A better life means different things to different people. For one person, a better life might mean better relationships, better emotional well-being, or better physical health. For another, the same idea may instead conjure a desire for better finances or a better work-life balance. Despite these different visions, however, there is a unifying quality about a better life that most of us share: we all want one.

Let's talk about two specific strategies for helping you achieve a better life. These two strategies are 1) more motivation and 2) less friction. Although the first of these strategies receives the lion's share of attention, the latter strategy is frequently more effective. And the good news is you can combine both strategies to synergize your results.

Motivation is essential, not only to achieving our personal goals but even to our basic survival. Although it has become popular recently for online personalities to criticize motivation, without a healthy biological motivation system (e.g., damage to the brain's mesolimbic dopamine pathway, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and ventral striatum), humans and other animals stop moving, stop........

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