uk

In this episode, I'm diving into the brain chemical that rules our lives: dopamine. Pulling from Dr. Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation, Andrew Huberman's research on addiction, and the book The Molecule of More, we'll cover:✨ Why dopamine isn't about happiness—it's about wanting more✨ How love, sex, drugs, and TikTok all hijack the same system✨ Why the honeymoon phase feels like a drug… and why long-term love feels different✨ The dark side of dopamine: addiction, tolerance, anxiety✨ How to reclaim dopamine for creativity, ambition & joyWhether you're addicted to your phone, chasing love like it's cocaine, or just trying to understand why Oreos are impossible to eat “in moderation,” this episode will make you laugh and maybe change how you live.

Inner peace doesn't always come from serious effort — sometimes, it starts with pure fun! In this episode, Deborah sits down with Emily Iannuzzelli to explore the surprising and transformative power of improv. More than just comedy, improv can be a powerful tool for healing, growth, and joy. It's a path you may never have considered before, but this conversation might open your eyes to a whole new way of finding peace!Here are the things to expect in the episode:What inspired Emily to step into improvThe unexpected life-changing benefits of improv classesHow clarity fuels the process of manifesting goalsThe role of play in creating a balanced adult lifeA sneak peek into Emily's upcoming bookAnd much more!About Emily:Emily Iannuzzelli is an improv teacher, somatic facilitator, and writer based in Baltimore. She blends comedy, nervous system science, and embodiment to help people heal through play. A project manager by day, Emily brings clarity and heart to every space she leads—whether hosting workshops, mentoring women, or building digital experiences. She's currently writing a book weaving memoir, nervous system theory, and spiritual principles of creativity. Emily's work uplifts creative, neurodivergent women through humor, regulation, and authentic connection.How to Find Emily:Website: https://emilyiannuzzelli.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/find.focus.withinBook Recommendations:The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert Mind Over Back Pain by John Sarno, M.D. Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke, M.D.  Connect with Deborah Kevin:Website: www.deborahkevin.comSubstack: https://debbykevin.substack.com/Instagram: www.instagram.com/debbykevinwriterLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-kevin/Book Recommendations: https://bookshop.org/shop/storytellher Check out Highlander Press:Website: www.highlanderpressbooks.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@highlanderpressInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/highlanderpressFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/highlanderpress

Your dopamine system is being hijacked every day, and the way to reclaim it might surprise you. This episode reveals how pain, pleasure, and addiction are wired in your brain, and how to use that knowledge for real brain optimization, resilience, and longevity. You'll discover why your dopamine levels control motivation, focus, mood, and even cravings—and the science-backed strategies that reset your neuroplasticity, metabolism, and reward system. Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Anna Lembke, Stanford psychiatrist and bestselling author of Dopamine Nation. She is one of the world's leading experts on addiction, compulsive behavior, and the neuroscience of reward pathways. With decades of clinical work and groundbreaking research, she explains why dopamine has become the modern lens for understanding desire, distraction, and dysfunction—and how we can hack it to upgrade human performance. They break down how dopamine drives addiction, why pain can reset your reward system, and how simple practices like fasting, cold therapy, and supplements affect your brain chemistry. You'll learn how nicotine, GLP-1 drugs, and even nootropics alter dopamine sensitivity, and why overstimulation from social media, pornography, and ultra-processed food is creating an epidemic of anhedonia. The conversation also covers how functional medicine and biohacking can protect your mitochondria, restore your natural dopamine balance, and make your brain more resilient. You'll Learn: • Why dopamine itself is not addictive—and what really drives addiction • How pain, hormesis, and “dopamine fasting” can reset your reward system • Why social media and digital overstimulation create chronic dopamine deficit states • The role of GLP-1 drugs, nicotine, psychedelics, and other substances in rewiring dopamine • How functional medicine and supplements help restore dopamine balance • The connection between dopamine, mitochondria, fasting, cold therapy, and longevity • Why radical honesty and self-binding are powerful anti-addiction hacks This is essential listening for anyone serious about hacking dopamine for better focus, sleep optimization, metabolism, and long-term brain health. Whether you're curious about the link between dopamine and neuroplasticity, looking to upgrade human performance with smarter not harder tools, or just want to know how to stop dopamine hijacks from ruling your life, this episode gives you the science and strategies you need. Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade is the top podcast for people who want to take control of their biology, extend their longevity, and optimize every system in the body and mind. Each episode features cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, hacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. Episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (audio-only) where Dave asks the questions no one else dares, and brings you real tools to become more resilient, aware, and high performing. Keywords: dopamine fasting, pleasure-pain balance, dopamine deficit state, addiction neurobiology, anhedonia treatment, dopamine receptors, neuroadaptation gremlins, endogenous opioids, cold plunge dopamine, hormesis neuroscience, nucleus accumbens dopamine, L-Dopa addiction, GLP-1 and dopamine, social media addiction neuroscience, dopamine reward pathway, compulsive behavior psychiatry, dopamine and neuroplasticity, anhedonia supplements, functional medicine addiction, dopamine repair party Thank you to our sponsors! Zbiotics | Go to https://zbiotics.com/DAVE for 15% off your first order. ARMRA | Go to https://tryarmra.com/ and use the code DAVE to get 15% off your first order. Resources: • Anna's Website: https://www.annalembke.com/ • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15 • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com • 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com Timestamps: 0:00 — Trailer 1:10 — Introduction 5:47 — Pleasure–Pain Balance 6:45 — Homeostasis & Adaptation 8:22 — Addiction & Dopamine Deficit 10:14 — BICEP: Conscious Pain Exposure 14:26 — Adapting to Pleasure & Pain 20:20 — GLP-1s and Joy 21:39 — Modern Anhedonia 34:32 — Resilience in Young People 42:00 — Social Media & Mental Health 44:46 — Control & Addiction 55:14 — Dopamine Fasting 1:03:18 — Self-Binding Tools 1:07:56 — Psychedelics & Addiction 1:12:25 — Parenting in the Digital Age 1:14:39 — Progress & Outlook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Book Breakdowns LET'S GOOOO! Jump on our free newsletter & get the 11 questions to change your life as a bonus: https://www.clarkkegley.com/free-ques...  Grab the book: https://amzn.to/4pbvljh (affiliate) The Book Breakdowns:    • The Book Breakdowns with Clark Kegley | Of...   Welcome back to The Book Breakdowns. This is the series where I take the best psychology books and distill them down into 10 big ideas that can change your life. Today, we have one of my favorites, Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke. This is the book that will help you cure brain rot, break your bad habits or addictions, and how to restore your motivation. SOCIAL    / clarkkegley     / clarkkegley      / theclarkkegley   Refusing to settle, Clark

If you've ever wondered why you can't resist “just one more”—one more scroll, one more drink, one more chapter—this episode is for you.

