If you always want more, this digest is for you

Yesterday I called the last digest the final one in this series. Today I'm taking that back. A question came in that deserves its own piece, especially for the high achievers, the always-busy, the ADHD-wired, and anyone who has ever thought, "I'm just never satisfied".

I started my first business at 22 with a £4,000 loan. By 31 I'd built the UK's fastest-growing company. Then I did it again. Two separate £100 million companies, built from nothing. I worked 24/7 for years.

Why? Because I was never satisfied. I always wanted more. Bigger. Better. Next.

I have what's now widely recognised as ADHD wiring. Restless, driven, easily bored, addicted to stimulation. A lot of business builders do.

For years I assumed my engine ran on too much dopamine. The constant want, the inability to switch off, the chase. Surely all of that was an overflow?

Wrong. Almost the opposite is true.

Here's what the neuroscience actually shows. ADHD brains have LOW baseline dopamine, not high. The "always wanting more" feeling isn't an excess. It's a hunt. A brain searching, desperately, to top itself up. The reason ADHD medication works (Ritalin, Adderall) is because it raises dopamine. Add dopamine, and the wanting calms down.

And this applies to far more than ADHD.

If your day involves a lot of phone scrolling, a lot of sugar, a lot of stress, your dopamine baseline is probably running flat too. The "I'm bored, I want more, nothing satisfies me" feeling is your brain hunting. Not your brain bursting.

Which is why the answer to always wanting more is not less dopamine. It's more of the slow, earned kind.

Here's the paradox.

Slow earned dopamine fills you up. The cold shower, the walk in sunlight, the workout, the real meal, the proper conversation, the piece of work you finished. They build your baseline. The hunger eases. You become genuinely more satisfied with what you have.

Fast cheap dopamine empties you out. The notification, the biscuit, the doom scroll, the third pint. They spike, crash you, lower your baseline, and leave you hungrier than before.

The more you chase fast dopamine, the more you'll feel "I always want more". The more slow dopamine you build, the more you can actually sit still and feel content.

For me personally, this understanding is slowly beginning to help change things. I still have some drive. I still build. I still go after things. But I'm no longer as obsessed (mind you that’s not what my wife would tell you).

If you've always wanted more, you don't need less ambition. You need a fuller tank.

Your action today: Notice once today when you reach for something fast (a snack, your phone, a quick scroll). Ask yourself "am I actually hungry for more, or just running on empty?" Then do one slow dopamine thing instead. A walk. A glass of water. A real conversation