In truth, caffeine doesn’t pep you up—it simply prevents you from feeling drowsy. With enough caffeine, there’s almost no adenosine plugged in at all, so you lose all fatigue and feel jittery. Most people use caffeine because they aren’t content with the way they feel naturally, and want better outcomes in mood and work. It does so through substitution of one molecule for another. Caffeine is a good metaphor for the next principle of emotional self-management: You often don’t have to accept the emotion you feel first. Rather, you can substitute a better one that you want.
