The Power of Dopamine
For quite a while I
thought I had a butterfly mind.
Not whilst I was
working for a large corporate – I was supremely driven and focused what with
the goals, objectives, performance management and key performance indicators
–and the bonuses in good years!
But, it struck me
just recently that this year I will have spent 40% of my working life so far as
a self-employed freelance. Here I‘ve tended to follow what’s interested me and
where the charge of ‘butterfly’ could reasonably be levied.
Dopamine at Work!
Imagine then my
delight when I recently did one of those multitudinous self-questionnaires and was categorised as a ‘Searcher’ – someone who looks for
meaning and who wants to do things which are valuable for their own sake – like
learning.
This delight was
compounded by some recent reading that identified that - like gambling,
exciting new adventures and it has to be said abusive substances – learning can
produce a mood enhancing substance called dopamine.
I felt doubly better!
Note: Don’t take this as a definitive view of dopamine – I may have
bent it round the edges a bit for the storyline!
Score +1 for
The Marmite Test
I could have let
social media pass me by and morphed slowly but surely into a Victor Meldrew – a
very, very grumpy old man. I thought social media was a Marmite test – you
either loved it or hated it, black or white – simple as that! I described it as ‘cappuccino froth’ - all
bubbles and no substance.
Marmite or What?
But, as an old
fashioned marketing guy - when we had
above and below the line - I began increasingly to recognise its value –
particularly for the start-ups and small businesses I was working with day to
day. I particularly liked the scope it gave to have your own voice.
So I did a couple of
weekend courses. Did I warm to it then? Well, no not particularly, but I became
increasingly interested in the broader impact of Digital Technology and its
importance to the global competitiveness of UK Plc - which is fuelled of course
by the digital skills of today’s workforce.
And here was an
opportunity to learn with that generation!
Score +2 for
The Deepak Experience
Are things like
‘buyer’s remorse’ and ‘post-purchase rationalisation’ still in the marketing
lexicon? I ask, because in a fit of
uncommon exuberance I’d signed up just before Christmas for the Squared Online
course – not the best time for an impulse purchase.
Neurons Firing!
So it was
particularly re-assuring to just come across a video by Deepak Chopra from
which I took the notion that parts of the ageing process could be slowed if the
brain was exercised in different ways. This also echoes the idea of brain ‘plasticity’
- if you learn a new language or play Luminosity regularly you can in fact
generate new brain cells rather than let them waste away.
So, all is well and
I’m manfully grappling with seeing, hearing and reading simultaneously the
Squared Online modules without spontaneous combustion!
Score +3 for
