Switching Your Dopamine!
Strategies for leading a fulfilling life even on days when your reward is not in sight
‘Motivation’ is a word which is the centrepiece of many problems or a solution to many as well. Whether you are a manager who has to motivate your team or if you are an entrepreneur who wants to gear up his team or you are any individual going through everyday struggles to find some inspiration to start your day, motivation is something we all would have been searching for at some point or the other. That is why structuring rewards is such a huge part in boosting team morale. But in the absence of your expected rewards how do you keep going? Let’s dive in!
There will be situations when we might not get the necessary rewards at work, the role you were looking for or the deal you tried to crack might not come through. When things are not going your way, you cannot rely on the same rewards that were motivating you before, you cannot rely on the same dopamine, so what might help? let’s switch our dopamine.
Before understanding about switching our dopamine, let’s dwell upon ‘Finding Your Dopamine’. Finding our dopamine could be a very personal journey. It is like finding meaningful work, what is ‘meaningful’ is very subjective to each individual and can be figured out through deep introspection. For some it may be teaching more people, for a writer it maybe writing more essays, for a violinist it could be playing more songs. Whether or not the essays reach a wide readership is a matter of eventuality.
Why ‘Switching your Dopamine’ is important? It immediately takes the power away from something/someone external and puts the power into you. And can keep you moving ahead in whatever you are doing. It could keep you moving even on days when you are not able to get that deal, on days when you don’t get that much needed reward.
This shift in mindset allows you to maintain a sense of progress and drive, even during challenging times when external validation may be scarce. By redirecting your focus towards intrinsic factors such as personal growth, learning, and self-fulfillment, you tap into a sustainable and empowering source of dopamine. This internal switch empowers you to persist, find meaning in the process, and continue moving forward on your journey, regardless of external outcomes. This shifts your focus towards input metrics instead of output metrics and pushes to keep going even on the day when you don’t see rewards in terms of output metrics.
Studies have revealed that individuals who are intrinsically motivated tend to perform better and achieve higher levels of success. In a meta-analysis of 128 studies, researchers found that intrinsic motivation was significantly associated with better performance across various tasks. In fact, intrinsically motivated individuals outperformed those who were primarily motivated by external rewards by an average of 17%.1
However, in many scenarios you will not find the dopamine or might not able to switch the dopamine as well, in those cases you would have to put up through the discomfort of completing the task. Having said that you can try adopting this whenever possible.
In conclusion, "Switching your Dopamine" is a powerful concept that emphasises the importance of finding intrinsic motivation and shifting away from relying solely on external rewards, particularly monetary ones. By understanding what truly motivates you on a deeper level, you can tap into a wellspring of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. Instead of chasing fleeting external validations, you can cultivate a sustainable source of dopamine by focusing on personal growth, learning, and finding meaning in your endeavours. By making this switch, you reclaim the power over your own happiness and maintain momentum even in the absence of immediate external rewards. Hope this opens up new perspectives for you, let me know if the concept really clicked and worked for you in some way.
Source: Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627-668.