What advantages do we get from putting efforts over the rewards?

Question

Could someone kindly elaborate on the advantages of focusing on the effort behind a task instead of the reward?

Answer 1

I had a great advice when I was in college…. “Don’t study for the good grades, but learn instead. If you learn the good grade will come with no effort.”

Comments

am having a hard time finding myself marketable or money focused.   Even when I know I need to make more money to be secure or even have a place to live for my son , I still am not capitalistically minded.   It rewards seemingly sociopathic tendencies and I just cannot buy in , as it were.

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Learning should be the goal in the first place. If you are studying for "good grades" then you are doing it wrong.

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Well that was every subject of every grade for my entire school career...so i chose to go to school wrong? logic at its finest

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I graduated 13 years ago and the only useful thing I learned at school was writing, reading and languages. Everything else I dont remember anymore xD

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And then the teacher tells you that you get two grades down because you did not buy his released fucking book and mess up you access to scholarship, and you have to stop you study and work for a year to even aford to end it.

Then you go to work and the blonde who did low quality and effort gets the promotion and raise.

The biggest lie that people tell you is that hard work and honesty pays out, people will tell you that only because it enables them to prey on you.

Answer 2

Dopamine Enigma Unveiled seriously blew my mind. Learning about dopamine optimization and detox completely changed how I approach productivity and focus. Has anyone else here tried applying these techniques? The section on unlocking peak mental performance was a game-changer for me!

Comments

Lmao this couldn't sound more like a bot if you tried

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that's what i was thinking. and then 1.7k bots liked it

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Explain it like I'm mentally challenged

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explain pls give some tips

Answer 3

This was profound to say the least.  Don’t spike your dopamine prior to effort or after effort, but get your dopamine from effort itself.  That’s literally the code to unleashing the Beast - That’s real

Comments

use the depression thought (there is no point) to just do the work.  Just force yourself to slog it out. And eventually the work, effort and results may help lift the depression.  
What have you got to loose from trying? Not for a goal - just for the constant effort.

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.ameen3you convince yourself the work and effort itself is what’s important.

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I must be stupid, but can someone explain to me what ‘don’t spike your dopamine’ means?  ‘Spike’?  Wish I understood because otherwise it was a good video

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05:32  In moments of intense friction, tell yourself that the pain will lead to increased dopamine release and that you're doing it because you love it.
06:29  Accessing pleasure from effort is a powerful aspect of dopamine, and it's accessible to everyone

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The problem with Andrew. It sounds profound. But it isnt. His advice boils down to, force yourself to do things you don't want to do. And lie to yourself and tell yourself you enjoy something which you really don't. You find that to be profound? That's the oldest advice in the world and if it were that easy everyone would do it. I doubt anyone who reached greatness weren't motivated entirely by the end reward

Answer 4

That's what many nice people can't understand. Why i don't sell my crocheted items, they describe them as very unique and that i am skilled or gifted.  I make my pieces and give them away. It makes me feel happy to see the joyful reaction on the receivers' faces. But i do get a great benefit out of that,  i enjoy the activity itself,  sitting calming after work,  with my cat, making new art. I realized that the real gift people are talking about is not the skill, but the actual enjoyment of the activity is the blessing.  If i start taking orders and getting paid monetarily,  i will lose a lot more, I'll lose the calming,  peaceful, and enjoyment i get from creating my art and giving it away.
I do understand, Dr. huberman.
Thank you for the wonderful knowledge you share all the time.

Comments

Thanks for sharing, but I would say that this is also a mental exercise. In the cases we enjoy our jobs and we end up getting monetary rewards for it, we don't need to focus on the monetary rewards. That's the power of knowledge, we can change our internal dialog and how we perceive things.

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We were given a blanket that had been crocheted by someone for when our daughter was born. It was a wonderful gift and 8 years later it is still our daughter’s most treasured item. People like you are wonderful

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I think if you turn it into something you HAVE to do, that's when you'll hate it.

