The Hunt for Dopamine

Business brain episode 622 for Wednesday, February 12th, National Lost Penny Day 2025. Greetings, folks, and welcome to Business Brain, the show where we take some ideas, some of yours, some of ours, we crunch them, we, we dissect them, we use them to further tune our business brain so we can all keep living those charmed lives. Our sponsor for Today's episode is shopify.com businessbrain where you can go to sign up for your $1 per month trial period. And we have more details about that to share in a few minutes. For now, here in Durham, New Hampshire, I'm Dave Hamilton.

Hey, I'm Shannon Jean. And I've come to you this week from the Sierra foothills, a little town called Willsieville. We own a vacation rental on the McCol. See, I always can't pronounce that. The McCalmany River.

Wow.

And had to get up here. The river rose couple feet and needed to move some stuff out of the way before it rises anymore. We had a ton of rain out here, like trillions of gallons that went into the reservoirs and stuff. So doing that and yeah, I'm excited to talk to it. Yeah. Oh, it's great. Everything's like 130, 140% of all the totals out here in California. As long as we can hang on to it. They have to release some to keep, I guess, flex space in the reservoirs. Yeah. In case, you know, because it'll rain some more or get some more snow.

Of course. Yeah, yeah. Snow melt will happen too.

Yeah, yeah, that's it. That's our main way we manage water in California is as the snow melts, you know, you trickle it into these reservoirs. So hopefully it. Yeah, yeah, it's good. You're going to ask me kind of coffee question.

Yeah. But first I was going to tell everyone I was going to thank Robzilla hi. For his Business Brain review. We mentioned last week that we wanted. We've mentioned for a long time that we love to have your reviews. And last week we mentioned that we were going to do a contest for reviews. Rob Zilla was the first to come in after the contest was announced. Although any reviews that we've read on the air this year, if we have, will count. But Rob Zilla says don't get caught without this podcast, which I believe is a reference to another podcast. I do. But this is definitely a review for us. He says five stars. This show offers great tips for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to get the most out of their operations from Robzilla H in the United States.

Nice.

Robzilla. H. Thank you for that. And please send us an email at feedbackusinessbrain show so that we know how to get in touch with you if and when you win the.

The.

What are we giving away, Shannon?

We're giving away a MacBook, Dave, tell the people.

Or some kind of MacBook, I guess. Yes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah. And how do you, how do you enter? You go to. How do you get enter to win.

That MacBook BusinessBrain show review. And that MacBook Air is your incentive. And that leads me into the question I want to ask you, Shannon, which might or might not be related to coffee. But as entrepreneurs, as business owners, simply as humans, there are tasks that need to be done that we don't necessarily get joy every day. It's not in the moment. The stuff, the grunt work. Right. So my question is, what tricks do you employ to keep yourself inspired to do that grunt work that's necessary to run your businesses? And I asked this of both of us. I'll start.

That's a really good question. Yeah. I call this the hunt for dopamine.

Yeah, man.

Because I'm. I have ADHD like crazy, and my brain is always popping, jumping every. And I realized, you know, years and years and years ago that what I'm, I'm constantly on the hunt for dopamine. I want this quick feedback. I want to feel this thing like, oh, I've had, I've achieved this. I made this money, I shipped this many things. I did whatever. I found this deal. All that stuff pumps up. So for me, the trick or one of the tricks that. That I've done is to break up those grunt tasks. Those tasks are crucial. There's consistent output of that kind of stuff. Because if you can't do that, you're going to fail. You're in drop. You will fail.

I believe.

Yes, I believe, too.

So there's. There's one trick is we have both. That we have both done. And it may or may not be based on the truth, but it doesn't matter. We see it as true. Is the fear of failing not. Not the fear of failure. Like, it's the, it's not the fear of failure. It's. You articulated this last year very nicely. It is the fear of being a failure.

Absolutely. Totally different. Like, I feel different, but I, but be. I. I can't have this in my br. I view myself as that. Or I have a hard time even saying the word or anyone else, you know, would view Me like that. Yes, but that's a trick.

That's one of my tricks for getting the grunt work done. If I don't do the grunt work, I feel like a failure.

Yeah, that's good. And what I like to do is.

That'S not, that's not, that's not dopamine inducing. Like that's not, that's not healthy inspiration. That's fear. That's bad.

That's okay. Fear's a huge motivator. It's not. It is.