In today's moment, renowned neuroscientist and author, Anna Lembke, explores the fascinating science of dopamine and its impact on our behaviour. Discover why dopamine is fundamental to survival, how it drives pleasure and motivation, and why we are more vulnerable to addiction than we think. Neuroscientist Anna Lembke is the author of bestselling book, Dopamine Nation. As a professor of psychiatry and the Medical Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine program, she has become a leading expert on the brain's reward system. Her work explores how the balance of pleasure and pain in the brain can lead to addiction and what happens when we overstimulate our reward pathways in the modern world. Listen to the full episode here! Spotify: https://g2ul0.app.link/QYBqCgLtgVb Apple: https://g2ul0.app.link/wiYqNPRtgVb Watch the episodes on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/%20TheDiaryOfACEO/videos⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode delves into the complexities of alcohol addiction with Dr. Anna Lemke, a renowned expert in addiction medicine. This episode explores the traditional AA model, the concept of abstinence, and emerging treatment paradigms that challenge the status quo. Discover the nuances of addiction, the role of spirituality in recovery, and the potential for moderation in treatment.Anna Lembke's book Dopamine Nation - https://www.amazon.ca/Dopamine-Nation-Finding-Balance-Indulgence/dp/152474672X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've been feeling like alcohol just doesn't fit your life anymore, this conversation with Casey Davidson, a Life and Sobriety Coach, might really speak to you. Casey opens up about her personal journey of becoming alcohol-free, talks you through the benefits and challenges of sobriety, and clears up some common myths along the way.You'll come away with takeaways about the impact alcohol can have on your mental and physical health, how social norms and marketing can negatively influence drinking habits, and why approaching sobriety with curiosity and self-compassion can make all the difference in your journey. We hope the personal stories combined with practical insights in this episode will be an inspiring and relatable resource for anyone exploring a more mindful relationship with alcohol.Listen and Learn: How Casey broke free from nightly wine, ditched mommy wine culture, and found freedomHow high-functioning people can unknowingly rely on alcohol, and what waking up at 3 AM really meansAlcohol disrupts joy, sleep, and mood. See what changes when you give it up for just 30 daysNavigating sobriety without hitting rock bottom, plus mindset shifts, social fears, and partner dynamicsWhy the term "alcoholic" can be misleading, and how redefining sobriety empowers choiceHow non-alcoholic drinks can fit joyful routines without the triggersThe lasting benefits of 30, 60, and 100 days sober, like better sleep, mood, and self-careWhy trying to moderate drinking often traps you in a craving cycle, and quitting frees your mind and sparks new creativityResources: Casey's website: Hello Someday Coaching - https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/The Hello Someday Podcast For Sober Curious Women - https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/podcast/ Good Morning America asked Casey how I saved $48,000 by not drinking alcohol!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyrfQMv5waU&authuser=0Connect with Casey on Social Media:https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseydavidson/https://www.instagram.com/caseymdavidson/https://facebook.com/hellosomedayAbout Casey McGuire Davidson: Casey McGuire Davidson is a Life & Sobriety Coach and the host of the Top 100 Mental Health Podcast, The Hello Someday Podcast for Sober Curious Women. As an ex-red wine girl who spent 20 years climbing the corporate ladder while holding on tightly to her love of wine, Casey's passionate about helping busy women stop drinking and create lives they love without alcohol. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, NPR, HuffPost, The New York Times and NBC News.Related Episodes176. Fair Play with Eve Rodsky202. The Addiction Inoculation with Jess Lahey206. Fair Play Part 2 with Eve Rodsky233. Dopamine Nation with Anna Lembke247. Find Your Unicorn Space with Eve Rodsky286. Not Drinking Tonight with Amanda White316. Understanding Addiction with Judith Grisel402. Harm Reduction for Addiction with Kristin DempseySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Am I Rewilder Enough? w/ Sheila HensonDo you feel like a poseur when it comes to rewilding? Do you have guilty pleasures you can't give up? Are you too overwhelmed to start rewilding? You're not alone. In this episode I chat with my friend and Rewild Portland board member Sheila Henson about the judgments we face from others and (more often) ourselves that we perennially face in rewilding. From how we dress to our day to day choices, shame, guilt, and confusion can paralyze us or drive us away from going deeper into rewilding. But rewilding isn't just the way you look, or what you do; it's the stories we tell ourselves about the world and our place in it. How can we break the spell of purity and fundamentalism as we try to create more regenerative ways to live? Listen in to hear what Sheila and I think about this important topic. Sheila Bio:Sheila received her BA in History and an MA in Education, spent twelve years as a behavioral respite worker for children with special needs, working for many of those years at the Serendipity Center in Portland. Today she is an ADHD Coach, and is a well known and respected educator on tiktok. The drive to understand how to be kind, collaborative, and restorative within our social and ecological communities led her to Rewild Portland, where she now serves on the board of directors, heading up our transformative justice committee. Sheila and I also co-teach a Rewilding Your Health class through Rewild Portland. Show Notes:Sheila's WebsiteSheila's TikTokSheila's Instagram--Camilla Power's Book The Evolution of CultureGuerrillas in the Industrial Jungle: Radicalism's Primitive and Industrial Rhetoric by Ursula McTaggart Depression & Rewilding w/ Sheila HensonIn 'Dopamine Nation,' Overabundance Keeps Us Craving MoreSupport the show

In this episode of SHE MD, hosts Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thais Aliabadi welcome Dr. Anna Lembke, a renowned expert on addiction and professor at Stanford University. Dr. Lembke discusses the concept of "Dopamine Nation" and how our modern world's constant pursuit of pleasure affects our brain chemistry and overall well-being. She delves into the neuroscience of dopamine addiction, the impact of digital media on our dopamine levels, and discusses strategies for managing addictive behaviors. The conversation covers topics ranging from social media addiction to substance abuse, offering insights into how individuals can reset their reward pathways and find balance in a world of constant stimulation.Access more information about the podcast and additional expert health tips by visiting SHE MD Podcast and Ovii. Sponsors: Cymbiotika: Go to Cymbiotikia.com/SHEMD for 20% off your order + free shipping today.Strivektin: Discover the Science Behind Great SkinOpill: Opill is birth control in your control, and you can use code SHEMD for twenty five percent off your first month of Opill at Opill.comSleepMe: Visit www.sleep.me/SHEMD to get your Chilipad at 20% off with code SHEMDNutrafol: Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter promo code SHEMDDavid's Protein: David is giving my listeners an exclusive offer – buy four cartons and get the fifth free at davidprotein.com/shemdAnna Lembke's Key Takeaways:Digital Detox: Set a daily timer for digital media usage. Start with a modest reduction and gradually decrease screen time over several weeks.30-Day Reset: Choose one addictive behavior (e.g., social media, video games, unhealthy snacking) and abstain completely for 30 days. Track your progress daily to maintain accountability.Embrace Discomfort: Incorporate short bursts of activities that challenge your comfort zone, like a 10-minute cold shower or a brisk 20-minute walk. These activities help regulate dopamine levels and reduce cravings.Journaling: Dedicate 5-10 minutes each day to journaling about your digital and non-digital consumption patterns. Note any triggers or situations that lead to addictive behaviors.Family Education: Schedule a family meeting to discuss the importance of balanced digital habits and healthy coping mechanisms. Share resources and create a supportive environment for everyone to practice moderation.In This Episode: (00:00) Introduction(01:25) Dr. Anna Lembke Introduction(02:35) Modern world's addiction to digital media(05:25) What Dopamine Addiction does to your Brain?(09:48) Dopamine addiction and social media's impact to our children(18:35) Genetic factors and parental advice(22:31) Drug addiction and societal approaches(24:40) Benefits of a 30-day dopamine fast(33:27) Hormesis: Using discomfort to reset dopamine(35:27) Parkinson's, dopamine, and potential treatments(37:42) ADHD and its relationship to dopamine(38:36) Starting addiction recovery with data collectionRESOURCES:Dopamine Nation - Anna Lembke's Book: https://www.annalembke.com/GUEST BIOGRAPHY:Anna Lembke, MD is professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she is the author of more than a hundred peer-reviewed publications, has testified before the United States House of Representatives and Senate, and has served as an expert witness in federal and state opioid litigation. She is an internationally recognized leader in addiction medicine treatment and education.In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic (Zuger, 2018). Dr. Lembke appeared in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives. Her book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021) was an instant New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller, has been translated into more than 35 languages, and explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world. Her just released Dopamine Nation Workbook provides a step-by-step guide for dopamine fasting, full of interactive exercises and practical tips for finding balance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi! Jess here. As an author and host of this podcast, I hear “I have a great idea for a book!” a lot, and while I believe everyone has a story to tell, I've only been knocked over by these book pitches twice. The first was the idea for the book Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids by Kirsten Jones (pitched to me at speaking event in 2015, published in 2023) and the second was last week, in a conversation with this week's guest, Dr. Megan.I'm SO excited to introduce you to our new series, “From Soup to Nuts,” and its subject, Dr. Megan. She's a therapist, speaker, and hopeful author who presented me with that aforementioned great idea for a book and a hook for a speaking career. She's the right person to write this book, there's a hole in the market for it, and it's timely.So….now what?Over the next weeks and months, I will be mentoring Dr. Megan through her proposal, querying an agent, and planning ahead for a potential speaking career whether or not she sells the book. This week, we talk through the preliminary process of getting to a book's why and wherefores while crafting the introductory section of the book proposal (see resources below) and researching potential agents. This first episode is for all subscribers, but the rest of this series will be available to supporters only. Please consider supporting the podcast so you can follow along (and learn from) Dr. Megan's planning and writing process. Resources we mention:While I am not an Author Accelerator book coach, I do find Jennie Nash's book, Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book incredibly useful and asked Dr. Megan to read it. We will be referring to it from time to time throughout this series. Introductory section of a book proposal. Since we will be referring to the proposal for The Addiction Inoculation as a reference, I thought it would be helpful to make that available to #AmWriting Podcast listeners. Click through to Jess' website to download. Jess's episode: What is a “Comp”?Dr. Megan's assignment: write the introductory section of her book proposal, identify and research potential agents, and compile a list of agents she would like to query.Geeky footnote: “From soup to nuts” means “from beginning to end” and refers back to the practice of serving soup at the very beginning of a formal Western meal and nuts at the end. As a former Latin teacher, I prefer the saying “ab uvo usque ad mala” or “from the egg to the apples” in the tradition of Roman meals, but regardless, this series will cover everything from the beginning to the end of Dr. Megan's book process.Additional links from the Pod:Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot & The SequelVicki Hoefle, Duct Tape ParentingOp Ed ProjectNadine Burke Harris, The Deepest WellNed Johnson, The Self-Driven ChildDaniel J. Siegel, BrainstormAnna Lembke, Dopamine NationICYMI: Sarina's latest thriller is out in the world!Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she's a mess. She knows that stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she's out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms.Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car.Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.Digital books at: Amazon | Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | AudiblePhysical books at: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | More paperback links here!New! Transcript below!EPISODE 451 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaListeners who I know are also readers. Have I got a summer book for you, if you haven't yet ordered Dying to Meet You, Sarina Bowen's latest thriller with just enough romance you have to, so, let me lay this out for you. Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring a historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine, but inside, she's a mess. She knows stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup, but she's out of ice cream and she's sick of rom coms. Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car. But instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder and the primary suspect. But Rowan isn't the only one keeping secrets as she digs for the truth. She discovers that the dead man was stalking her too, gathering intimate details about her job and her past, struggling to clear her name, Rowan finds herself spiraling into the shadowy plot that killed him. Will she be the next to die? You're going to love this. I've had a sneak preview, and I think we all know that The Five Year Lie was among the very best reads and listens of last summer, Dying to Meet You is available in every format and anywhere that you buy books and you could grab your copy, and you absolutely should right now.Multiple Speakers:Is it recording? Now it's recording, yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay, now one, two, three.Jess LaheyHey, this is Jess Lahey, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. Hashtag AmWriting is the podcast about writing all the things, short things, long things, poetry, nonfiction, fiction, book proposals, queries. It's about the publishing industry. This is the podcast about getting the work done. I'm your host today, this week. My name is Jess Leahy. I am the author of The Gift of Failure, how the best parents learn to let go so their children can succeed, and The Addiction Inoculation, Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. I had a column at the New York Times for three years called the parent teacher conference, and I've written for The Atlantic and The Washington Post and numerous other outlets. Okay, today we are going to be talking with someone I am identifying for now as Dr. Megan. We're going to decide later on whether or not we get into her full name and all that stuff. But she is being super brave by coming on this podcast, because this podcast is going to be this episode of the podcast is going to be the first in a series. I met Dr Megan, I've been on the lookout for someone like her with a book idea like hers, with an aim towards, you know, an idea of wanting to be a speaker like her, and I just am really excited to mentor her through the process of hopefully getting an agent, hopefully getting a book deal and hopefully becoming a speaker, and we're just going to work our way through it. I also have been looking for someone like Dr. Megan, because I really wanted to pick someone for you so that we can mentor, someone who is dedicated to the process, interested in doing all the homework and is not going to, like, give up halfway through, and this is someone who's really dedicated to this series. I'm hoping you can learn as much as possible. As always, this podcast is about flattening the learning curve for other writers. So that's what Dr. Megan has offered to do with us... again, super brave, like the people who do the First Page's Booklab and submit their work. This is a really vulnerable position to be put in. And so, over the next hour, however many months this takes, we're going to be following her trajectory as an author slash speaker and see how it all goes. This first episode is going to be free for all subscribers to the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. And after that, we're going to be putting it under the umbrella of supporter podcasts. So, if you would like to follow along and learn from Megan's journey, go ahead and hit the support button and figure out a way to support the podcast, because we're you know, we're here because of you, and we're here and grateful for your support. So, with that, I'm going to introduce you to Dr. Megan, she is a therapist, she is a speaker, she is a wannabe author. She's someone who has a lot of experience in her field. She wants to write a book that is squarely in her field, related to her life, related to the life of her patients, her clients, and she is exactly the right person to write it. And it is a book that is needed right now. And so, with that, let's get started. As I promised. I have a hopeful, potential, exciting phase. new author here with me today. One of the reasons that I wanted to do this sort of it's not really book coaching, because that's not my domain. I'm not a Author Accelerator book coach. I also, but I get asked to do this a lot, and I get asked specifically about the speaking piece of it. So, I wanted to get our listeners started with how we met. I would love for you to explain how we met, and you don't have to get specific about places, but how we ended up in the same place together, because there's a reason I decided to work with you, and a reason that I thought that your potential book idea has a lot of a promise. And so anyway, could you tell our listeners how we met?Dr. MeganAll right, this is a good question. Let's see. So, we met before you knew me. I met you via the Hashtag AmWriting podcast.Jess LaheyOkay.Dr. MeganAnd then when I was... I think it was just after finishing my doctorate, I found your book The Gift of Failure. So, then I met you there. But then, since I moved about almost three years ago now, and as part of my move, I thought, oh, I'm going to career shift. I've been working as a therapist for about 17 years with kids and families. And I love doing speaking, I love disseminating information. And I've been sort of marinating on this idea of a book... I don't know, probably five years and anyways, and I started emailing some people, and the majority of people actually don't answer said email. So I went to the librarian, and I was trying to get the scoop on those people at the library, and they're like, Oh yeah, yeah, Jess Lahey? She's super nice. She totally answered. Like, okay, I'm just going to cold turkey email her from the website, like she probably won't respond, but I just thought it was sort of a fate moment that you even we lived in this same small town, so it just all kind of perfectly collided.Jess LaheyYeah, and I think your approach was really interesting, because you came at it from the perspective of someone who has done a lot of work to learn stuff in the first place, and you, when we got together, the book that you told me about, just hit all of the it, my alarm bells went off this, the like, oh my gosh, this needs to be a thing. And the last time this happened was when I met Kirsten Jones, who wrote Raising Empowered Athletes. So, I met her. She came to one of my book talks in California. Right after The Gift of Failure came out and she started, she met me by saying, you know, I want to write something like The Gift of Failure, but for parents of athletes, which I was like, oh my gosh, yes, you have to write that book. And when you told me about the book that you want to write, I immediately thought, this book has to happen. Now, here's the tough part. As anyone who is thinking about writing a book knows you can't just throw your idea out there, let alone the title, which you have. And the title, essentially was what sort of struck me in the first place, but we can't give away the title. We can't give away the main idea. So, listeners, I want you to think about when KJ and I originally talked about the book The Plot. There's a book by... it's a book called The Plot. And the essential idea behind this book, and there has now been a follow up called The Sequel, both of them really brilliant. The idea behind The Plot was, student comes to a teacher with a plot that is so good it can't fail. And the idea is that, like, well, it doesn't matter. No matter what I do, this is going to just be a thing and it leads to murder, but I do promise not to murder you in order to take your book idea and publish it for myself in that book, though the author correlates is her last name, manages to not talk about the plot while talking about the plot, which is the unfortunate place we're in where we have to talk about this really good idea that I think is there's a hole in the market, which we'll get to later. We're going to talk about market analysis later, it's as someone who's been in this speaking in this area and writing this area for a while, there is a place for this book, and this book really needs to happen. And I think, but what I think is fairly irrelevant here, because this has to be about what you think. I think you are the perfect person to write this book. So, with that I decided this would be a great way to teach to do, almost like a mentoring series for listeners who would really like to just not just write a book, but also build a speaking career around that book, which you very much want to do. So, we're going to do today a sort of get to know you, get to know what you've done, and why I thought you were sort of prepared to start this process. Because KJ and Sarina and Jennie were like, but is this person ready? Like, are they going to do the things? Are they ready? Is this going to be like a one off, and then she'll disappear into the night? Has she done the work? Is she prepared? So could you talk a little bit about some of the work you've done, like, you know, you talk about the fact that you have done the professional work, and that this book is going to be very much tied to your professional work, but in terms of writing, which is a very different thing, and then speaking, which is, on top of that, a very different thing, sort of why do you think that it's the right time for you to write this book?Dr. MeganWell, I feel like all of the pieces have sort of fallen a little bit into place lately, because I thought the right time to write this book was actually two and a half years ago.Jess LaheyOh, that's always the right time with any book which is always the case. But I will tell you, from experience that I think that when you're doing the searching and when you're doing the research and when you're doing the pondering, the book happens at the right time. I happen to think that which is another way of saying you can procrastinate. But it's not that. It's, you know, it's the processing part.Dr. MeganYeah, and I feel like the process keeps aligning for me with this book, because I had this idea and I thought, Oh, I'll move and here I will sit in my new home writing a book, because now I don't have a bunch of clients, and I'm not as busy once everything is perfect, once everything is right, exactly, yes. So, so it turns out that's not a thing.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd so, I was really sort of dragging my feet. And so, I, as part of my licensing requirements as a therapist, I had to take some classes. So, one of the classes I took was “Writing a book for therapist”. And so, I did that, and I thought, Oh, that's really interesting. So, then I reached out to the person who taught the class, and they said, what else do you do?Jess LaheyRight. Now was that a full on, full length, like...?Dr. MeganThat class was just kind of a short, like, two hour continuing education.Jess LaheyBut you had to do writing prompts. You had to do the work; you had to do the writing...Dr. MeganYeah, I had some low... yeah, like, low level prompts, okay, just like, sort of marinate, get your idea going, kind of prompts. And so, I thought, oh, that was really helpful. It made me realize that the missing element for me as a creative is, I need structure.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd so, we, when we met, I was like, oh, homework, bring it on. Because I actually, I love homework, because I think it gives you some structure around the creativity and gets things flowing. So anyway, so I reached out, and then she said, Oh, I have this class, and it is once a week for eight weeks, and every week you turned in different things, and it sort of ranged an arc from solidifying your idea writing your introduction, but also like making a faux book cover, or making a faux blurbs, or thinking about, how do you use something like Amazon to look at what categories might your work be in which I think is a beautiful gateway over to the Blueprint Book.Jess LaheyRight. So, I gave you a copy of Jennie Nash's Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book. All of the books are great, but I think, and I'm, again, not a Author Accelerator book coach, but I thought it was really good starting place for the process of thinking about the like, why me? What is my book? What is my purpose? Who is my audience? You know, who's my ideal reader, all that kind of stuff. So, having looked at blueprint for a nonfiction book, what parts for you have sort of resonated either because they were overlooked in other classes or other preparation that you've done, or you think actually will hit at what you need to work on for this??Dr. MeganI like it because, I think it's really useful in the learning process to keep asking same questions in different ways. So, every time it kind of elicits a new response, a new thing to think about, a new way to connect it. And so, you know, I originally had this book idea, and I wrote down, I think several years ago, 10 chapters...Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd then through the class, I was like, oh, wait, no, no, there's a narrative quality. It needs to be in parts.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganHow does the parts become within one thing? And so, but then in doing this book and looking at it, I feel like the most valuable piece was also the why. Like, why me? Like, really? Because I think to be an author feels vulnerable. To be a therapist is sort of vulnerable, but not really, because you're not, actually, you're encouraged not to share as much about yourself. And so...Jess LaheyOh! That's interesting I hadn't thought that.Dr. MeganYou know...Jess LaheyBut that's a really important part of this process.Dr. MeganYeah, and it got me really looking at and comparing, do I really love this thing? Okay, if you thought of your book with other writers in the same category as sort of a conversation, not like as competition, but as collaboration, like, where do you sit with that?Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd to me, that kind of prompt is very helpful because then I, even, you know, as an artsy person, was like, Oh, how do I, like, imagine yourself, like, if you sat at your Knights of the Round Table, who are your people? Like, who would you want there? How would that go?Jess LaheyAnd that gets at when you're thinking about, obviously, we're going to have to talk about, you know, market analysis and comp titles and things like that. That also helps you realize, because you're going to have to write this section, which is like, what's out there, and why is my book going to be different or and also thinking, and I've talked about this before in other episodes, in another episode, and I'll link in the show notes to that one, not just the books that have been successful in this area, and how your book will be different from those. But also, you have to think about like, which books didn't work, and you have to explain why your book is not that.Dr. MeganYes, yeah, without yeah, without being like a show and fraud, right kind of person. But also Yeah, because there's a million people that I think are super brilliant that have written parenting books, but either they sound like too therapist-y or like, are there a little, like light on the actually, how does this work kind of thing, and also accepting you can't be all things to all people.Jess LaheyRight, right.Dr. MeganSo, the part about who's your audience, I thought, but, but I think the really golden nugget in that first part too, is the why, and so I even did that writing exercise, like, why this book? Why me? Why now? Kind of questioning. And I thought that was really helpful, because I wrote that more in, like a talking way, because I think some of those same things filter into an introduction for a book, but by writing it in an unpolished way, I feel like I reignited sort of the passion for the subject.Jess LaheyRight. Oh, that's so good.Dr. MeganSo, I feel like it's missing...Jess LaheyAnd a lot of that's going to happen during the book proposal process as well. I mean, when you first were full disclosure, we're recording this at my house, because it's just easier to have two people in one space, and we're in my office, and I showed you all of the bookshelves that are filled with the books for the book for the book proposals that I've written and decided that I don't want to write right now, because I think that's really, really helpful. And as onerous as the book proposal process is, it's incredibly revealing. It helps you see what's working, what's not working, what you want to write, and what you don't want to write. So, I'm really excited for you to get really immersed in that process. Okay, so your why coming into this like, given that you're going to have to have a bit of an elevator pitch for people, what is your WHY for this book?Dr. MeganI thought about this in different ways. Okay I was a sort of neurodiverse kid—dyslexic, ADD—and therapy was super helpful to me as a child. And as a, you know, what Elaine Aron might call a highly sensitive person, I just think there's all these... I was so lucky, because I had a school for dyslexia, and I had all these opportunities in my childhood and as a therapist, I found myself working a lot with these kids that you might be like oh, ADHD learning like that's not normal but it's actually very normal. And within that there's just such a wide way people can be. And I just sometimes think as a culture a society we get so binary, and I just feel like that gets people really locked into either "oh no big deal" or "ooh super problematic thinking". And my big why is, there are easy solutions to helping understand your child. So, my really, my, why is I feel like there's, there's answers out there, and it drives me bananas, if you're like, oh, I don't know what to do, or there's just nothing. So, I feel compelled to do that.Jess LaheySo the nice thing about that answer is and I tend to bring... because it's my experience the so when I was thinking about The Gift of Failure, the big why was because I want kids to be able to learn to the best their ability to be engaged, to be motivated, all those sorts of things, but also that they're having conversations with their parents about what really matters to them and all that sort of stuff. So for me, there was no one writing at that intersection of parenting and education in this particular way, and because you have cred, not just as someone who grew up neurodiverse and as someone who works with neurodiverse kids, you have that sort of both sides of the table thing going on, which I think is a really, really, not just a great why, but a really great answer to why me.Dr. MeganYes.Jess LaheyYeah, yeah, to the why me question we're going to be talking about in future episodes, and about owning your expertise. So, I want to give you some homework.Dr. MeganOkay.Jess LaheyTo think about, things and, oh, and I have a I even brought, I have a little notebook for you I get, I got you a little notebook. So, okay, so when it comes to your why, it sounds like you have a sort of a really good hold... a handle on that, but you're going to be asked definitely, during blueprint for a nonfiction book, and during our conversation to be re-articulating that lots and lots of times, people are going to be asking you about what you're working on, and that can be a really, really great opportunity. It's sort of like when, when you have to do interviews about your book, you're not going to want to go like, let's assume all of this goes well, and you're going to get to start doing interviews about your book. You need for now to be the time that you're articulating those really good answers, like, who is this book for? Why? I mean, the question I get in every interview is, give me a bit of your background and why you decided to write these books. And you want that answer to be great. You want that answer to be concise. You want that answer to not be rambling. And that's sort of your, you know, your elevator pitch sort of thing. The other thing that we talk a lot about, KJ and I, have talked about this a lot, is I like to have a stack of books that are the “voice I'm aiming for. So, I've had, there was a book called Duct Tape Parenting when I first wrote The Gift of Failure, and she just was really brave. The author of that book was, like, really not concerned with people yelling at her and saying, you're wrong, and she would just have this brave voice. And that was my brave voice book. And then I had another book that was like my owning your expert voice book, and so that they gave me a sense of on the days when I really needed them and I needed... because one of the hardest things for first time authors to do is to own their expertise. This is also something that comes up a lot in The OpEd Project, a group that I have worked with and mentored with for a while, where they help people who wouldn't normally get the chance to write op eds, to write op eds. And Katie Orenstein, the founder of that, said, a big part of that is helping you own your expertise. Like, yeah, why do I deserve to be the person talking about this? And I think, especially, as you said before a therapist and not having the opportunity to sort of talk about you, that's going to be incredibly important. So having a book for that, and sometimes we refer to them as, like our dissection books. So, here's the thing, you want, a great book that helps with the, no, I have the right to say these things, and I'm correct. And then the owning is sort of, and it could be the same thing owning your expertise book. And then you need to find a book whose format is really great for this topic. So, like, and it doesn't have to be exactly modeled. Your book doesn't have to be exactly modeled on that. But find a book that you feel like, really, if you want to integrate narrative arc, if you want to have it be straight up research, if you want this research and the narrative arc to come together, if you want to do storytelling, find the book that you think is like, yeah, this is what I'm aiming for in my book. Find one of those books, because being able to dissect how that person does that. Sarina does it sometimes, like when she switched over to thrillers from romance, she needed to be able to say, okay, well, how long are how many pages are we spending on exposition? How many pages are we spending on research? And for me, I found a couple of books that I thought just did a really good job of organizing in the way I wanted to organize it. So having a stack of those books as well is going to be really important.Dr. MeganTo my book stack...Jess LaheyOkay, yeah, yeah.Dr. MeganIn my kitchen. Okay, good, because that's...I have three kids, and by about 9:30 most people are asleep, and no one can, you know, trouble me for a glass of water, et cetera,Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganSo, I have, like, a big stack, and that is what I think has been really interesting. When I first got here and thought, oh, I want to write, and I was just really feeling blocked and unclear. My other passion is painting. And so, I got really into painting and studying art. And how did people craft things, you know, like, studied with other artists, looked at things, and I realized in this writing process how similar it is to the painting process. And in a painting, often I'll do an under painting of a color that might be radically different from the rest of the painting, but I feel like it sets the tone. And what I felt like was really useful in working on the writing has been like, oh, permission to be creative about it and to look at other things. So, I literally very neurotic...I counted like, number of words per page, and then would like, multiply them, and then I made a list, like, in a chart, like, how many pages are each of these books in this category?Jess LaheyOh my gosh.Dr. MeganJust to kind of get the structure in, very much a similar process in artists, where you're like, oh, how does this person use light in a painting?Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd I think that's where I feel like, by putting creativity, like, using those same dynamics has been really empowering, because it's that same sort of thing for me, just finding, yeah, so the more, the more I do that, the better it becomes, because it invites a whole new structure you might not have thought of, or...Jess LaheyOkay, whatever. So, and we'll talk about this eventually, but at a certain point, all of the charts and the graphs and stuff are going to have to give way to this, like really big, creative and word output. So, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we're in the planning stage, and then the last thing I need you to think about is, and I don't think it's too early to start thinking about this, is, you know, how is this going to translate into speaking, and how we're going to do an entire podcast just on the planning? You know, obviously, you don't even have a book yet. You don't even have an agent yet, any... all of this stuff.Dr. MeganYeah.Jess LaheyBut, but... and we're going to talk about all this stuff, but in order to really be able to pitch yourself as a speaker, because I think there's even the possibility the speaker thing could happen without the book thing. It's going to happen most effectively, obviously, with the book thing. But it's since that's what you really want, we're going to start planning for that speaking career while the book is also happening. Right?Dr. MeganI'm in.Jess LaheyOkay, all right, so you've already done what I was going to give you homework about. So, I think, I think what you need to start thinking about is...I have given Megan a copy of The Addiction Inoculation book proposal, right?Dr. MeganUh-huh.Jess LaheyOkay, so the reason it's not that I think that my book proposal is all that, but my agent...Dr. MeganBut it is.Jess LaheyLaurie Abkemeier, just is amazing, and she helped shape that. So, I think it's a really good starting place. And I think the first section, the introductory section, I think would be a really great place for you to start. Unless you have anything, you think would be another great place for you to start. I want to take your input into this as well.Dr. MeganNo, that seems good. Yeah. Because in this class I did, we had to write the intro and the first thing, but then when I read what you had, I was like, whoa, there's so much more.Jess LaheyYeah.Dr. MeganThere's so much more.Jess LaheyAnd all of the things we've talked about go into that introductory section, like, why me? Why this? Why now? And I think the why now when it comes to your plot, and I'm sorry again, listeners that we have to be a bit vague, but I think why now, with your title and your subject matter, I think it's a really great time for this book as well and it and without linking it into, you know, popular culture references and stuff like that, I think it's really important to help basically, I like to think of this section as the section that the editor, potential editor will have to go to the group at her publishing house to pitch to say, can I buy this book... and for how much... that section really is, here's why this author is the right time, why it's the right time, why this is the right author, why there's a there, this book needs to be written, what the hole is in the market. And I think that's going to be a really important part of that for you.Dr. MeganYeah, and that's where it felt like, oh, now this doctoral thing that I did 10 years ago is coming into play, because they'd always be like, what are your gaps in the literature? And you have to get really granular about it. And so...Jess LaheyOh, over and over again, I've been like, oh, wait, I can go back to that other thing I wrote in order to pull some of the pieces from that. So, this is very helpful. Okay, so for just the two of us, that's going to be the first thing I would love to see from you is that introductory section, sure, and then we're going... this podcast is going to be from here on out. This introductory level is going to be for everyone from here on out. This is going to be for supporters. But if you want to follow along on the journey, we're going to remain vague, like I said about the topic, simply because we don't want anyone to take it. And we are going to keep things a little bit vague on some fronts, but for the most part, we're going to get really specific, like I'm going to we're going to be talking about querying agents. We're going to be talking about the what the query format is like and finding an agent. I mean, that's the first place we have to start for you, and I have some ideas, but I'm going to give you some homework around that as well, which is, and I think you may have heard this before on our podcast, because we've talked about it, but look at the books that you really, really admire in your genre, and then look at the acknowledgement section, because people thank their agents, right? So, for example, if I am looking at a stack of books, I recommend a lot. So, for example, I really love, you know, like Nadine Burke Harris's The Deepest Well, and Ned Johnson's The Self-Driven Child, and uh, Dan Siegel's Brainstorm, and Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation, those books sort of hit the tone and the topic that I would be writing about. So, who are their agents? Because those agents are clearly open to topics that are similar. Now, you don't want to go for someone who's written, who's published, or, you know, sold, the exact same thing, but you want someone who's hitting the spirit of the and is someone that is reputable and that you're also going to find by looking at who authors you respect thank in their acknowledgements. So that's a good starting place. So that's your other assignment.Dr. MeganOkay.Jess LaheyYou can go to the library and do that. You can go clearly you have stacks of books at your house. You can borrow any of my books you would like. But let's start looking for potential agents to pitch this idea to, because a query is like, almost like a mini it's like a super mini version of your idea, and if they like it, they're going to ask for more. So, we need to have that more ready for when you query. Nonfiction is a little different from fiction, and for those of you have been listening for a long time, you know that if you're going to query a fiction agent, that agent is going to ask for a full manuscript, which so you better have finished it if you're going to pitch a fiction agent. It's not always the case, but mostly the case. But with nonfiction, the idea is you sell the book with a proposal. So, an agent in this arena is going to be expecting that maybe you have chapter summaries, maybe you have a sample chapter. So those are going to be our early goals for this sort of thing. But I think baseline introductory section is going to be the best place to start, and getting an idea of potential agents is the other great place to start. So how does that sound for you?Dr. MeganSuper exciting, slightly intimidating.Jess LaheyOkay.Dr. MeganBecause what if...I'm like, oh no, what if they love it, and now I've got to, like, crank out this whole book. Like, oh my gosh!Jess LaheyYeah. Oh, it's scary. Like, The Gift of Failure stuff happened really fast. I got my dream agent who had been chasing, I don't know if you know this story, but I chased her for 10 years. I knew she was the right agent for me, but I kept sending her projects that weren't quite right, and The Gift of Failure happened to be right, but everything happened really fast after that. So, I've done like a crash proposal and agent acquisition, but I've also done, you know, the slower version, The Addiction Inoculation version. So, I totally get that each piece of this can be really scary, especially when it needs to happen fast and there isn't any urgency. It's not like you know, but we're also going to talk about articles that you could start writing for the media that will start being test balloons for this idea, because it helps if you have an article that does well on the topic that you're addressing.Dr. Megan Yes, and that would be maybe a whole umbrella conversation, but, yeah, I actually was wondering about that, because...Jess LaheyAnd that could be a whole episode.Dr. MeganOf all these links to the amazing articles. And I'm like, oh no, you haven't done any of that, like, you know, sort of, but not really.Jess LaheyWe'll do a whole episode on that, and especially on how to pitch those, how to think about those. And yeah, we'll be doing a whole entire episode on pitching articles that are in line with what you would like to write for next book. There are lots and lots of authors who do send up these test balloons to see what sticks. I know lots of them that do that, and there's a balance to me made between including content for the potential book and still sending up that test balloon. So, we'll talk about all of that in a separate episode, but for now, looking for potential agents writing that introductory thing, and then we're going to get together in like two weeks or so, and we'll start, and we'll start talking about actual... we'll actually do stuff.Dr. MeganAmazing, yes!Jess LaheyBecause this book needs to happen, I'm really excited about it. I know you're excited about it, and I'm really just honored to be a part of helping in any way.Dr. Megan Mutual and likewise, and this is super exciting.Jess LaheyAnd the dogs have pretty much behaved themselves today, so hopefully they'll continue to behave themselves. All right, if you want to get the rest of this series, and I think, I think I'm going to call it something like, I have an idea now what? That kind of idea, but if you want to be a part and listen to the rest of this series, you're going to have to become a supporter of the podcast. Becoming a supporter of the podcast gets you other stuff too, like First Pages, the Booklab thing that we just recorded a bunch of episodes. I don't know if you've ever listened to Booklab, but we get submissions from very brave listeners who give us their first pages, and then we talk about whether or not we turn the page, and we critique them, and it's really fun. And then you get other bonus materials as well. So, think about becoming a supporter, and I'm really excited about this new series. So, thank you for being a guinea pig, because it takes a lot of bravery to do that.Dr. MeganWell. Thank you. I'm super excited and nervous and excited.Jess LaheyAll right, until next week, and this is for you specifically, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game. The Hashtag AmWriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

