As we know, the world is changing. What is useful one day becomes obsolete, just as what is fashionable quickly becomes outdated. In our countries, everything is always faster, further, more efficiently,easier... for our pleasure. This pleasant sensation linked to the satisfaction of a desire, a material or mental need.
We live in a civilization that encourages immediate satisfaction. We can eat beyond our hunger, consume, buy beyond necessity and satisfy our cravings for information through all social networks and other information channels to the point of infobesity.
Digital consumption or hyper connectivity is the ally of the reward circuit, offering a bath of dopamine (neurotransmitter directly involved in the sensation of pleasure) and hacking a part of our lives. If spending several hours a day suspended to our screens was the only drawback, it would be a lesser evil.
The real problem lies in the fact that by responding immediately to our desires, we become impulsive beings, unwilling to accept frustrations and lose our reflective capacity. In short, our ability to think.
Beyond its overactivation by the repeated intake of specific molecules like certain drugs that lead to addiction; our reward circuit is also at the origin of changes in the world, in our society, our companies, our families... So what about each of us?
Our brain is our conductor and we know that its capacities are immense.
If neurosciences is still exploring its potential, they have clearly highlighted the power of the reward circuit (the ventral tegmental area, the striatum and the nucleus accumbens).
If we are biologically programmed to satisfy this circuit, this is not without consequences.
To satisfy a desire immediately, the behavior changes. It is the open door to egocentrism and to the commodification of others. Indeed, who has never given in to the irrepressible urge to read a text message, or even to answer it while driving? The temptation to satisfy one's curiosity, one's immediate desire is great, ignoring all others.
The risk is the same in companies. Driven by our reward circuit, we look for and expect immediate answers, disregarding the analysis and sometimes the reality of the resources and needs of colleagues and employees.
To find a good balance between pleasure and frustration, it is necessary to recognize the power of the reward circuit and to curb our impulses. It is always possible to train and build our frustration tolerance. Try regularly to give up checking your phone during a meeting or a lunch for example.
Let's consciously give back all the power to our free will!