Author Archives: mindpersuasion

Cook Up Some Horrible Junk

Love The Trash Can

When I was a kid I loved foggy days.

I remember driving with my dad, when we couldn’t see more than a few yards.

He thought it was pretty scary. I thought it was pretty cool.

Once I took this cooking class. Well, I took the same class twice, with two different teachers.

One was REALLY specific about how much stuff to put in. 1.2 ounces of this. 3.25 cups of that. Simmer on 20% heat for 2.4 minutes.

While we all got some pretty good results, it wasn’t so much fun.

The other teacher was the opposite. Some of this, a little for that, cook until it’s done.

I’ll admit, I’ve made some horrible mistakes in the kitchen, but I always enjoy cooking. And I learn to cook some things that I KNOW aren’t in any recipe books.

When I was a kid a few of my friends were into models. Airplanes, cars, ships, etc.

I tried once, but gave up. When I opened up the box, saw all the tiny little pieces that had to be put in the EXACT place in the EXACT order, I kind of lost my enthusiasm.

Where’s the fun in following step by step orders? Well, I supposed having a room full of perfectly built replicas that you can be proud of is a pretty good accomplishment. One I certainly admire and respect. It takes a lot of work, patience, dedication and skill.

When Michelangelo was asked how he made such beautiful sculptures, he didn’t say he made anything.

He said the sculpture was already in the rock. He just found it by chipping away the junk on the outside.

Many people would like a step by step plan that guarantees success. One that has ZERO room for error.

But the thing is that if there WERE something like this, everybody would get the same thing.

One crucial element in a modern society is a diversity of talent. Some people are good at building models. Others are good at operating on people. Others are great at painting, still others are good at dreaming up plans for new buildings that only exist in their mind, before they exist in the world.

The reason there simply CAN NOT be a “step by step” method for any success is that even two doctors will have two different skill sets they bring to the same surgery.

Two different artists will create two completely different pieces of art.

Your are here to create YOUR masterpiece that is UNLIKE any other.

Which means you NEED to spend a lot of time trying, failing, and trying again.

Just like I do in the kitchen. Sure some stuff will be thrown in the trash.

But some stuff will amaze your friends.

AND make you a TON of money.

So long as you are moving forward (or two forward and one back), you can’t lose.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion

Can You Juggle Yet?

Feedback Loops

Lots of inventors have tried to come up with a “perpetual motion machine.”

At least in the old days. But then again, there’s still plenty of things being sold today (not the things themselves, the designs for them) that somehow claim to be an endless source of energy.

It’s a pretty shrewd marketing strategy, when you think about it. The “thing” they are selling is just a book with some plans. The “promise” is some magic machine that will spit out endless energy forever.

Only to build it, you’ve got to have a PhD in mechanical engineering, and a decent lab with the right equipment.

The idea of some kind of self-perpetuating feedback loop has been around forever.

This was kind of the promise behind “cold fusion” back when they allegedly discovered it. Pour in salt water, and it spits put clean electricity.

On the other hand, you can view human life on Earth as a kind of “perpetual energy machine.” After all, a few thousand years ago, all we had were basic tools. Now look at what we’ve made. Nobody helped us. No magic aliens came down and showed us the way.

Just humans interacting with other humans and making better and better and more complicated stuff.

Every success “fed back” into the system, which simply created more success.

For some reason, when we think of personal achievement, we think it’s a one stage or one process thing.

Read the right book and suddenly you’ll be blessed with secret knowledge to crack the code.

Say the right affirmations and you’ll suddenly be approached by beautiful people with sacks of money.

If you read a book on juggling, would you be able to juggle? Or would you need to practice?

Sure, it helps to know the theory. But unless you’re content to impress all your friends with your deep philosophical insights about juggling, you would have to actually practice.

Which would mean spending a LOT of time dropping balls (or bean bags or chainsaws) all over the place.

You KNOW this.

But for some reason, when we read books on dating, or making money, or even losing weight, we half expect some magic fairy to come fix everything at night while we sleep.

If it were this easy, EVERYBODY would be thin, rich, and surrounded by super models.

It’s not that it’s difficult to get these things. It just takes time.

And ONE crucial element most people simply CANNOT fathom.