If you've been caught in that exhausting loop of “I need to take a break” followed by “I need a drink,” this episode will be a game-changer. I asked Dr. Anna Lembke—Stanford psychiatrist, addiction specialist, and author of Dopamine Nation—to help explain the science behind alcohol cravings, why dopamine plays a central role in addiction, and how you can reset your brain to feel better without drinking. Dr. Lembke breaks down how alcohol spikes dopamine in your brain, giving you that initial “ahhh” sensation. But here's the kicker: over time, alcohol actually lowers your natural dopamine levels, leaving you feeling more anxious, depressed, and restless when you're not drinking. It's not just a bad hangover—it's a neurological withdrawal cycle. For the full shownotes, kindly go to this podcast episode link: https://hellosomedaycoaching.com/dopamine-nation-alcohol-social-media-addiction/ 4 Ways I Can Support You In Drinking Less + Living More Join The Sobriety Starter Kit, the only sober coaching course designed specifically for busy women. My proven, step-by-step sober coaching program will teach you exactly how to stop drinking  — and how to make it the best decision of your life. Save your seat in my FREE MASTERCLASS, 5 Secrets To Successfully Take a Break From Drinking  Grab the Free 30-Day Guide To Quitting Drinking, 30 Tips For Your First Month Alcohol-Free. Connect with me for free sober coaching tips, updates + videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok @hellosomedaysober. Connect with Casey McGuire DavidsonTo find out more about Casey and her coaching programs, head over to www.hellosomedaycoaching.com

