Parts 1, 2 & 3 for the science around dopamine.
When people have expectations that are met, they get a happy level of dopamine in the brain, a chemical critical to the ability to think clearly. And, when people aren’t expecting positive outcomes and get them, their levels get even higher.
The reverse is also true.
Positive expectation + negative outcome = lower levels of dopamine.
Negative expectation + negative result = even lower levels of dopamine.
When we have negative thoughts, our levels of dopamine decrease. This is like walking in circles when we don’t change any and all negative thoughts.
High levels of dopamine are needed to think clearly, solve problems, and make decisions. The prefrontal cortex in our brain controls these actions and requires certain levels of dopamine and other neurotransmitters to be successful. So, when fear and uncertainty crowd our thoughts, our ability to make decisions and think clearly diminishes. That is the energy we send out to the universe. Business owners identified these problems when describing why they aren’t successful.
- Competition
- Time
- Intimidated
- Tough
- Economy
- Hard to do it all
- Not good enough
- Insecure
- Overwhelmed
- Lack of self-confidence
- Negative mind games
- Fear of success
When these thoughts are in our brains, we have low levels of dopamine. Ultimately, dopamine stops everyone from attaining his/her intentions or goals. Our brains respond to feelings of fear and uncertainty and they stop us dead in our tracks.
Remember, every negative thought affects whether or not we will achieve our goals.
Now when negative thoughts like fear, inadequacy, time, criticism, and insecurity come up, do a quick check in and get back on target before even thinking about making any decisions. Science proves that we need high levels of dopamine to create positive energy to attain happiness and positive expectations.
Negative expectation + positive outcome = high levels of dopamine
Positive expectation + positive result = even higher levels of dopamine
The brain changes as a function of where we put our attention. So, every time you vent or complain or criticize, you grow new brain cells for that purpose and over time you get better at it. MRIs, in fact, have shown that the areas of the brain that control the fingers, tongue, and lips are larger in flute players. An accountant will have a larger part of the brain that controls math ability.
So, the lesson here is that we have the power to rewire our brains. Knowing you have that power, doesn’t it make you far more discriminate about how you spend your time, focus, and energy? Even paying attention to how you think?
Dopamine is produced even when we just expect desirable outcomes. It is produced when we envision it, not just when it happens. So how does it work?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is naturally produced in the body. It is present in the regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, motivation, and the feeling of pleasure. Dopamine stabilizes the brain activity, regulates flow of information to other parts of the brain, and controls movement. It plays a major part in the ability to achieve our dreams. We become addicted to having good feelings when we achieve our goals or even sign a new client. Since Dopamine is a chemical messenger, it is similar to adrenaline. It activates the dopamine receptors.
Dopamine has various functions in the brain. They are:
Movement: Dopamine is a crucial part of the basal ganglia motor loop. This means that it is absolutely critical to the way our brain controls our movements.
Pleasure and Motivation Dopamine is connected with the pleasure system of the brain. This means that it provides feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement that motivates us to do or to continue doing certain activities. Also, when adversive or unpleasant stimuli are encountered, dopamine is released.
Adversive = Causing avoidance of a thing, situation, or behavior by using an unpleasant or punishing stimulus, as in techniques of behavior modification.
This suggests that it is not associated only with pleasure. Dopamine is also released when a pleasurable activity is expected to happen. This tells us that the activity does not even have to actually take place for dopamine to be released. It could be more involved in ‘desire’ rather than ‘pleasure.’ Therefore, the result happens when we speak as though it has already happened… think of the vision board, just envisioning it, makes it happen…
Cognition and Frontal Cortex function
Dopamine controls the flow of information to other parts of the brain. This occurs in the frontal lobes. Disorders in this part of the brain can cause a decline in memory, problem solving, and attention. Neurocognitive functions, as a whole, suffer a downfall.
Therefore, it is imperative to use proactive techniques such as visualization and positive thoughts to produce more dopamine in the brain. More dopamine will act as a mood enhancer and greatly affect the relationships we develop, especially those relationships that are crucial to acquiring more clients or customers. Dopamine is critical to the success of goals, intentions, and dreams.
Strategy: Learn what to do to increase levels of dopamine in your brain. Notice how many times you experience a negative thought. Become aware when you even think about blaming the economy or say it is ‘tough’ or ‘hard.’ Learn to eliminate every negative thought and focus on the positive.
Tactic: Visit Mariner Company for a business assessment to determine where you need to change your strategies and tactics. More information is available at Solobizmarketing and Marinerco.com. Contact me at carol.naff@marinerco.com
Carol Naff, Marketing Coach 