But I don't think there's anything wrong with making money from something you enjoy, as a professional musician I can tell you that getting paid to make music hasn't affected my enjoyment of making or playing music. Its only enabled me to spend more time doing what I already want to do anyway. Its all about the mindset right? If you start feeling like you need to make your pieces in order to fill orders, then yeah, I can imagine that would kill any love you had for it. But if you just do what you're already doing and put them online as individual pieces without any regards to obligation beyond your own enjoyment, then you will still love it.

I don't think it should be about taking orders, I think you should consider making what you make, putting it online for a reasonable price, and if it sells it sells and if it doesn't it doesn't. Don't chase the business side of it, in fact, you should ignore it as much as possible. Maybe even hand that off to someone else if you can so you can just do what you already do with the only difference being a little extra money in the bank.

I'm not going to tell you you're wrong for doing this, I'm just saying, if the only reason you don't sell your stuff is because you're worried it will taint your enjoyment of it. Then I just want to let you know that that isn't necessarily going to happen unless you put pressure on yourself and only focus on the money. If that was the case, there wouldn't be any professional artists in the world. Because if you're only interested in the money and the reward, then there are much better ways of going about that than being an artist. Even if you're like Tom Cruise or someone who gets paid millions to be in a film, there are much easier and quicker ways that Tom Cruise could make money than hanging off the back of a jet and jumping across skyscrapers. He does it because he enjoys it, the money is a bonus.

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I make metal products and this mindset got me this feedback: You LOVE your work. I do it is a challenge, effort and then seeing the object of beauty I create. Customers said: Do you realize that there is NO ONE in the US making such things ? Yes, I do work for money but also LOVE to create.

It is said the our Creator expects us to CREATE, because he made us in his image.
Not religious, but I believe that observing the Ten Commandments is a good foundation for a honest life.
Local priest agrees.....

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It simply traslates to Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 47 - Focus on your work without being overly concerned about its results, and don't become inactive because of fear of failure.

Answer 5

I too am a neuroscientist and agree. Pianists who enjoy practicing, dancers who enjoy moving new ways, scientists and mathematicians who are obsessed with sketching formulae and ideas on whiteboards and papers and computers... drivers who drive across the country... Kids on bikes... It is the journey, not the destination, that is the reward.

Comments

 ThanKs bRuh.!

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To @@masterreaper115:
"You don't work because you love working. You work to get paid."
Not in my case.  The most tedious part of my job is sending out the accounts: something I usually leave far too long.
I know of someone who is very experienced and competent at his job -  a practical job which he have been doing for around 40 years.  Everyone around him thinks he is a pain in the backside, and no-one wants to work with him.
Why?
Because his principal focus is finding ways of avoiding doing the work, and being awkward, just short of being fired.
What a great 'legacy' - that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief, when you finally GO.
I have no need to work for a living now, but I will carry on for as long as possible, because I find the work interesting, even though a fair amount of it is tedious and sometimes physically difficult.
I know there are many - like you - who only work for payment.  That's sad.  It must be awful.

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you need to find something you're obsessed with. Clearly that isn't your current job.

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my journey is shit rn

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It's better if you work, and don't pay much attention to what you get paid. That means you're enjoying your work more than you are enjoying the paycheque. Paycheques are pretty hollow after a while. If you don't enjoy your work, and you're going to be there for years, that's a shitty future. There could be an argument made that  you might be doing work you don't enjoy, but then the pay is being used for something you do enjoy, like skiing, but even so eventually that's going to wear thin and you're still in a job you don't like.

Answer 6

As a kid, I panicked when we had to do school tests. Couldn't remember a thing. A very understanding teacher told me then that she knew how much I really knew and that I should not let the bad grades get me down. She encouraged me to follow my own assessment of how well I know a subject. That defined my life. I stopped learning for grades and started to enjoy learning so much more. Yes, it was difficult, but that also was the joy of it. It became a good challenge and a reward in itself. I am close to retirement now, and I had and still have a very successful, satisfying and happy work life. I've never stopped learning, and I am looking forward to new challenges in my retirement.

