Lord777
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People are always waiting for something that will bring them happiness. “When I graduate from university (find love, run a marathon, buy a house by the sea), I'll become the happiest.” But why wait? The feeling of happiness and joy depends on the hormones that a person ... is able to control.
Everyone can “turn on” happiness, like water in a tap. Simply and easily. The exercises in the book "Hormones of Happiness" will teach you how to do this whenever you want. And also - use stress for good, develop good habits and understand yourself. Let's start?
What happiness is made of
Imagine that you are receiving an award in front of everyone on Earth. Thunderous applause! You are experiencing amazing feelings. But after two minutes - the feeling is like before the ceremony. Why? Because your "happiness hormones" are split.
The feeling that we describe as "happiness" comes from the presence of four neurochemicals in the brain: dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin.
The level of "happiness hormones" in the brain drops from time to time, so we try to get a new portion. Even if you discover the planet, the rush of "joy hormones" will not last long. Unless you learn how to turn them on whenever you want.
Banana battles
Animals make the most important decisions with an extremely undeveloped cerebral cortex. Unlike a human. But sometimes it seems like the opposite is true! When a monkey loses its banana in a conflict with a fellow tribesman, it feels uncomfortable. But he does not aggravate his feelings by running them over and over in his head. She starts looking for a new banana. And ultimately feels a sense of reward, not damage.
People use additional neurons to build all sorts of theories about bananas, and in the end they create pain and frustration for themselves.
People expect much more from life. Therefore, we find ourselves so focused on our disappointments, instead of rejoicing in our achievements.
The good thing about a big brain is that it remembers a lot. However, focusing on failures leads to the fact that you can stop noticing the good. But if you choose to be happy, your brain will find something that will bring you a feeling of happiness.
Manipulator brain
Located in the brain, the "ancient brain" inherited from animals rewards you with a sense of satisfaction when you do something necessary to survive. Each hormone creates a different type of behavior. Let's say endorphin motivates people to ignore pain, making it possible to hide from danger in case of injury.
In the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for speech, you can formulate the effects of various neurotransmitters on you in any way you like, but it is the “ancient brain” that decides what is good and what is not. If one day you suddenly feel that your brain is split in two and exists, as it were, in two dimensions, the reason for this is easy to understand from the picture: our brain is formed on the basis of the mammalian brain.
Compare the areas of the brain of humans and animals: a black spot is the reptilian brain (instincts), dark gray is the limbic system (decides what is good and what is bad), light gray is the cortex with free neurons forming new connections. Illustration from the book.
Fortunately, man has free will. Electrical signals from the ancient brain travel along your well-established neural pathways, but you have the power to change them.
Why celebrate victories
You are making some progress every day. Try to see them and say to yourself: "I did it!" This stimulates the production of "happiness hormones". Of course, you won't be conducting an orchestra at Carnegie Hall every day, or driving crowds of sufferers through the desert. But adjust your expectations to what you can actually do. And you will start to receive joy.
Remember: success cannot be too small. Never ruin your positive emotions by apologizing to yourself for being happy about your smallest success. Just enjoy even a moment of triumph and move forward.
It's just a spark. But if you generate such sparks every day, you will become your very best spark plug.
Joy in every step
Everyone has pleasant habits, from eating to spending money, from loving parties to seeking loneliness. But wouldn't it be wonderful to feel satisfaction from actions and habits that are really beneficial? "Turn on happiness" not with junk food, but, for example, with creativity.
Each neurotransmitter forms a specific type of behavior. For example, dopamine motivates people to get something important, even if it's worth the effort.
You can create a good habit yourself, tied to a certain hormone, and firmly embed it in the neural connections of the brain.
An easy way to create a habit for each hormone is to turn the other side of what you are doing. Do you like photography? Induce your dopamine rush with interesting angles. Oxytocin - by sharing work with others. Serotonin - showing them at exhibitions.
Exercise "Dopamine rush"
I have a pleasant feeling when I see the first fruits on a cherry. But contemplation of berries does not make me happy for long. The brain conserves dopamine in order to ensure the achievement of important life goals for me, and refuses to "squander" it on what is already available.
People put tremendous effort and years of work into becoming a heart surgeon or a rock star, as every step along this difficult path activates the synthesis of dopamine. Dopamine provides a sense of comfort. Knowing what you are experiencing will make it easier for you to consciously evoke it.
Observe yourself and write down in what situations you feel joy (and therefore a rush of dopamine) at work, at home, in your free time, due to unexpected rewards when you do something.
