Simon Sinek WILL Change Your Life

This video is one which WILL change your life because it WILL make you reconsider what you do and why you do it.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o44dolLLzos&t=412s

Let’s break it down, following Simon’s arguments:

1. Endorphins
   1. Cover pain – mask pain – a feeling of pleasure during workouts
2. Dopamine
   1. Feeling you get when you move toward your goal – positive reinforcement of movement in the right direction
   2. Satisfaction of reaching a goal
   3. Very addictive when unbalanced
   4. Alcohol, nicotine, gambling, cell phone use, drugs – all trigger dopamine hits that make up the high you get when reaching a ‘goal’ – even when that is a hit of nicotine
   5. How do you beat a dopamine addiction? Commit to helping another addicted soul – service to others – oxytocin…
3. Seratonin
   1. Feelings of pride and status
   2. Feelings are shared by members of your inner group
   3. Builds bonds between the members of the inner group
   4. Can be tricked by conspicuous displays of wealth – equivalent  fake recognition
   5. Tricked by feeling of pride without relationships being reinforced
   6. ‘Leadership chemical’ – alpha must support the lesser members to build the cohesion of the group, but Alphas get the first choice of ‘meat and mate’
   7. The cost of being alpha is that when danger comes, they will face it for the group
4. Oxytocin
   1. Feeling of love, trust, friendship, acts of generosity
   2. Reason for spending time with friends
   3. Feels safer to be near people who are close
   4. Hugging, shaking hands, all bring people closer together
   5. Its about relationship, not about the transaction
   6. Acts of human generosity generate oxytocin
      1. Giving money is not as impressive as giving time
      2. Leaders are those who give us time and energy, not just money
   7. Reduces addictive dopamine
5. Cortisol
   1. Stress and anxiety
   2. All social mammals share this
   3. First stage of fight or flight response – makes us super alert when danger may be near
   4. Heart rate goes up, blood pressure goes up
   5. Other functions reduce or shut down for the time being – immune system included
   6. Living under stress means that we are continually dealing with cortisol in the system
   7. Inhibits release of oxytocin

 

We, the human animal, are pre-programmed to act in a way to help the group survive, and all these brain chemicals are there to help the group survive. The individual is expendable – the group is not.  Not a pleasant thought for us individuals, but that is just the function of our incredibly high feeling of self-importance.

You should really watch more of Simon’s work! He will change your life.

 

 

Photo by Cea.