We all have things we want to accomplish in life, but having goals or knowing we should be doing something is often not nearly enough to get us to actually sustain our efforts in getting where we want to go.

Today on Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson explore how to optimize our motivation. They discuss the brain's dopamine system, and distinguish motivation from discipline and liking from wanting. They then explore how we can align the brain's underlying biological circuitry with our desires, so we can stay relaxed and engaged while achieving our goals.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:05: Motivation vs. Discipline

5:30: Why don't we just want the things we know are good for us?

11:00: Creating unity between our biology and cognitive processing

15:50: Dopamine: An Overview

21:30: Distinguishing liking from wanting

25:35: Natural variations in dopamine metabolism

28:55: How people with lower levels of dopamine can stay motivated

33:35: Updating the reward value of your experiences

37:20: Being, doing, and having

43:05: What has helped Rick stay diligent and let go of resistance

46:40: Practical how-tos for interacting with the dopaminergic system 

50:35: Letting fish be fish

52:30: Recap

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