I first heard of (actually read about) dopamine in a now-cult classic book, “Life Extension.”

It was written by two very strange but super smart scientists, Sandy Shaw and Dirk Pearson.

They had done tons of research on all sorts of things, mostly food supplements, that had the power to extend your life.

Hence, the title, Life Extension.

Anyway, I remember them talking about dopamine and how taking a medicine, L-Dopa, could effect the production of more dopamine in the body.

L-Dopa is used in the treatment of Parkinson's.

Now, increased dopamine has lots of positives, like increasing the production of growth hormone, which has several positive implications (increased muscle mass, decreased bodyfat, and increased longevity).

But one of its biggest positives (and negatives, which I'm getting to, very slowly) is that increasing dopamine inside the body is what we all want.

According to Wikipedia (which is always right, don't deny it!),

[su_quote]In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons (nerve cells) to send signals to other nerve cells. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in reward-motivated behavior. Most types of reward increase the level of dopamine in the brain, and mostaddictive drugs increase dopamine neuronal activity.[/su_quote]

It's that “reward-motivated behavior” that I want to talk about today.

I first heard the term, “dopamine drip,” from well-known and often loathed email marketing expert, Ben Settle. He practices what he calls “repulsive marketing.”

By that, he means that by telling the unvarnished truth, he repels customers he doesn't want and a neat little side effect is that doing so attracts the customers he does want.

It's kind of like “subtractive marketing” (a term I just made up) – you start with everybody as your audience and then begin weeding out the folks you don't want.

Anyhoo…I'm listening to these audio interviews I just picked up from Michael Senoff and Ben is one of the guests on a series.

(I'm loving it, by the way.)

Ben talked about the “dopamine drip” that a lot of folks in our (your) business experience when they buy products.

You know what I mean – that feeling of glee you get when you read a sales letter, imagine yourself reaping the benefits of the product, and then whipping out your credit card to buy it.

It's normal. What isn't normal is going from product buy to product buy, always seeking that natural dopamine high.

In the internet marketing world, we call this “Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.” But now you can see why it happens:

It feels good.

The brain LIVES for dopamine fixes. It's why we have sex. It's why we do the things we do – remember, reward-based behavior:

You do things because of the rewards and your body produces dopamine and then you experience happiness.

It's simple.

But here's the thing: You can become addicted to the feeling AS OPPOSED to the outcome.

Read that again: You become addicted to the feeling dopamine gives you rather than the outcome you get from doing the behavior.

So that sales letter you just read that makes those promises? You bought the product.

You felt good.

But did you implement? Did you even read or watch or listen to it?

If you didn't, you may be a dopamine addict.

So tell me, are you looking for another fix?

If you are, I encourage you to get this.

And if you like actually seeing results from your investments, I really encourage you to get this.