Better Psychology Management for Dummies around four natural happiness chemicals!

 

Image courtesy:

https://www.parkinsonsnsw.org.au/four-happy-hormones/

Better Psychology Management for Dummies around four natural happiness chemicals!

 

(First Draft - The blog will be edited as more clarity emerges!)

 

Objective: This is an attempt to increase the role of symbiosis between the life style and the key  psychological chemicals.  Research in this area is still on. But,let us attempt to benefit from low hanging fruits right away. I am no expert, this is the quick research summary from the Internet University.

Hope, this reading will trigger something positive for the reader!

 

Desired benefits of this report:

 

1. Seek better understanding of self and others on their behavior plus and minus, improvement needs and potential help they can seek and you can give.

2.  Better self management: Understand, bring reform in life style, seek correction and balancing, optimize opportunities for well being

3. Key activities planning for optimization and balancing.

4. Seek professional help on key priorities as needed.

 

 

Bottom line: (This was my motivation to write this blog)

1. Watch your diet, balance your diet. Watch your water intake.

2. Exposure to sun, nature, good light, air.

3. Regular exercise, yoga

4. Regular Meditation. Reflect on the day, at the beginning and at the end. Reflect on life at intervals. Keep diary to enhance reflection.

5. Breathe! Pranayama!

6. Music, Dance

7. Socialization, relations, fellowship.

8. Balance rest and sleep with activities

9. Have fun, as much you work! Celebrate life in general

10. Seek touch, intimacy. If can’t have sex, substitute with massage, hugging, intimacy with pets, strangers, etc. etc.

11. Become real! Understand your illusions, fantasies and day dreams as a trigger to become further real. Let go off fear, guilt, lack of self esteem, greed etc.

12. Cultivate kindness, benevolence, love. Keep in touch with less privileged and help genuinely.

13. Watch and manage your cravings and  addictions, mood swings, impulses.

14. Watch and manage your stress. Approach life as a game of games, focus is to play, play well, play your best, leave the rest.

15. Seek to understand your Chakras and balance as needed.  This leads to best balance between body, mind, heart and spirit.

16. Have a sense of purpose, both short term and long term.

17. Be useful to self and the rest. Seek a sense of accomplishment for self.

18. Cultivate hobbies you like, master one or some.

19. Balance the opposites in all aspects, eg. Aim improvements, but surrender to imperfection.  Cultivate a sense of humor. Balance aggression and humility.

20. Seek professional help (clinical, psychological, mentoring, training) than struggling to cope up with your issues. Have faith and seek better life you deserve.

The four happiness chemicals:

1. Dopamine:

Key Property: Pathway to pleasure, feeling good,  (Slow release when compared to Endorphin)

Benefit: Provides intense feeling of reward. Allows to feel pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. Memory, Learning & attention, mood, sleep,  movement, heart rate, kidney function, blood vessel function, sleep, pain processing, lactation

Typical Triggers: Sex, shopping, fresh smells; Achieving something; Problem solving: Eureka! Alcohol and other drugs stimulate dopamine, hence addiction

Downside of Imbalance: Too much: Craving, Addiction, Aggression, Impulsiveness Too less: Stiffness, Parkinson disease, down mood, No motivation

Imbalance: Depression, Schezophrenia, ADHD, movement issues, digestion issue like constipation and reflux, addiction, pneumonia, trouble sleeping, slow movement, slow speech, feeling tired, unmotivated, low libido, hallucinations

Natural Management:

Eat healthy diet.

Food: Avacado, Banana, Pumpkin, Sesame seeds, Soy, Dairy food, poultry,

Meditation

Do something enjoyable, and feel good. It can be positive loop, even addictive

Achieve something

Do something fun: Eat nice food, have sex, win a game, earn money (stock market!),

Dopamine detox to manage addiction: avoid pleasure triggers like junk food, social media, Enjoy healthy pleasures only. 

