Ending Consumerism, Hedonic Behaviour And Brain Hacking
Before we start, I just want to say that I hope I think of a better title for this article than the one I’m using right now.
Let’s talk about hedonic adaptation and consumerism.
I don’t have much time to write this article today, so this will be short and I will come back to the topics not discussed quickly in detail later.
We’re Really Good At Getting Your Brain
So as you will know, I am a copywriter and direct response marketer among other things.
Direct response marketing is a set of principles and practices which are designed to take somebody from not knowing anything about subject to wanting to buy something immediately.
In other words, direct response marketing is concerned with selling you things.
We’ve covered that in detail in the archives, but suffice to say this is a science and sneaky marketers everywhere are very good at this process.
That means that your brain has been hijacked and will continue to be hijacked by people who are trying to sell you on things. By things, I don’t just mean products. I mean ideologies. I mean philosophies. I mean those stupid opinions that people just won’t keep to themselves.
Millions of people are addicted to the news, and never really realized that the news isn’t all that accurate. They certainly wouldn’t believe that the news is selling you stuff. On the one hand, they are selling you the opinions of the producers and their controlling interests, but also they so you advertising.
The reason the news is so negative in nature is because you are scientifically more likely to buy something if you think the sky is about to fall down.
In essence, it’s a case of, “there might be nuclear war tomorrow, buy a car today.”
So that’s what you need to know.
How do we avoid this?
Avoid Consumerism By Understanding Your Brain
You are essentially a stimulus/response machine. That’s biologically speaking. (Spiritually speaking, believe whatever you want. I am not your priest.)
When you watch the news or you buy a product, you are on a set path of stimuli which will lead you to specific reactions.
The end result is that you buy something or you buy into something.
In order to avoid this, the simplest explanation is to avoid it. I recommend nobody concentrate on the news unless you’re sure that it is news that is going to serve your interest.
But you can’t just create a void where you avoid these negative behaviours. You have to fill it with something new, and something positive.
You have to create positive feedback loops.
Feedback Loops
In terms of dopamine release (i.e. the chemical reaction you go through when you are rewarded for something,) what you need to do is start with the set positive behaviours.
If you are going to buy something, then make that something the reward and not the stimulus. People get into the habit of buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff. This is bad.
A quick example of this is to buy yourself a cheeseburger or ice cream if you hit a certain goal. So you might earn a hundred dollars in a day from your business. Buy yourself a hamburger for five dollars.
You get bonus points if either of the following are true:
- The reward is way less than the goal you achieve. So, you earn $1000+ a day and you treat yourself to a McDonalds cheeseburger meal that costs £4.99
- The reward is something that’ll increase your progress more. So you earn $1000 in a day and you use $100 to allow yourself a new piece of software that automates something your business does
Feel free to use either example or the principle.
Of course, you can interlink. Take the McDonalds example. A few people would consider that not a reward because it’s unhealthy. But if you stack your good behaviour, then you actually make the reward system twice as effective.
So say you eat a clean diet six days a week. You reward yourself with a cheeseburger that’s unhealthy.
That’s one way to get a reward.
But say you also have the income goal I mentioned too.
So you can only eat a cheeseburger when you have a $1000 day and you’ve eaten cleanly since the last reward.
You’re going to really want that cheeseburger by the time you get a hold of it.
All that anticipation for something you can probably afford with the spare change you have in your pockets right now.
Which leads me to a new discovery…
Anticipation Is KEY
You will enjoy something more if you anticipate it more.
I read that somewhere a few months ago, and I thought, “It’s experiment time.”
Because of course if you wait for something and want it a long time, you’re going to want it more and feel better when you get it.
But what if you make that feeling?
Let’s say you want to buy yourself a new bicycle. It’s a good idea because while you love your car, you want to be healthy. So you say next time you get a tax return pay out you’ll buy a bicycle.
Now you can wait longer or get a fancy bicycle to make you feel even more good.
Here’s what you should do instead and what I’ve been experimenting with.
Positive visualisation.
You deliberately imagine enjoying something much more than you probably will. You deliberately imagine how good it’ll be. How it’ll save your life and make you happier.
You take all of the copywriting skills that you use on your customer and you use them on yourself.
Make yourself want something so bad.
Then tell yourself, “It’s a reward.”
And watch how you achieve your goals, get your reward and enjoy it more because you’ve imagined all that you can do with it.
This will lead to you consuming less on the one hand and producing more on the other.
Win-win.