It’s no secret that your mind is your #1 weapon in sales. And the main reason why is dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that motivates you to do basically everything in life. If you lack dopamine, you lack motivation.
And if you get too much dopamine, you’ll have trouble focusing, mood swings, anxiety, and addiction (drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, you name it).
You see, when you constantly seek pleasure, your brain will become desensitized to the dopamine released, and so you’ll need more and more of that pleasurable experience to get the same level of satisfaction. This is how people become addicts.
“So what?” you might be thinking, “I’m not a drug addict so I’m fine.” Well not so fast. Chances are, you don’t understand dopamine and it’s working against you and keeping you from fulfilling your dreams.
With that in mind, doesn’t it make sense to at least learn about dopamine and how to optimize it to increase your sales numbers? Sure does. And I can all but guarantee you’ll become a top producer and outwork your boss if you just follow the strategy below.
But first, we have to dig a bit deeper into the problem to truly understand how to combat it.
How Dopamine Overload Is Killing Your Sales
If you’re like most sales people, you’re competitive and have the drive to succeed. But that “drive” is often stuck in first or second gear. (For many people, it’s stuck in park!) You know that you have the potential to outsell everyone on your team — and even in your industry — but you can’t seem to get out of the “consuming” mode into the “doing” mode. Or at least you haven’t figured out how to lock into the “doing” mode consistently, day after day.
So you watch Grant Cardone videos, PBD, Tony Robbins, Mary-Anne Da’Marzo, Alex Hormozi, Mrs. Dow Jones, or name your influencer or so-called guru. It feels like you’re learning and being productive, so you keep pressing “play.” You watch their long-form content and you watch their “shorts.” And all the while, you’re digging your own grave where your wasted potential will one day be buried.
Harsh?
Well let’s be honest, it’s human nature to binge on content on our TVs and especially our smartphones. We’re ALL guilty. Our phones were designed to be addictive. They are essentially tiny slot machines in our pockets!
All of this screen time gives you little hits of dopamine, but it’s NOT the healthy dopamine that can turn you into a sales superstar. No. Consumer mode is easy. It feels like you’re going somewhere, but in reality, you’re spinning your wheels. The odds are 100% stacked against you.
OK – so how do you go from being a consumer-zombie to someone who executes and succeeds? And when you start executing, how can you make it really last? Is there a way to hack the system?
Yes, there is.
You have to learn to love hard work. Or at least trick your brain into thinking it loves hard work. This is how you regulate dopamine for massive sales success. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.
Attach the Reward to Your EFFORT, Not Your Results
Right now, you probably attach excitement and reward to either a meeting booked or a closed deal. You book a meeting, you celebrate. You close a deal, you celebrate. You do [insert a win], you celebrate. Well, you must stop doing that.
I know it seems counterintuitive, but celebrating your successes like this (even a seemingly harmless fist pump) makes your brain think “I made it, now I can kick back and relax.” Instead, celebrate some wins, and let other wins just pass by without acknowledging them. Sound strange? Stanford Scientist Andrew Huberman explains this strategy called RIRT…
“Use (Randomly) an Intermittent Reward Timing (RIRT). This is the most powerful schedule for dopamine release and staying motivated. The casinos use it to take people’s money. It works 100% of the time. You can use RIRT to your advantage, to stay motivated in any pursuit. The key is to celebrate your wins, but do not celebrate every win. When you succeed in reaching a milestone, sometimes enjoy that; other times (at random), just keep going.”
You see, when you attach the reward to the result, it doesn’t actually motivate you to work hard for the next result. What motivates you to work hard for the next result is rewarding the hard work.
So instead of celebrating the closed deal, celebrate the sales activity that led to the closed deal. Huberman says this is “The Holy Grail of dopamine management for success.”
Also remind yourself every day that you’re working toward your goals. This in itself will release dopamine in a regulated way. Of course, don’t lie to yourself. You have to actually be putting in the work. And when you do, be sure to play it up in your mind.
Other Dopamine Hacks for Sales Success
Be sure you’re also doing these simple things to maintain a baseline level of dopamine. Write these down and work them into your daily routine. Don’t have a daily routine? Make this your daily routine:
- Get 20-30 minutes of sunlight in the morning
- Drink coffee or green tea
- Workout or exercise
- Participate in a hobby you enjoy
- Hangout with friends
- Eat tyrosine-rich foods
- Listen to good music
- Pray and meditate
- Avoid bright lights at night
Final Words
If your mind is your best weapon in sales, then it only makes sense to sharpen it daily.
Learning how to manage dopamine release is critical if you want to leave a positive, lasting impact on this world. Remember, the people who don’t regulate their dopamine are the addicts, the sluggards, the binge-watchers. They are the people stuck in a spin-cycle or hamster wheel.
You have to avoid this trap — which is really our default mode — by putting a plan in place to master your mind with dopamine management. Over time, your default mode will become the healthy habits you’ve put in place.
David Goggins says “do one hard thing every day… you must desensitize yourself to hard things.” And that truly is the secret to success — no matter what field you’re in.
And don’t forget to work those dopamine hacks into your daily routine (listed above).
Now get out there and make it happen.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso