If you want to give yourself a positive boost, there’s nothing better than playing some of your favourite songs on your CD, Iphone or MP3 player. Just think for a moment how you feel when you listen to some of your favourites. Often, we can’t help ourselves and we start tapping the beat out and singing along.
Each of us will have our own favourites that will evoke different ‘feel good’ memories for us. It may take us back to a particular place or event and it may be the beat that works for us, or the lyrics, or a combination of both. Whatever it is, as long as it makes you feel good, then play it.
If it is a song that connects with a group of people, the emotions it evokes can be extremely powerful. Just think of the images of the supporters and players at the World Cup singing their national anthems. Some extremely emotional moments. 
In all of Ngagementworks learning programmes, I play an eclectic mix of music in the background at appropriate times and often this gets commented on by delegates as to how refreshing and beneficial this has been and the added-value it has provided as part of their overall learning experience. I ensure the tunes are varied so that hopefully there will be songs that appeal to everyone at some part during the programme.
So why does music put you in a good frame of mind. Well it reduces stress by relaxing your muscles, it stimulates your body to produce the ‘happiness hormone’ called serotonin and it has been demonstrated to elevate your mood in a positive way which motivates you. In 2001, neuroscientists Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre at McGill University in Montreal provided an answer. Using magnetic resonance imaging they showed that people listening to pleasurable music had activated brain regions called the limbic and paralimbic areas, which are connected to euphoric reward responses, like those we experience from sex, good food and addictive drugs. Those rewards come from a gush of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which is also linked to motivation.
So what works for you? What’s that song that you know if you hear it or put it on will lift your mood? I’d love to hear from you as to what the song is and the reason why it makes you feel good. Drop me an email to nick@ngagementworks.com and let me know.
Our Vision: Ngagementworks exists to partner with organisations to deliver cutting-edge, experiential learning programmes that engage individuals and motivate teams and in doing so transform them and enable them to achieve greater success.
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LinkedIn: Nick Fewings, MD, Ngagementworks
Twitter: NgageingNick
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If you are interested to know more on how Ngagementworks can support you, your team or staff with individual/team development workshops or indeed conference speaking or conference breakout sessions, please do contact me at nick@ngagementworks.com