2. Endorphin:

Key Property: Stress release and a sense of well being (Fast release, when compared to Dopamine)

Benefit: 

Natural pain killers

Reduce pain and discomfort

Increase pleasure

Reduce stress, depression, anxiety

Attenuate inflammation

Improve mood

Boost self Esteem

Healthy immune system

Memory & Cognitive function

Typical Triggers:

Naturally produced during pleasurable activities: exercise, sex, laughing. Also produced in some painful activities like twisting ankle

Downside of Imbalance:

Shortage: Pain, aches. Increased risk of anxiety and depression, moodiness, addiction, trouble sleeping. People with migrane can have low endorphin

Endorphin rush addiction on some activities: Example withdrawl syndrome of mountain climbers

 People self harming for the rush of endorphins

Natural Management:

Food: Chocolate

Exercise, aerobics, Runner’s high

Acupuncture

Meditation

Playing music. Listening to music

Dance

Interaction with friends

Watching favorite TV shows, Comedy Shows

Ultravoilet light

Laugh

Fall in love

Delicious meal

Sex

3. Oxytocin:

Key Property: Bond with loved ones (love drug), Feeling safe with others, trusting

Benefit:

Facilitate child birth, lactation

Decrease stress and anxiety

Positive impact on social behavior: Relaxation, trust, psychological stability

Typical Triggers:

Motherhood

Has a positive feedback loop to produce more.

Social isolation is a concern.

Downside of Imbalance:

Low: Depression, post partum depression

Too much oxytocin: benign prostatic hyerlasia for men, leading to difficulty in passing urine

Low oxytocin: autism, autistic spectrum disorders, poor social functions, depressive symptoms

Natural Management:

Fall in love (motherly or otherwise)

Cuddling, sex, act of touch like hugging, massage

Exercise

Martial arts

Music, singing in a group adding element of bonding

Give someone a compliment

Communicating with others, even strangers

Be kind

4. Serotonin:

Key Property: Natural mood booster and stabilizer

Benefit:

Feeling of euphoria, stave off depression

Feeling respected by others

Pride, one up feeling leads to serotonin

Serotonin regulates sleep and wake

Helps thinking, maintaining mood

Controls sexual desire

Can control OCD, panic disorder, PTSD

Typical Triggers:

Sunlight

Exercise

Tryptophan rich food

Downside of Imbalance:

Too less: Anxiety and Depression, lack of cooperation and altruism, sleep disorder, digestive problems, phobias, suicidal thoughts & behaviors

Too much: Serotonin syndrome which can be life threatening: Twitching muscles, shivering, restlessness, agitation, fast heartbeat, temperature, headache, confusion, dilated pupils, goose bumps,

Reduced sex drive if too much serotonin

Natural Management:

Food: Complex carbohydrates like veggies, fruits, legumes, whole grains.

Nuts, eggs, cheese, red meat, turkey, salmon, tofu, pineapple

Work out, Bright light, sun exposure,

 (Further work on this pending)

 

The Great Indian Lottery is going on, but not all are aware of it yet!

 

image courtesy: https://www.angelone.in/knowledge-center/ipo/what-is-ipo

The Great Indian Lottery is going on, but not all are aware of it yet!

 

Many born in the yesteryears have tasted the lure of lottery. More than the money, it is the hope as the reward, with which the lottery ticket is bought.

 

Lottery is generally banned in India except for some states. So, what lottery I am talking about here? It is nothing but the great Indian IPO lottery. This lottery is more than hope, it can make real money for you, more than you are ready to accept.

 

This lottery is not accessible to all. One needs to have a bank account, demat account and a trading account. Also, one needs to have smart phone and an internet connection, so that one can access all three accounts through the phone. Then, it is a few finger tip touches, no need to sweat, except follow the IPO calendar religiously.

 

There is a way to participate in these IPOs without having to take risk. How? One will blindly invest in all the IPOs that are oversubscribed (say at least three times) by the last day of application. Within a week, the IPO allocation happens based on lottery. One may get allotted only 5-20% of the times. If allotted, the allotted shares appear in your demat account, and your stock trading account also shows the allotment in your portfolio.

 

To manage the risks, you do not keep your allotments. You simply sell on day one of listing, the stock gets listed at 10 am on the listing day.  Usually, the listing price is the original allotment price plus the prevailing grey market price. Upon listing, the script may go up or down, but you get enough five minutes to complete the trade.  Recent demat accounts ask for TPIN and OTP, therefore your hurried sale may beg for patience, and the delay may benefit you or not.

