Another aspect of being unable to move past the present moment and plan for the future is how the neurotransmitter dopamine influences our actions. Humans abide by the pleasure principle; we seek pleasure and avoid pain whenever possible, even subconsciously. Acting self-disciplined very rarely brings you pleasure, and most of the time it actively brings some measure of pain or at least discomfort. That’s a problem. We must change the way we think about pleasure and pain, and who we want to benefit the most: in most cases, your future self.