“God's desire is to transform us until there's nothing left but His love with breath, bones, and muscle, covered in skin.” Author and wellness expert Alisa Keeton shares from her book “The Body Revelation: Physical and Spiritual Practices to Metabolize Pain, Banish Shame, and Connect to God with Your Whole Self.” Alisa mentions "Dopamine Nation" by Dr. Anna Lembke Originally aired February 6, 2025 Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: click here

Today, we're diving deep into a topic that shapes our daily lives: how we've become hooked—not just to our screens, habits, and even our thoughts. And who better to lead this conversation than the incredible Dr. Anna Lembke—a Stanford psychiatrist and the bestselling author of Dopamine Nation.   Dr. Lembke guides us on a journey to comprehend how dopamine, our brain's pleasure chemical, significantly influences our behaviors. This discussion is truly enlightening, from its role in fueling social media addiction to why we get trapped in unhealthy patterns. The real game-changer? Understanding dopamine empowers you to take back control and live with purpose.   Prepare for a transformative conversation that will challenge, inspire, and equip you to rise above the chaos. Let's dive in and discover the power of understanding our brain's chemistry! Timestamps: (02:00) - The Surprising Activity That Secretly Rewires Your Brain for Addiction (06:32) - What Dopamine Really Does (08:20)- Dr. Anna's Eye-Opening Definition of Addiction (13:51) - How to Manage Life Without Relying on Quick Dopamine Fixes (22:59) - How Dopamine Hijacks Your Attention Span (And How to Get It Back) (36:33) - Dr. Anna's Must-Read Book and Movie Recommendations WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE   Links to great things we discussed:    Dr. Anna's Book Recommendations - Man's Search for Meaning & Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart Dr. Anna's Movie Recommendations - Galaxy Quest & This is Spinal Tap   I hope you loved this episode!

