DOPAMINE IS OFTEN CONSIDERED A PLEASURE MOLECULE.
DOPAMINE IS WHAT MAKES US DESIRE THING AND IT'S THAT DESIRE THAT GIVES US THE MOTIVATION TO GET UP AND DO STUFF.
IF AN ACTIVITY RELEASES A LOT OF DOPAMINE, YOU'LL BE MOTIVATED TO REPEATED IT, OVER AND OVER.
SO WHAT BEHAVIORS RELEASE DOPAMINE? -> ANY ACTIVITY WHERE YOU ANTICIPATE THERE'S A POTENTIAL REWARD, RELEASES IT.
You probably don't have a problem playing video games or browsing social media on your phone. In fact I have no doubt you could sit in front of a screen and do both of those activities for 2 hours, or even longer without breaking your concentration.
But what about half an hour of studying? That might be too hard.
How about working on your side business for another hour? Doesn't sound too appealing.
Even though you logically know that studying, exercising, building a business or something equally productive, will bring you more benefits in the long run, you still prefer watching TV, playing video games and scrolling through social media.
One might argue that it's obvious why.
One activity is easy and doesn't require much effort, while the other activity is difficult and it requires you to apply yourself.
But some people seem to have no problem studying, exercising, or working on their side projects, regularly.
Which begs the question: Why are some people more motivated to tackle difficult things?
And is there a way to make doing difficult things, easy?
References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/00...
https://www.centersite.net/poc/view_d...