Comments

It’s a pity that “education” trains kids that outside evaluation is so important, when loving the learning is so much more important.

Which is why our AI teachers will evaluate how well THAT is going too. And probably do all evaluation surreptitiously so it doesn’t interfere with learning.

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Sadly once you get into higher education if you don't perform well on test ...a lot of times you flunk that class and that's a lot of money to lose over a grade!  The way colleges are set up is beyond ridiculous in my opinion!  Too many younger people base their entire future on those grades ...getting that education!

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It's amazing looking back at how that teacher probably changed the course of your life.

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Yes, she did. Many years later, as an adult, I returned to my old school to thank her with a huge bouquet of flowers. I caught her on her last day before her retirement. Teachers can be so much more influential than they know. @@garythompson9452

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I told my kids and my students over and over again,  lean what you love, then you will love learning,  and one day, you won't have to work,  but you will get to to and do something yoy enjoy,  that's the best part, the pay cheque is a bounce.

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​@albeit1 but, us as a community,  we have to stand up for the students,  believe me, sometimes one sentence or one compliment,  will move mountains off these kid's chest  I wirk with kid's every day, the kuds and parents love that,  I always have a smile and a beautiful compliment,  for the kids, sometimes the parents too. Even through our struggles,  their joy helps us cope, too.
Thanks for bringing that up. It is truly sad, that,  most are busy to catch tge trian,  They miss the beauty of every stop,  and the story, every passenger can tell,  even without talking.

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Very good advice, thank you for sharing

Answer 7

Absolutely perfect description of what my care was like for my wife with dementia. After the worst days, I felt more relaxed when that day was done. And on and on for 5 years. My biggest mistake was looking forward to when she would pass in the last 4 months, she passed 3/19/2023. Looking forward to her no longer suffering, me no longer suffering. The freedom that would return, the weight of 24/7 care would be gone. HUGE mistake. When she passed, I was so lost, so down. I did things that were fun only to find myself empty right after doing those things. Fun outdoor things too. I have been recovering slowly from that, and now, with your explanation, I feel so much lighter. It will be ok. I will move along with this load. The carrying of the load makes it better. The load being triggers of memories, occasional look backs at the last 5 years. Much easier to deal with now.

Comments

Take some time to reflect , remember and to grieve...
The rest of the day, put one foot in front of the other and try to BE in the MOMENT. Whether washi g dishes or playing golf, be fulky focused on what youre doing. Sit and look around at the trees, birds, sky etc... Just appreciate where you are NOW. Read or listen to Eckhart Tolle & The Power of Now. He's a lifesaver, truly!❤  May she rest in peace, in the arms of the angels    
Gradually the joy will come back into your life.

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Perfect and heart felt example.
Thank you brother

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I'm a dementia care specialist.  any mental or physical conditions have an emotional and spiritual root cause. For dementia.. the emotion associated with it is that "I don't want to be here any longer". Which made perfect sense because the mind kind of checks out. I have the most fun with my dementia patients. Because what they are speaking is actually truth, They see through the veil and the illusions... Very similar to the hippies in the sixties who saw the truth thru the lies.
 It is the unawakened ones that are not seeing the truth. And then those in charge behind the scenes did what they could to destroy that connection to Spirit,  And perpetuate division.

 However, in the physical realm, Dementia and parkinson's, etc, can be reversed through detoxing heavy metals from the system. Eliminating fluoride,  aluminum, etc.. De-calcifying the pineal gland, etc. And you can still speak to a dementia person's higher self..
Their Soul/Spirit is intact

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​@@TheJandleaI consult with those who care for dementia patients. You must without a doubt, find time for yourself to do What brings you joy and keep your balance and alignment. You cannot pour from an empty cup.

