Understand how dopamine works and turn on the switch to a happy life

Happiness is a state that each of us desires, but this state cannot be sustained all the time. Why?

The feeling of happiness actually comes from a series of neurological substances secreted in the human body, such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, etc. Dopamine makes people full of passion and positivity, and it is the motivation and source that inspires us to do something; serotonin makes people feel calm and tranquil, and is an important substance that brings a sense of healing; endorphins are our response to Stress is a hormone that helps us relieve pain when we face stress and danger, allowing us to focus more on coping and solving problems.

These substances cannot be secreted continuously and unconditionally. Only under certain triggering conditions will they be secreted normally and bring us a feeling of happiness.

So, to a certain extent, as long as we can control the switch of secreting these happy substances, we can control our own happiness. In particular, dopamine is directly called the "happiness substance". How does it make us happy?

Understanding Dopamine

Moments when we feel very happy, such as: when we overcome difficulties, when we win the game, when we achieve something, when we get a salary increase, when we are appreciated by others , when you are loved... you will be very happy. This is why our bodies are secreting dopamine.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical substance that helps cells transmit impulses. It is mainly used to transmit information about excitement and happiness. So it is also called "happy substance".

The secretion of dopamine will make the brain more energetic and full of enthusiasm and enthusiasm for life and work. If you find that you are in a particularly depressed state for a certain period of time, have no interest in anything, and have lost your motivation in work, it is likely that your dopamine is on strike.

It’s time to get those dopamine kicks flowing!

What does dopamine like?

Three keywords that promote dopamine secretion: challenge, hope, and reward.

All in all, dopamine hates standing still, and it especially likes rewards.

Dopamine has a deep relationship with the working memory function of the prefrontal lobe. Therefore, the secretion of dopamine has a positive impact on people's ability to process information, attention, concentration, and planning. When dopamine is fully secreted, learning ability and memory will be particularly good.

Think back to whether you have had such an experience. When you suddenly want to do something at a certain period of time, you are very motivated every day, have a very strong learning ability, and do not feel tired easily. On the contrary, the more you work, the happier you are, and you can A lot of progress and achievements in a short period of time. This is the state of full dopamine secretion.

1. Challenge

Things that are not difficult can only be handled by inertia and potential cognition. There is no need to use dopamine to enhance learning ability. Therefore, without challenging goals and things, dopamine is of no use. To get dopamine to kick in, you have to set goals that cannot be easily achieved with your current cognition and abilities. That is to say, the goal must be difficult and challenging. Challenges stimulate dopamine secretion, thereby mobilizing your greater potential to complete tasks.

For example, if you chase a girl who is always available to you every day, or if you chase a goddess who is a little aloof, the latter will definitely make you secrete more dopamine.

2. Hope

If this difficulty makes you lose all hope, I’m sorry, dopamine won’t buy it either.

For example, if an ordinary student wants to chase a girl in his school who looks like Gao Yuanyuan, and if he wants to chase Gao Yuanyuan himself, the latter will not have much effect on dopamine secretion. So your goals must be achievable.

3. Rewards

Dopamine is particularly fascinated by rewards. Being praised, loved, and encouraged can all promote dopamine secretion, including of course the most tangible material and monetary rewards. As long as you like it, dopamine will also like it.

These rewards will give dopamine a sense of accomplishment for completing the goal, and more dopamine will be secreted in anticipation of completing better goals and receiving more rewards.

And it not only accelerates the secretion when you actually get the reward, but when your longing and wish are realized, that is, when you start to formulate a goal plan, it has already started to secrete and realize it for you. The goal is to increase your power.

Dopamine reward cycle system

These three characteristics of dopamine form the dopamine reward cycle system:

Set a slightly difficult goal (stimulate dopamine secretion, Enhance motivation);

The goal can be expected and the results after achievement can be seen (allowing more dopamine to be secreted, allowing the brain to work hard to accumulate energy for the goal);

The goal is achieved, The sense of accomplishment of completing a goal is a reward in itself, but you need to give yourself a greater reward to stimulate dopamine to meet higher challenges.

When you are rewarded, immediately set a more difficult goal ……

From this point of view, the reason why people’s desires are difficult to satisfy is because dopamine is too greedy. It always completes one goal and hopes to challenge more difficult goals, obtain one reward, and also longs for more rewards. .

As such, it is a catalyst and right-hand man for our continued growth and progress. The process by which the dopamine reward cycle system operates is itself a process of our “self-growth” and “self-realization”. And because of the happy effect of dopamine, this process itself is a happy life experience. Happiness is not the result, it is the process of our struggle.

As long as we can apply the working mechanism of dopamine to our life and work, it is not difficult to become a happy person.

Become a happy person from tomorrow: Tips on applying the working principle of dopamine to life and work

1. Continuous passion for struggle cannot be separated from reasonable goals

2. One trick to dismantle most of the worries in life

3. Monotonous work can also produce a sense of happiness

1. Reasonable goals are not only It is easier to achieve and brings more happiness to people

What is a reasonable goal? There is no shortage of courses and books to tell us the correct answer. Now let’s look at the three characteristics that dopamine likes. Have you found that the goal-setting methods that everyone has told you actually conform to these three characteristics?

