In my previous article, I mentioned that there are three big reasons why resolutions fail, why we make goals, create daily steps to follow, and at times, don’t do it. Some have called this “Knowing what to do, but not doing what we know.” I mentioned in that article that Ecology is a big reason […]
I was a guest trainer at an NLP Practitioner class recently, and the subject of long-term commitment arose. The context, here, is relevant, but the mechanics are the same. Recall our discussion of Structural Thinking recently–it really is a superpower. As we approach a new year in a couple months, one of the things we […]
One of your greatest superpowers is your ability to identify the underlying structure in any situation. We experience many situations that, while the details vary, the overall theme and structure is the same. Maybe the challenge of helping your child ace “core” math (aka “the new math,” the one we didn’t learn in school) is […]
Calibration in Human Behavior is one of those not-so-secret, though often-overlooked skills. Simply, calibration is noticing the differences in people, between moments–observable shifts in their objectively noticeable, outward behaviors. That includes changes in skin tone or coloration, posture, movement, though it can also be more subtle. I’ve shared a story before about noticing pupil dilation […]
One of the things that came up in my first Sublinfluence™ workshop, a few years back, was surprise that it’s even necessary in most cases. For those who’ve never attended one, I teach a two-step process for persuasion. The first aspect, often overlooked in most situations where people attempt Influence, is what I call “Radical […]
Rules of thumb form in every culture, and for the most part, survive because overall, they work. Though for an example of one that should probably die off, search “rule of thumb origin.” It’s widely said that “Curiosity Killed the Cat,” and yet I’ve had a number of cats in my time, and while each […]
This past two months, I’ve spoken about a coworker who greatly exaggerated his own abilities. Quick recap: He promised all kinds of great rewards and, even early on, before anyone knew of his capability (or lack thereof), we could all smell the distinct odor of, as mentioned, bullshit. He agreed to something, a bit of […]
When mastering unconscious influence, that is, conscious influence over others’ unconscious minds, it should be apparent that the opportunity for unethical use is always present. This is a big reason some people object to my teaching and writing about it. As if, but for me, no one would ever figure this stuff out! As much […]
I’ve always been fascinated by Influence, how leaders or influencers get us to take an action they prefer. Which means I’ve sat through more “get-rich-quick” pitches than you likely would. It was interesting, and I’ve learned a lot. Naturally, many of these pitches simply lie to make us believe something will work for us. Some, […]
In a hypnosis workshop on South Padre Island in 2007, I taught the concept of nominalizations. This is a part of NLP’s Milton Model, one of the key models in Neuro-linguistic Programming. A nominalization, simply, is a noun that used to be a verb. Think about that for a moment. A word like “security” comes […]