Meet Your Happy Chemicals

The "happy chemicals" are controlled by tiny brain structures that all mammals have in common. Your brain rewards you with good feelings when you do something good for your survival. But we struggle to make sense of our neurochemical ups and downs, and can trigger vicious cycles such as alcohol, junk food, risk-taking. Learn how to make real-world choices that will help you break the cycles.

Offers simple activities that help you understand the roles of your "happy chemicals"--serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. You'll also learn how to build new habits by rerouting the electricity in your brain to flow down a new pathway, making it even easier to trigger these happy chemicals and increase feelings of satisfaction when you need them most.

Learn about the science of happiness. Happiness might be a feeling, but have you ever thought about what causes it? This accessible expose, pioneered by author and physician Loretta Graziano Breuning, unpacks the science of happiness and the chemicals which bring us joy. Follow along with Breuning’s research as she unpacks the four major “happy chemicals”: dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin. Do you want more free book summaries like this? Download our app for free at https://www.QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. DISCLAIMER: This book summary is meant as a preview and not a replacement for the original work. If you like this summary please consider purchasing the original book to get the full experience as the original author intended it to be. If you are the original author of any book on QuickRead and want us to remove it, please contact us at [email protected].

The Science of Positivity teaches you how cynical thought habits are formed, and how you can rewire yourself to go beyond them.

The New York Times bestseller by the acclaimed, bestselling author of Start With Why and Together is Better. Now with an expanded chapter and appendix on leading millennials, based on Simon Sinek's viral video "Millenials in the workplace" (150+ million views). Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why? The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. "Officers eat last," he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care. Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Anxiety is natural. Calm is learned. If you didn’t learn yesterday, you can learn today. It’s not easy, of course. Once your natural alarm system is triggered, it’s hard to find the off switch. Indeed, you don’t have an off switch until you build one. Tame Your Anxiety shows you how. Readers learn about the brain chemicals that make us feel threatened and the chemicals that make us feel safe. You’ll see how your brain turns on these chemicals with neural pathways built from past experience, and, most important, you discover your power to build new pathways, to enjoy more happy chemicals, and reduce threat chemicals. This book does not tell you to imagine yourself on a tropical beach. That’s the last thing you want when you feel like a lion is chasing you. Instead, you will learn to ask your inner mammal what it wants and how you can get it. Each time you step toward meeting a survival need, you build the neural pathways that expect your needs to be met. You don’t have to wait for a perfect world to feel good. You can feel good right now. The exercises in this book help you build a self-soothing circuit in steps so small that anyone can do it. Once you learn how it’s done, and how it can help ease your anxiety, you will learn how to handle situations in which you feel threatened or anxious. Understanding the underlying mechanisms will help you stop them before they get ahead of you.

You have power over your emotions, but it's limited, so you need to understand it. Here is a simple explanation of the chemicals that make us feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. You'll find out what turns them on in animals, and how you manage them with the animal part of your brain. Then you'll learn to rewire your happy chemicals by feeding your brain new inputs in a new way. We'll do the same for the unhappy chemical, cortisol, too.It's a step-by-step method with no jargon, based on the work of the Inner Mammal Institute. A more complete presentation of the science is in the companion book, Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.With one lesson a day for fourteen days, you will discover your power over your happy brain chemicals. This is not a checklist of activities. It's a guide to the way your brain got wired long ago, and the way to add on new wiring. We humans get wired by early experience, so we all need updates. You can learn to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons to reach your happy chemicals in natural, healthy ways.Realistic expectations are the key. Our happy chemicals are not designed to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to reward you for taking a step that meets your needs. Our brain defines "needs" in a quirky way, alas. You will learn about these quirks so you can design realistic steps toward your happy chemicals.You cannot rewire your whole brain in 14 days. You can build one new neural pathway at a time. You will learn to target the new pathway you want and the steps that will build it. It will build with repetition, so you will flow there as smoothly as you now flow into your old happy-chemical pathways. You can replace an unsustainable habit with a new habit designed by you. You'll be glad you did!

A guide to putting cognitive diversity to work Ever wonder what it is that makes two people click or clash? Or why some groups excel while others fumble? Or how you, as a leader, can make or break team potential? Business Chemistry holds the answers. Based on extensive research and analytics, plus years of proven success in the field, the Business Chemistry framework provides a simple yet powerful way to identify meaningful differences between people’s working styles. Who seeks possibilities and who seeks stability? Who values challenge and who values connection? Business Chemistry will help you grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to excel. It offers practical ways to be more effective as an individual and as a leader. Imagine you had a more in-depth understanding of yourself and why you thrive in some work environments and flounder in others. Suppose you had a clearer view on what to do about it so that you could always perform at your best. Imagine you had more insight into what makes people tick and what ticks them off, how some interactions unlock potential while others shut people down. Suppose you could gain people’s trust, influence them, motivate them, and get the very most out of your work relationships. Imagine you knew how to create a work environment where all types of people excel, even if they have conflicting perspectives, preferences and needs. Suppose you could activate the potential benefits of diversity on your teams and in your organizations, improving collaboration to achieve the group’s collective potential. Business Chemistry offers all of this--you don’t have to leave it up to chance, and you shouldn’t. Let this book guide you in creating great chemistry!