The Morning Scroll: A Lesson in Discipline Over Motivation
A blog post a day sounds daunting, but the moment I committed to it, life conveniently handed me an endless supply of things to write about. Maybe it’s just heightened awareness—either way, here we are.
This morning, unbeknownst to me, I slept through eight alarms. Grabbed my phone in a panic, looked at the time, saw that I missed my yoga class, and rather than getting up in that moment… I, in all of my sluggish glory, went to instagram. Bad. Move.
I knew better, but I let my higher self take a back seat as I began to scroll. Subconsciously trying to soothe my disappointment over missing class with
“doom-scroll dopamine”. The problem? It wasn’t real satisfaction. Just a feeling that mimics achievement without any actual effort.
I recently listened to a podcast where they talked about dopamine—the infamous “happy hormone.” But what I didn’t realize is that dopamine isn’t just about happiness. It’s about effort and reward—a chemical our brain releases when we earn something. The issue? Social media has found a way to hijack that system. Instead of the slow, steady dopamine we get from true accomplishment, we get an instant, artificial high—followed by a crash that kills motivation.
And that’s exactly what happened. By the time I pulled myself away from my phone, I felt drained and unmotivated. Lethargic. Even somewhat depressed… “I should have been up on time”, “what the hell am I going to do with my morning”, overstimulation paired with dopamine crash in full effect.
Thank God for discipline.
At 1 PM, I forced myself to a different yoga class. I cold plunged and decided to take a media break for the rest of the day. I was excited to get home, write, clean, and get some shit done that i’ve been putting off.
Here’s the thing: Effort rewires the system. It resets dopamine in a way that actually benefits you. Whether it’s a workout, a cold plunge, a walk, ten minutes of reading —anything that pushes you, even slightly, counts. It’s the kind of reward that lasts—like finishing a great meal you cooked yourself, nailing a project at work, or finally lighting that campfire after struggling with the matches. It’s the kind of reward that builds confidence and momentum instead of draining it.
The lesson? You can mess up your morning and still take back your day. The key is to do something—anything—you can be proud of.
How do you push through when motivation isn’t home? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear.
Also, if you’d like to dive deeper into this subject, check out the podcast episode I’m referring to. Jay Shetty and TJ Power make it incredibly digestible and I highly recommend taking a listen.
xx Koli
Ps. I just released a new merch line for my single “Green Light” link to the song and the merch below!!!
from koli 
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