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Best wishes to you! Stay strong!!! ❤️

Answer 8

This is so true! The feeling of being comfortable with the uncomfortable is what drives me to work out. I work out 4-5 times per week and have been doing so for many years.

Answer 9

5:00….Learning to experience the pleasure in the effort, the pain…instead of suffering through it while focus on the end goal.  Change your focus to the effort & you will experience so much more pleasure (dopamine)along the way.  I love it!  My grandson & I were kayaking through a thunderstorm yesterday & we kept looking around at the beauty through the rain, mist above the trees… & it did let up finally, and the end was much sweeter.  Now, it’s a treasured memory!❤

Comments

❤ thx for summarzing it

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https://youtube.com/shorts/lOqJU9QkjDs

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I appreciate the way you described that.  Thank you for sharing your perspective
♥️

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Helpful summary,  thanks

Answer 10

My brother was so exhausted from not doing his homework, he began holding a never-lit cigarette to feel as though he already was a scholar. Now he’s a professor.

Answer 11

These ideas regarding children and motivation are described so well in the book "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Love his books and ideas.

Comments

One of my favorite books and also love Alfie Kohn's books in general and hos ideas.

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Books are not for real men.

Answer 12

You have to enjoy the process, with no end goal in sight.

When I work out, I do so simply because I enjoy doing so.

I also play the guitar, and when I am practicing, I do so because I enjoy it. There is no end goal to it.

When I am training with my firearms, I do so because I enjoy it. Once again, there is no end goal.

I have a saying that I came up with, which is that I enjoy the valleys because I have to go through them to reach the next peak.

So, I look forward to the valleys as much as I do the peaks, maybe even more.

Answer 13

Here’s another tip: just do one small thing as part of a large project. The next day do another small part of the project. If you’re writing a book, just do one or two paragraphs of your next chapter. That leads you on. You feel so good just having done a small thing you can’t wait to get back to it. And that leads you into doing more each time, to the finish line. Kind of like eating a small bite of chocolate every day, teasing your palate.

Comments

I love your example!

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It's like eating a big frog, you bite it one at a time.

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How are you doing today

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Thanks for this!

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Attempting a large project in steps, one step at a time, changes the project from overwhelming to obtainable.  I’ve used this process throughout life not only with large projects but also with small projects that i don’t want to do. It’s the only way for me to accomplish a task and not procrastinate.

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I do this with housework, do the easy jobs first, this creates a sense of achievement and spurs me on. I also plan to write a book and am daunted into not starting. I told people I am going to do it and now all I get asked is “Have you finished your book yet?” It’s making it harder to start! I’m going to take your advice and just do a bit at a time. Thank you

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This is such a useful advice that I plan on putting into practice. Thank you!

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I do this to make myself unload the dishwasher when I'm depressed

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Totally. This is soooooo key. Do a little bit everyday (walking, lifting, meditating, the big work project, etc)… don’t let the habit go. One push-up or a one minute meditation is a million times different than skipping a day - as we come to understand from experience

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’ve done this so many times also. Sooooo effective!

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love this.

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Well you are actually not enjoying the work.  Just your small rewards from doing the work.

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Amazing Example :)

Answer 14

Andrew Huberman’s take on finding rewards in the effort itself is such a game-changer! Learning to find pleasure in the process rather than just the result can make all the difference in staying motivated

Comments

Bro

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I’m just finding people having mindset like me, thus I came here what I usually watch right

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I want a friend whom I can work with on a business, like part time, we both giving 1 to 1 and half hour only everyday. I’m from an Asian country. I guess we could share our expertises right. You have a channel on wisdom right. Let us do smth.

