Comfort is killing your discipline

We’re now midway through the UN’s Mental Health Month and I promised to use this time to share some of my own struggles, not just the science. During Covid, I looked like I had it all. A dream job at Google. Great food every day. Evenings filled with video games. From the outside, it was comfort. But on the inside, I had turned into a hollow, dopamine-driven zombie.

Sugar, alcohol, and endless scrolling had rewired my brain. I wasn’t choosing meaning anymore. I was choosing the easy way out, again and again. The day I looked at my own body and felt only sorrow, I realized how far my expectations of life had fallen. That day, I swore to change.

Here’s what breaking free from the dopamine trap really taught me about discipline:

• Learn to love the hard things: Dopamine can be trained. At first, I had to force myself into push-ups, jogging, even fasting. Slowly, those choices rewired my brain away from instant gratification toward effort.
Example: After work, reaching for a book instead of your phone feels unnatural at first but repetition makes your brain crave the learning more than the scrolling.

• Discipline is built, not chosen
I thought discipline was a matter of will. But neuroscience shows it’s wiring. Resisting temptations is exhausting in the beginning, until the brain builds new structures through practice.
Example: Saying no to late-night snacking feels impossible the first week. By the third week, it feels automatic. The brain has done the work for you.

• Belief multiplies willpower: Research shows that believing you have strong willpower actually increases your ability to resist. Identity becomes biology. Telling myself “I am someone who finishes what I start” made me act that way, even on days I wanted to quit.
Example: Framing yourself as “the person who keeps promises” shifts how you show up at work and at home, because your brain starts aligning with that story.

Discipline is not a one-time decision. It’s the daily act of training your brain to desire what truly strengthens you. The sooner you start building those pathways, the sooner your biology begins to work for you and not against you.