Dopamine is Killing Your Creativity

The Creative Flow Framework: A 5-Step Process for Transforming Resistance into Fuel

Dopamine unknowingly destroyed my motivation and kept me from reaching my goals for so long that I felt trapped in a loop of mediocrity, each shitty mix a crushing blow to my confidence.

It's a cruel irony that the very neurochemical designed to propel us toward our goals can also be the cage that imprisons us. I had no idea what I was doing to myself over the years, blindly chasing a phantom promise of satisfaction.

It wasn't until I stumbled upon an episode of the Huberman Lab podcast, where Andrew Huberman interviewed neuroscientist, addiction specialist, and author of the book Dopamine Nation Anna Lembke, that the fog began to clear.

They spoke of dopamine, this "motivation molecule," this driving force that compels us to seek, to strive, to pursue... but also to get trapped in a relentless cycle of seeking without ever truly finding.

It turns out that dopamine actually rises and peaks with the anticipation of reward, and when you finally get what you crave, your dopamine levels take a nosedive below your original baseline.

This drop is what creates the discomfort (pain) that motivates us to go out and seek more.

But what happens when those cravings lead us down a path of distractions, pulling us away from the very goals we're trying to achieve?

What happens when the pursuit of instant gratification sabotages our creative potential?

These are the questions that should haunt every mixing engineer, every artist, every individual striving to master their craft.

For me, those questions especially echoed through my head as i wrestled with a challenging mix. The hours blurred into a frustrating haze of clicking virtual knobs and adjusting faders, each time trying to express my vision for the mix met with anger. The urge to escape the crushing weight of my own expectations grew stronger with every passing moment.

When these feelings came to the surface i'd always find my hand instinctively reaching for the vape pen, being somewhat of a ritual, a false sense of temporary relief.

Nicotine, social media, caffeine, THC – these were my go-to escapes, my arsenal of instant gratification so to speak.

But with every hit, every scroll, every sip, I was unknowingly reinforcing the dopamine-driven cycle, hindering my progress instead of fueling it, getting myself even more addicted to the very things that were training me to give up early on my pursuits and escape the work needed to become a pro.

It's a battle we all face in some way or another, this internal tug-of-war between the temptation of instant gratification and the pursuit of long-term attainment. But I'm here to tell you there's hope.

By understanding the intricate process of dopamine release, we can rewrite the rules of engagement, transform resistance into fuel, and reclaim our creative power.

Dopamine is everywhere.

But It's important to understand that dopamine operates on two distinct timescales, with very different consequences for our motivation and deeper fulfillment.

This is the tug-a-war between instant gratification and the pursuit of long term attainment:

• Short-term dopamine loops are easy to start and keep in motion because of the ease and accessibility of the dopamine producing behavior but often lead to long-term pain or dissatisfaction. (In my case think — the vape, the scroll, the caffeine, all things taking me further away from my goals.)

• Long-term dopamine loops are harder to start and keep in motion due to the upfront cost of discomfort or pain that must be paid but often lead to long-term happiness. (Think — conquering a creative challenge, witnessing your own growth, the quiet power of perseverance.)

It was tripping after these quick fixes that blocked me from my long-term goals fueling even more fury thus carving me deeper into the pattern. It felt like an endless cycle.

Every bit of negativity and dismay drove me deeper into these fits of instant gratification. I was stuck in a loop. I'd reach a point in production where i couldn't stand what i was listening to anymore and would reach for my phone to distract myself. Id find myself scrolling to avoid the work.

I would even catch myself red handed in moments of just the slightest discomfort, like waiting for a track to bounce in place or rendering my final version before i called it quits.

It's crazy the little ways dopamine gets you to deceive yourself.

I thought i was making progress, but i was really just spinning my wheels. I would even find during a tough point in the mix finding myself scrolling plugin boutique thinking that a new plugin could solve the problem. It got to the point that i would grab a new plugin and the problem would disappear, and it did, until the novelty wore off and i found myself back in the loop.

I started to associate the act of mixing as feeling hopeless and painful, and like i said i couldn't even start a mix unless i had a vape at my side. I knew something needed to change when i found myself avoiding the studio and the thing that sparked the passion in the first place.

After reading my experience, you may realize that your experience may be completely different, your relation to short term dopamine may be much healthier than mine.

But for those of you readers who resonate with the cycle i described, I want to share a frame-work with you that i created to navigate these cycles and gain enough momentum to hit escape velocity.

The creative process, especially for mixing engineers and producers, is often a rollercoaster of emotions and energy. Dopamine plays a pivotal role in this journey, driving us to seek rewards and overcome challenges. But as we've explored, dopamine can be a double-edged sword. Through experimentation, I've discovered how to harness my dopamine system to build cravings for positive behaviors and i liked to share that with you.

This is the "Creative Flow" framework.

This five-step process was designed to help you exploit your own dopamine pathways by harnessing the power of rewards, accepting the challenges of the creative process, and achieving a state of flow more consistently.

This framework is not about eliminating discomfort or forcing yourself into a rigid structure. It's about understanding your relationship with dopamine, recognizing your patterns, and developing strategies to transform resistance into fuel for your creative fire.

The "Creative Flow" Framework

Step 1: It's a Fight

• Assess the Landscape:
  Before you even begin working on a mix, take a moment to assess the landscape.
  
  What are the potential challenges and opportunities you can envision?
  What are your goals for this project?
  What kind of mindset do you need to embody for the task?
  