Answer 15

I am 41 years old. I run 10 km in 38 minutes. It's painful but I don't quit running because I love it. You see! I am not lying to myself. Your message is powerful and enlightening. Thanks

Comments

​@@Letsgoletsrollthis is 100% false

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Wow! Haven't done a sub 40 10k since i was19 years old in the Marine Corps.

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You can do it for yourself
Thank you

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I bet you are ashamed of having only 12km.

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I wish!  I'm a  6 km on a good day, at best!

Answer 16

Feeling the moment is one of the most grounding and enjoyable things I've been learning how to do.

Answer 17

As a creative type I can relate to this.  When I was a child/teenager I used to write, draw and make music purely for the joy of it, but as I got older I started focusing too much on the end goal of earning a living from my art, and then I didn't enjoy myself anymore.  I want to start making art for fun again.

I hope someone helped those children to enjoy drawing again after they'd finished the study, otherwise that would be a pretty unethical way to gather scientific data.

Comments

- insecure people denigrate others to make themselves feel better. You sound like a classic bully.

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I'm sorry, but what did you expect?
First of all, it's a GROUP sport. If one member doesn't make an effort, it affects EVERYONE.
If you just want to have fun without thinking about winning, it's better to play an individual sport.
Or, get together with people who do it as a hobby and don't mind winning, like you.

I'm sorry, but there are people who hope to represent their country, to be part of the national team, it's not just a hobby.
That kind of mindset affects others.

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Looks like someone is struggling with his own superiority complex. Real men do not put others down to feel better.

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Then i guess by your logic School is unethical ?
Thats why my 10 year old niece doesn't have grades at all. We're a European family natively  and she's the only kid to start school in the US.
I was shocked when i learned this.  They also get gold stars ..
That last sentence is so far off base that I had to comment.
It's such a thin line between good intentions and absolutely appalling negative results.
The educational system in the US has been one of the poorest in the world for over 3 decades now but its been  exponentially becoming more and more a joke.
A waste of time IMO. I'm not an academic. Not even remotely, but my knowledge from just getting a highschool degree in my home country puts me in a position to impart more real knowledge and elementary schooling to a child  in one month , than what public schools here take 5 years to do.

This goes beyond education as well. How do you expect parents to raise their children to be well mannered , respectful and eventually capable of thinking on their own if you don't have a reward system in place ?
I think punishment is even a harsh word nowadays but its so necessary. You strike the fear of god in them when you see them trying to jam a toy into the electric socket ( stupid example ) , you tell them good job or even reward them with something if they do well ,  or learn something new.

This whole, tell yourself that pain is pleasure .. WOW. What a revelation.
If only we could do that what a world  it would be to live in. Jesus Christ....
Any idiot these days can pick up a few wise ass quotes , source some uni or scientist completely out of context... put some uplifting music in the background and clips of people doing things you dont because you're lazy and WOW.. You're inspired. That was magical.

Thats like saying , yeah.. just tell your mind to be quiet and you'll enter complete ego dissolving , meditative nirvana.
Don't even get me started on  people who work NOT FOR A REWARD, but to stay alive, keep the roof over their heads, keep their kids in clothes . Single mothers who cant afford a vacation or don't drink themselves to sleep every night. Their reward doesn't exist.
Talk about a baseline ey ?

Anyone who sits here watching this nonsense and  actually buys it - is delusional.  And probably has a bit too much time on their hands.
Kobe and MJ didn't win all those championships because they enjoyed the practice , they did it because they're fucking sociopaths who couldn't stand not being THE BEST.
Telling your mind that pain and suffering is pleasure, is basically an attempt to rewire your brain in  a way that for 99% of people out there , if it was even capable of being a successful method would end up having harmful effects. Probably end up asking to be smacked and choked in the bedroom to get your rocks off.

