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9781538144190

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Our mammalian brains are hard-wired to seek status, according to Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute. Animals have pecking orders for obtaining food and seeking reproductive partners. Similarly, we are rewarded with a dose of serotonin when we buy a better car, display stronger ethics, build a better body, or snag a cuter partner. Social media feeds into the competitive quest for status. But Breuning proposes a better way to be rewarded by lifting yourself up without dragging anyone else down. Her unique inquiry in neurological and social aspects of status games includes fascinating looks into the role status-seeking played in the lives of various luminaries, including Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Booker T. Washington, and Alexander Hamilton. The solution to the conflicts raised by comparison and competition that Breuning offers in this thought-provoking study is to choose a middle path between the fast and slow lanes of life, understand our mammalian urges, and learn techniques for rewiring out brains to build new inner pathways that shift our focus away from the stress of rivalry to the rewards of personal growth.-- Booklist How fantastic is the feeling when you know that by understanding our mammal brain, we can create new neuro pathways in six weeks that work for us and do not put anybody down? A must read for all those active in the game of life. Play!--Luis Gallardo, founder and president of the World Happiness Foundation Status Games strikes a great balance between providing the reader with an understanding of how serotonin works and offering approaches for how to adjust your brain processes for less stress! Thank you, Dr. Breuning, for sharing a 'how-to' guide to be able to experience one of the happiness brain chemicals without the negative aspects of playing status games!--Mohit Mukherjee, founding director, University for PEACE Centre for Executive Education Dr. Breuning offers a captivating perspective on the biological origins of status seeking, offering us practical tools to manage this natural impulse instead of treating it as a taboo. A must read for anyone seeking greater emotional peace.--Andrea E. Parsons, MSW, LCSW

Dr. Breuning offers a captivating perspective on the biological origins of status seeking, offering us practical tools to manage this natural impulse instead of treating it as a taboo. A must read for anyone seeking greater emotional peace. How fantastic is the feeling when you know that by understanding our mammal brain, we can create new neuro pathways in six weeks that work for us and do not put anybody down? A must read for all those active in the game of life. Play! In this engrossing, matter-of-fact examination of the human being as a social animal, Breuning details the biological origins of the innate need for status. ""We all fret over social comparison because we've all inherited a limbic brain that does that,"" suggests Breuning. ""Fortunately, we have power over these emotions when we know how we create them."" She explores how hormones (particularly oxytocin, serotonin, and cortisol) create instinctive human responses--even addictions--to approval from others and how one can change these responses. Her advice: accept one's mammalian urge for social importance, make a plan consisting of small steps that amount to a goal one can be proud of and takes into account the approval of others as a motivator, then repeat the new steps so a new pathway (or habit) builds toward healthy attachments to achievement. One of the most intriguing facts explains why people commonly feel they ""see the world through a lens built in high school,"" where social status and popularity play an outsized role: neuroplasticity peaks in adolescence, so the pathways we build in those years get quite large. Breuning's winning combination of simple advice for small changes and accessible science-based assessments make this a standout. Anyone who wonders about the age-old question of nature vs. nurture will devour this slim volume that weighs both sides evenly. Our mammalian brains are hard-wired to seek status, according to Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute. Animals have pecking orders for obtaining food and seeking reproductive partners. Similarly, we are rewarded with a dose of serotonin when we buy a better car, display stronger ethics, build a better body, or snag a cuter partner. Social media feeds into the competitive quest for status. But Breuning proposes a better way to be rewarded by lifting yourself up without dragging anyone else down. Her unique inquiry in neurological and social aspects of status games includes fascinating looks into the role status-seeking played in the lives of various luminaries, including Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Booker T. Washington, and Alexander Hamilton. The solution to the conflicts raised by comparison and competition that Breuning offers in this thought-provoking study is to choose a middle path between the fast and slow lanes of life, understand our mammalian urges, and learn techniques for rewiring out brains to build new inner pathways that shift our focus away from the stress of rivalry to the rewards of personal growth. Status Games strikes a great balance between providing the reader with an understanding of how serotonin works and offering approaches for how to adjust your brain processes for less stress! Thank you, Dr. Breuning, for sharing a 'how-to' guide to be able to experience one of the happiness brain chemicals without the negative aspects of playing status games!

How fantastic is the feeling when you know that by understanding our mammal brain, we can create new neuro pathways in six weeks that work for us and do not put anybody down? A must read for all those active in the game of life. Play!--Luis Gallardo, founder and president of the World Happiness Foundation Status Games strikes a great balance between providing the reader with an understanding of how serotonin works and offering approaches for how to adjust your brain processes for less stress! Thank you, Dr. Breuning, for sharing a 'how-to' guide to be able to experience one of the happiness brain chemicals without the negative aspects of playing status games!--Mohit Mukherjee, founding director, University for PEACE Centre for Executive Education Dr. Breuning offers a captivating perspective on the biological origins of status seeking, offering us practical tools to manage this natural impulse instead of treating it as a taboo. A must read for anyone seeking greater emotional peace.--Andrea E. Parsons, MSW, LCSW

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Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD, is founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels, The Science of Positivity: Stop Negative Thought Patterns by Changing Your Brain Chemistry, and Tame Your Anxiety: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness. She is professor emerita of management at California State University, East Bay. The Inner Mammal Institute offers resources that help you rewire your mammalian brain chemistry, including books, videos, podcasts, blogs, and graphics. Breuning’s work has been translated into Spanish, Russian, French, Turkish, German, and appeared in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Time, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and Fast Company, and on Fox, Dr. Oz, NBC, and many podcasts. She resides with her husband in Oakland CA.

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