Are you at the mercy of other people’s demands and agendas? Are you overwhelmed by technological disruptions? Then you are in a trap of being connected to the 24-hour technological revolution. This isn’t getting any better since more information is available every day. Have you managed it yet? Is what you are doing working for you?
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.
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.
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…
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
Many times I’ve wondered why small business owners don’t run for the opportunity to significantly increase their business income. You’ve heard my success stories. They are all similar to Rick Bauman’s story, a former Coaching Group member:
“I can honestly say that while working for six months with Carol Naff, a professional coach, my website design and hosting business has more than tripled due to her coaching. I could not have reached this success so quickly without her help. My return on investment from coaching was surpassed within the first couple of months.
“Carol simply helps me clarify my goals and create a plan to achieve them. She does this by helping me see things in a new perspective and by holding me accountable for my actions. Carol helps me overcome my limiting beliefs and strive for higher levels of success.” Rick Bauman, Arbis Inc.
If you haven’t increased your business income in the past six months, then start running to participate in my Group Marketing Strategies Games. I realize that small business owners, who are not my clients, may not believe that coaching will make a difference for them. So I woke up to the idea of offering a guarantee. Here’s the guarantee: If at the end of the first month you absolutely hate being a participant in the group, you may drop the group.
Group coaching allows the shared wisdom of other professionals with the expertise of a professional coach. Participants have the chance to coach and be coached. Because it is such a value to the participant, it adds more dimensions to coaching and accelerates achievement.
What Results Can You Expect from Joining the Group?
Ø Clarify your goals and strengths
Ø Balance your life
Ø Transform your business
Ø Achieve focus and confidence
Ø Realize increased income
Ø Implement proven and effective tools, concepts, and strategies
You’ll discover what your business requires in order to reach the next level and what’s standing in your way. This experience is targeted to your exact needs, and you’ll have time to talk through what’s going on for you and share it with the group. Another great benefit is the wisdom and experience contributed by the other members of the team.
How Do You Know if Joining a Coaching Group is Right for You?
Ø You’re an ideal prospect for this adventure if you have a dream you’re passionate about and want to take your business to the next level.
Ø You’re looking for structure and support.
Ø You’re a self-starter.
Ø You’re willing to experiment and are open to new ideas and change.
Ø You’re persistent and dedicated.
If you’re taking too little action or frustrated because the action you’re taking isn’t working, then this group is perfect for you. But coaching isn’t for everyone. It’s how the best get better.
What Are The Benefits?
Ø You’ll identify what’s holding you back and break through to new levels of achievement.
Ø You’ll build and implement an actual marketing plan that’s designed around your strengths, schedule, and budget. The accountability of the team experience will make you do what you NEVER would on your own.
Ø This is an incredible value at any price, and a rare chance to transform your business and your life. You’ll receive training in marketing strategies. You’ll have the opportunity to test the viability of your ideas and plans with team members. You’ll receive help setting goals, establishing priorities, and strategic planning.
Ø You’ll identify and break through roadblocks and resistance and get on the fast track. Your business and marketing will become an automated system—a well-oiled machine. You’ll have a support team to celebrate your successes, listen to your problems, and get you unstuck and back on the road to success. And since the group will be limited in size, you’ll get personalized attention and an interactive and creative environment.
If you’re running a business, you don’t have time to make costly mistakes. You need an edge. The power and synergy of the group and the proven coaching successes will banish isolation and inertia. Working with a coach AND a group of your peers is a powerful, transformative process.
| Consistent application of new skills and strategies + accountability and support = success. |
My experience is that group coaching is not only more economical—it’s POWERFUL.
