I love this talk on motivation and what drives us. I am often intrinsically driven. My entire life I have had trouble finding motivation from conventional external rewards. Autonomy, authenticity, and 'doing hard things' have always been more motivating than punishments and rewards. This talk helped me clarify why that is. https://youtu.be/-_fCHBbgi-0?si=8vOiAyAJiU6SwUAT

I find his stories soothing to the nervous system. Check him out if it resonates. I just listened to one of his audiobooks (The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise) several times to really let it soak in. https://youtu.be/LW_ioWnguC4?si=Rz7ZePwMpQciloV_

Pretty much all the experts agree, that having a specific gratitude practice is an important tool for keeping ourselves regulated. The human brain naturally defaults to worry and comparison, and that often leads us to wallow in feelings of inadequacy and 'not enoughness'. Even billionaires often focus on what they do not have instead of what they DO have. This can be a motivating factor to help us drive forward towards what we want, but it can also be a great barrier to feeling satisfied and fulfilled with our lives. Life itself has a lot to be grateful for. The sun shines without asking for a thing. The sky and the earth support us. Our bodies go on breathing, hearts beating, microbiome digesting...it really is a fantastic thing to contemplate. If you find yourself focusing on lack, and feeling a sense of what you do not have, welcome to the natural human experience. I suggest spending at least a few minutes every day contemplating/focusing on the feeling of gratitude for all you have in this life. This can be done by writing things down or simply thinking or speaking out loud, but the real key is to FEEL the feeling of gratitude for the things you are grateful for. I have been practicing heart coherence for a few years now, and it still amazes me how much more coherent my Heart Math sensor shows me that my heart and brain are more coherent when I focus on feeling grateful. For me, this also includes a deliberate relaxing, letting go of tension, and smiling, internally and externally. I challenge you to make your gratitude practice more deliberate. If you don't already have a deliberate practice, try seven minutes a day (or more) for the next 7 days. You can simply close your eyes, breathe deeply and steadily, and focus on feeling love and gratitude for this life. If your brain starts to overthink or wanders to what you lack, simply smile and relax and come back to a feeling of love and gratitude. If you can, do a little journaling about your experience (and especially practice listing the things, people, experiences and feelings you are grateful for), and notice the difference it makes to your nervous system.

What would your life be like if you could infuse more awareness and pleasure in everything you do? I have been inspired by this guy (Joe Hudson) often lately...and at various times in my life I have found many things pleasurable, even things that some people do not think of as pleasurable. The key is bringing your awareness and attention and senses into the present moment and feeling safe in the moment. https://youtu.be/u0lUteRXC0c?si=1mnNW5NolDDuknTv