Beginner Guide: Hacking Your Happy Hormones (key to being happy)

I just found a hidden key to be happy…

It’s your happy hormones!

I knew a bit about dopamine and oxytocin, but I never learned it more deeply. Once I did, it started to make sense… and I’m going to share this with you!

In this blog post, I’ll be diving into what the happy hormones are, my personal experiences with recognizing when I’m low on them, and how I hack my way back to feeling balanced. I’ll also share what I do to boost these hormones and the things I avoid.

This is all based on my own experience, so I encourage you do your own research and find what works for your body and circumstances. However, I do hope that you’ll gain some helpful insights and a better understand of how these hormones impact your happiness :))

What are your 4 happy hormones?

1. Dopamine: the “feel-good” hormone. It’s released when you achieve something or get rewarded.
2. Serotonin: the “inner mood booster” hormone. It regulates your mood, sleep, and appetite.
3. Endorphins: the “physical booster” hormone. It’s released when you exercise, laugh, or even eat something spicy.
4. Oxytocin: the “love hormone”. It’s released through physical touch and bonding moments.

When I started learning about happy hormones, I began to notice something. I noticed that whenever I was feeling low, it was because I was lacking a happy hormone.

For example, when I am feeling stressed, I lack the endorphins hormone, and that’s why I feel better when I go on a run or fast-paced walk. Another example is when I’m feeling unmotivated, I lack the dopamine hormone, and that’s why I feel better when I do small tasks first.

Below, I’ll be going through how I personally remember the happy hormones, including the signs I lack in one of them. I go through the activities that help me boost each one when needed.

DOPAMINE

I remember this happy hormone by what it’s known for: the “feel-good” hormone. And it’s because I would feel good (like duh). I would mainly feel good about accomplishing something, and that’s where I get most of my dopamine hits.

My signs I need dopamine:

• Unmotivated: For example, when I’m not motivated to do even the tasks that I would normally be fine doing (e.g. doing a weekly reset, or working on some content).
• Mood swings: For example, I wouldn’t be in a good mood because I don’t feel motivated and want to do anything. If I feel forced to do something, I feel moody.
• Difficulty focusing: If I can’t seem to focus on one task no matter how hard I try and I’m easily distracted.
• Procrastinating: This is something I typically would struggle with the most. Whenever I’m procrastinating on a dreadful task, I’m also lacking dopamine.

Activities I do:

1. Complete small tasks: I would break down a dreadful task into smaller milestones. Just like a video game (like when you level up), it gives you a dopamine hit every time you hit a “milestone”. The more milestones I hit, the more motivated I feel.
2. Go for a walk: This is great for me whenever I’m not in the mood to do anything. Going for a walk not only boosts my endorphins and serotonin (I’ll talk about this later), but it also gives me dopamine because I feel good after walking and accomplishing some physical activity.
3. Creative activity: This is helpful whenever I’m lacking focus. If I don’t feel like doing work, I do something creative like writing (this is why writing is my main outlet). Whenever I write something on paper, I get a boost of dopamine. Also, it’s great to let out thoughts too, especially the ones that are giving me a hard time to focus.
4. Listening to music: Music is great too however I make sure I pair it with something. I find that when I just sit down and listen to music, it’s just going to make me procrastinate tasks more. If I pair music with a walk, I get more dopamine hits and don’t feel like procrastinating.

What I avoid:

1. Social Media: I avoid social media mainly because it’s a time waster. Social media gives huge dopamine hits, and the problem with that is that if you’re already getting dopamine hits from social media, it’ll be hard to get dopamine hits from something else.

• For example, scrolling social media and completing a task both give dopamine hits. However, if you’re already getting dopamine hits from social media, you won’t feel like doing the task anymore (because social media is more effortless than doing a hard task).

2. Too much screen time: The same is applicable to all types of screen time. Doing something on your phone is an effortless dopamine boost than doing the hard task you are supposed to be doing.

3. Unhealthy food: It’s also similar to physical food. Similar to how social media is more effortless than doing a hard task, eating unhealthy food can feel more satisfying than eating a healthier meal.

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RELATED: How to Procrastinate (the right way)

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Endorphins

I remember this happy hormone as a “physical health booster” because it gets my heart rate up, and that feels great!

Signs I need more endorphins:

• Feeling low: Whether I’m low in energy or I have a low mood, it may mean I need to get my heart rate going.
• Increased stress: For example, when it was my exam period, I went on a lot of runs to relieve stress because getting my heart rate up contributed to that for some reason.
• Easily overwhelmed: Similar to stress, there are moments when I just want to let the frustration out. Getting endorphins where I get the heart rate up helps.

Activities I do:

1. Going for a run: This easily gets my heart rate up, and as mentioned before, it helps get the stress and overwhelm out.
2. Dance workout: Whenever I don’t feel like going for a run, I like putting on the Just Dance videos. Even just one video can get your heart rate up.
3. Watching a funny video: Even though this isn’t a physical exercise, watching something funny like a TV show or YouTube video can also get your heart rate up and relieve stress. I guess, they say “laughter is the best medicine” for a reason?