Breaking the cycle of habits
Once I was eating popcorn on an airplane and a piece of my tooth broke off. I found myself far away in the sky without any possibility of urgent medical attention. The release of cortisol that occurred in my body at that moment formed new stable neural connections, and now I am wary of eating popcorn on airplanes. This is how our habits are formed.
For example, “good” builds on neural pathways that have made it easier for you to overcome anxiety in the past. And as soon as you lose this habit, the feeling of anxiety immediately returns. Then you feel as if something is threatening your survival.
Learn to recognize when habits help you overcome discomfort. If you understand that these are just connections between neurons, then create conditions for the emergence of other, more positive connections.
Cunning and love
"Everything I love is immoral or obese." This adage is true, because anything that triggers a mild rush of "happiness hormones" has side effects: be it delicious food, sex, or the desire to escape from reality. We often resort to these habits during times of stress. When you urgently want to "do something so that it is not so bad."
But here's the trick. When we feel bad, a "stress hormone" appears - cortisol. Without it, we cannot find a way out of difficult situations. He actually makes us not sit still. We do something ("seize" stress, for example) - the problem is not solved. The picture begins to look like you are driving a car with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake.
Stress can help build strengths by learning how to act right when you feel frustrated. How? Overcome the “must do something” impulse and continue living with cortisol. Quiet expectation "turns on" an alternative behavior pattern in the brain. This is where the chain of success begins.
What will you choose?
People often blame "bad choices" for their misfortunes. My friend always complains about the food served in restaurants. Of course, she chooses them herself, but immediately begins to look for flaws. And even enviously looks at the orders of other people. Next to her, I have the feeling that I will never be able to experience the joy of my food. So I don't go to restaurants with her anymore.
Positive moments create special connections between neurons that are ready to produce "happiness hormones" in the future. And the more such moments, the stronger the ties. So you can spend your whole life complaining about your choices. Or you can get in the habit of seeing the good in what you have chosen.
Fighting for the "right choice", we must realize: first of all, it is to learn how to manage our "hormones of happiness."
Your brain rejoices every time it can find any new way to satisfy needs. New food. New love. New places. New technologies. After a while, these new things don't seem to be all that new. "I remember it wasn't like that at all in the beginning." It already seems that it's time to exchange your old vivid impressions for new ones. But if you learn to understand how the brain works, you will find that your frustrations are not shaped by life, but by yourself.
If you choose to be happy, so be it. You can turn the neural pathways of your brain into high-speed highways, along which "hormones of happiness" rush. And no one will stop you.
Based on the book "Hormones of Happiness"
Everyone can “turn on” happiness, like water in a tap. Simply and easily. The exercises in the book "Hormones of Happiness" will teach you how to do this whenever you want. And also - use stress for good, develop good habits and understand yourself. Let's start?
What happiness is made of
Imagine that you are receiving an award in front of everyone on Earth. Thunderous applause! You are experiencing amazing feelings. But after two minutes - the feeling is like before the ceremony. Why? Because your "happiness hormones" are split.
The feeling that we describe as "happiness" comes from the presence of four neurochemicals in the brain: dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin.
The level of "happiness hormones" in the brain drops from time to time, so we try to get a new portion. Even if you discover the planet, the rush of "joy hormones" will not last long. Unless you learn how to turn them on whenever you want.
Banana battles
Animals make the most important decisions with an extremely undeveloped cerebral cortex. Unlike a human. But sometimes it seems like the opposite is true! When a monkey loses its banana in a conflict with a fellow tribesman, it feels uncomfortable. But he does not aggravate his feelings by running them over and over in his head. She starts looking for a new banana. And ultimately feels a sense of reward, not damage.
People use additional neurons to build all sorts of theories about bananas, and in the end they create pain and frustration for themselves.
People expect much more from life. Therefore, we find ourselves so focused on our disappointments, instead of rejoicing in our achievements.
The good thing about a big brain is that it remembers a lot. However, focusing on failures leads to the fact that you can stop noticing the good. But if you choose to be happy, your brain will find something that will bring you a feeling of happiness.
Manipulator brain
Located in the brain, the "ancient brain" inherited from animals rewards you with a sense of satisfaction when you do something necessary to survive. Each hormone creates a different type of behavior. Let's say endorphin motivates people to ignore pain, making it possible to hide from danger in case of injury.
In the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for speech, you can formulate the effects of various neurotransmitters on you in any way you like, but it is the “ancient brain” that decides what is good and what is not. If one day you suddenly feel that your brain is split in two and exists, as it were, in two dimensions, the reason for this is easy to understand from the picture: our brain is formed on the basis of the mammalian brain.
Compare the areas of the brain of humans and animals: a black spot is the reptilian brain (instincts), dark gray is the limbic system (decides what is good and what is bad), light gray is the cortex with free neurons forming new connections. Illustration from the book.
