Transcription
I had this patient who had very low motivation. It got so bad that most days he couldn't even get out of bed. It even reached a point where he was about to lose his job. When he came to me, he told me he had tried all the different types of supplements. In fact, he was even taking his ADHD medication, which he found was also not helping with his motivation. After getting on the phone with him for the first time, I told him, "Well, of course these supplements aren't working for you; it's because you're taking all the common supplements that really don't address lack of motivation."
So, I showed him the five supplements that actually do work for lack of motivation. However, the very first thing I had to do with him was understand the root cause of why he had this lack of motivation to begin with and also to understand why his medication was not working and why all these different supplements he was taking were not effective. I had to do some lab work. The very first thing I wanted to look at was the possibility of different imbalances in his neurotransmitters and the various neurotransmitter pathways. Sure enough, the results showed that he had significantly low dopamine levels because he had ADHD. Having low dopamine will definitely impact your motivation.
The important question was: why was the medication not working? Well, there's something you have to look at even before trying to target dopamine directly, and that's something like L-DOPA. L-DOPA is the beginning process of building dopamine. What I decided to incorporate was Mucuna pruriens, which is a great way to improve L-DOPA, which in turn improves dopamine. Additionally, I also tested his amino acids and found that his tyrosine levels were low. He told me he was taking tyrosine but didn't see much of a change. That's because if you just take random L-tyrosine, it might not be as well absorbed. So, I added something called N-acetyl L-tyrosine, which is more easily absorbed.
When I added just these two things, within just two days, he sent me a message and told me, "Oh my goodness, this is like a night-and-day difference for me! I'm able to get out of bed, I feel more motivated, and I have more drive. I haven't felt like this in years." It was just those two simple things, but this was just the beginning because he certainly had some other areas that needed improvement to achieve a more long-lasting effect of motivation throughout the day.
If we go back to the very beginning of the dopamine process, there is an excitatory neurotransmitter called phenylethylamine, also known as PEA. What I find when I'm testing for this is that the majority of my patients with ADHD tend to actually be low in phenylethylamine. When this is low, it will definitely impact your dopamine pathway, which will, in turn, impact your motivation. The thing that I incorporate here is something called DL-phenylalanine. Now, DL-phenylalanine is an amino acid that builds phenylethylamine. It also helps build tyrosine, which then, of course, tyrosine is going to build L-DOPA and subsequently build dopamine levels to help improve motivation.
Once I incorporated this with him, he experienced even better results. He told me that not only was his motivation improving throughout the day, but he also felt like his focus and memory were improving along with it. This is the same common story that I see with all my patients and clients when we find that their phenylethylamine levels are low.
Now, it doesn't just stop there because there are other neurotransmitter pathways that impact our motivation, such as serotonin and GABA. Both of those neurotransmitter pathways can significantly affect our motivation and mood. He was also significantly low in serotonin and GABA levels, which impact our mood and motivation. This is why depressed people will have low serotonin levels but also low norepinephrine levels that can affect motivation, just like people with ADHD.
When I saw this, one of the most important amino acids that you can implement to help with all three pathways is taurine. Taurine helps improve serotonin, crosses the blood-brain barrier to improve GABA levels, and has also been known to help with dopamine and norepinephrine. It's definitely one of my favorites. When we added this, not only did he feel more relaxed, but he also felt he had more motivation and drive because he tended to be very stressed. When you can reduce the stress in your life, motivation will kick in more, and you can have better focus throughout the day.
If you're looking for a full guide to improve your focus, motivation, and energy, then download my free All-Day Energy and Focus Guide in the description below.
Now, another story I want to share with you is something I see overlooked a lot when it comes to motivation. Motivation, in my opinion, is very tied and connected with low energy. I see all the time with my adult patients that I work with who have ADHD that they tend to be burnt out. I had a patient who had ADHD and was struggling with motivation, but she also had very low energy. I implemented all these other four supplements that I just listed, and she had a slight improvement, but not to the point that I would have liked to see her achieve.
So, I thought to myself, "Okay, we need to do some further investigation to see what else it could possibly be." This is when I decided to look into hormones as well as possible micronutrient deficiencies that can impact not only energy but also motivation. There were two critical things that I found in her test results: one being her cortisol levels were low throughout the day. Cortisol has everything to do with improving our energy. Think about it: the hormone that basically gives us energy to wake us up in the morning is something the adrenals release, and it was low throughout the entire day.
So, something that I needed to incorporate was something like adrenal desiccated or I used something like adrenal support from Vital Nutrients to help improve those cortisol levels. Additionally, her micronutrient test levels came back, and I found that her vitamin D3 levels were significantly low. Vitamin D3 can definitely impact our motivation and energy at the same time. So, I added 10,000 IUs of vitamin D for three months, combined with vitamin K2. It's important to combine a more fat-soluble vitamin with vitamin D3, and then tapered it down to 5,000 IUs after three months along with vitamin K2.
Within one week, she reported back to me that she finally had increased motivation and drive, and improved energy—so much so that she was able to stop her ADHD medication and didn't need to rely on it. It was those two factors. Sometimes it can be so simple, and I find this time and time again. If you are someone who is struggling with a lack of motivation, there's probably a chance that you are also dealing with significantly low energy.
So, you should watch this video next, where I talk about the five supplements that actually do help improve energy if you're dealing with fatigue. Watch this video next!