Being able to accept feedback. Not just the good stuff, but the “bad” stuff as well.

Because ALL feedback is more information. That can be fed into the system to make you better next time.

And guess what?

If you KEEP getting better next time? You’ll get pretty good!

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion

Jump Without Fear

Know Where You’re Going

When I was younger I had this girlfriend.

Often times we’d go out, but neither of us really had a plan. So we’d end up driving around, only to end up at some cafe or restaurant.

Of course, just being together was enough, but sometimes it felt pretty silly.

“What do you want to do?”

“I dunno, what do you want to do?”

The first time I went bungee jumping I was pretty terrified. Leaning over the edge was pretty scary.

The second time was a lot of fun, since I knew what to expect. I actually looked forward to doing something that almost made me pass out from fright earlier.

Whenever you want to do something scary or important, it’s natural to feel inner conflict.

Even if you’re really sure you want to buy something, part of you wonders if maybe you should wait until something better comes along.

In economics, they call these “opportunity costs.” If you do X, you CAN’T do Y.

One the deadliest things to have, both from an internal perspective, and an outward demonstration, is incongruence.

If you are an athlete, and you’re trying to “fake somebody out” but you’re not good at it, it won’t work. It’s clear to them you’re only “faking” left. They can read you like a book.

If you’re interacting socially, being incongruent can be the kiss of death. On the outside, you may appear to be friendly, but you’re sending out a creepy vibe.

Studies have shown that incongruence is the most devastating trait to have in sales and social relationships.

Clearly, it’s also a HUGE impediment to any kind of success. You’ll never get out there and do what needs to be done if you’re conflicted on the inside. Even when you DO take action, it will be half-hearted at best.

How do you get congruent?

One way is to make sure your goals are VERY clearly defined. Know what you’re getting. Know what you’re going to HAVE TO give up. Have a pretty clear idea of what it will take to get there.

The reason my second bungee jumping trip was fun was that I KNEW it was going to be fun. I had experience that I wouldn’t end up as a splat on the pavement.

But you can also do this by taking plenty of time to visualize your WELL DEFINED GOAL.

The bigger and brighter it becomes, in your mind, the more certainty and inner congruence you’ll develop.

Spend plenty of time DEFINING your goal, and plenty of time CHARGING your goal with your emotions.

These will help:

Mind Persuasion

The Blackjack Life Strategy

Take Advantage of Runs

In statistics, one of the tests of true randomness is “runs.”

Meaning if you flip a coin a hundred times, there HAS to be periods where you get a bunch of heads in a row, or a bunch of tails in a row.

When scientists or mathematicians are studying unknown phenomenon, if it doesn’t show runs, it’s not random. If it’s always back and forth, or at most twice one way or twice the other way, there’s something else going on.

In fact, one good strategy for playing blackjack is to follow the rules, so you’re getting close to 50% payouts, and bet bigger and bigger once you start winning.

Then you go back to your smallest bet when you’re on a cold streak. The logic is when you are on a winning streak, you’re betting big, but when you’re cold, you’re betting small.

Of course, this is why they have scantily clad waitresses giving out free booze!

No matter WHAT you’re going after, you’re going to have runs as well. Strings of good luck, and strings of bad luck.

Not really luck, just stuff that happens that’s out of your control.

The big mistake is to assume EITHER ONE is normal. If you think you’re going to be “on” all the time, you’re in for a surprise.

If you’re halfway through a “losing streak,” or worse, one’s almost over, then you may quit.

The trick is to apply the Blackjack philosophy. When the going’s good, go big. When you start to slow down and hit some rough spots, slow down a bit and wait for things to get back to normal.

Because they ALWAYS will.

Once when I was in college I had a TON of bad stuff happen at once. I was in a pretty dark mood for a couple weeks, but then I stepped back, focused on a couple of really important things, and let the rest slide.

Having a core set of goals is really helpful. If you don’t know where you’re going, and you hit those rough spots, it can be tough to get back on track.

But when you’ve got a collection of HIGHLY DEFINED things way out in the future you’re going after, it’s easy to stay on track.

That one job, one girl or one situation may not work out. But if you’ve got a BIG GOAL (ideal career, ideal relationship, etc) off on the horizon, it’s easy to pick up the pieces and get moving.

