Hormone hacking might be a thing that we deep down all crave. That is because the world is not doing so well. Corona is still a thing, the Taliban is marching up, the Thai government is a mess, and Greece suffers from grand corruption and widespread fire. I hope you feel healthy, safe, and happy these days.
Sine Wave Syndrome is about enjoying life to the fullest. Everyone experiences up phases and down phases. To counter that, I think that philosophy, mindfulness, ethics, and hormone hacking can be a great counter-measurement. That way, you will be able to balance your ‘sine wave’ appropriately. Hormone hacking can be an excellent thing for that!
Roadmap and progress
Two episodes ago, we discussed making a two weeks program. I will shift this into an information page. Because I obtained valuable information and tips from everyone, I am incredibly grateful for that life. One of the most extraordinary things I received was hormone hacking which we will discuss later. I was familiar with this concept, but I loved diving deeper into hormone-hacking techniques.
Furthermore, I almost finished Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. The book is truly unique. The only downside is that the introduction is exceptionally long. A course in miracles also came on my path again. It is a relatively thick book. I do believe that you have to read it at the right time. For instance, I started 3 or 4 years ago and stopped after the first half-hour simply because I did not understand it and I could not grasp the whole concept.
Hormone hacking to feel Happy
We want to be happy all the time, but our brain naturally releases them as a reward mechanism. Mostly when you do something good for your survival. Your brain releases one of the four happy chemicals if you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, and oxytocin. You can read more about them on our summary page here. Hormone hacking includes the following four hormones:
Dopamine
Dopamine is probably one of the widely known happy hormones on the hormone hacking list. Dopamine is the reward hormone, and it releases when you complete a task, eat food, or perform self-care activities. Getting sufficient sleep, listening to music, exercising, and meditation can all healthily boost dopamine levels.
Serotonin
Serotonin is usually used in antidepressants as it is a mood stabilizer. It is often described as the body’s natural feel-good chemical. It is fundamental to your overall sense of well-being—serotonin functions as a neurotransmitter, which means it is a chemical messenger. To boost the serotonin levels in your brain, you should exercise regularly, improve your diet, get more exposure to sunlight, and use certain supplements. Low serotonin levels can be linked with depression, so it is essential to boost your serotonin levels to improve your mood and feel happier.
Endorphin
Endorphines are there to reduce stress and pain. They work kind of similar to ‘opioids’ – which we discussed in our podcast. Sometimes doctors prescribe endorphins for a short time after surgery or for pain relief—for example, morphine. You can boost endorphins by exercising – preferably in a group, by having sex, by being creative – for instance, making art or music, dancing, eating dark chocolate, laughing, or by drinking a glass of wine.
Oxytocin
Word on the street is that cupid’s love arrow is dipped in oxytocin for hormone hacking, but you did not hear that from me. Oxytocin is considered the love hormone. It also increases trust. Furthermore, it is an important neurotransmitter – or chemical messenger – responsible for some human behaviors and social interactions. You can boost your oxytocin levels by listening to or making music, practicing yoga, getting a massage, meditating, spending time with friends, or telling someone how much you care about them.
Motivation can be like a puzzle
In general, motivation is a reason for acting or behaving in a particular way. Why do you do what you do? That is a great question. There are a lot of studies on the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on our daily life, which covers this subject even further. What is the reason for you get out of bed every day? Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are essential. Especially as a child to learn the balance between both.
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation helps you to explore the things that are satisfying for you. Doing things from your intrinsic motivation feels right. Here the opinions of others do not matter. You might think that intrinsic motivation is better than extrinsic motivation, but that is not always the case. The video below shows a fantastic example of that. For instance, you can not always rely on intrinsic motivation if you want to learn something new while not having a passion for that. That way, you might not start doing it. That is also where hormone-hacking techniques could come in handy.
Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation may take the lead if you desire to be loved or want to progress socially. This motivation usually comes with some sort of reward. For instance, most people go to work because it pays the bill. The bonus is money-based. I once heard of a math teacher who would give you a lollipop every time you did your homework. In the beginning, everyone started doing their homework. After some time passed, it became ‘normal,’ and people stopped doing their homework.
