🧪 Hacking Motivation in 2024: The science behind getting your mind & body motivated!

I spend some of my free time answering questions on Quora in hopes to help some others achieve their productivity & success oriented goals.

One HUGE topic that comes up all the time is MOTIVATION:

  • 😩 Why do I lack motivation?

  • 🥱 How can I stop being so lazy?

  • 💪What can I do to stay motivated long term?

I’ll be honest, these are things I asked myself a lot over the years, specifically when I was sitting on the couch, stuffing my face with snacks, and watching others succeed on social media & TV

The struggle is REAL

If you’re someone, who struggles to stay motivated on your journey, then you need to understand the science & psychology for why your brain does what it does. Armed with this knowledge you can use it to make your brain do what you want.

🧠 The 2024 motivation hacking begins!!!

Weekly Resource List:

  1. “Understanding the Science of Motivation” (5min read) - Harvard study on the underlying mechanisms that develop in our brains as children that drive us to be more motivated & productive

  2. “Dopamine Impacts Your Willingness to Work” (3:30min read) - The drug behind what motivates you. Why some can follow through on long term goals & others are distracted by things like alcohol, drugs, sugar, and video games. A Vanderbilt study

  3. “Your Brain on Dopamine” (4min read) - Check out sections 3 & 4 on how to HACK your dopamine & in turn your productivity

  4. “What Motivates You To Keep Pushing Forward…?” (30sec read) - 2 quotes I reflect on A LOT when it comes to getting my ass in gear

Lastly, here’s my favorite Motivation tip of the week.

It’s “The 2 Minute Rule” from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, (Phenomenal book if you’ve never read it before). This completely changed the way I think about overcoming issues with motivation & procrastination with habit changes.

Quick breakdown:

  • “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”

  • Make your first step so easy, it’s almost dumb

  • Continue to build easy habit on top of easy habit

This is going to seem almost silly when you first do it, but it is a GREAT way to build habits so that you don’t need motivation to get going. Your brain will take over and JUST DO IT!

Hope this helps!

That’s it!

As always, thanks for reading.

Hit reply and let me know what you found most helpful this week—I’d love to hear from you!

A.J. Zampella


If you dig this type of content check out my newsletter “Strategies for Success”

Each week I send out actionable tips to help other Mid-Career professionals to thrive in work & life

I spend 100s of hours figuring it out so you can learn in <5 minutes a week!


Other Interesting Things Around the Web I do:

Previous
Previous

Working from Home? 5 Tips To Help You Stay Laser-Focused

Next
Next

The Pathless Path: Changing My Views on Success & Life