Praise from Readers:
“This book made me understand: If there is one underlying code that can drive everyone, it must be dopamine.”
“I admire the author’s insight. The way he analyzes the psychological changes triggered by dopamine is so detailed and impressive. A book with a unique perspective among those on dopamine.”
“This book analyzes the relationship between dopamine and human behavior so thoroughly, and it’s highly actionable. It’s full of real‑life examples – you can use them right away.”

★ 7 abilities + 7 modes: Use scientific methods to harness the power of dopamine for our own benefit!
★ This book is suitable for all readers, especially those interested in dopamine.

“This book taught me that:
Self-discipline means controlling dopamine; education involves shaping dopamine responses; management is about stimulating dopamine; business is about exchanging dopamine; and love relies on triggering dopamine reactions.
If there’s one underlying principle that affects everyone, it’s definitely dopamine.”

How to make children learn willingly? How to make employees work with enthusiasm? How to make others follow you wholeheartedly? How to make yourself proactive and efficient? How to make customers buy irresistibly?

People’s active and sustained behavior is shaped by dopamine. To drive active and sustained behavior, we must master the language that awakens dopamine. This book shares how to use dopamine to shape seven abilities in people, as well as seven patterns for continuously awakening dopamine. The author also introduces many methods for activating and utilizing dopamine.

This book is suitable for all readers, especially those interested in dopamine.

Cheng Zhiliang

Business growth consultant and user behavior expert. With over a decade of in‑depth research and practice in brain science, behavioral economics, and artificial intelligence, he holds a unique and fresh understanding of users and markets. He founded “Dopamine Economics” and developed the “Dopamine Paradox Wheel,” a model for driving sustainable business growth. He is the author of the user behavior series: Dopamine Business, Addiction, Lock the Brain, Bring the Vibe, and Self‑Growth.

Preface

Chapter 1: Dopamine Shapes 7 Abilities
Dopamine constructs the world for you and me / 002
The first ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to love and become addicted / 010
The second ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to repeatedly acquire / 020
The third ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to predict the future / 035
The fourth ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to avoid risk / 042
The fifth ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to strive without reward / 052
The sixth ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to review and correct mistakes / 061
The seventh ability shaped by dopamine: the ability to choose and decide / 069
Dopamine shapes a different you and me / 078
Dopamine is the probable factor driving behavior / 080

Chapter 2: Dopamine Shapes Our “Transcendence Ability”
Cut off dopamine and you’re “useless” / 086
Dopamine makes us capable of anything / 088
The dopamine ecology cannot sustain transcendence / 099

Chapter 3: The First Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Dynamic Space Management
Dynamism is the path we constantly crave / 104
Master creating “difference perception” – you’re an expert / 106
Five types of “difference perception” that keep people craving / 109

Chapter 4: The Second Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Autonomous Space Management
The sense of autonomy matters more than the outcome / 120
Formula for enhancing the sense of control: simplicity + repetition = possibility / 123
A method to drive active behavior: enhance autonomy awareness / 128

Chapter 5: The Third Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Expressive Space Management
Expressive space is the stage for shaping oneself / 140
Two methods to stimulate the desire to express / 142
Three methods to deeply shape others’ behavior / 147

Chapter 6: The Fourth Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Growth Space Management
Growth space is the ladder of our progress / 158
Five methods for setting growth elements / 160
Five methods for building a consumption mechanism / 166

Chapter 7: The Fifth Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Risk Transformation Management
Risk is the first factor inhibiting behavior / 176
Five ways to reduce risk awareness / 177
Four methods to transform risk into value / 184

Chapter 8: The Sixth Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Ability Matching Management
Mismatch is the second factor inhibiting behavior / 192
Only when matched do people like it / 193
Autonomous matching is the key to handling everything / 198

Chapter 9: The Seventh Pattern to Continuously Awaken Dopamine: Feedback Effect Management
Ineffective feedback is the third factor inhibiting behavior / 206
Only with effect do people enjoy the process / 208
Always make people feel good about themselves / 216

Preface (excerpt translation)

Dopamine is a magical substance.
More than ten years ago, I became deeply fascinated by it. I am one of the earlier independent researchers in China to focus on the application of dopamine in business. Abroad, dopamine is highly sought after – especially among elite groups. In the United States, “there is no place as obsessed with dopamine as Silicon Valley.” American tech giants, investment moguls, and business leaders all aspire to use dopamine to expand their business empires. They value dopamine over other neurotransmitters like endorphins, serotonin, oxytocin, and adrenaline because they see the commercial and technological value hidden in dopamine.

The association of dopamine with pleasure, desire, and anticipation is only superficial. Through years of research, I have discovered that dopamine is the core driver of human behavior and the most important neurotransmitter shaping our actions and abilities. Most of our abilities are endowed by dopamine. The deeper I study dopamine, the more certain I become that the in‑depth application of dopamine patterns will bring disruptive change to the entire business world – especially in empowering traditional business and AI technology. The deep application of dopamine patterns is changing how people connect with the world. At the same time, it is also changing how people create self‑worth – our “hands and feet” will be liberated, allowing us to create more self‑worth in the virtual world.

In 2017, I published my first book on dopamine research: Addiction: How to Design Addictive Products, Brands, and Ideas. By 2020, the entire system of “Dopamine Economics” had been constructed. The core theory of Dopamine Economics is the “Dopamine Self‑Reinforcement Theory,” and the core model is the “Dopamine Paradox Wheel.” Dopamine Economics includes 12 dopamine control points, 12 dopamine languages, 4 types of space management, 3 types of feedback management, and 10 types of progression management. I plan to share the more important parts of this system through three books.

In 2024, I published the first book in the series, Dopamine Business, which mainly shared the core theory of Dopamine Economics – the Dopamine Self‑Reinforcement Theory – as well as 6 dopamine control points. The Power of Dopamine is the second book in the series. It focuses on sharing 7 dopamine languages and 30 dopamine sentence patterns that shape active behavior, as well as the 7 abilities shaped by these dopamine languages.

These 7 abilities drive people’s active behavior. The book also shares 7 dopamine patterns that shape sustained behavior. These 7 dopamine patterns make people’s active behavior sustainable. Human behavioral problems ultimately boil down to two types: inactive behavior and unsustainable behavior. The power of dopamine is specially suited to treat both types.

In 2023, with the simple concept of “dopamine dressing,” dopamine entered the public eye. This made the concept of dopamine quickly known to the masses. However, after studying some dopamine theories, I found that much of the public’s understanding of dopamine is one‑sided, even extreme and wrong – for example, “detox from dopamine; the poor pursue dopamine, the rich pursue endorphins…”

Dopamine is a huge treasure that each of us possesses. It helps us transcend various limitations, gives us infinite possibilities, drives our active behavior, and shapes our various abilities… Not only personal achievements but also the progress of society depends on dopamine. The superficial and one‑sided understanding of dopamine means that we are unconsciously giving up the most precious thing we have. This is nothing less than preventing ourselves from becoming extraordinary. Most people live ordinary lives, consuming their energy on trivial matters, self‑created fears, and three‑minute enthusiasms that lead to giving up halfway. They do not efficiently use the power of dopamine they possess. This is because we have not mastered the ability to use dopamine to shape our own behavior, nor allowed the power of dopamine to work for us.

Remember, in the game of life, the only real “trump card” each person holds is dopamine. Dopamine is the magical power everyone is born with – it enables us to break through life’s various limitations.