Dopamine

Spending money, too much caffeine and adderal, driving 30+ over the speed limit

ZYN

I get my rushes from three areas in life: 

1. Lifting heavy weights 

There is something truly primal about feats of strength, and for me it will always be where I get my "day-to-day" rush. Picking up hundreds of lbs and knowing if I drop this weight I may die really gets the blood pumping. Also, it is an easy (in the sense that it can be done anywhere) way to push yourself beyond what you believed you were capable of doing. I am big on self improvement in general, and find that this is what life is all about. 

2. Fast Cars / Aggressive Driving

Since I was a twelve year old kid in my mom's minivan, I have been pretty obsessed with cars. It started with pure aesthetics (think Pimp my ride and Need for Speed), but slowly grew into a fixation on performance and experience. This took shape when I was old enough to drive, and to understand what it was like to go peddle to the metal for long stretches of asphalt. If you want to talk about something that truly gets your heartrate up, grab a fast car and see how hard you can push it on an open road. I dont even need to be driving, just in the car. My friends and I would wait until 2-3 am and then hit nearby highways maxing out our cars. We used to drive 90 mph through our little suburb towns, pushing our vehicles until they were on two wheels. I've had a few near death experiences because of it, but my God talk about feeling alive. You can also have a ton of fun without risking anything (e.g., drifting around after a light snow fall). Cars and speed will always raise my heartrate, and I'd recommend giving it a shot. 

3. Leaving my Comfort Zone / New Experiences 

Left for last as this should be somewhat obvious, but pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Once I get comfortable with a job, I leave it. I move on to something that will provide a new challenge. Yes I am certainly a master of none, but being in my 20s, I am ok with that. The same should be said with travel. Go where you havent been before, or where you may be somewhat out of your comfort zone. Going to the Caribbean? Stay where the locals live as opposed to the the all inclusive resort. Obviously for examples like this do your DD and make sure it is safe and you have access to everything you need. But push yourself outside your comfort zone. If you are single, hit on the girls you are terrified to talk to. If you are bored with your friends, try making new ones. If none of that scares you, figure out what does and try that. Sky diving, scuba diving with sharks, whatever it is. Many of us live in this boring little finance world where people consider themselves "risk takers" because they tried a new bottle of Cab on a Friday night or took edibles for the first time. For me, the biggest risks in life always had the greatest rewards and actually made me feel alive.

With every single internship I had in college I was so terribly nervous, certain I was the dumbest person in the room at all times. I was so scared to voice my opinion. Through these experiences I gained a new sense of confidence, and also realized that I was capable of more than I thought. This fear kept me engaged, it pushed me, and allowed me to realize that even if I was the dumbest person in the room, I was in the room. This led me to ask an extremely important question, "what room could I break into next?" This fueled how I thought about work for the years to come. 

At the end of the day, a rush comes from being scared, out of your element, or accomplishing something you were uncertain you could do. Chase that your entire life. I've been doing it for several years now and it has allowed me to create a life that I find exciting. I have also failed at everything I have tried many times over. I have failed enough where I am no longer afraid to fail anymore.