Addiction as a Superpower

Addiction has become such a popular diagnosis these days.

It’s a staple of our post-modern society. A product of the over-abundant world we live in. Where boredom and inconvenience have become ancient artifacts.

Too much stimulation, screen-time, sugar, etc. Look around any room, odds are about half the people have experienced some form of addiction or compulsion within the past year.

It’s generally bad, addiction. Frowned upon. I guess by definition it means you are “dependent on a particular thing, unable to stop without incurring adverse effects”.

But what if we could flip it — what if you became addicted to things that were actually good for you? Obsessed with things that made you stronger, not weaker?

Now I’m not implying addiction is something you can fully control, or denying that some people have more addictive tendencies than others (myself). I’m just asking, how much it can be channeled for the GREATER GOOD??

That’s what I’ve been thinking about recently. Instead of fighting my brain’s tendency to form counterproductive habits, I'm trying to learn how to redirect it.

Enact some agency over the things I choose to be compulsive about. Dependencies that actually improve my life vs. diminish it.

Like, imagine that every morning you need a 20-minute run before you feel right. Or missing a day of Duolingo makes you feel anxious. Or skipping a day of writing blogs and something feels off, like forgetting to brush your teeth.

That sounds like productive addiction to me, the difference here is just outcome. Outcomes that strengthen your body / mind instead of weakening it.

I think the trick is understanding that your brain doesn’t really care what it gets addicted to - it’s mostly about the dopamine hit of the ‘familiar’. The reward pathway doesn’t really discriminate between good vs bad ones (ex: sugar rush vs. runner’s high).

It’s up to you to choose your poison (or medicine).

Perhaps it’s time we stop thinking poorly of ourselves as having no ‘willpower’ - and start think about how you can redirect the powerful force of habit toward something that compounds in your favor.

Ask yourself, what could you become productively addicted to this week? For me, I just bought a pull-up bar, hoping to get addicted to doing lat exercises - Wish me luck :-)

Cultivate addictions you are proud of. That’s the motto.

Peace,
Ramsey