Book Discussion: Dopamine Nation – Anna Lembke
16. January 2024
About my site
Plain and simple: this is a collection of mindsets and approaches to life which I have found to be useful, ended up being productive for others in the past and might also benefit you.
Over time I realized that there have been certain concepts which started to come up again and again when it came to helping people’s problems. I have been keeping track of quite some of them and the thought that kept creeping up in my head was “what if others could benefit from this as well?”. This site is a result of that and is intended as a guide for thinking about concepts, primarily about how and what to properly reflect and how and why to take specific actions, which are easily forgotten if one focuses on other aspects of life. A guide to support the path you chose for your life.
These insights will mostly come from the fields of psychology, economics, philosophy and personal anecdotes of me and people close to me.
That being said, while the things I have learned have helped people from varying backgrounds, it became clear to me that connecting with and receiving input from people, who have a generally similar look on life as you, drastically increases how much it affects your life. So I figured it’s best to also introduce myself as a person.
About me as a person
Various reasons have led me to reflect on the nature of life starting from a very young age. Being born and living in Germany, while having Turkish origins (being a so called Almancı), required me to evaluate concepts such as (national) identity. Having spans of my life where I was really extroverted and spans of my life where I was introverted required me to think about the nature of my character. I surrounded myself with vastly different social circles over my life and to some extent it feels like I have lived many lives. When I was surrounded my people with greatly differing value systems I often thought about the overall purpose of life and, after finding my own answer, how to approach life in order to fulfill that purpose. This was also reflected in my future choice in studies. I started studying philosophy, switched to business administration, switched once more to psychology where I got a bachelor’s degree from and finally transitioned into digital business in my master’s, which I also completed. While my purpose and goals in life are nuanced, a broad description would be that I see it as a mission to become the best version that I could be in my lifespan, support the people that are close and important to me, and experience as much of the joys that life can give you.
Topics I like to write about
What's in it for me?
In the age of people selling courses like ponzi-schemes or other sketchy personalities, I figured it is worthwhile to write a section about my intentions and motivations.
I often thought about what makes me unique as a person. In the same context, although a bit macabre, I thought about what I would be missed for and what I could leave behind. Not because of some danger for my life, fortunately, but it was one way to think about the essence of my person. After a time, I focused more and more on the “what could I leave behind?” aspect and a book which consisted of all the lessons and great experiences I went through came into my mind. This book obviously did not exist but I really liked the idea of having a collection of the things which I find valuable in life, also because I could theoretically give this to another person and maybe help them in some areas of life with it. This blog is the start of this book for me. Something which fulfills a desire I have had for a long time. The lucrative side of an online presence is also a great potential payoff , however, this is more of a bonus rather than the goal of this entire project. One prospect that I find even more fascinating is connecting with people who have a similar view in life and who will resonate with my thought processes. On a basic level, I’m already happy if you have found one piece of content which has inspired or helped you in one form or the other.
- Ismail Cem Atas