The incompetent power grab roles along, as doped-up Donald destroys the Department of Education to pay for the massive tax cut Republicans are about to gift their billionaires employers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Final Monday show of winter! We pick through some of the top stories of the weekend, which includes President Trump getting attacked by a boom-mic operator; a silly Frenchman asking for the return of the Statue of Liberty; and a provocative move to reverse all action by Biden that were authorized by signature stamp instead of by hand. In the second half I'm throwing in some testimony from a school teacher who claims that social media use has lead to a largely undiagnosed dopamine addiction problem with school children...and the people who raise them. Unleash Your Brain w/ Keto Brainz Nootropic Promo code FRANKLY: https://tinyurl.com/2cess6y7 Read the latest Quite Frankly Bulletin: http://www.tinyurl.com/5c8ybku7 Sponsor The Show and Get VIP Perks: https://www.quitefrankly.tv/sponsor Badass QF Apparel: https://tinyurl.com/f3kbkr4s Elevation Blend Coffee: https://tinyurl.com/2p9m8ndb One-Time Tip: http://www.paypal.me/QuiteFranklyLive Send Holiday cards, Letters, and other small gifts, to the Quite Frankly P.O. Box! 15 East Putnam Ave, #356 Greenwich, CT, 06830 Send Crypto: BTC: 1EafWUDPHY6y6HQNBjZ4kLWzQJFnE5k9PK LTC: LRs6my7scMxpTD5j7i8WkgBgxpbjXABYXX ETH: 0x80cd26f708815003F11Bd99310a47069320641fC For Everything Else Quite Frankly: Official Website: http://www.QuiteFrankly.tv Official Forum: https://bit.ly/3SToJFJ Official Telegram: https://t.me/quitefranklytv Twitter Community: https://tinyurl.com/5n8zmwx8 GUILDED Chat: https://bit.ly/3SmpV4G Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/KCdh92Fn Twitter: @QuiteFranklyTV Gab: @QuiteFrankly Truth: @QuiteFrankly GETTR: @QuiteFrankly MINDS: @QuiteFrankly Streaming Live On: QuiteFrankly.tv (Powered by Foxhole) FULL Episodes On Demand: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/301gcES iTunes: http://apple.co/2dMURMq Amazon: https://amzn.to/3afgEXZ SoundCloud: http://bit.ly/2dTMD13 Google Play: https://bit.ly/2SMi1SF BitChute: https://bit.ly/2vNSMFq Rumble: https://bit.ly/31h2HUg Kick: https://kick.com/quitefranklytv

Dr. Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University and author of the bestselling book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, joins Scott to discuss the rise of addiction in the digital age – from drugs to social media – and why our brains are wired to crave more. Plus, Dr. Lembke shares practical solutions to help build a healthier relationship with pleasure. Algebra of Happiness: no is the key to success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get ready to shatter some myths about food addiction and weight loss! Ashlee Stohler is back on the podcast with Alisa to share updates that will inspire and encourage you on the journey to food and body freedom. From taking diet pills at just 13 to embracing freedom today, Ashlee's story is one of slow and steady surrender. If you need a dose of hope, she's here to inspire you! Helpful Links: Catch up on these must-listen-to episodes with Ashlee and Alisa: #838, #871, #959 Check out this REVING the Word recommended by Ashlee #968 Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke Connect with Ashlee on Instagram If you're looking for a community to go deeper with, RW+ Membership is for you! RW+ brings together everything you need to honor God with your body, grow in faith, and find freedom and wholeness through Christ, including our Food and Body Addiction Group. Check it out here: [link] Get connected: revelationwellness.org | Instagram | YouTube Please consider following this show (and sharing it with a friend), leaving a review, and telling us what you think with a voice message! If you leave us a voice message, be sure to include the episode number. Follow | Leave a Review | Send a Voice Message *By leaving a SpeakPipe voice message, you agree that Revelation Wellness may use your voice message for podcast, promotional, and website content (unless otherwise specified).

Dr. Anna Lembke is a Stanford Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at Stanford University's School of Medicine. Her latest book, Dopamine Nation, is a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 30 languages. It examines the effects of being surrounded by abundant sources of instant gratification, such as food, social media, gaming, pornography, and drugs. Anna combines the neuroscience of addiction with the wisdom of recovery to explore the problem of compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world. In this episode we discuss the following: Anna learned from her patients in addiction recovery that if they wanted to maintain their recovery, they couldn't tell a single lie. One of the reasons lying hurts ourselves and others is because it denies us access to reality, which of course makes it more difficult to deal with reality. Radical honesty applies to more aspects of life than we may realize. For example, Anna is able to reduce her anxiety before interviews by being radically honest with herself and remembering that she doesn't have to be all things to all people, she doesn't have to be anything more than she already is.   Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

The psychiatrist and author of “Dopamine Nation” wants us to find balance in a world of temptation and abundance.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Are you ready to trade your New Year's resolutions for spiritual growth?   Host Curtis Chang and teacher and writer John Mark Comer dive into the transformative journey of spiritual reset to start the new year. Discover practical insights on community, the importance of Sabbath, and how to navigate the distractions of modern life, all aimed at nurturing a deeper spiritual hunger and fostering genuine connection with God and others.   Download our free January Reset Guide Send your Campfire Stories to: info@redeemingbabel.org   Referenced in This Episode: The Way of the Ascetics (pdf) by Tito Colliender How Philip Rieff's Three Worlds Help Us Understand Cultural Change by Carl R. Trueman On the Road with Saint Augustine with James K.A. Smith & Elizabeth Bruenig (video conversation) Dopamine Nation by Anna Lempke, MD How Principles from the Casino Were Applied to Your Cell Phone by Dr. Liraz Margalit We Are Free When We Forget Ourselves by Joshua Luke Smith Sabbath is the Climax of Living by Marva Dawn The Sabbath (pdf) by Abraham Heschel General Examen of Conscience by Ignatious of Loyola The Wheel and the Cross: Three Views on Suffering  Anything could happen, at any moment (and when it does, you'll cope) by Oliver Burkeman The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen More about John Ortberg The Phases of the Great Awakenings A Beginner's Guide to Lectio Divina Read Psalm 1   More From John Mark Comer: John Mark Comer's website HERE Get your copy of Practicing the Way Read this preview of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry Follow john mark comer on instagram

Join Brad, Jen, and Jill as they navigate the intricate balance between frugality and financial independence. Explore creative alternatives for spending less, and the importance of aligning your finances with your core values. Key Topics Discussed Introduction to Frugality (00:00:00) Overview of the tension between overspending and frugality. Importance of values in financial decisions. The Extremes of Spending (00:02:00) The trend of swinging between extremes in spending and income earning. Finding a "radical middle." 30-Day No Spend Challenge (00:08:20) Definition and benefits of a no spend challenge. Reducing decision fatigue and promoting creativity. Understanding Dopamine (00:11:00) How dopamine affects spending habits. The link between dopamine and impulse purchases. The Four F's of Fulfilling Life (00:35:14) Family, friends, faith, and fulfilling work as guiding values. Prioritizing financial decisions around these values. Actionable Takeaways (00:49:30) Practical steps to begin applying the concepts discussed in the episode. Key Takeaways Embrace Life as an Experiment: Life is a series of experiments; learn from each experience and evaluate your spending habits. Conduct a 90-Day Transaction Inventory (00:25:41): Review your last 90 days of spending to identify patterns and impulsive behaviors. Start a 30-Day No Spend Challenge (00:10:13): Focus on understanding your desires and needs without spending money on non-essential items. Define Your Four F's (00:35:14): Identify and prioritize family, friends, faith, and fulfilling work in your financial planning. Engage in Creative Alternatives to Shopping: Find different activities that fulfill emotional needs without spending money. Quotes "Hold the tension between frugality and income earning to find your radical middle." (00:05:13) "It's about wanting different, not less." (00:34:21) "Life is a series of experiments—learn about yourself with each one." (00:56:06) "Happiness is an internal journey—not dictated by our environment." (00:48:59) "Connect your finances to your core values for meaningful spending." (00:37:14) Action Items Commit to a 30-day no spend challenge starting next month. Create a list of your four F's to guide spending decisions. Conduct a 90-day transaction inventory to understand impulse spending triggers. Related Resources Buy What You Love Without Going Broke (00:56:12) Dopamine Nation by Anne Lemke (00:11:00) Adam Sandler SNL Skit (00:48:59) Chapters 00:00:00 - Introduction to Frugality 00:02:00 - The Extremes of Spending 00:08:20 - 30-Day No Spend Challenge 00:11:00 - Understanding Dopamine 00:35:14 - The Four F's of Fulfilling Life