Fortunately, man has free will. Electrical signals from the ancient brain travel along your well-established neural pathways, but you have the power to change them.
Why celebrate victories
You are making some progress every day. Try to see them and say to yourself: "I did it!" This stimulates the production of "happiness hormones". Of course, you won't be conducting an orchestra at Carnegie Hall every day, or driving crowds of sufferers through the desert. But adjust your expectations to what you can actually do. And you will start to receive joy.
Remember: success cannot be too small. Never ruin your positive emotions by apologizing to yourself for being happy about your smallest success. Just enjoy even a moment of triumph and move forward.
It's just a spark. But if you generate such sparks every day, you will become your very best spark plug.
Joy in every step
Everyone has pleasant habits, from eating to spending money, from loving parties to seeking loneliness. But wouldn't it be wonderful to feel satisfaction from actions and habits that are really beneficial? "Turn on happiness" not with junk food, but, for example, with creativity.
Each neurotransmitter forms a specific type of behavior. For example, dopamine motivates people to get something important, even if it's worth the effort.
You can create a good habit yourself, tied to a certain hormone, and firmly embed it in the neural connections of the brain.
An easy way to create a habit for each hormone is to turn the other side of what you are doing. Do you like photography? Induce your dopamine rush with interesting angles. Oxytocin - by sharing work with others. Serotonin - showing them at exhibitions.
Exercise "Dopamine rush"
I have a pleasant feeling when I see the first fruits on a cherry. But contemplation of berries does not make me happy for long. The brain conserves dopamine in order to ensure the achievement of important life goals for me, and refuses to "squander" it on what is already available.
People put tremendous effort and years of work into becoming a heart surgeon or a rock star, as every step along this difficult path activates the synthesis of dopamine. Dopamine provides a sense of comfort. Knowing what you are experiencing will make it easier for you to consciously evoke it.
Observe yourself and write down in what situations you feel joy (and therefore a rush of dopamine) at work, at home, in your free time, due to unexpected rewards when you do something.
Breaking the cycle of habits
Once I was eating popcorn on an airplane and a piece of my tooth broke off. I found myself far away in the sky without any possibility of urgent medical attention. The release of cortisol that occurred in my body at that moment formed new stable neural connections, and now I am wary of eating popcorn on airplanes. This is how our habits are formed.
For example, “good” builds on neural pathways that have made it easier for you to overcome anxiety in the past. And as soon as you lose this habit, the feeling of anxiety immediately returns. Then you feel as if something is threatening your survival.
Learn to recognize when habits help you overcome discomfort. If you understand that these are just connections between neurons, then create conditions for the emergence of other, more positive connections.
Cunning and love
"Everything I love is immoral or obese." This adage is true, because anything that triggers a mild rush of "happiness hormones" has side effects: be it delicious food, sex, or the desire to escape from reality. We often resort to these habits during times of stress. When you urgently want to "do something so that it is not so bad."
But here's the trick. When we feel bad, a "stress hormone" appears - cortisol. Without it, we cannot find a way out of difficult situations. He actually makes us not sit still. We do something ("seize" stress, for example) - the problem is not solved. The picture begins to look like you are driving a car with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake.
Stress can help build strengths by learning how to act right when you feel frustrated. How? Overcome the “must do something” impulse and continue living with cortisol. Quiet expectation "turns on" an alternative behavior pattern in the brain. This is where the chain of success begins.
What will you choose?
People often blame "bad choices" for their misfortunes. My friend always complains about the food served in restaurants. Of course, she chooses them herself, but immediately begins to look for flaws. And even enviously looks at the orders of other people. Next to her, I have the feeling that I will never be able to experience the joy of my food. So I don't go to restaurants with her anymore.
Positive moments create special connections between neurons that are ready to produce "happiness hormones" in the future. And the more such moments, the stronger the ties. So you can spend your whole life complaining about your choices. Or you can get in the habit of seeing the good in what you have chosen.
Fighting for the "right choice", we must realize: first of all, it is to learn how to manage our "hormones of happiness."
Your brain rejoices every time it can find any new way to satisfy needs. New food. New love. New places. New technologies. After a while, these new things don't seem to be all that new. "I remember it wasn't like that at all in the beginning." It already seems that it's time to exchange your old vivid impressions for new ones. But if you learn to understand how the brain works, you will find that your frustrations are not shaped by life, but by yourself.
If you choose to be happy, so be it. You can turn the neural pathways of your brain into high-speed highways, along which "hormones of happiness" rush. And no one will stop you.
Based on the book "Hormones of Happiness"
