TJ Power

And I was so negative and I was just like an asshole to myself in my mind. So judgmental of myself. And I think the brain is a powerful machine. And if you don't ever give it a chance to send, to really hear those messages, it's just going to keep sending them and keep sending them and leave this kind of irritable feeling within you.

And I was so negative and I was just like an asshole to myself in my mind. So judgmental of myself. And I think the brain is a powerful machine. And if you don't ever give it a chance to send, to really hear those messages, it's just going to keep sending them and keep sending them and leave this kind of irritable feeling within you.

And I think there's got to be times that we just really get some time to have a conversation.

And I think there's got to be times that we just really get some time to have a conversation.

That's a good question. I would say there's this study by this chap called Schultz that actually came out in 1998. He was at Cambridge University and he looked into the idea of dopamine and the pursuit of rewards. And I think many of us are chasing a number of different rewards in our life. We might be chasing financial goals, houses, wins with our companies, followers, likes, all kinds of things.

That's a good question. I would say there's this study by this chap called Schultz that actually came out in 1998. He was at Cambridge University and he looked into the idea of dopamine and the pursuit of rewards. And I think many of us are chasing a number of different rewards in our life. We might be chasing financial goals, houses, wins with our companies, followers, likes, all kinds of things.

You might be chasing career promotions. And he did this study where he was looking at the dopamine level when you finally achieve the reward that you've been chasing for a period of time. And you would imagine it would almost just be like a simple graph where it's low and then eventually reaches high when you get the reward.

You might be chasing career promotions. And he did this study where he was looking at the dopamine level when you finally achieve the reward that you've been chasing for a period of time. And you would imagine it would almost just be like a simple graph where it's low and then eventually reaches high when you get the reward.

And he basically found that your dopamine is actually at its highest when you're about 80% there towards getting the reward. And when you finally get the reward in that final 20% as you get it, and then once you get it, the dopamine actually dips quite significantly.

And he basically found that your dopamine is actually at its highest when you're about 80% there towards getting the reward. And when you finally get the reward in that final 20% as you get it, and then once you get it, the dopamine actually dips quite significantly.

And I think for many of us, we're waiting to feel really happy once we finally attain the thing in our mind that we think is going to create happiness. But when you look into the dopamine research, that's not actually the case. Simply just being in the pursuit of a reward is what our brain wants. It doesn't actually want to acquire them all the time.

And I think for many of us, we're waiting to feel really happy once we finally attain the thing in our mind that we think is going to create happiness. But when you look into the dopamine research, that's not actually the case. Simply just being in the pursuit of a reward is what our brain wants. It doesn't actually want to acquire them all the time.

So I think it's been a shift for me, just an understanding that whatever it is, a financial goal, house goal, follower goal, like a shift around just being in pursuit is actually the goal.

So I think it's been a shift for me, just an understanding that whatever it is, a financial goal, house goal, follower goal, like a shift around just being in pursuit is actually the goal.

Definitely. And there is a thing called gold medal syndrome in research where people finally win a gold medal in the Olympics and then they actually feel quite depressed after winning it, which seems counterintuitive. It's like, why would I be depressed? I finally got the thing I was looking for. But the brain is designed to just always be in pursuit.

Definitely. And there is a thing called gold medal syndrome in research where people finally win a gold medal in the Olympics and then they actually feel quite depressed after winning it, which seems counterintuitive. It's like, why would I be depressed? I finally got the thing I was looking for. But the brain is designed to just always be in pursuit.

It's designed to always be on the journey so that for our ancestors, they didn't finally find some food and then think, cool, we're done. We don't have to go find any more food. The whole goal of being human is just to be in a consistent, steady journey of pursuit.

It's designed to always be on the journey so that for our ancestors, they didn't finally find some food and then think, cool, we're done. We don't have to go find any more food. The whole goal of being human is just to be in a consistent, steady journey of pursuit.

And for me, that's made a big difference to kind of my overall happiness and the number of people we train within our lab because it's this idea that you don't have to just wait to be happy once you finally have that thing. Happiness is something that can come right now.

And for me, that's made a big difference to kind of my overall happiness and the number of people we train within our lab because it's this idea that you don't have to just wait to be happy once you finally have that thing. Happiness is something that can come right now.