Evolve > Mindfulness >The Link Between Dopamine & Personal Growth
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter known as the reward chemical. It helps you feel pleasure and happiness, and is one of the 4 feel-good chemicals secreted by the body. It controls motor functions, sensory stimuli and keeps you alert & awake. So how do dopamine and personal growth go hand in hand? Let’s take a look.
The link between dopamine and personal growth
Personal growth essentially means improving your behavior and habits, and refers to techniques for building positive habits, behavior, actions and reactions. Dopamine is the reward chemical and gets activated whenever you learn something new or accomplish a task! In fact, dopamine increases motivation, pleasure, desire to learn and determination to achieve goals! It is secreted when you are happy and these are the moments it helps you feel great.
How to increase dopamine in your body
Dopamine and everyday activities
You can boost dopamine levels with simple relaxing activities such as a massage or bath. Moreover, complete a task, work out and get a good night’s sleep, and you will definitely feel great after. By incorporating more relaxing activities into your daily routine, you can reward yourself not only with more happiness, but also with health! Simple activities like making your bed in the morning puts you in a positive & productive mindset, and sets you on the path to forming a good habit. Trying to use your non-dominant hand for mundane tasks such as brushing teeth or opening doors can help you be more self-aware and practice self-control. These simple tasks are life hacks which can be very rewarding, lead to your personal growth and keep you happy!
Dopamine is good for you because it helps your system and gives you the tools to be more motivated, productive and assured in meeting your goals.
In fact, dopamine can regulate your mood and motor functions! Too much dopamine in your system and you may feel restless or experience uncontrollable movements.
Dopamine and food
Another simple way to increase dopamine production in your body is the food you eat! When you’re craving comfort food or something very rich and indulgent, the pleasure you derive from it is due to dopamine. The pleasure you get from sexual gratification is similar to the pleasure you derive from eating sugar rich food. By incorporating small amounts of cheese, nuts, beans and coffee in your diet, you can increase the dopamine in your system with ease.
On the flip side, when you’re trying to quit a bad food habit, say fried food or cigarettes, it is difficult. However, you can practice self-control and become more decisive in your actions when you hold off. When you accomplish this self-control, what chemical is released into your bloodstream? Dopamine!
If you’re able to achieve a small milestone, celebrate a small victory and make strides to better personal growth, you’ll feel good about yourself. Make your own bed in the morning and successfully completing your targets for the month. All of this can help your personal growth.
Dopamine helps you manage stress as well. As you know, managing stress is one of the biggest hurdles to personal growth. This is why dopamine is great! More the dopamine, less the presence of cortisol and stress in your body! So if you want to feel happy, try celebrating the little things… Or give a listen to one of Evolve’s joyful guided audios. They will lower your stress and help you balance.
Evolve helps you balance and grow in a joyful manner with a variety of guided audios. Our journeys are designed to keep you grounded and become a better version of yourself. The Evolve app is now live globally on Android & Apple, click here to try for free!