It is. But, but if you, if you're constantly riding the fear wave, you will burn out.

That's right. That you will.

But.

So I like to hang short term dopamine rewards at the end of those sessions that you have to grunt yourself out. And that can be anything you want. It depends on your unique situation. It could be getting up from my desk and going outside and throwing the ball for my dog, which I love doing and being outside, getting away from my desk and walking around. It could be, you know, okay, once I get this done, done, I'm going to jump back on X and you know, doom scroll for I'll set my alarm for 10 minutes and then, and I answer replies and then I get back and so those that, that's probably the trick I use the most on a day to day basis is these little gate. A gatekeep.

Yeah.

The stuff that gives me dopamine until I get those, you know, that grunt work done. The stuff that does you just have to do.

Yeah. It's the reward system. And I, I will al. I. My guess is that we both, that we all. This isn't just me and Shannon. It's all of us have to do this. And you figured out your tricks too. So of course. Feedbackusbrain show tell us so we can all share in this. But one of the dopamine fixes that I get, and I know you get this too, is checking off the task on the to did list. Right? Yes, there it is. I'm not a failure. It's right there. I did the thing right. So there's definitely that. One of my. But I do the same, you know, reward system thing. One of my favorite rewards is simply being able to do something I want to do. And it could be a work related thing. Right. Or like I have these new light bulbs that are motion sensing that I got to put in my garage so that I don't have to remember to turn the switch off because my garage in my studio here is on the other side of the property. And I. I don't like when I go to bed at night and I see the garage lights are still on.

Yeah.

Mind you, when it's, you know, 20 degrees outside, I do not come over and turn them off. I just leave them on all night. It's fine.

Yes.

They don't bother the neighbors. It's okay. It's okay. But I. So I got these motion sensor lights and as I came up here today, I needed to do the ad spots and everything and I saw the box there and I was like, oh, I could do those right now. It's like, nope, you gotta go do your job first. Then the reward is you can hang up these lights, which are actually. I mean, that's also something I quote, unquote, need to do, but it's something I want to do. So I'm taking the dopamine reward that I will get from doing that and stacking it with this other. I mean, I like doing the show, but, you know, having to sit down early and like prep everything, go through the ads, it's grunt work. I don't dislike it, but it's front work. I don't.

It's work.

It's work, right? Like. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we always say in the music world, plan gigs and stuff where we have to set up our own gear and all that. It is often said, I don't agree with this, but I totally agree with the sentiment that we're not paid to play the gig. We're paid to load in our. We're well paid movers. Right. We load our equipment in, then we play on it, then we pack it up and load it out because we love to play. But the reality is we're getting paid for all of it. And I, And I. I caution musicians to think about the fact that they're playing for free. It's like never, never, never do that. That is actually what people are paying for. Remember that? Yeah. So anyway.

Yeah, yeah, I love it. I think it's identifying even, like you said. I think it's important to note the stuff related to work that gives you the dopamine hit. Those can be your rewards as well, right?

Yes. And then you stack it.

Yeah, yeah. So you go, okay. I have to do like, I hate to do accounting and I hate to look through, like agreements and contracts and reports. And I just. And probably because I'm just. No, I'm not good at that stuff, but I know I have to do it. And then I like. Well, I love to create content, so I'm going to get through this first before I go out and create this content or before I record a video of instructions or whatever. So, you know, you just, just, it's, it's lining it up. But you can'. You can't give yourself that reward until you get done with the stuff that has to be done.

No, I haven't thought of it this way, but I do now, and I will going forward, that I create a sandwich like a club sandwich all day. So many layers of bread, right? If the bread are the rewards, then it's the healthy stuff in the middle that I sandwich it all. So it's like, okay, well, I'll do this thing. That's grunt work. Fine. And then I get to do the fun thing and then I gotta do a little more grunt work and then I get to do the fun thing and it's just stacking it up and sandwiching it and you're, you're good to go. But let us know. Feedbackusbrain show. We want to know what you do to get yourself successfully through all of that grunt work. All right, folks, you know that I use our sponsor, Shopify to sell merch for my other businesses, my podcasts, and actually another web business that we have. And it's all flawless, I will add. But it got me thinking. Why aren't we selling Business Brain Merch yet? I mean, would you rock a Charmed Life hoodie? A Business Brain mug? A limited edition gold plated time machine? Okay, maybe not that last one, but if we did, Shopify would make it easy. Shopify is the platform behind the most successful businesses out there. It's home to the number one checkout on the planet. And shop pay boosts conversions by up to 50%, meaning more sales, less abandoned carts, and more Ka Ching moments. You got that right. So here's the deal. Tell us what Business Brain merch you want and first upgrade your business and get the same checkout that I use with my other shows. Maybe for here too. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period@shopify.com businessbrain all lowercase. Go to shopify.com businessbrain to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com businessbrain and our thanks to Shopify for sponsoring this episode. All right, Shannon, you brought something up earlier today about the value of humility, but the risks associated with the negative versions of the negative incarnations of this. What did you mean by that?