Extrinsic motivation can be beneficial for convincing someone to complete a task. Before assigning a reward-based task, it’s essential to know if the person doing the job is motivated by the reward being offered.
Philosophy is boring… right..?
Philosophy is boring and only for old folks. Wrong! At least it is from my perspective, and I am only 22 years old. Some philosophers do or did not identify themselves as philosophers. Tons of wisdom are obtainable from philosophy. There are, in fact, plenty of YouTube channels that can tell those findings and backstories in an exciting and animated way. One of my favorites is ‘The School of Life. But, what can we learn from philosophy? I am glad you asked! For me, it helped me to feel happier, especially by practicing Hormone hacking techniques.
I love philosophy. It helped me gasp around concepts and see the world in a whole other way. It helped me answer many questions about life – most of them I did not even know I had. Learning things like philosophy has never been easier than it is today. We live in a society where information has never been more accessible than it is now. Back in the day, you had to go to the marketplace and talk to philosophers about these topics, or go to a library and hope to find the piece of knowledge you were hoping to find.
Philosophical movements
These days there is no such thing as a job as a philosopher which was the case in ancient Greek. Many people used to live who spend a lifetime thinking about how they can be happy. I believe that we can learn a lot from those philosophers. The philosophical movements are still noticeable these days. There are a few which I find essential if we look at happiness and hormone hacking.
Stoicism
Stoicism orbits around the fact that life is tough. Stoicism is about suffering and misfortune without showing it or letting it drag you down. Stoicism is about being calm without any emotion. A stoic doesn’t show what they are feeling and accepts what is happening.
Existentialism
Existentialism is a European philosophy that orbits around thought-provoking life questions. For instance, what is my purpose, and why am I here? Existentialism considers every person unique and responsible for their actions and destiny.
Taoism
Taoism, also known as Daoism, is a Chinese religious and philosophical ideology and is still popular today. Taoism shows us the importance of emptying the mind and trying to stop obsessing with our thoughts.
Work on building valuable habits
As we mentioned, hormone hacking can help you to feel better. You can trigger this by combining this with working on valuable habits that will bring you joy in the future while linking them with things that make you happy. Therefore, you must stop your bad habits. Bad habits can be overthinking, not exercising, cooking everything in olive oil, and procrastinating. That way, you can focus on boosting the production of your happy hormones with hormone-hacking techniques.
Elon Musk once said that we should be happy to live in this era because Information has never been more accessible than now. For me, that was both true and remarkable. I must say that social media and other things are probably not one of the unique environments for a teen to grow up in, but who am I to say that.
Well, Anthony, what are those ‘valuable habits’? Glad you asked. You could learn more about financial management, for instance. Public speaking is also a great choice. Did you know that 20% of your hard skills make up 80% of your soft skills? Sadly, public speaking is on the number one list of most common personal fears. So that may be something you need to overcome. Listening is also a fantastic skill. Hormone hacking techniques can help you increase your happy hormones, so you feel more confident about yourself.
Practice listening, summarizing things during a conversation, and asking follow-up questions. The last one on the list is time management. My business coach always used to say that those who controls their time well becomes more trustworthy for the ‘fun’ jobs. So if you want more freedom and responsibility, you need to be a master of your own time.
Subconsciousness: Paradigm shift
I was browsing a bit one day, and I came across Bob Proctor. He discussed the paradigm shift, which is a remarkable concept. Keep in mind that I am not promoting him because I get a commission – I already do that with Amazon Affiliate – but he truly shares great knowledge. You can use my link to get a 10% discount on your first month. I am just kidding. Bob talks about reprogramming your subconscious.
We all have a Resisting Ego
Everyone has an ego. Well, Anthony, what is the ego? I am glad you asked. The ego is a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. When I was diving deeper into observing and recognizing my ego, I started to feel tired. I did that when I was writing things down and reflecting on them. I came across this article which you must have a look at.
If you want to learn more about yourself, I highly suggest you check this page. And do not worry, it is free.