 

With an average of two such IPOs per week, one gets to apply for at least 100 ipos in an year, assuming there is 5-20 allotments among them, the profit on day one selling could be anywhere between 15 to 150%, let us take an average of 50% here. So, if your investment size is approx. Rs. 1 lakh, then your profit is on average Rs. 50K, and depending on your lottery luck, you may make anywhere between Rs. 2.5 Lakhs to 10 Lakhs per year on day one selling, let us take this as an average of Rs. 5 lakhs per head. Those who can afford to have more cash in the bank, can participate as an HNI, by investing more than Rs. 2 lakh per IPO, so the returns also could be larger.

 

Here, having a larger family helps. If you are a couple with two kids who are major, you can apply in everyone’s name, and increase your family’s lottery chances significantly.  Only thing is that each one needs to have a bank account, demat account and a trading account, all accessible from their smart phone.

 

Do not become greedy and attempt to apply more than once for the same person through different channels. The automation catches you red, gets you red flagged, and you will miss the lottery altogether.

 

You need to become good in cash management in your bank account. Typically, one needs Rs. 5 lakh cash in the bank account to fully exploit the IPO opportunities in a week. Your money gets held in an escrow by the bank, and the money gets deducted only upon allotment. So, upon non allotment, held money gets released and becomes ready for next IPO. Allotted money gets released in the trading account once you sell the shares on day one. You may need 2-3 days to transfer that cash back to the bank account.

 

What if you can not afford Rs. 5 lakhs per head? It is even worth taking personal loan, as your interest cost of 14% gets more than compensated by approx. 100% return over an year. (Do not take loans if you can't handle the risks associated. This advice is only for those who have the confirmed ability to repay the loan in case of setbacks!)

 

It is idiotic to sell some good scripts on day one. But accept that you are an idiot and follow the idiot rule, which is not to take risk as to judging which is worth holding and which is not.  There are some scripts which have become one third past IPO and some three times past IPO, you can’t take chance with your limited knowledge and experience, hence sell on day one. Also, your cash is limited in your bank account, so you need all the cash back into your account as fast as possible.

 

I missed this golden opportunity for last two years, being cash strapped until recently. But now I am enjoying the ride and make some easy money through retirement. You know my nature, I have a big mouth, hence this blog.

 

There is so much criticism around Modi promising Rs. 15 lakhs to common man’s account and not doing so. But, he has facilitated this more than promised, through indirect means. This IPO opportunity is one such, which will last at least next two to three years. So, don’t look for blame games and excuses, get on with it exploiting the great Indian digital revolution and the consistently growing Indian economy.  Wake up and take action! Sooner the better!!

 

Apologies to all those exploiting this game so far, as your lottery chances will now reduce, as more and more will jump into the wagon!

 

Best regards,

Nataraja Upadhya

Word of caution: Wherever genuine opportunities emerge, fraudsters lurk. Be wary of SME IPOs, as the punters can jack up the ipo applications, and on day one of listing, they can sell quickly to cause lower circuit, and you will end up losing money on allotment in such cases. Look for IPO rating, a good ipo will have a rating of 45 or above. 

As a risk management measure, skip all SME IPOs.

Statuary Disclaimer: Investing in stock market has its risks, so take decisions responsibly with your own assessments. 

Activism Brokering Warrior (ABW) - A new emerging class among Elders!

 

Image courtesy: https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/151124125522-xena-warrior-princess.jpg?q=w_2405,h_1623,x_0,y_0,c_fill

Activism Brokering Warrior (ABW) - A new emerging class among Elders!

 

I am a self proclaimed Activism Brokering Warrior (ABW). What is at all about? Explaining that is the purpose of this blog.

 

Activism Broker Warrior is not a true activist, but wants to add two paisa to it at his or her comfort and will.  The ubiquitous Whatsapp is his or her default platform.  Engagement across many other online platforms and integrating the offline world with it  opens infinite possibilities though!