What I avoid:

1. Stressful tasks: Obviously, if I’m already feeling so overwhelmed and stressed, I should avoid tasks that will give me more stress. This is not to say that I procrastinate on the tasks. I would hack my endorphins first to relieve my stress before proceeding to them.
2. Too much screen time: I find that too much screen time can increase my stress and lower my energy, the opposite of what endorphins are supposed to do. I’m mindful of my digital habits at this time.
3. Isolating myself: This is more of isolating myself to not doing anything (as opposed to avoiding people lol). Whenever I just don’t do anything, even though it feels good at the moment, I still lack the endorphins that I would need. I still need to find a way to let out my stress or frustration, and isolating myself won’t help that.

SEROTONIN

I remember this happy hormone as an “inner mood booster” because I associate the feelings as calm and making me feel better internally.

Signs that I need more serotonin:

• Mood swings: Whenever I’m in a low mood, I automatically know that it means I need more serotonin.
• Low energy: When I’m tired and low in energy, I tend to be low in mood too, and that is why it links.
• Difficulty focusing: If I’m in a low mood, I sometimes will have a hard time focusing on tasks as well.

Activities I do:

1. Sunlight/go outside: This is one of my favorite ones because it’s effortless. Not that I know ALL the science behind it, but I understand why people say “Just go outside for a breather” whenever you feel down or stressed.
2. Relaxing/self-care time: I have a list of go-to self-care activities that I do whenever I need a mood booster. Self-care is a great mood booster.
3. Healthy snacks/meals: Having some good food can also boost your mood as well. Sometimes, we can get moody if we haven’t eaten anything right?
4. Reading: This is a simple habit that doesn’t involve too much. Most times, when you’re in a low mood, when you want to feel better, you want to do something that feels effortless. Reading is one of those habits.

Things I Avoid:

1. Being inactive: I try my best not to isolate myself and not move around, because being stuck in the same room will not boost my mood as much.
2. Overwhelming tasks: Just like what I mentioned previously, this is not to procrastinate the tasks, but instead take care of my mood first before doing them. If I do those stressful tasks first, I’ll feel even more overwhelmed.
3. Too much junk food: Although it can taste good sometimes, it lowers my energy afterwards. And when my energy is low, my mood is low.
4. Too much screen time: This is more of social media and random internet scrolling where I worsen my mood rather than boost it. However, if I’m using screen time to watch funny videos to boost my mood then, that’s okay with me.

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RELATED: How to Take Care of Your Mental Health (even when you’re busy)

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OXYTOCIN

I remember this happy hormone by what it’s known for, the “love hormone” aka feelings of connection and bonding.

My signs I need more oxytocin:

• Feeling lonely: This is usually my most telltale sign that I lack oxytocin.
• Increased anxiety: Whenever I feel anxious, I also feel alone mainly because I feel like I would have no one to talk to about it.
• Feeling emotionally distant: I know I need oxytocin when I start emotionally distancing myself from my loved ones.

Activities I do:

I’m currently in a single era as I’m writing this post. But there are still ways that I hack this happy hormone nonetheless:

1. Dog cuddles: I live with my cute dog Nelly and cuddles with her gives me lots of oxytocin :))
2. Skincare: I started taking my time with my skincare lately, and made it more of a ritual rather than a chore.
3. Face masks: Whenever I take care of my skin, I feel great physically and also feel more confident as a bonus.
4. Messaging friends: Even if I don’t always see them in person, I feel connected internally and that already gives me oxytocin.
5. Pampering myself: Going on spa days whether at home or elsewhere, taking my time when getting ready, having nice showers help me feel great.

Things I avoid:

1. Social media: Personally for me, social media can evoke my feelings of loneliness and anxiety, which then leads me to lacking in oxytocin.
2. Other media content: This goes for other media content as well. My diet is not just the food I eat, it’s also everything I read and listen to. If a content makes me feel more anxious or lonely, it leads me to lacking in oxytocin.

Take a SMALL STEP:

Here are some small steps you can do to get ready to hack your happy hormones when you need it.

Write at least 3 activities to boost each respective happy hormone and 3 things to avoid:

1. Dopamine: the “feel good” hormone.
2. Serotonin: the “inner mood booster” hormone.
3. Endorphins: the “physical booster” hormone.
4. Oxytocin: the “love” hormone.

To Wrap Up

Hopefully learning about these happy hormones gave you a good idea on how to hack happiness when you need it.

I’m always adding some new resources into the Free Resources Library to help you with various areas of your life, hacking many of your happy hormones in the process! You can check it out here.

In the meantime, don’t forget to prioritize your needs and your happiness, even in small ways!

-Lauren :))

P.S I suggest you read these blog posts next:

• Little Guide to Starting Fresh: Getting Out of a Funk
• How to Use Self-Care to Bounce Back From a Bad Day
• How I Transformed My Habits in 2024: Step-by-Step Guide

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