Yeah, so as I. So I have this coaching business and I'm helping people and entrepreneurs and stuff. And one thing I see with it's really common over and over and over is that, you know, we're taught to be humble and not to brag and all this kind of stuff. And I agree with that. It's great. I always say don't talk about what you're going to do, talk about what you've done, but you still have to be not a jerk about it. You need to be humble. But it's a fine line between not being willing to promote yourself at all or talking about yourself in a negative way. Or maybe this is a better way to phrase it, just kind of denigrating your accomplishments. And I find that I have it. I spend a lot of time kind of teasing out this expertise that all of us have. Right. We're all experts at something.

Sure.

And teaching people that what their talent stack really is. And so I just wanted to like talk about where is that line? Like, how do you be? You know, I always joke, you know, if you don't think you're a badass, no one else will. Right.

Yeah.

So you have. You have to kind of think. And we've talked about this before, the language you use in your head and everything else. But it's a very common thing. I see across all different levels of entrepreneurs, people just getting started that have kind of been, I don't know, smashed down by the corporate world a bit or even entrepreneurs that have been doing stuff for a long time. It's like, it's like sometimes it's pulling teeth to get them to talk about their successes and. And how to talk about that in such a way that it helps create more success and helps add credibility. That that's what I'm talking about. Adding to your. Adding to your credibility stack. Because I've done A, B, C and D and I've had this set and the other. That kind of stuff. Does that make sense?

It totally does. I. On Monday, an episode of Gig Gab, the podcast that I do for musicians, is coming out with my guest co host. Was this guy named Keenan or is this guy named Kenan Dufty? Probably a name you don't know, but you've certainly seen Kenan's work. Kenan is a musician, has his own band and Slinky Vagabond, name of the band, got inspired early on by the sort of art rock punk scene and loved the fashion element of that. Right. It was fans of the bands and then, oh like the way David Bowie was and things like that and became a fashion designer with phenomenal success.

Nice.

Later in his career, be Actually worked with David Bowie to promote a line of products, believe it or not, in Target, of all places.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, yeah.

And.

And this was a deal that he had in place and then invited Bowie to be part of it. So it wasn't like he was using Bowie to, like, sell to Target or whatever, which gave him leverage, which is not something most people have when they go into a meeting with David Bowie. And so they decided to do all this. I'm getting somewhere. And they put all. You know, he came up with some ideas for the packaging, obviously wanted Bowie to approve it because it had Bowie's name on it. And it said, the David Bowie collection created by Kenan Dufte. And Bowie said to him, your name needs to be bigger on this. And he was like, well, but let's be clear. If people don't know my name, people know your name, and that's who's going to buy it. And he said, right. People don't know your name because you're not making it big enough. Always make your name as big as you can. And it was an interesting thing because he was following the same practice that you are. Right. That you're talking about here with, well, this is. I'm humble. It's fine. I'm doing okay. I'm having some success. It's like, nope, it doesn't matter. And to take it from somebody like David Jones, who created many Personas, including David Bowie, for himself, always make your name as big as you can. Now, sometimes you can't be the biggest one.

No, that's right.

But it can be bigger than you were going to have it. Yeah. And that's okay, I think.

Yes. And an exercise that I have people do is sit down and write out or type up what your achievements are. You know, what have you done? Where, you know, are you. Whether you have a job, you're working for somebody, all the things that you've accomplished, it doesn't, okay, then, then go out and go, what have I accomplished in my personal life? You know, talk about your spouse or your kids or talk about volunteer organizations. Whatever you've done, create that list of this. This is my talent stack. These are the achievements that I've done. And post it where you can see it, because you need to see, you know, be reminded of this all the time. And I think if, as you get more comfortable seeing it in front of you and then talking about it, you can do it in such a way. Because I think most people don't want to brag. Right. I don't Want to be a braggart. I don't want to sound like a jerk. But if you see those accomplishments and they become just very routine to you, it's easier to have them in a conversation when it's appropriate, when it adds to your credibility. And it's just a huge resource that I think people don't lean on enough. And I just see it all the.

