Without motivation, we wouldn’t do anything. Pure logic wouldn’t cause us to do anything. There has to be pleasure for us to do stuff. And pain is useful to. These two concepts is vital to make us do stuff – and it has created the human world. Animals to of course, but let’s stick to humans for now.
The Value Drive (VD) is the basic human emotion that is the underlying principle of how our brain works. Read the Basics of the Value Drive if you haven’t. That’s what this blog is about.
VD is the only motivation we have of course. There are many more. Like hunger and thirst, physical pain avoidance, sleep, body temperature regulation, not feeling sick, pleasure in using your body and so on.
And then there’s the intellectual stimulation part. Humans are naturally curious and it’s not an academic thing or a choice. A part inside the brain called Zona incerta is responsible for this. Just seeking out information that you don’t have is pleasurable. It’s strange, but it also make sense. Being curious lead to discoveries that may often be beneficial.
Curiosity also works well together with the other motivations like VD, hunger and thirst. Like – what would a burger-pizza with coke-beer taste like? And when curiosity is combined with VD it keeps us hooked to social media and scrolling short videos all day and night.
Sometimes I’m watching TV while being on my PC with several things going on there, while playing chess on my phone and also looking at tik-tok or something. Also talking to my family and planning something fun like travelling so we can be stimulated in other countries where things are unusual. And it’s pleasurable. Dopamine is flowing everywhere and I’m loving it. Later on I might feel bad for not writing or doing something useful.
That’s the case for everyone usually. We waste time on silly things and wish later on we would do something smart, artsy and productive. But our brain is hooked on doing silly stuff. That’s the constant craving of life. We need constant stimulation or we feel bored.
Lifetimes are wasted doing silly stuff and we seem unable to stop and do productive things that we deep down wish we did more of. That’s the way we are, and it’s not easy to do something about it. Humans are not going to stop being silly and wasting time. We’re wired that way.
And when we try to productive work and can’t, we call it procrastination, but that’s just a fancy word for saying that the brain is bored and/or frustrated with tasks that doesn’t give any immediate reward.
And that’s life basically. We crave stimulation until we die and there’s not anything to do about it. So when the end comes, it’s not really so bad. We don’t have free will, we’re craving stimulation all day long and we’re basically robots bumping into each other feeling pleasure and pain.
Our need for stimulation is not going away, so if you want success but have issues with procrastination, the solution is to find productive things to do that also stimulates you. In short – find a hobby that fulfills you and make that your job, make lots of money while having fun. Good luck!
Well, that only works out for a few lucky people. So a better strategy is to make the stuff you’re doing interesting. Get curious about your job, housework, schoolwork or whatever. Get into the details, get excited about getting better. and visualize the success you’ll have when everyone will celebrate your awesomeness.
The Value Drive Theory 