You’ve been there. "I love my job and cannot believe I can paid for what I’d do anyway." Then – out of the blue – you wake up bored with people and projects all around you.
On a good day you may feel a bit lucky to still work where you do, but for the most part you arrive later and leave earlier. That zip’s gone. The flame’s been doused with reality and the thrill of getting a job done well vanished
Should you quit? Adopt a career change?
Not necessarily. Whether your work flame fizzles or reignites depends more on your ability to ratchet up neurochemicals of more adventure in what you do.
Researchers can now scan the human brain to observe unique systems within our ability to handle realities at work and to add better fuels for improved results.
For instance you can draw on more chemicals for adventure such as dopamine which alters brain's speed. Want focused attention, thrill excitement for what you offer at work? Dopamine the key chemical for all of that and it offers pay back rewards in how you feel about work. Norepinephrine is another stimulator that offers more oomph to even a routine job.
People who produce more of these natural brain chemicals find they are almost addicted to what they do. Compare yourself with a person who’s emotionally and physically hooked on career highs, even when you feel blah, and you’re likely looking at your own lower levels of dopamine. It doesn't have to be that way!
Even after you've landed that prize job, whether it's one you were naturally gifted to do or one you’ve trained for at the peaks, your brain’s reward drive begins to cool over time. For some … this cooling off happen in weeks … for others – it occurs over months or even years. A stable workplace ethic seems to inevitably move out of the reward phase … so that grass begins to look greener on a competitor’s site.
Some people simply quit in an effort to get on with the rest of their career. But it's difficult to take that approach in our change-obsessed culture where new jobs may be hard to land.
Instead, when this thriller stage ends, as it does for most of us, rather than feel disappointed that your zip is gone … draw new fuel instead from your mental pool of adventure chemicals. How so?
Take time away from work – even if you can manage only a day or a few days. Redesign the zest and adventure of your early career by tossing in a new idea, project or proposal for your workplace. Make it one that benefits the bottom line and workers you admire – and it’s likelier to last longer in their plans for the future in your firm. At the same time relax, play and enjoy the gentler, calmer sides away from work routines.
Be careful not to blow mortgage money on a big vacation or you’ll tip your brain chemistry balance back into cortisol roller coaster rides that may have you up momentarily – but send you down hard in a snap.
One excellent solution is to learn or investigate something outside your normal career roles - to up your mental energy in ways that add a new offering at work. Take up a new computer program, brainstorm your latest proposal idea with a trusted mentor, or design a fresh - user friendly system to replace a sluggish operation at work.
Then, come back to work and try your new idea the first day with new serotonin deposits in your bank. We all need the adventure that a new zip can add – and each time we try out or tell others about the new ideas, the brain rewires for more of the same adventure. After one week, why not rate your workplace intelligence, to see how adventure becomes addictive for those who fuel their working brain with chemicals for a new rush. What brain chemical will you carry into reboot your brain at work today?
See related articles:
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/07/what_is_cortisol_and_why_shoul.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/07/what_is_serotonin_and_why_shou.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2007/05/bank_any_serotonin_today.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2007/05/the_magic_dose_of_serotonin.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/10/seritonin_builders_for_better.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2007/07/chemicals_to_refuel_when_work.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2007/08/tone_to_the_finish_line.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/08/stick_a_neuron_in_your_head_an.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/10/i_just_needed_to_vent.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/07/problems_that_spark_solutions.html
http://www.brainbasedbusiness.com/2006/09/10_practices_that_boost_your_b.html
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Too much dopamine is def. good when you control yourself. If you have too much dopamine and can concentrate on what you are doing,you are in a sense unstoppable , and certain people (people with bipolar disorder) will feel this way.
It is all a matter of self control.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 29, 2007 5:12 PM | Permalink to Comment