Pile On Motivation

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Tag: Dopamine

  • Man’s search for fulfillment

    Having gone through some of the best self-help books as well as blogs & youtube videos, I have tried summarizing some of the key aspects, emphasized by these wise men, to lead a fulfilling life in the modern age of hustle and bustle.

    The following are some of the noteworthy books that I went through, where in the authors have tried zeroing in on these quintessential aspects.

    1. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
    2. Start With Why , Leaders Eat Last , Together is Better & youtube videos by Simon Sinek
    3. Fish Philosophy by Stephen Lundin , John Christensen , Harry Paul
    4. The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
    5. The Power of Subconscious mind – Dr. Joseph Murphy

    Based on the learnings as well as the messages conveyed in the aforementioned books as well as blogs/youtube videos please find below an attempt made by me to summarize some of the key aspects that are the perfect recipe for leading a fulfilled life for leaving a legacy for others to follow.

    • Play an infinite game – Thinking of making a better version of yourself over time without comparing with others. Tune your mind and goals in such a fashion that long term gains are given precedence over self-sided short term gains. We need to realize that there will be times when we win and there will be other times when we lose , what matters is winning in the long run. Develop a child-like inquisitiveness to know by the day and hence learn and gain by the day without being too fussy about what the competition is doing. Live in the present and remove any worry habit since time is short always try to make a difference by doing something genuinely good. Being too stressed up in the wake of competition releases cortisol which reduces the flow of oxytocin the fulfillment chemical, through our veins.
    • Choose your job, company that you keep to feel safe and motivated – Try to be in the company of people who are not toxic and entertain positive thoughts. Being in the company of leaders who motivate, inspire and give us a sense of belonging makes us feel safe and encourages us to unleash our best to achieve fulfillment. Choose a job wherein you feel safe in the company of others and where you are inspired to go to office, love your job and get back home fulfilled. Human beings right from their evolution have always been social animals who crave for having social bonds. This is why we feel safe being in the midst of like-minded people who give us a sense of belonging. These are symbols we seek in workplaces and is the very reason why we make true friends.
    • Serve those who serve others and show generosity – Try to make it a day for someone else if you are feeling down to enliven your own spirits since human being is essentially a social animal who craves for human bonds. Doing well for oneself gives us happiness but doing genuinely good for someone else without expecting anything in return gives fulfillment. Generosity by definition means doing something for someone without expecting anything in return. If this is done with the best of intentions then such actions release a chemical known as “Oxytocin” which is known to increase immunity against diseases and enables leading a fulfilled life.
    • Control the flow of “dopamine” by leading a balanced life – In the age of social media and a hyper mediated world we no longer have sacrificed forming true bonds at the cost of virtual relationships. Once in a while, take stock of your life and try to lead your life the way we used to when mobile phones were not there, social media was not that prevalent. Too much of mobile phone , social media addiction releases “dopamine” which is an addictive chemical and can cause serious repercussions if the flow of the same is not regulated. Waking up with the sun, having healthy food, exercising regularly, spending quality time with family and especially kids are certain aspects we have to give paramount importance to. Practice forgiveness and try to flush out negative thoughts from your mind the moment you encounter one. Our human mind is indeed fascinating, it is a very good slave but a very bad master and hence the habit that we inculcate gets ingrained in our brain.

    Pile on motivation!!!!

  • When social media becomes a menace

    The following two videos of Simon are truly inspiring to the core.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RyTQ5-SQYTo#

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BOTX0YwLWUA

    Social media and dopamine

    On social media and its harmful influence on millennials the following were my key takeaways:

    Any kind of addiction e.g. drinking, smoking or even gambling releases the selfish chemical known as dopamine which gives us a sense of short term happiness. All of these addictions have an age restriction associated with them violation of which is considered as an offence.

    Very little do we realize that social media in its various avatars like FB , Snapchat , Instagram with the kind of profound influence it is having in our society is nothing less than addiction in its most severe form without any age restriction.

    Social media addiction releases dopamine just like any other addiction e.g. alcohol, gambling etc.

    Social media is an amazing platform to connect with an audience when the purpose is noble enough but unfortunately when used in an uncensored fashion can cause havoc in society especially to juveniles.

    By means of a virtual platform, with absolutely no human touch, social media entices individuals to enhance expectations of getting results really quick without having to go through toil to arrive at a destination. Parameters like “number of likes”, “number of connections” are misleading since they do not involve any face to face human involvement. When we get results without much of a toil, the expectations increase and along with that impatience.

    Impatience leads to signs of depression, anger, agitation and this is a very common sign in millennials when results don’t seem to be easily gettable.

    In this age of smartphones, tabs, mobile apps and all possible social media platform, I think the time has come to take a call as to how to go back to the good old days when human touch used to the central theme of all interactions without using means of connecting through any virtual platform.

    Even though we live in an age of digital disruption we should all remember that we humans are all social animals who need a society to thrive in.The bottom line is that we all love to be loved by people who believe in us and who care for us. This sense of belonging and togetherness is not possible to achieve through virtual platforms and can only happen when we are able to connect with others at a personal level.

    Sense of fulfillment releases a chemical known as oxytocin and comes out of creation of true bonds as against false virtual friendship and connections that social media promises.

    Though virtual platforms and social media have brought in revolution in this modern era, the degree to which we need to make use of them needs to be judiciously decided by us without which this can create havoc in our society.

    Pile on motivation!!!!