Why do some people feel empty even after achieving their goals? The answer may lie in a dopamine deficit affecting the brain’s reward system. Let’s explore more!
Lacking satisfaction from accomplishment signals the need for mind modifications.
Key points
- The dopamine system clashes with today’s world—creating a mismatch between what our brains expect and reality.
- Technology and social media hijack reward pathways diminishing sensitivity to easily obtained natural rewards.
- Convenience alters the nature of the effort-reward relationship that accompanies accomplishment.
In our achievement-obsessed culture, we constantly strive to reach goals, meet deadlines, and create a sense of accomplishment, whether it be in our personal or professional lives. However, a peculiar phenomenon has emerged: Many people report feeling surprisingly empty after accomplishing goals or achieving milestones.
You’ve probably experienced it yourself—that anticlimactic feeling after acing an exam, landing a coveted job, or securing a desired relationship. This disconnect between achievement and satisfaction isn’t just psychological; it’s neurological, rooted in how modern life has disrupted our brain’s reward systems.
Read More Here: Do you wish to stop Procrastinating? Dopamine detox is your solution!
The fickle power of dopamine
At the center of this issue is the neuromodulator dopamine, often erroneously labeled as the “pleasure molecule.” In reality, dopamine is more accurately described as the “wanting” chemical—it drives anticipation and motivation rather than creating the actual pleasure of achievement (Berridge & Kringelbach, 2015).
Dopamine provides the urge that allows you to make progress toward your goals. Neuroscience research shows that dopamine spikes most during the pursuit phase, not at the moment of achievement. This evolutionary mechanism developed to keep our ancestors hunting, gathering, and surviving, not scrolling through Instagram for hours.
Today’s digital environment has accelerated what some psychologists call the hedonic hamster wheel (Hoffman, 2025)—perpetual striving, accompanied by our tendency to quickly return to (or be below) baseline dopamine levels after positive events. Every time you check social media, you’re exposing yourself to a carousel of others’ accomplishments, creating a constantly rising threshold for what registers as impressive to your brain.
The 3.8 GPA becomes meaningless when you’re regularly exposed to peers who appear to effortlessly maintain 4.0s while running startups and traveling internationally. The glamour of the new car falls flat after just a few days. The cherished mate becomes annoying after only a few weeks. What used to satisfy no longer does the job.
Diminished satisfaction
Perhaps more concerning is how modern technology has hijacked our natural reward pathways. The variable reward schedules built into smartphones and social platforms trigger dopamine releases far more potent than traditional achievements (like a walk in the park) can generate.
The instant gratification of notifications creates neurological competition that relationship, academic, and career accomplishments—with their delayed and subtle payoffs—simply cannot match. Research in computational neuroscience suggests that after extended exposure to these optimized digital stimuli, the brain’s sensitivity to natural rewards diminishes significantly (Montag & Diefenbach, 2018).
The effort-reward relationship has also been fundamentally altered. We value things more when we’ve struggled to create them (Touroutoglou et al., 2020). Yet, modern conveniences have systematically removed necessary effort from many achievements. The satisfaction of researching a paper in physical library stacks has been replaced by the convenience of online databases and AI summary tools. While efficiency increases, the neurological satisfaction decreases proportionately. Prior challenges become too simple to conquer, and, subsequently, the feeling of accomplishment wanes.
The relationship between achievement and accomplishment has been altered. In hunter-gatherer societies most actions produced immediate, visible results. Now, the relationship between your daily efforts and ultimate outcomes has become abstract and distant. Your brain struggles to connect today’s study session with a degree that’s years away, creating a persistent satisfaction deficit.
Strategies to overcome disruption
So, how can you recalibrate your neurological reward system in this high-stimulus environment? Start by creating artificial constraints. Instead of using all available resources, intentionally limit yourself to create meaningful challenges.
The resulting sense of accomplishment will activate deeper reward responses. Don’t always overload yourself with all available ways to make your life easier. Take a walk without your phone, without music playing, or without a specific purpose in mind. Enjoy the present, not dwelling on what comes next.
Next, implement immediate feedback loops within long-term projects by breaking goals into smaller, measurable components that provide regular dopamine hits. Rather than focusing solely on the final grade or outcome, celebrate completing each section of a research paper with a small, meaningful reward. Focus on the process of achieving goals and put less emphasis on the consequences of the outcome. Experience the joy of progress and what is learned during the journey. Practice digital boundaries to reset dopamine sensitivity.
Neuroscience research suggests that even short “dopamine fasts” from high-stimulus digital environments can significantly restore sensitivity to natural rewards (Lembke, 2021). Try studying or working without your phone for increasingly longer periods and notice how your capacity for deep satisfaction from academic or professional work gradually returns.
Finally, incorporate physical activity and face-to-face social connection into your achievement pursuits. These evolutionarily aligned behaviors activate reward pathways that digital accomplishments cannot match. The neurochemical cocktail released during exercise or meaningful conversation provides a natural counterbalance to the dopamine-only focus of digital achievements.
Understanding this neurological framework doesn’t just explain why your accomplishments often feel empty—it provides the blueprint for reclaiming the deep satisfaction that should accompany genuine achievement. By working with your brain’s evolved reward systems rather than against them, you can transform the experience of success from a fleeting dopamine spike to a genuinely fulfilling milestone.
Read More Here: Dopamine Fasting: Trend Or True Path To Mindfulness?
Always keep in mind the paradox of passion—too much stimulation and too much immediate reward will trigger tolerance in your neurological system, leading to a downward spiral of how you experience achievements (Hoffman, 2025). Significant accomplishments may feel routine unless you follow strategies to alter how your brain reacts to reward.
References
Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2015). Pleasure systems in the brain. Neuron, 86(3), 646–664.
Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (2016). Liking, wanting, and the incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. American Psychologist, 71(8), 670.
Hoffman, B. (2025). The Paradox of Passion: How Rewards Covertly Control Motivation. Bloomsbury.
Lembke, A. (2021). Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. Penguin.
Montag, C., & Diefenbach, S. (2018). Towards homo digitalis: important research issues for psychology and the neurosciences at the dawn of the internet of things and the digital society. Sustainability, 10(2), 415.
You just learned something about motivation that most people will never know. But this is just the beginning of what neuroscience reveals about peak performance and sustained achievement. The Paradox of Passion: How Rewards Covertly Control Motivation takes you deeper into the research that’s revolutionizing how we understand motivation, learning, and optimal performance. Pre-order now and join the inner circle of people who understand how motivation really works.
Written by: Bobby Hoffman Ph.D.
Originally Appeared On: Pscychology Today
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