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Another life-changing blog here, people. Strap in!
Now I know this is going to sound hyperbolic and sales-pitchy, but this idea has the potential to unlock an “Infinite-Motivation” code in human biology. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, I’d agree with you if I had not experienced it myself. In fact, most likely, YOU have experienced it too at one point in your life without knowing you did. Verrrrry interesting, right? Well, not nearly as interesting as it is life-changing, so listen up!
The idea is based on the human hormone Dopamine. The chemical dopamine is released every time you experience or think of something you like or value in some way. It really does not matter why you like it; it just matters that you do.
Dopamine also makes you feel good and have energy. This is so you are more likely to do things that cause your body to release dopamine. You can think of it as a reward your body gives you for thinking or doing valuable things.
Why would your body reward you for thinking or doing valuable things? Well, I’m glad you asked, and the answer is obvious once you hear it: If you never think or do valuable things, then you die! Now that’s what I call incentive! Thanks, body!
Quick additional point to emphasize the importance of dopamine: When scientists took ALL the dopamine out of mice, the mice could not even muster up enough motivation to walk across their cage to eat food, so they literally starved. How's that for importance??
So, let’s get to how you can “hack” this mechanism!
The idea starts with an important realization: MOST of the dopamine you get from pursuing a goal is NOT from achieving the goal; it’s from PURSUING the goal! So even though you get the highest concentration of dopamine at one time when you succeed, it’s still not as much dopamine as the total collective little bits of dopamine your body gives you every day you make progress on the goal or imagine the goal completed.
So how can we use this realization to hack our motivation to turn on and stay on for “Infinite-Motivation”? In short, you have to do things that make The Journey feel more valuable.
There are many ways you can do this, and you can come up with your own ways if you like, but I’d like to share a couple of ideas that activate this powerful concept and these 4 are my official Actionable Advice for you today!:
Design a system that works as an easy and visually pleasing place to track and measure your progress. Being sure to break down tasks into small enough chunks that you can easily complete multiple each day without issue. Also, place it in a prominent location so that you can see if every day.
Create a “Vision Board” with emotionally triggering images and words of what you are working toward. Be sure to place it in a prominent location so you can see it every day.
Do everything you can to make the pursuit more easy and more comfortable. That way, your body gives you more dopamine for doing it.
Improve your “mMm Wellness 5”. That way, you are not needlessly suffering nor needlessly mentally dysfunctional.
BUT there are two big follow-up things you need to know:
The longer and more often you use this concept properly, the better it works! That’s why the most motivated people in your life seem to STAY motivated. Their systems are already in place in terms of how they live their lives AND how the brain and body respond to pursuing goals. So any new goals they have just get plugged into an already successful system. In other words the habitual dopamine producing machine you build for your self for this year's goals can be re-purposed for almost any new goals in the future. So if you are having a hard time building it, TAKE HEART, because it's super worth it in the long run.
“Easy dopamine” will be the #1 killer of your goals. This is because your goals are typically known as “hard dopamine,” which means it's harder to get dopamine from your body when you pursue that goal vs. something like scrolling on your phone or eating sugary treats. Why would your body pursue hard things that only give you a little dopamine when it could pursue easy things that can give you a lot of dopamine? Great question right? Unfortunately, if you ask your body that question is will ALWAYS favor easy dopamine and so… THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED AGAINST YOU! 🤯😱. Yes, it’s not fair, but no one said life was fair. All I need YOU to realize is that it's still VERY possible, and you CAN indeed beat the system!
This concept is what I call a Golden Tool
(A dependably useful idea that is very valuable for living a good life)
Just as proper tools are needed for the proper job, so are proper ideas.
I’ll name this idea today: ✨The Climb is the Reward✨
In fact, you’ll need a phrase to you can say to yourself to remind you about this motivation hack, and it should be “The Climb is the Reward” or like the country song “It’s the Cliiiiiiiiiimb!!!” lol. In other words, you need to remember that you need to get your body and brain to enjoy the climb, not so much the top of the mountain. Plus, all my metaphors should be about mountains if I want to remain on brand lol.
In any case, there you have it! A new and powerful Golden Tool you can use for the rest of your life, free of charge. If you appreciate the value here and this DID motivate you, and you think it would help and motivate someone else, I would appreciate it if you shared this blog with someone.
Until next time, keep moving up my friends.
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