Worldwide Success

The nature versus nurture debate has been around for a long time.  In the article What is the Secret of Success?  we discussed how some researchers have come to the conclusion that hard work is a stronger predictor of success than one’s innate abilities.   But there is no denial that your DNA has a significant role in determining what you are able to accomplish.  More specifically, several studies have shown that your hormones have a significant influence in several aspects of your life, from how generous you are to how much risk you are willing to take.

A study by the neuro-economist Paul Zak at Claremont Graduate University shows a link between oxytocin, a hormone released by the brain in response to social stimuli, and your level of generosity.  According to Zak, oxytocin is responsible for a general feeling of attachment to other people, even people that you don’t know.

Zak explains it this way:  “Oxytocin is a social glue that holds us all together and makes us care about other people.”  Stephanie Brown from the University of Michigan says that there is evidence that oxytocin is linked to caring behavior.

Dopamine, a brain chemical that acts as a messenger involved in reward, motivation and mood is another powerful hormone that is quite significant in determining many behaviors from your likelihood to get a tattoo to a race car driver’s need for speed.  Neurologist Malcolm Stewart, medical director of the Human Performance Lab at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas describes it like this:

“People with high dopamine production tend to be risk-takers such as race car drivers, bungee jumpers, test pilots, astronauts and explorers.  They ride motorcycles fast, get tattoos.  On the flip side, accountants, ministers and engineers probably are more likely to fall at the low end of the dopamine-producing spectrum”

Another chemical produced in the brain that impacts your behavior is serotonin.  This chemical can influence your willingness to take risks, your capacity to persist through difficult situations and your ability to deal with the ups and downs of the business world.  Serotonin inhibits negative feelings and low levels of this chemical can lead to depression and anxiety.

These are just a few examples of the many chemical reactions that happen in your brain and how they determine the likelihood that you will do well in a certain tasks, activities or vocations.  They do not necessarily predict success, but they can be a significant player.  For example, if you naturally have low levels of serotonin, you may not be able to handle a job or business that involves high stress.  If your dopamine levels are below average, you are more likely to succeed in a vocation that is more risk averse.

Keep in mind that these chemicals are just a few components of a multitude of highly interactive factors that make up the highly complex organisms known as human-beings.  Despite of your DNA predispositions, much of who you are and do are learned behaviors.   Many of your skills were learned a as child, but you are also constantly reshaping your learned behaviors through continuous learning throughout life.

Scott Pomeroy, neurologist-in-chief of Children’s Hospital in Boston explains that in situations of intense competition, such as in race car driving or in highly competitive businesses, the different components of the brain come into play in ways that are not yet well understood.  He puts it this way:

“It is very exploratory.  One thought is that the process of learning strengthens cell connections in the brain, and there is evidence that if you start practicing something early in life, you develop that skill better than if you start as a teen.”

If you are interested in finding out more about how learning influences success, you may want to check out the article Success Insights from a World Champion: Josh Waitzkin – Part 1.

The most important thing to remember in your success journey is that you are a marvelous, extremely complex machine.  There isn’t a single factor that can be a reliable predictor of your success.  Just look at the many stories that we described in Real Life Inspirational Millionaire Stories and you will see that the road to riches and the path to success can be wildly diverse and unpredictable.

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