People’s life satisfaction was hijacked. Between feeling down and depressed, and joyous and fulfilled, is a limbo coined as “languishing” by sociologist Corey Keyes. This is the absence of wellbeing and leads to reduced motivation and productivity and a limited ability to focus.

The last two years have led to a new wave of languishing. People’s brains have adapted to their current life circumstances. On the one hand, we have become desensitised to our current routines. Everyday activities, including work and education, became less enjoyable, less attractive, more difficult to carry out, or less motivating overall. This is because our brains are designed to seek novelty and to grow. Given the lack of opportunities, our neurobiology has also adapted, making it harder for us to remain motivated.

On the other hand, our access to instant stimulation such as social media, emails, news, sweets and alcohol have also created imbalances in our dopamine receptors, making it harder for us to find a feeling of simple satisfaction.

This session explores how our current lifestyle is impacting our key neurotransmitters that create feelings of joy, pleasure, motivation and satisfaction. We will explore what happiness really means for you, how you can work with your biology to increase happiness one percentage at a time, and how you can harness this happiness in your work and personal life for better results.

Key learnings:

1. Gain the emotional intelligence needed to understand why many are feeling emotionally depleted or demotivated
2. Understand how to hack your dopamine levels to maximise motivation and satisfaction
3. Understand the small and big actions you can take to improve your daily mood