One of my clients runs a pretty successful landscaping business. One payday, he noticed that his employees immediately headed to the convenience store located in a nearby strip mall. Once he became aware of this oddity, he noticed that every payday, this pattern repeated itself.
Out of curiosity, he followed them into the store after one payday and was shocked at what he saw.
Each of his employees were handing over to the store clerk what my client guessed to be about 10% of the hard-earned pay he’d just given them – on lottery tickets.
Many poor people would rather spend 10% of their income on the lottery, roulette wheel, or sports betting, rather than save and invest that same 10%.
Why?
They get a dopamine rush when they bet.
The sensation is akin to taking a hit of cocaine.
Of course, they always lose, but the hope of getting rich quick produces a surge of dopamine that they simply cannot do without. So, playing the lottery eventually becomes a Poor Habit. Once a habit, it morphs into a full-blown, lottery-fueled dopamine addiction.
All habits are neurologically-based. And each habit is represented by a group of synapses. Each synapse discharges a proprietary blend of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine and a few others.
These neurotransmitters are the chemical reward for engaging in your habit of choice – playing the lottery, for example.
The Get Rich Quick Mindset is just one example of a habit that, like all habits, is fueled by a chemical.
That is why habits are so hard to break – they are really chemical addictions. And, once an addiction, are hard to break.
Be mindful of your repetitive behaviors. Once they become habits, you become their slave.
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About Thomas C. Corley
Fascinating information…and, in my experience, so true!