Feel Good

Why does triumph of victory feel so good?

In part because of a glorious function of the human brain that releases a neurotransmitter called Dopamine to “reward” us for achieving objectives we set for ourselves.

(Bear with me here. This is not going to be a dry science lesson, but rather a quick fix to feeling down that you can do pretty much anytime!)

Dopamine actually serves many functions in the human brain, but the one that interests us here involves the Pleasure Principle, or our natural inclination to seek out pleasure and avoid pain.

Unlike all those drugs that you have to ingest to feel good, dopamine is a feel good drug that’s perfectly legal, because it’s produced by your own brain! (which means it’s also FREE)

When you set a goal for yourself - be it something huge like getting into college or landing a raise at your job, or something simple like cleaning your room or finishing your homework - once that goal is reached, your brain is flooded with this neurochemical as a sort of reward-mechanism to motivate and encourage you to set and achieve more goals.

So how can you use this knowledge to make yourself feel good at will?

Simply set yourself an easily achievable goal -

and achieve it!

If you’re like me and you create To-Do lists all the time to keep yourself on track, then here’s a way you can maximize your efficiency and effectiveness in completing all the items on your list while enjoying the process of productivity more than ever before.

Just do the easiest tasks first.

Try organizing your list not in order of priority, but in order of ease. Start your day by clearing off the easiest items on your list, and with each completion your brain will get a nice little flood of Dopamine, making you feel good and accomplished, and inspiring you to press forward and complete more of your goals.

By the time you get to the more complex and involved tasks on your list (maybe the ones you’ve been avoiding or procrastinating for far too long) you’ll be so energized by this Dopamine effect that you’ll be ready and rarin’ to go!

That’s why scratching off items on a To-Do list (or highlighting them or checking them off - however you prefer to do it) feels so darned good!

Be warned, however - Dopamine can be addictive. So if you don’t want to get anywhere, do anything, or be the best You that you can be, then maybe this tip isn’t for you. Maybe wallowing in miserable laziness is the better option.

For me, though, I’m going to post this blog ASAP so I can get that next pleasurable rush of brain juice.

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