Exercise  releases dopamine on its own. The runners HIGH.
Call it whatever you want.. thats because the body is producing all sorts of chemicals because its in a heightened state of activity and the brain has less time to think about nonsense compared to just sitting around  with your inner dialogue.
That does not and will never translate to  working an office job. Nobody  should take pleasure in putting in effort. They should be tactical and figure out ways to get their work done faster and smarter and excel because they are more efficient than the grunts who tell themselves, THIS IS GOOD, I LIKE THIS.

People are so fucking naive its embarrassing reading these comments.

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I don't know why you felt the need to leave such a miserable and hateful comment on someone who obviously understands the subject matter of the video far more than you do, but you're being needlessly obtuse for no reason. This video isn't saying that you should plug your ears and say 'I'm happy' while you struggle in the real world, it's saying that you can take pleasure in the day to day progression towards your goals rather than putting it all at the end. If I want to lose weight, and I'm only concerned with having less weight at the end, I won't enjoy running. This isn't because the act of running is not enjoyable, but rather the perceived blockade in front of the goal, and the need to "get through it" to reach it. If you instead find happiness in the progress made by running, it is much easier to engage with it and keep up long term.

This method obviously isn't the catch all solution to your problems, and more traditional styles of reward systems are very beneficial when used correctly. However the way you speak seems to suggest that you believe that there can only be one or the other, which simply isn't the case. Your niece is still young, at a stage where self control and motivation aren't really the forefront of our brains, so in that case a traditional system would work better. For kids, doing schoolwork sucks, so getting a gold star for completing it is a good way at reinforcing that good behavior. But for someone older, when a goal can be months or years down the road, what good does putting the reward at the end do? Why not try framing your situation so that you may enjoy the progression towards that goal?

It is also quite baffling that you assume the people who don't enjoy the work are the ones that excel or are the fastest at it. I'd say the people who actually know the ins and outs of something and find joy in it are the ones that can more likely optimize and do the work better. I don't see many people at the top of their industry saying "Oh I didn't like the work but it was the absolute hatred I had of it that made me do it so well!" It's just simply not the case. Again not to say that you should necessarily be overjoyed in dumb work, but to completely disregard this method of framing for seemingly no other reason than you disagree with it is a very telling portrayal of your character.

Also don't say you're not an academic and then try and tell me about brain chemicals and runner's high, it just shows that you're willing to spout nonsense about a topic even when completely uneducated. Most athletes, let alone the general population, almost never experience runner's high. This is because it is only activated when the body is in need to return to homeostasis after a long sustained effort like a marathon, and endocannabinoids are produced to alleviate the pain caused by it. This means that most people who feel good after a run aren't feeling runner's high, but a form of progression based happiness shown in this video.

Don't go around belittling others for trying to live a happier life than you, especially when it's on a video you obviously clicked on because you deal with motivational trouble, and then decided was too hard to actually employ in your own damn life.

Answer 18

Watching this now was perfectly timed! I am working on a project that is requiring determination, effort, and multiple learning curves. It's been challenging, and not always fun, but I realized the other day that through this, I am becoming one of those people I've always admired.  Now THAT'S  a dopamine hit!

Answer 19

Dope  Thanks I struggle with COPD, walking up small hill-winded. 65 now. 2023 I pushed myself a bit more each day, extremely focused on breathing, not on my tiring pain. Now I’m able to walk 4k on the trails, in 1.5hr non-stop, with energy left over. Way better than 7 months ago
ADD BIT EACH DAY!

Comments

That's amazing!  What a lot of lung strength you must have added, and so much more oxygen.

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Thanks for encouragement.
I’m believing it’s stamina. It’s like lifting weights. At first the weight seems too heavy, but after one week it gets easier, so you add a bit more. Heavy again, in awhile that seems easier too, so bit more. The morale here is- if you enjoy achieving these gains you can easily overcome the pain of continuing

Answer 20

As a fifteen year old boy, currently facing challenges in math which makes me overwhelmed. But from now on, nothing can stop me from doing what I love again. Because there is joy and excitement waiting for me to be found. I really appreciate the vedeo. Thank you