The goal must be challenging and one level of difficulty higher than your current level. Things that can be easily accomplished are not goals, and they cannot mobilize the secretion of dopamine at all, so you will not be very excited, full of fighting spirit and enthusiasm. A goal without challenges is not a qualified goal.

Goals must be achievable and promising. You can at least see what it will be like after achieving this goal. This is called seeing hope, and you will be more motivated and motivated. If the difficulty is too high, you will not be able to achieve it no matter how hard you try, and dopamine will not support you to continue doing it. Therefore, the difficulty of the target should be moderate, and it is best to reach it in one jump.

After achieving your goal, you should give yourself adequate rewards in a timely manner. It is best to set this reward in advance, and the greater the achievement, the more luxurious the matching reward should be. And be sure to fulfill your promise. If you fail to promise dopamine, it will fail to promise you.

When you achieve a goal and taste the sweetness of the reward, you should immediately set higher goals. On days without goals and challenges, dopamine is also very boring. It will gradually become too lazy to secrete, and you will fall into a sub-happiness state where you are dull and boring and have no interest in anything.

2. A simple trick to dismantle most of the worries in life

A word dopamine likes is called: hope. No matter what kind of predicament we find ourselves in, as long as we can see hope in our hearts, our bodies will secrete dopamine, allowing us to still feel happiness and motivation for life even if we are in desperate situations.

So when you are worried, sad, desperate, or depressed, try this trick.

The method is very simple, close your eyes and let your mind wander along the following steps for a while.

Step one: Think about it, what causes you to be in a bad mood? Then analyze the reasons one by one, and remember that the final reason must be attributed to yourself.

Step 2: Use a hypothetical sentence to hint to yourself: If I have some ability to change this situation, then... (The conclusion must be a happy and happy state, if not, continue Analyze the reasons) I won’t be so unhappy now.

Step 3: Imagine that you have the ability to change the current situation, and then how to do it to make the current situation better step by step.

When you feel that your power becomes stronger and everything becomes better in your imagination, dopamine will begin to secrete quietly, your mood will become happy, and your state will become positive. And this sense of pleasure and positivity is to people what gasoline is to cars.

When you open your eyes again and face the bad situation in reality, you will find that everything is not so bad because of the change in your own mood and state.

Under the influence of dopamine, your ideas become clearer and clearer. If you think further, you can also help yourself find ways to break through difficulties and solve problems!

3. How to secrete dopamine smoothly in monotonous work and find fun in the ordinary?

Dopamine hates things that are dull and unchangeable. So when you fully master a skill and start doing it repeatedly day after day, dopamine starts to hit. Especially daily tasks with monotonous and repetitive content can easily make people feel numb.

But we can’t stop doing a job just because it’s too boring, right? On the contrary, some people can make extraordinary achievements and feel happy in such ordinary work. The secret lies in catering to the novelty and challenges that dopamine likes.

The method is simple: add changes to repeated work, add challenges, and design upgrade reward rules.

1. Change:

Add some elements of change to the regular rhythm, such as taking a photo every day at a place you must pass by when going to work; or changing the route to work today; Two pots of green plants decorate the office environment... These are all elements of change.

For example, for a typist who repeats mechanical operations every day, even if he adjusts his typing posture and tries his best to maintain a standard posture while typing, this is still a change. In short, there are too many elements that make up work. You can find any element and make some changes to give you a fresh feeling.

2. Increase the difficulty:

If you are already very proficient in technology, then improve the accuracy and set an accuracy goal of 98. After the success, continue to challenge 100.

If the accuracy is already very high, continue to challenge the speed and set a time limit. For example: How much must be completed within 2 hours with an accuracy of 100. Set a shorter challenge time every other week for the same workload.

Also don’t forget about rewards. Give yourself a reward if you complete the accuracy and speed challenges every day or every week. It's okay to have a delicious meal. Food itself can also stimulate the secretion of dopamine!

By analogy, constantly set challenging goals. Not only can you find fun in monotonous work, but you can also achieve results in this job that are difficult for others to achieve, and gain recognition from the outside world.

3. Game mentality:

We know that playing games is particularly addictive. In fact, it makes good use of dopamine. The game will continue to increase the level of difficulty and accumulate points. When the points reach a certain level, you can advance and receive attractive rewards. When we particularly yearn for the rewards after upgrading, we will be full of energy to challenge and overcome levels.

We might as well apply the mechanism of "rewards for achieving goals" to our work.

Like the small goals of improving accuracy and speed mentioned above, reward yourself if you achieve the set improvement standards.

For example: If you can complete the work that originally took 5 hours in 4.5 hours for 5 consecutive days this week, and ensure accuracy, go see a movie on Friday.

Every time you upgrade, there must be rewards to make work as challenging and attractive as a game. Does monotonous work also have a different kind of fun?

But remember, the reward rules must be set in advance and not as an afterthought, otherwise the significance of stimulating dopamine secretion will be lost.

Happiness is hidden in our bodies. If we control dopamine well, we can control our own happy life.