Rewire Your Brain for Effort-Based Rewards

We live in a world that often glorifies end results. We care about winning the trophy, getting the promotion, achieving the perfect score. By doing this, many of us unknowingly sabotage our ability to truly enjoy effort and sustain it. But what if we could rewire our brains to find pleasure in the process itself? The science of dopamine and our reward system suggests that we can.

The Neural Mechanisms of a Growth Mindset

At the core of developing an authentic growth mindset is the ability to access rewards from effort and action. It is important not to rely solely on the outcome. It requires engaging the prefrontal part of the mesolimbic circuit—a pathway in the brain responsible for motivation and reward. By training ourselves to perceive effort itself as rewarding, we can enhance our ability to persist in challenging tasks.

This process isn’t easy. When exerting effort—whether in physical exercise, studying, or creative work—you are likely to experience discomfort. Your brain naturally wants to avoid that discomfort, leading to a desire to quit. However, over time, you can train yourself to associate effort with dopamine release. This process effectively rewires your brain to enjoy the challenge itself.

The Downside of Only Focusing on the End Goal

Your journey may be unnecessarily painful if your only source of motivation is the reward at the finish line. You deplete your mental energy when you constantly push toward a distant goal. You also strain your physical energy. Learn to enjoy the process to avoid this depletion. Your body becomes dependent on external stimulants—coffee, loud music, social encouragement—just to muster the motivation to keep going.

Additionally, dopamine plays a key role in marking time. If you’re focused solely on the reward, your brain sees effort as a means to an end. It does not recognise effort as something valuable on its own. This can make each challenge feel increasingly difficult over time, reducing your overall efficiency and resilience.

How to Rewire Your Brain for Effort-Based Rewards

The key to long-term motivation is learning to derive satisfaction from the act of effort itself. Here’s how you can start:

1. Avoid External Dopamine Triggers Before and After Effort
   • Don’t rely on an energy drink before a workout or a promise of a post-work reward to push through. Instead, let the challenge itself be the source of satisfaction.
2. Mentally Re-frame Friction as a Positive Experience
   • In moments of intense difficulty, tell yourself, “This is good. This is what growth feels like.”
   • Recognize that the pain you feel now will lead to an increase in dopamine release later, making future efforts easier.
3. Make Effort the Reward
   • Rather than chasing external validation, shift your mindset to enjoying the process. This is a skill that can be cultivated over time.
4. Repeat and Reinforce
   • The more you practice this, the more automatic it becomes. Over time, your brain will naturally release dopamine during effort, reinforcing the cycle of intrinsic motivation.

Real-World Examples of This Mindset

We admire those who master this process. Take David Goggins, for example—a former Navy SEAL who has built a career on mental toughness and embracing discomfort. He and others like him have trained their brains to associate effort with internal reward. This allows them to push past limits that most people never reach.

Even from an evolutionary standpoint, humans have always revered those who pushed beyond comfort. Hunters, gatherers, and caretakers who endure hardships for the group’s gain. Their ability to find satisfaction in effort itself was a key factor in their survival.

The Takeaway: Accessing Dopamine Through Effort

The ability to access dopamine from effort is one of the most powerful tools in our brain and body. It’s not reserved for elite athletes or high achievers—it’s available to all of us. But to tap into this mechanism, we must be mindful of how we structure our motivation.

• Don’t chase dopamine before effort.
• Don’t rely on rewards after effort.
• Learn to spike dopamine from the act of effort itself.

Embrace this mindset. You can build a more resilient, self-sustaining motivation system. This system makes effort feel rewarding rather than exhausting. In doing so, you’ll unlock a level of potential that many never reach.

Thanks to Andrew Huberman for introducing me to this concept on one of his episodes of the Huberman Lab. I have been trying to apply it to my life ever since. I think it has made a real difference. I’d be curious to hear if other people have tried this too, and if they think it helps.

Dr Damon Ashworth

Clinical Psychologist