If you don’t have any highly defined goals, that should be your first goal.

Get some big dreams, and define them.

Do that, and you’ll have true purpose in your life.

These tools will help you get there:

Mind Persuasion

Moving Gold or Carrying Bricks?

What Will You Do To Double Your Salary?

I used to watch this TV show called “Fear Factor.”

It was an elimination show, with the winners getting big cash.

They had teams, usually couples, and the “tasks” alternated between gross and physical.

The gross ones involved eating bugs or something. The physical ones involved doing stunts like being blindfolded while parachuting.

One of the physical tasks had a Brinks truck at the bottom of a swimming pool.

There were gold bars in the truck, and the couples had to swim down, and carry up the gold bricks.

The couple who carried up the most bricks could keep them.

Now, when you’re carrying something that’s clearly worth a lot of money, you’ll work yourself to exhaustion.

On the other hand, it’s easy to forget the money at the end of the chain of events if it’s not clear.

Like if you’re laying actual bricks, and getting paid per project, it’s easy to slack off and take your time.

So long as you’ve got a project per month, that pays the bills and allows you to save a bunch, you’re happy.

But if you worked as hard as those couples carrying gold from the underwater truck, you’d be able to do twice as many projects per month, and make twice as much money.

Most people claim they’ll do anything for money. Or anything to double their salary. What they usually mean is they’ll do anything, so long as it’s easy, there’s no risk, and they won’t look foolish in public.

The truth about money (or pretty much anything else you want) is that it’s pretty easy to get.

So long as you’re willing to do what it takes to get it.

The world is filled with people that have money and unmet needs, for example.

Just figure out what those needs are, and figure out a way to get it to them, and you can get paid a lot.

Trouble is, most people want to be TOLD what to do. They want to be TOLD how to do it.

But here’s the billion dollar question you MUST answer:

If there WAS a secret magic way to explain what people want, and how you could get it to them, so YOU could get paid, why would anybody tell you?

What’s in it for them?

And why would they only tell YOU? What happens when they tell everybody else on Planet Earth?

The truth is that finding the path from where you are, to what you want is completely and absolutely up to you.

The good news is that since most people are too lazy to try ANYTHING, you’ll be the only one getting the good stuff.

So, what do you want?

Are you willing to try something to find out how to get it? And KEEP TRYING until you do?

Most people aren’t.

How about you?

These will help:

Mind Persuasion

Do You See Holograms Everywhere?

Do You Really See What You See?

Near my home there’s a small museum.

They usually have local artists there, and sometimes more nationally famous people.

A few weeks ago they had a guy who toured the world to take pictures of cats.

Not lions or tigers or leopards, but regular cats.

He gave a speech, and then sold those coffee table books filled with pictures of world cats.

A few months before that, they had a display with a bunch of optical illusions.

Those are pretty interesting. They way they work is the take advantage of the assumptions we make when we see things.

Scientists tell us that when we see something, up to 40% of what we “see” is actually internally generated.

Similar to your browser, in an effort to save computing power, our brains reference what’s stored inside, rather than what is outside.

This pretty fun when we’re seeing these stairs that go round and round and never go up.

But it kind of sucks when there’s opportunities all around us, but we don’t notice.

Even worse, when we’re referencing remembered fears instead of the safety and potential pleasure that’s looking at us and waiting for us to make a move.

There’s certainly plenty of ways to reframe things.

Taxes aren’t a burden, they’re membership fees which spur investment which help everybody make more money.

We care for you so much that we’re keeping you locked up for your own good.

We’re not firing you, we’re giving an opportunity to explore more careers.

The biggest and most deadliest reframes, however, are the ones we do to ourselves.

Sure I’d like to start my own business, but I just am waiting for the economy to pick up.

Sure, I’d love a relationship with a loving and affectionate person, it’s just that I’ve got some important things going in my life, and I need to take care of them first.

Yes, I know I should be sending our resumes, but I need to finish taking that online class first (that I haven’t signed for yet) which will make my resume look REALLY good.

And on and on.

The truth is the only time you have is now. What you do with NOW will define your entire life. There is no “next time.” That sexy person wants you to make a move NOW. That hiring manager wants to see your resume NOW. The world needs you to start your business NOW.

Not later.

Let all the other goofs of the world flip flop around in their minds, waiting for the mythical goddess of opportunity to show up and literally push them to action.

Action starts in YOUR mind.

Here.

Now.

Mind Persuasion

Wisdom Of Cavemen

One More Zebra

One common theme in many stories is a “magic key.”

A key, or map, or answer to a riddle.

Whoever finds the answer gets all the good stuff.

A famous one was Gordian’s Knot. Story goes there was this super complicated knot that nobody could unravel.

Whoever could, would get mad rewards.

So Alexander (The Great) shows up and hacks it in half with his sword.

That’s one way to solve problems! Not much elegance, but certainly effective.

They tell us that symbols that keep popping up in mythology (swords in stones, treasure maps, etc) are there because we have a deep subconscious need for them.

In your day to day life, what is the biggest “magic answer” you might be looking for?

It might be the perfect thing to say to that person you’ve got your eye on. It might be the perfect investment strategy. It might be the one thing that finally gets you unstuck from your rut so you can finally get some.

It can be tempting to slip into the “all I need” mode of thinking. If I ONLY had a boyfriend, everything else would be PERFECT.

If I ONLY had ten percent more money every month, everything would be PERFECT. Etc. Etc. Etc.

However, this is a trap. Because once you get that “thing,” it won’t last long. This isn’t bad. This isn’t some con of life. This isn’t a trick of being human.

This is just the way you are. Built to ALWAYS want more. ALWAYS want to know more, be more, do more, see more, achieve more.

Imagine a bunch of cavemen a couple hundred thousand years ago. “Man, all we need is ONE MORE ZEBRA, and we’ll be set for life!”

Luckily they didn’t think like that. They likely NEVER thought in the “all I need” mode, at least for very long.

We are all descendents of those ancient cavemen who thought in the “tide me over” mode.

They knew a big kill was good, but it was only for a couple weeks, at best.

That one guy or girl you may have your eye on may be GREAT when you get them, but only so you can go out and get MORE stuff next time.

That ten percent raise will feel fantastic when it comes, but only to push you to see even MORE money in six months or so.

If you think in terms of “I only need,” then you’re life will ALWAYS seem incomplete.

But when you think in terms of “tide me over,” your life will ALWAYS have purpose.

Forward momentum. Consistent achievement. Endless growth.

Whatever you’ve got now, get some more.

These will help:

Mind Persuasion

Harmonic Oscillating Playgrounds

Swing Your Way Through Life

Resonance was always one of my favorite subjects.

Every physical entity has a certain “frequency.” Meaning if you hit it, it will shake at its own frequency.

Now, most objects like chairs or tables or watermelons don’t shake or resonate very long. That’s what’s called “over-damped resonance.” Meaning the way the system is set, it physically can’t shake for very long.

Then you have “under-damped” resonance. These are things that shake, or swing back and forth a long, long time. Like a pendulum, or a swing.

And if you apply the external force at the SAME frequency as that objects resonance frequency, you can get some pretty BIG oscillations.

Kids on a swing for example. When they pump their legs back and forth, they are pumping them back and forth at the precise frequency of the swing-kid combination.

They THINK they’re just playing on the swing, but what they’re REALLY doing is “applying a specific resonance frequency to an under-damped harmonic oscillator.”

Funny thing is that when they want to get off, they can do so pretty quickly. They just pump their legs at the OPPOSITE resonant frequency, and they slow down in a hurry.

Now, some systems are super easy to understand. Swings, pendulums, yo-yo’s, etc. You can get them swinging pretty quickly, and stop them pretty quickly.

Other things are more complicated. But the same structure nonetheless.

Every time you are “in the zone” while having a conversation, for example, you and your conversation partner are resonating off each other’s personal resonance frequency.

When you meet that special somebody, and you really “click” you’re continuously and unconsciously pushing each others buttons in the right frequency.

Any time people get into a fight or disagreement, it even shows up in our language.

“Not on the same page.”

“Not speaking the same language.”

“Not talking about the same thing.”

Keeping this idea of “resonance” in mind can be helpful. You can think of two people be in or out of resonance.

You can think of you and the world being in or out of resonance. Or you and a project you are working on, or you and whatever it is you are creating.

Whenever you push, the world will push back. Just like the kid on the swing. If you try and FORCE the world into YOUR frequency, it usually doesn’t work.

But when you step back, clear your mind, and pay attention, then you can operate within the world, at the WORLD’S frequency.

Making everything smoother and more natural. Gliding through life, getting whatever you want.

Getting your mind right is the first step.

Learn More:

Mind Persuasion

Thoughts Into Things

Magic Imagination

When I was a kid I got a Swiss Army Knife for a birthday.

At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing. Couple knives, magnifying glass, a saw, some tweezers, and a toothpick.

I was in boys scouts at the time, and most of that stuff came in pretty handy.

Later on, I bought a couple of these “fifty in one” electronic kits. It had this big circuit board, and you could wire all the components together in a bunch of different configurations to make a bunch of different stuff.

Lie detectors, pH meters, even a strobe light.

The core message of Think and Grow Rich are “thoughts are things.”

Everything that’s around you right now, was once a thought. Now it is a thing. Sounds pretty cool, but it’s also pretty normal.

I mean, if you were to imagine a peanut butter sandwich, and then get up and make a peanut butter sandwich, so what?

Sure, in the short term, it’s a pretty mundane facet of human nature.

But when you think of a BIG thing, that’s when it starts to get interesting.

Especially if you aren’t really sure WHAT that thing is, only an idea of the kind of outcome you want.

Sort of like shopping for a new shirt or a pair of shoes. You don’t have a specific idea in mind, but you’ll know it when you see it.

Only when you’re building stuff, you’ll know it when you create it. And most often, all along the way you’ll create all kinds of other things. You’ll also create a lot of new relationships.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the “holographic theory” of the universe. Everything is a mirror of something bigger, and something smaller.

Now whether or not this is a metaphor isn’t really so important. Because creating your life is a lot like making a peanut butter sandwich. Or making something to eat when you aren’t sure.

You get started, see what kind of ingredients and tools you’ve got, and get to work. On a broader scale, getting something to eat is part of staying fed and healthy. And every time you make something to eat, you get more information in your brain on how to do that, and the results you’ll get.

No matter what you want, it’s out there. Maybe it exists, maybe it hasn’t been created yet. Maybe YOU are the only one thinking of that right now.

There are two crucial elements in between those thoughts in your head, and those things out in reality that they’ll become.

People, and tools.

Get some:

Mind Persuasion

Two Views of Reality

Broken Or Beautiful

When I was a kid I loved science. I read all kinds of books on physics.

Only because there were for regular people, all the complicated math had been taken out.

Then when I was in University, and I took the regular classes, the math kind of blew me away.

Often I’d be intimidated at the beginning of a class, as I had math anxiety.

But then after slogging through all the work, and when I finally understood it, it was pretty cool.

I had this vague notion that once I “understood” the physics of stuff, life would be simpler, since I’d “know” everything.

Only problem is that the more you know, the more you don’t know. Only later did I realize that the vast majority of science is really a very detailed description of the “what.” Nobody really knows the “why.”

It’s been said there’s two basic schools of thought, when it comes to how we interpret “reality.”

There’s those who look out into the world, and decide it’s not the way it should be. This means somebody is doing something wrong, and somebody needs to “fix” the way the world works.

This usually leads to frustration. It’s like trying to teach a pig to sing. It doesn’t work, and it makes the pig angry.

On the other hand, there are those who look out into the world and take it for what it is. Then they figure out what they want, and they operate within the world to make it happen.

It’s kind of like wanting to cook something for dinner. If you have your heart set of pizza, but you don’t have any crust, cheese or sauce, it’s going to be difficult. But if you step back and just figure you’d like something good to eat, you take a look in the fridge and see what you’ve got to work with.

Of course, going out into the world is MUCH more complicated than opening up your fridge to see what you’ve got.

The world is filled with all kinds of people with all kinds of different skills, beliefs, talents, backgrounds, ideas etc.

Even if you have ZERO idea of what you want, other than more money, a better job, a better or new relationship, just getting out and getting involved will give you an idea.

Humans have been riffing on each other since the first caveman saw another caveman throw a rock at a zebra.

Now look how far we’ve come!

However, it won’t happen if you sit around waiting for them to come to you.

But once you get out there, amazing things will happen.

Learn How:

Mind Persuasion