I get way too much enjoyment out of beating lower rated opponents

Sometimes I spend hours just playing people in the 700-1500 rating range.  I'm 1700 blitz rating and 1800 bullet rating, so I can quickly crush these opponents ~95% of the time and go on a huge winning streak.

The problem is: as much as I enjoy crushing weaker opponents and showing off my tactical prowess, it's not actually getting me anywhere. All it does is feed my ego. It's not actually helping me to become a better player.

My goal is to achieve 2000 blitz and 2000 bullet rating by the end of this year, but I'll never achieve this goal if I just continue to play significantly weaker opponents. Yet still, I can't help myself. It just feels way too good to go on a winning streak, and feels way too demotivating to go on a losing streak and get crushed by better players all the time.

Does anyone else feel the same way? How do you get out of this mindset?

feed your need, I'm will to let you beat up on me.

yeah, me too. I too got sucked into this bad habit recently (past few weeks). The thing is these games are just too much fun because I don't put any effort and yet win most of the games. I also get to try out all sorts of ideas and openings. It's just too much fun and feeds the ego. But, yeah, totally useless for improvement. 

Maybe helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322#customerReviews

I do the same thing. I don't like winning streaks per se, but my longest is 83.

What I like is that when you play a much lower rated player your plans always work, and your inaccuracies are forgiven (because the opponent doesn't notice them). So basically all your moves feel pretty good.

How do you get out of this mindset? I dunno. After games where an equal or better opponent shows that some of my moves or ideas were bad, I can learn from that, and learning is fun too. I guess you have to decide what you want to do. If you've been working hard on improving for a while, maybe you just need a break, and have some fun beating easy opponents.

. . . you're having fun, so that means you should keep doing it.

Is the proper end to the thought you'd started out with, lol.

My best memory in chess is when I drew a 400 higher rated player OTB, though.

It's what you learn will crushing them that's important try mixing it up.and sack your qween it beginning and see if you can beat them.  Also if you get beat by the weaker play it shows you weakness in your own game. And ratings are over rated it's what you know not what your  rating is.

It feels a lot better to beat someone around your own level or higher.  

1.  Yawn I beat someone I should have beat.  Ho hum

OR

2.  YES!  I played REALLY well!

Yeah, but it uses brain power to play someone near your level. If you're tired it's just annoying because you lose more games than win, and the ones you win were only because your similarly rated opponent did something dumb. So all your moves feel dumb.

But play while tired against a low rated person and all your moves magically work out

I hope he is not one of those guys, but his enjoyment of playing against weaker players worries me a little bit.

LOL that people are comparing having fun wrecking others in a game of chess to being an actual real life sociopath.

Chess the gateway drug.