It’s no surprise! It’s difficult to accomplish something big without accountability to someone. This dynamic group is ideal if you desire the tools, support, and guidance to really grow your business. This program includes:
q A program paced in a way that allows you to absorb the information and implement it for immediate results
q Two small group calls per month with tools and information from my business success process and coaching, support, guidance, and course correction from me and others working on goals just like yours
q Comprehensive exercises for each step of the process complete with in-depth information such as checklists, goal-planning forms, time management planning tools, and assignments to deepen your learning and keep you in action.
q Audio recordings of each class (so even if you miss a week, you won’t miss the information).
q Access to a private web page containing all of the class materials, resource links, and audio downloads
q A plan of your design for attaining your big goal and creating YOUR best strategies
q The attention, accountability, and coaching from Professional Coach Carol Naff
PURPOSE: To help you increase your business income and your free time, while gaining simplicity, balance, focus, and confidence in all areas of your life.
PROCESS: Group coaching sessions. We will meet as a group on a telephone bridge* twice a month for 55 minutes each call. *Long distance charges are the responsibility of the participants. One-on-one coaching also is available at a rate of $100/hour or $450 per month.
WHEN: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 12:00 – 12:55 p.m. Mountain Time. Or 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 9:00 – 9:55 a.m. Mountain.
INVESTMENT: $250/month. (If it’s not REALLY an investment for you, don’t sign up.) Inquire about special pricing to see if you qualify – only $150/month.
REGISTER: Email carol.naff@marinerco.com and request an interview.
Remember; don’t delay. If you think this is for you, please act now. I would hate to have you miss out and be put on the waiting list until the next team opens up.
WARNING: Do NOT Apply for this program unless you’re willing . . .
Ø And able to invest the time and money that’s required.
Ø To keep confidential the business and personal affairs of the other members.
Ø To be honest with yourself about where you are and what you REALLY want.
Ø To do the homework assigned.
Ø To take responsibility for the results.
Ø To accept the changes rapid growth and wealth could inflict upon you.
Mariner Company
Carol J. Naff
“We made email marketing simple for small businesses and nonprofits. Now we’re going to make social media marketing simple for them,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact.
NutshellMail is a free service that makes it easy to monitor, manage and interact with friends, fans and customers through social media. It works by collecting and organizing the latest messages and activity from social networks — including Twitter?, Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace® — into an interactive email snapshot that is delivered directly to your email inbox. Users can customize the content they want to track, add search terms, and choose how frequently they want to receive email updates. Signing up for a NutshellMail account takes just a few minutes, and the time savings start right away.
With NutshellMail, users can easily monitor and interact with social networks all in one place, including posting updates right from their email inbox. The free service helps busy professionals keep track of critical conversations about their company and the competition, and keeps them informed about what their customers are talking about — all from the place where they spend most of their online time.
Think about your accomplishments during the beginning of 2010. What marketing strategies are you using? Write down 25 accomplishments. Then quickly write what you will accomplish in the second half of 2010. What needs to happen? What would happen if you could focus on just one thing? Visit www.marinerco.com for ideas and tips to grow your business.
Twitter For Cats: Does your cat tweet? It will soon. Sony Computer Science Labs exhibited a new lifelogging device for cats. It’s got a camera, a GPS and other sensors that allow your cat to archive random events throughout the day. When your cat eats, the system tweets, “This tastes good.”
Yes, we’re talking about letting your cat tweet about its exciting life. The device is equipped with a camera, accelerometer, and GPS chip. It’s able to transfer data to a PC via Bluetooth, after which the comments will be posted on Twitter. In case you’re wondering, this device doesn’t magically read your cat’s mind, rather it can post any of the 11 phrases available, such as “This tastes good” when the cat is eating something, or “Meal tastes better after a walk” if the cat takes a stroll after eating. We’re not entirely sure why you’d want to read predefined tweets by your cat, but if you’re really attached to it, maybe this might be something you’ve been wanting for a long time. The device itself weighs about 5 percent of a cat’s weight, can be attached to a collar, and hopefully doesn’t interfere too much with your cat’s life.
Okay, so why?
Welcome to Mariner Company’s business building tips. Silly and serious ideas, opportunities, and tips will be posted occasionally.
Carol Naff, Marketing Coach 