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Caroline McMorrow

Partnerships at Finding Mastery | Content Strategy | Simplifying Health + Science Information | Women's Health Advocate | Ex-Oura Ring

Caroline McMorrow is currently involved in Partnerships at Finding Mastery, where she focuses on developing collaborations and content strategies within the health and wellness sector. She has a background in partnerships and has worked with various organizations in this field. Caroline holds a degree from the University of Southern California and is based in San Diego, California .12

In her role, she is likely responsible for fostering relationships that align with Finding Mastery's mission to explore and enhance human performance through various partnerships .2

Highlights

Sep 4 · linkedin

Stress addiction — way more modern people are dealing with it than we give credit to.

Just like you can be addicted to food, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, video games, exercise, etc…

You can also be addicted to stress and the hormones and chemicals produced from it.

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It sounds impossible right?

How could you possibly be attracted to the sensation of overwhelm and tension?

———

But the thing is—

You can get high on that overwhelm.

You can get high on the

→ Endless go-go-go → Running from place to place → Booking your calendar → Seeing how much you can squeeze in

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Because you’re being productive 24/7.

Which is highly rewarded in our culture.

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Stress usually comes with a negative connotation but there are physiological “rewards” we temporarily experience from it.

When you’re stressed, your pituitary and adrenal glands start to pump out cortisol, adrenaline, endorphins, and even dopamine.

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Cortisol increases glucose in your bloodstream, giving you more energy.

Adrenaline (epinephrine) raises your heart rate and blood pressure to deliver more oxygen and nutrients throughout.

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It’s close cousin, norepinephrine, increases your focus and narrows your attention.

Endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers, are released to dull any sensation of pain.

Dopamine, being heavily involved in reward, is released during stress to kickstart motivation for the sake of overcoming.

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This all ^ creates a natural high.

All from stress.

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And the most slippery slope is with dopamine.

It’s one of our primary feel good hormones, next to serotonin.

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Except it’s directly connected to our reward center, so it encourages repetitive behavior.

Just like you get small hits of dopamine from

→ Social media → Checking your phone → Consuming sugar → Reaching a goal

You can also get it from your own stress.

———

Which is why it can feel so challenging to take a step away from hustle culture and the constant drive for stimuli.

You secretly kind of love the feeling of stress and overwhelm.

———

Cause it makes you feel

→ Energized and sometimes even excited → Like you’re tackling challenges → Like you’re moving toward your goals → Productive, valuable, and needed

———

In the short term.

Even though in the long term, it’s slowly exhausting and depleting you.

———

It’s a lot harder to peel back from the cheap dopamine hits you get from stress and find meaning from earned dopamine.

Which comes from slow wins like

→ Completing long term projects → Exercise → Learning a new skill → Building relationships → Helping others

———

But you’ll feel so much more grounded, restored, and present if you do.

Fight against the drive toward stress addiction — which is so prevalent, it’s considered normal at this point.

———

And move toward earned dopamine.

Your body and mind is going to thank you — even if it requires going against the grain.

#stress #mentalhealth #healthandwellness

Sep 1 · linkedin

One of the best things you can do for your mental health is

Choose to live in reality.

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Choosing to live in reality means

1️⃣ Being in the here and now, not obsessing about the future or past

2️⃣ Not getting consumed by “what ifs” and made up scenarios in your head

3️⃣ Getting off your phone and into the real world; spending time with others in person

4️⃣ Being fully honest with yourself

5️⃣ Dropping the narratives that keep you stuck and shatter your relationship to self

6️⃣ Accepting the hard facts of life, even when they’re uncomfortable and painful

7️⃣ Removing yourself from numbing tactics that only prolong your pain over time

8️⃣ Holding realistic expectations for yourself and others

9️⃣ Accepting you’re a flawed human and so is everyone else; you will mess up…a lot

🔟 Taking full accountability for your actions and their consequences, even when it feels unfair

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In today’s world, it’s never been easier to live outside of reality.

Because there are digital worlds that endlessly exist at our fingertips.

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And sometimes those digital worlds seem so much more ideal and comforting than the one right in front of us.

Because we often get to control them, and they offer cheap, immediate dopamine hits.

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In the moment, it feels like what you want and need those effortless hits, but—

Choosing to live in that alternate world often only makes you more miserable over time.

———

Because it’s not real.

It’s not what our biology craves.

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The modern world is challenging, I’m never going to discount that.

& those circumstances ^ make it a lot more tempting to want to escape.

———

I challenge you to fight that urge though.

Choose to live in reality.

Trust me when I say your mind and body want to live in it.

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It’s non negotiable for cultivating a healthy state of mind.

If you’re struggling with your mental health and feel out of touch, reconnect to reality.

———

Find a way to get back to the real world, the facts of life, and the here and now.

It will likely be painful at first, but your future self is going to thank you.

———

Your mind will thank you for choosing to stack the conditions in its favor.

By choosing to live in reality.

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Location

San Diego, California, United States