Habits of a Happy Brain

Once you’re safe from immediate threats like hunger, cold, and predators, your brain scans for other potential threats. It’s not easy being a survivor!

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW SEROTONIN STRATEGIES?

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW OXYTOCIN STRATEGIES?

Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories:
Build on “proxy” trust
Place stepping stones
Be trustworthy
Build a trust verification system
Get a massage

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW ENDORPHIN STRATEGIES?

Make a list of remodeling projects that can work for you in each of the following categories:
Laugh
Cry
Exercise differently
Stretch
Make exercise fun

EXERCISE: WHAT ARE YOUR NEW DOPAMINE STRATEGIES?

New Dopamine Habits
Celebrate Small Victories

We have enough neurons to imagine things that don’t exist instead of just focusing on what is. This gives us the power to imagine

you can build the skill of doing nothing during a cortisol alert, even as it begs you to make it go away by doing something. Waiting gives your brain a chance to activate an alternative. A virtuous circle starts in that moment.

How to Stop Vicious Cycles

Cortisol communicates pain and the expectation of pain. It motivates you to do whatever it takes to make the bad feeling stop. When a lunching gazelle smells a lion, cortisol motivates it to run even though it would rather keep eating. Gazelles survive because smelling a lion feels worse than hunger. Our ancestors survived because cortisol directed their attention to one threat after another.