  It's crucial to understand what we must invest in terms of effort, attention, and focus to push through toward our goals. When accomplishing anything meaningful, it will often take substantial time and effort in comparison to the quick fixes.
  
  Accepting that the payoff won't be immediate helps me manage and prevent feelings of frustration before they surface my awareness and i think they could do the same for you.

• Identify Your Opponents:
  Recognize the internal and external factors that might hinder your progress. This is big. These could be technical challenges in the mix, self-doubt, distractions, or even the pressure of expectations. Knowing your opponents is crucial for developing effective strategies to overcome them.

• Find Your Fire:
  Tap into your passion, your determination, and your desire to create. These are your greatest weapons in the creative arena. Remind yourself why you're pursuing this path and what you hope to achieve. Dig deep and find your "why" behind the goal.

Step 2: Gaps in the Defense

• Self-Reflection:
  Take an honest look at your own tendencies and identify the patterns of distraction and self-sabotage that hinder your creative progress.

• Recognize Avoidance Tactics:
  Become aware of the various forms these avoidance tactics can take on you personally, such as procrastination, perfectionism, seeking external validation, or indulging in quick fixes.

• Assess Your Strengths and Weaknesses:
  Identify the coping mechanisms that truly support your creative flow and those that disrupt it.

Step 3: Mental Judo

• Reframe Challenges:
  Learn to view challenges and obstacles as opportunities to strengthen your skills, broaden your knowledge, deepen your understanding of the craft, ultimately expanding your potential. When you encounter obstacles in the mix, don't let them discourage you.

• Embrace Discomfort:
  Start working to change your relationship with discomfort. Recognize that discomfort is often a sign of growth. Embrace the struggle, knowing that it's forging your focus and resilience. For me, it's a sign that I'm pushing into a territory of opportunity, stretching just outside my comfort-zone.

• Channel Your Energy:
  When you're feeling frustrated or angry, don't fight it, channel it. Think of these intense emotions as your creative fuel. They're actually showing you where you're pushing against your limits. Instead of backing away, lean into that uncomfortable feeling. The more you practice sitting with these emotions, the better you'll get at bouncing back. Before you know it, you'll be using that emotional energy to power through and finish strong.

Step 4: A Mind Like Water

• Develop Mental Fortitude:
  Build up your mental and emotional toughness so you can handle all the twists and turns that come with being creative. Think of it like water finding its way downstream, the more you practice responding gracefully to obstacles and challenges, the more naturally you'll adapt to creative blocks and self-doubt, letting them flow through you rather than getting stuck.

• Embrace Intensity:
  Art is struggle. In the quest to achieve mastery of our craft, the work required reveals the effort we must put in to develop our skills and achieve our potential. Don't shy away from the intensity of the creative struggle. Lean into it, knowing that it's shaping your skills and strengthening your resolve.

• Sharpen Your Focus:
  Train your mind to stay present and engaged, even when faced with distractions and temptations. Use checklists to expand your ability to focus and exploit the dopamine system. Just like a video game, complete each quest and check off each box on your list. This will not only keep you focused on your goals, but will also train your reward pathways to crave mixing a make the process much more fun.

Step 5: Evolve

• Embrace Continuous Learning:
  Failure is our greatest teacher. You learn from trial and error. Every mistake , whether in technique, decision, or in understanding, provides valuable lessons. The creative journey is about continuous growth, and embracing patience paradoxically accelerates your progress toward mastery. Keep pushing forward.

• Celebrate Your Progress:
  THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE LOOP WE'RE CREATING HERE!
  
  It's simple to do—and simple not to do—but it's crucial that we create small reward systems to truly exploit the dopamine system to our benefit and get ourselves back on track.
  
  Avoid all rewards during the session itself.
  
  Instead, start with small rewards after completing each session, then build up to larger rewards at the end of weeks where you've made consistent progress. Scale up the rewards for reaching bigger milestones like a month of consistency and so on.
  
  This positive feedback loop is essential. Take time to acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small—each victory strengthens your commitment towards your motivation.

• Learn from Setbacks:
  We're all human, and were all gonna have set backs. Don't let these setbacks discourage you. Analyze your mistakes, learn from them, and use them as opportunities to grow and improve, then dust your self off and get back in the fight.

Thinking Inside the Mix:

The "Creative Flow" framework empowers you to master the art of developing any skill, where technical expertise and artistic vision unite naturally in a state of focused flow.

By implementing the steps outlined in this framework, you can train your mind to overcome distractions, manage your dopamine effectively, and tap into your full creative potential.

With persistent practice you'll develop the mental fortitude, discipline, and resilience needed to navigate the challenges of the creative process and achieve a state of flow where your best work emerges in a state of ease.

Seeing behind the curtains finally revealed the effects of short-term dopamine when used without intention, as I hope it does for you. It was like i was able to look into a mirror and cut through the bullshit, revealing just how much I was trapped in these endless cycles of false progress.

Through the patience and often frustrating process of recognizing these patterns, I was able to develop better habits focused on sustainable growth rather than quick rewards.

If you're caught in similar loops, know you're not alone.

The Creative Flow framework, combined with patience and dopamine awareness, can help break these cycles and develop your skills at an extremely high level. Remember, it's about changing how we interpret frustrations or perceived obstacles to shift our response to them.

When you feel that uncomfortable feeling creeping over you, know that's a sign you're forcing growth and expanding your potential.

I’m here to tell you, you can do this.