What Does Actually Drive You?
What is the emotion that leads you to do something? What constantly drives you to do something in your life?
It is an emotion, heard of, frequently but not in conjunction with drive but sex.
It’s AROUSAL.
Yes, it is an emotion, not a state where you need to get your partner to.
It has more work to do than the usual business in bed.
The sudden feeling to stand up and do something, it comes from here. This is your drive, a singular emotion leading to the work you do and deem important.
Arousal is the physiological and psychological state of being awoken or of sense organs stimulated to a point of perception.
It is very important to understand this emotion. Because one thing, we mostly lack is motivation, focus and willingness to do something wholeheartedly. All that comes from here. Yet, we just brush it off something related to sex.
It is much more than that.
It is the hidden gem in emotions.
Do you know anything about ‘introverts’ and ‘extroverts’?
Simply, put, introverts like to stay at home and extroverts like to go out and party.
They are created by this very emotion. The baseline of arousal in humans leads them to be introvert and extrovert.
Introverts are already walking around with over-stimulated brains, so, when they try to take part in arousing activities such as partying etc., their arousal goes over the top and hence, they avoid such situations. They prefer quiet places.
Extroverts on the other hand are walking with under-stimulated brains and hence, actively seek arousing situations.
There is no problem in being extrovert or introvert. Every gem has its own lustre.
Moving on from the age-old divide of introverts and extroverts.
Arousal is more important and very crucial for performance.
Performance is something we all want right.
We want to perform good everywhere.
In workplace, at home, in bed, in games, in drinking games and charades.
In fact, arousal is so important for performance that there is a law associated with this phenomenon.
The name of the law is Yerkes-Dodson law.
The law says that your performance for a task is dependent on arousal. It varies with each task you have at hand.
Suppose if you have some task involving intellectual effort, then arousal should be low, in order for you to concentrate. That is why, any distraction while doing some serious task is not preferred. Any distraction can lead to arousal.
On the other hand, if you have some repetitive task at hand, then your arousal should be high, in order to do that work in a great manner.
But, repetition of a task again and again bores us. Boredom occurs when you are no longer aroused by something. That is the reason we are not satisfied with a repetitive task because the brain needs something new to get aroused.
Boredom is something we all hate and yes, it is controlled by arousal. The lesser-known but important emotion.
But, arousal is just like salt while cooking, you put too much or too less and you mess up the dish. The law also states that above a threshold, you will spoil your performance.
So, what is the mantra to a good, better and best performance?
Find your own SWEET SPOT.
Yes, life is all about experimenting with things.
Find your sweet spot, find your optimal performance.
Hyperboost your life and goals.
That’s my wish for you all.
Abhishek Verma is a researcher in the field of deep learning and artificial intelligence. He likes to write about the logical way of self-improvement. Spurred by emotions, he also likes to write poetry. Stay in touch by joining his newsletter. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Mix.
