Money, Fame or Power is Not the Secret to Happiness

Gratitude is the key!

4 min readFeb 16, 2022

When we think about being happy, what comes to mind? For most people, it is the feeling of joy and contentment that comes with living a good life. But what makes us feel good? Is it money, fame, or power? According to neuroscience, the answer is gratitude. Being grateful rewires our brain to be happier and more positive.

In this blog post, I will explore the neuroscience of gratitude and how it can improve our mental well-being!

What is gratitude, and why do we need it in our lives?

Gratitude is the feeling of thankfulness and appreciation for what we have in our lives. It can be something such as being grateful for a good meal or our friends and family. Gratitude is critical because it helps us focus on the positive aspects of our lives and reminds us that we have plenty to be thankful for. When we are grateful, it makes us happier and more positive.

How does gratitude impact our brain chemistry?

Studies have shown that grateful people are more likely to be happy than those who aren’t. One study found that when we take time each day to write down three things we’re grateful for, it increases our happiness by 25 percent!

This is because gratitude releases chemicals in the brain like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These chemicals make us feel good without instinctually knowing why.

When feeling negative emotions like jealousy or anger, these feelings don’t increase the level of these helpful brain chemicals in our body. Instead, they release cortisol — a stress hormone caused by thinking about unpleasant events, which makes you feel worse over time.

Dopamine makes us feel satisfied and content with life; serotonin has been linked to feelings of happiness and well-being, while oxytocin makes us feel more connected.

There is a lot of neuroscience research that supports the idea that gratitude actually rewires our brain for happiness.