 

Typically, an ABW is an elder who has lot of life experience, knowledge, wisdom, maturity, time and will to make a difference. But this elder is in the sunset stage of life, therefore energy, enthusiasm, and activity engagement possibilities are limited. But, thanks to social network platforms like Whatsapp, the communication is at finger tip. One can be dynamically part of hundreds of online communities, and communicate with the deft movement of a single finger tip.  While there are a lot of online content creators, an ABW wields power by forwarding appealing posts across communities. But, an ABW can do more.

 

An ABW therefore has lot of fun with platforms like Whatsapp. Like any elder can spend easily two to three hours to read a newspaper end to end, an ABW is capable of spending eight hours a day on Whatsapp platform with a sense of ease. The Whatsapp engagement may initially start with the focus for self, but a lingering objective emerges and grows, which is to become an ABW eventually. Anyone who has lot of time, positivism will easily become an ABW, once he or she learns to surrender to the possibilities of Whatsapp platform.

 

An ABW has a meaningful role to play.  Since there is approx. 70 % younger population out there, totally lost in building their life around education, work, business, love, making money, spending money, exploring the world etc., they need limited and relevant information at their finger tips. So, a good percentage of this class will tap Whatsapp as a theraupetic escape activity or time killing mechanism when stranded with waiting for something.  This class is well served by an ABW.

 

Another important role is emerging for an ABW as our reality is transforming with many gateways across the online and offline worlds. For example, take the world of business, even an offline business can thrive by leveraging online platforms like Whatsapp. Online platforms are becoming pretty necessary for all aspects of life, not just business. Therefore, the field of activism too needs to leverage it. Activism needs communication and therefore communication brokers. Becoming an ABW therefore is a natural phenomenon. Since platforms like Whatsapp have lead to the new realities like “Whatsapp Universities”, an ABW is an automatic self employed  Professor Emeritus in it,  who has commitments to make a difference till his or her last breath on the death bed, even in an hospital bed, as an ABW needs just one moving finger to operate.

 

I have been active in the social network since 2007 post my early retirement. I have played with the social networks with a sense of play, exploration, experimentation. I have created various online communities for the same, some of which thrive for a while and then become dormant or dead as the changes come in and go out. I also had many other hobbies in the offline world, for which I leveraged the online world for. But, as I crossed  the age of sixty, I embraced the realities of an elder, I consciously moved away from many offline hobby engagements, and growing as an exemplary ABW became more than a therapeutic necessity. I spent approx last two years of intense engagements to sell our home initially, then move to a transitional rental place, then find a permanent apartment, buy it, get it ready and settle down. As this process is now coming to an end, and the past habits can not die so easily, becoming an ABW is an excellent opportunity for me now.

 

Also, after moving to an apartment, an elder like me will find day to day life as being locked up in our own wonderful resort, and this is a good thing. Key focus for the day is to take care of daily routines like sleep, exercise, bath room visits, medical attention and that is all. Even shopping happens online. Financially one is secure, thanks to the pension or the interest from the bank savings.  OTT platforms provide unlimited entertainment. Socializing is primarily on Whatsapp and other social platforms. A negative thought may erupt as to whether that is all  left to live. When that happens, the possibilities of becoming an ABW slowly takes shape, and it should.

 

I want to be the voice of all ABWs out there, as a cheerleader. Please anticipate many activism brokering attempts from me through blogs like these in future. I did not use the laptop well for last six months due to transitions, and writing this blog justified that investment again, so I am in all glee writing this blog.

 

Since I was active in organic gardening communities before selling our house, I will attempt the same engagement now, but as an ABW. (An ABW can relate to the hippies too!)  Also, I notice total lack of collaboration among apartment communities, I will unleash my ABWship in that context too. I am an avid stock market investor cum trader, my ABW will be unleashed there too. This is just about upcoming attractions ahead!

 

India is all about Yoga, which is unity among diversity, and diversity among unity. It is also about honoring all the entities and processes out there, so an ABW deserves the same. An ABW can be a Yoga broker too!

 

Welcome to the age of Activism Brokering Warriors. We are much past the dawn, it sounds like  strong and bright sun at 10 AM. Let us march ahead, with our nifty fingers, both at the capacity of an elderly individual, and also as one among millions of minions or sparrows who can move a mountain together though!

 

Namasthe!

 

Nataraja Upadhya

 

An ordinary Activism Brokering Warrior (ABW)!