Time, all the time.

It's like they'll. They'll say something that they're good at or whatever, and then they'll add this, this thing that just takes the air out of it. At the end, a sentence says, well, that happened because yada, yada, yada, like, to your point. Oh, well, that's just because I connected with David Bowie. No, no, no. You created this idea. You asked him to come in. This whole thing would never have happened if it wasn't for you. So identify what those things are. And front and center.

I had, I had an idea while you were, while you were talking here. It's like, right, I need to do this too, because I, I, yeah, like everyone at whatever my degree is, I suffer from this same thing. And so I started typing this to put it in the show notes, and I thought, wait a minute, I can just copy and paste this. Like I'm going to tell our listeners to do. Ask Chat GPT the following. I need to create a list of my talent stack, and this is pasted in the show notes. You don't need to listen to this. You don't need to write it down. I need to create a list of my talent stack, but I'm not good at bragging. Can you create this list for me that we can collaborate on so that I can just have it and see it and Shannon it put this thing together. While we're talking here. Dave Hamilton's talent stack business and entrepreneurship. It's got a list. Founder and president of Backup Media successfully led Mac observer to acquisition. Experienced in podcast business strategist, then podcasting and media host of Mac Geek up, yada yada. And I'm sure there are things that are incorrect here that I can then go and tweak, but it's one of those I have learned, and this is obviously a fairly recent revelation, that any time I hit that I want to create this, but I don't know where to start, I immediately go to ChatGPT. Now, that is my writer's block tool.

That's great.

I love it. And then even if it's awful, which, to be fair, it is less and less awful, Every single time I use it, it gets better and better at creating this stuff. I had it create an email for me this morning that I was going to collaborate with it on and looked at it and I was actually already collaborating with one of my staff members and we looked at it and we're like, yep, that's. That's perfect.

That's it. That's awesome.

That's it.

Yeah.

But you can do it in the canvas thing in chatgpt.

Love it.

So, yeah, man.

Yeah. So make that list and, you know, look at it. Don't just bury it, you know, actually print it out or put it on your monitor if you don't have a printer or get it in front of you some way, you know, so that you can see it. Because you deserve it.

Yeah.

Deserve to feel good about all the things you've done and not. It also helps you not dwell on the failures that we've all had. Right. And, you know, you just deserve it to be able to look at this thing and go, you know what? I have done this. Or maybe if you look at it and go, you know, I need to do more. Maybe that's the push you need to go out and say, I need to add to my talent stack list and these things I've been talking about doing or things that I've been listening to Dave and Shannon talk about doing. I actually, I need to take some action and get some things done. And it could be the smallest thing that can push you over the edge. You know, I always talk about that, that thousand dollar brain switch, which is for people that make money or be a reseller, buy liquidation stuff. I, I focus on that all the time. How do you make your first. You know, I had, I got a message from. Not that this is not the topic, but I think it's, it's actually, it's relevant. I was in Slack on Saturday morning and one of my clients came in and said, it's. I just made two sales on Poshmark. I made $500. I'm sitting in my pajamas and I'm drinking my coffee and my day hasn't even started yet. And I was like, that's it. You know, here, here's this. I see the, the wheels turning in her head about, oh, wow, now I see it. Now I get it. Now I know why there's been all this work to get here to create this, you know, truly passive income. Once you get it up.

Once you get it up and running.

Yeah, yeah, once you get up and running. So, you know, print out that list and if you need to share it with somebody, if you want somebody to help hold you accountable, share, share with us. Feedbackusbrain. We'd love to, you know, give you some tips and look at it. Either give you a kick in the butt or a big congratulations or both. Whatever you need. Whatever you need.

Whatever you need.

Yeah. Yeah.

This is why Shannon Jean sells confidence, folks. Right there. That's the guy.

It's a big thing.

It is. Thanks for hanging out with us, everybody. Thanks for sending in your reviews. You can join that contest and just thanks for being a part of this thing that we all get to do together. It really makes a difference in our lives and. And I have to believe it makes a difference in yours. But post that review so that we know that it does. Thanks for hanging out. We'll see you on Friday. Keep living that charmed life.