Winning at life: Why we crave it

There are hundreds of books written by successful entrepreneurs and business-minded people, trying to pinpoint the exact moments that they achieved their goals and ‘won’ at life. However, none of these books seem to mention the science behind this feeling; when you’ve finally achieved what you’ve been spending what feels like your whole life working for. We have such a thirst for winning in life that we never stop to think about how achievements can affect us.

Step forward, Betway, who’ve created an infographic which explains exactly what happens when we embark on a competitive journey – be it competing with a colleague for that prized promotion or finally opening your dream business – the psychology behind these results is the same.

Ever wondered why you feel a sort of addiction after winning? The answer may have something to do with a function in your brain known as ‘the reward network’, which links behaviour with rewards to recreate the ecstatic feeling that you get from winning. It’s this function that makes us crave the same feeling over and over again.

The infographic below goes into greater detail on the effects that success has on the brain.

Image: