A closer look

If you only ever get rewarded for winning, your brain turns into a lazy, entitled opportunist that quits when things get hard. But psychologist Robert Eisenberger found that if you are consistently rewarded for the grueling effort and struggle itself, your brain associates the physical sensation of trying with a dopamine hit. This creates learned industriousness, effectively hacking your motivation so that the sheer act of working hard becomes its own addictive reward.