Don't Just Survive...Thrive!!!

When we start something new the brain
releases a hormone called dopamine. That's
the feel good hormone released when you're
eating chocolate or having sex. It's a
survival hormone. It allowed our primitive
ancestors to know what would help keep them
alive (e.g. eating food) and the species
going (having sex).

So why does starting something new release
this feel-good hormone? Because, as Chris
Cade explains in his free "Getting Things
Changed" mini-course, prehistoric survival
was very completely dependent on being alert
to new things. Namely, prey, predators and
berries. Caveman didn't know how to raise
livestock, farm or build cities. They were
at the mercy of nature - both its bounty and
its threats.

Have you ever seen the TV show Survivorman?
After being stranded out in the wild, Les
Stroud was usually happy if he hadn't been
attacked by a puma; found clean water; and
had eaten at least one small snake and a
handful of dandelions - over the course of
seven days.

Imagine living like that your entire life?

Our ancestors were always at the whim of
performing short-lived experiences like
escaping a tiger, finding twelve wild
berries or spearing a boar.

In our more sophisticated society, a short
attention span is not so compatible with the
type of material, psychological and
spiritual progress that people like you and
I are seeking. The opposite has become true.
If you can't focus and stick to something,
you make little progress. Sure you won't
starve to death. Instead you find yourself
facing a fate worse than death by wild
alligator -- you find yourself living a
mediocre life.

Unfortunately our ancestors' short attention
span and obsessions with new threats and
opportunities seems to be coded into our
DNA. It is but one of the reasons we have so
much trouble sticking to a personal
development program for more than 12 minutes
(forget about 12 months). This is why we get
bored after learning a few basic greetings
in a new language. This is why we give up
after spending a week dieting and exercising
to lose a pound of weight.

Nonetheless, all of us have experiences
where a burning desire, aroused will power
or life-and-death necessity has made us
commit to certain long-term goals... and
achieve them. And we know that the
satisfaction of finishing a self improvement
course, changing a habit or learning an
instrument produces a deep sense of joy and
wellbeing (that the fleeting dopamine rush
of food and sex can not compete with).
Nothing against food and sex, mind you - but
life is so much more.

I don't believe our ancestors were put on
this planet to just survive... I believe we
were given the gift of evolution so that we
could THRIVE.