SUMMARY: We live in a society inundated by endless sources of entertainment and cheap dopamine. In today's book, Anna Lembke discusses how we can respond to such dangers, like, for instance, a pool table. Friend, either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community.Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right hereI say, trouble right here in River CityWhy, sure, I'm a billiard playerCertainly mighty proud I sayI'm always mighty proud to say itI consider that the hours I spendWith a cue in my hand are goldenHelp you cultivate horse senseAnd a cool hеad and a keen eyeJ'evеr take and try to findAn iron-clad leave for yourselfFrom a three-rail billiard shot?But just as I sayIt takes judgment, brains, and maturity to scoreIn a balkline gameI say that any boob can takeAnd shove a ball in a pocketAnd I call that slothThe first big step on the roadTo the depths of deg-ra-day--I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoonThen beer from a bottle!An' the next thing ya knowYour son is playin' for moneyIn a pinch-back suitAnd list'nin to some big out-a-town jasperHearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!But a race where they set down right on the horse!Like to see some stuck-up jockey boySettin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?Well, I should sayNow, friends, lemme tell you what I meanYa got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a tablePockets that mark the diff'renceBetween a gentlemen and a bumWith a capital "B,"And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile-Dave's book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dpTHE HOSTS!-Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 200 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com-David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

As Trump vows to ditch the Paris Agreement and regulations the world gets warmer and more hazardous. What will the "Warrior Board" do? Retribution? Did Donald Trump win the 2024 election fairly or even legally? Dean Obeidallah joins Thom Hartmann to convince us that America deserves a recount. Thom reads from Dopamine Nation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everyone understands that getting enough sleep is important. But how important? This episode begins by revealing the benefits of getting just a mere 15 minutes more of sleep per night. https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/162769 We live in a world today where there is more abundance and more available pleasure than at any other time in history. You would think all this pleasure would make us happy. But could too much pleasure be causing a lot of people to be miserable? What if our brains aren't wired to handle our wonderfully pleasurable life? That is what Anna Lembke is here to discuss. She is a psychiatrist and medical director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine and author of the bestselling book Dopamine Nation (https://amzn.to/3BahOhY). Listen as she explains how humans are not designed to have unending pleasure whether it's technology or food or anything else. She has some interesting thoughts about why this is such a problem and how we can best deal with the downside of too much pleasure and not enough struggle. Losing weight has become a national obsession. It seems just about everyone wishes they weighed less than they do. And those who have tried to lose weight know it is very difficult. There are a lot of myths and conflicting information about weight loss, which is why Robert Davis is here. He is an award-winning health journalist and author of the book Supersized Lies: How Myths About Weight Loss Are Keeping Us Fat (https://amzn.to/3ptX41Q) . Listen as he reveals what works and what doesn't work to help you lose weight – according to science.   In an emergency, when you can't speak, your cellphone could save your life if you would just take a few minutes and do one important thing. Listen as I reveal how your cellphone can speak for you when you can't – if you set it up right. https://conservancy.umn.edu/items/81f84856-ad21-4a04-a99c-3e9de4213521 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! INDEED:  Get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING  Support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.  Terms and conditions apply. SHOPIFY:  Sign up for a $1 per-month trial period at https://Shopify.com/sysk . Go to SHOPIFY.com/sysk to grow your business – no matter what stage you're in! MINT MOBILE: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at https://MintMobile.com/something! $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.).  New customers on first 3 month plan only. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. HERS: Hers is changing women's healthcare by providing access to GLP-1 weekly injections with the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as oral medication kits. Start your free online visit today at https://forhers.com/sysk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 504 – A Dopamine Feast   Today we have Don. He is 44 and lives in Clarkson, MI. He took his last drink on November 15th, 2021.   Sponsors mentioned in this episode:   Better Help  - code ELEVATOR     The theme for this podcast is I am Here, I am Whole. What does that mean? It means, that in this moment, the only moment that has ever mattered or ever existed, I choose to be here, and I will view myself as whole.   Please don't kick the can of wholeness, authenticity and self-love down the road. It has to be now.   [04:22] Thoughts from Paul:   Paul shares that he really enjoyed the book Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke, minus one part of it that talks about a dopamine fast as a way to beat an addiction.   A recent NYT article summarizes why Paul doesn't like the dopamine fast idea. It has to do with the quote that “it's less about quitting drinking, and more about creating a life that doesn't require alcohol”. There are many healthier ways to release dopamine, such as hobbies you enjoy, that don't involve your drug of choice. Trying new things helps us release dopamine as well.   The last paragraph of the article says “consequently, America's problem isn't that we're a bunch of hedonists hooked on capitalism's dopamine hits, it's that so many of us aren't able to get our social, physical and emotional needs met in healthy ways. Instead of a dopamine fast, we need a dopamine feast - one that makes us want experiences we actually like, rather than compulsively responding to craving”.   [08:36] Paul introduces Don:   Don is an anesthesiologist, and he lives in Clarkston, MI. He started enjoying traveling since his mid-30s and has been to 30 countries, five continents and heading to Antarctica at the end of the year. Don is a big fan of sports and roots for the teams out of Detroit.   Alcohol always seemed to have a positive light around it when Don was younger. Whether it was a gathering or party the adults seemed more relaxed, happy and silly. It always seemed like something to look forward to when he got older. Being more of a goody-two-shoes, Don says, he didn't try alcohol until the summer after school ended. He recalls feeling like he was comfortable in his own skin and his racing thoughts relaxed. Don says he was immediately someone that couldn't stop drinking once he started.   Don says his 20s were spent in school and would drink heavily maybe once a month. In his 30s after graduating and feeling he achieved all of his goals, he wondered “what's next?” Don says that alcohol didn't answer the question, but it prevented him from having to answer it. Don says that he realized he was gay as a young man and never wanted to deal with it. Drinking helped him push that away too.   COVID sped up the inevitable, Don says. Having more time off work due to less surgeries being performed; Don would start drinking more on his off days. Once work became busy again, he's drinking continued where it was and started affecting his work. When Don arrived at work still drunk after a Labor Day weekend binge, he says receiving a call from his boss was relief.   When Don started rehab, he knew he was going to need to address being gay in addition to having a drinking problem. After completing rehab, Don began attending a program for health professionals that gives him the accountability he needed.   Don says AA is a big part of his life now. He says he enjoys the community and accountability. He is testing out dating to see if it's something that he wants to do. After falling in love with Costa Rica, he decided to build a house there. The greatest gift Don says he was given in sobriety is the ability to be present.   Don's parting piece of guidance: Just start. You've got to start somewhere and if that's rehab, than so be it. Take a break from your job, people will be much more supportive than you think they will.   Recovery Elevator You took the elevator down, got to take the stairs back up. I love you guys.     RE on Instagram RE merch Recovery Elevator YouTube Sobriety Tracker iTunes       

Join us for an enlightening discussion with Drs. May and Tim Hindmarsh, the brilliant minds behind the podcast BS Free MD. In this episode, we explore the unique dynamics of their relationship as an Enneagram 1 (May) and an Enneagram 7 (Tim), discussing how their personality types influence their lives, careers, and marriage. Discover how they challenge traditional medical practices, share their personal journeys, and get vulnerable about their struggles and triumphs. From the challenges of perfectionism to the joys of spontaneity, this conversation is packed with insights, laughter and heartfelt moments. What You'll Learn: The impact of the Enneagram on personal relationships How to navigate the challenges of an Enneagram 1 and Enneagram 7 Insights into the healthcare system and the importance of questioning traditional practices Tips for embracing imperfection and living a fulfilling life Don't miss this engaging episode filled with humor, wisdom, and practical advice.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resources from this episode: Internal Family Systems by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. Dopamine Nation by Anne Lembke, M.D. Fentanyl, Inc. by Ben Westhoff BS Free MD podcast with Drs. May and Tim Hindmarsh Pre-Order Ian's new book, The Fix, available January 28th