Hi Persuader,

Since we're on the topic of beginning... How do we begin a presentation? If you were sitting down right now to talk to somebody, how would you start your presentation?

What is the frame that you set? Is it a frame of cooperation? Is it a frame of 'I'm right'? Is it a frame of 'you need me'? Is it a frame of 'you're going to do this'? Or is it a frame of 'I'm going to help figure out what you need and give it to you'?

Take just a moment and identify the frame that you're starting with. Not the frame you think you should be starting but what you have been starting with?

Here are two frames students of mine came up with.

"I'm here to help you get what you want."

And, "I want to find out what you need.'

Let me give you some insight into these two frames.

In the frame that says, 'I'm here to help you get what you want', I am in the picture. In the frame that says, 'I want to find out what you need', I'm finding out, it's information, but it's not action and I am not in the frame.

You also must insert yourself into the buyer's mind such that you are an intricate part of the answer.

Life without action isn't much of a life. You must be taking action. One of the best ways to take action is by setting your frame in the beginning right out of the gate. That frame is: I'm going to help you get what you want.

Now maybe what they want is not to do business with you because you're not a good fit. Fine, I'll help you not do business with me. I'll help say goodbye and part friends. Nice. No problem. I appreciate you not wasting my time.

But if you don't insert yourself right into the frame to begin with, then you end up running the risk of having a bigger issue. And that bigger issue is that you're not seen as a person that they are going to take action with.

We're dealing with subtleties here but the subtleties count in a huge way. Remember, the person who sets the frame is going to win. You have to really consider what the frame is that you're attempting to set, and that it is in your mind when you enter into the situation that you're entering into.

If you're out of the frame, your prospect will see you as out of the frame too and they'll thank you for your information and leave.

There's nothing manipulative in my opinion about inserting yourself into the frame. After all, they came to see you, or you came to see them and they let you in. What would be manipulative is if you tried to give them something they don't need or they don't want and that I have a real problem with it.

As the saying goes, 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression.' I'd go even further and say, 'You never get a second chance to powerfully, persuasively, positively set that first frame with yourself as the solution to your prospect's needs and wants.'

Before you even begin, have this be your intention.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

Before I get into the 'away' perspective in the towards/away continuum, I want to make a distinction between a truly negative personality and a person who is inclined towards moving away from a problem.

There are some people who think, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.' I am not of that opinion. Putting on a happy face for everything is dishonest, even if it's framed in the positive mental attitude way of turning lemons into lemonade or problems into challenges. I see the value in it, but I also see the value in really indulging in the ups and downs of life, experiencing the lows so that the highs feel so much more intense.

Conversely, I don't like to be around people who constantly complain and view the world through the distorted lens of their inconvenience and misery. That kind of vibration, on a sustained basis, will bring your energy down guaranteed.

I am of the opinion that I'd rather have people be honest and accurate, and whether it is positive or negative is beside the point.

With that said, the 'towards and away' continuum is a filter that some (not all) people use when describing their circumstances in a particular context.

Say you've elicited your client or prospect's highest criteria and it turns out to be security. And you say, 'So ultimately, what will having security do for you?'

Now, security is a value that can be either towards or away, so you've got to listen very closely to the answer to this question to determine their direction.

'Security. . .It's going to completely keep me safe. I'm not going to have to worry anymore because I'm just sick and tired of worrying. I don't know what the stock market's going to do and I'm heavily invested in it and I just am tired of worrying.'

Is this person moving towards a solution or away from a problem?

Well, that's pretty obvious. They're definitely trying to move away from the problem.

With 'away' people, one of the prongs on the key to persuasion is what I like to call 'backing the ambulance up to the door'. It's like poking at a wound or sticking your tongue at a sore tooth. (Some people actually do that!) It's like rubbernecking at an accident. It's like helping them wallow in that feeling of fear and worry in order to show them the path to . . .in this case, security.

My response: 'Well, exactly. That's perfectly understandable. Because, really, the stock market is a really terrifying prospect right now. I mean, people have no idea how devastating it's going to be when that thing finally crashes again. And I can totally understand that feeling of sickness and worry. Having no parachute, no safety net, no cushion would definitely be cause for worry. My clients have moved beyond that fear and are naturally safe and secure as a result of working with me.'

Determination of towards/away is a really powerful tool that enriches rapport immeasurably. Don't ever try to force the away oriented person to see the silver lining or look through rose colored glasses. Just go along with them and bask in the fear and horror that you can eventually relieve them of.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

If you missed "Persuasion Continuum: The Key To Your Prospect's Particulars", go read it now.

When I last left you, you were either completely confused about the Persuasion Continuums or you were well on your way to understanding one of the slickest tools in the persuasion toolbox.

To recap: Continuums work most powerfully when you find that the prospect you're influencing is at either end of the continuum not more or less in the middle. In other words, the powerful continuums are the ones where the person is extreme.

Let's say that your prospect is at the far right side of the continuum at the far 'towards' side. And let's say for 'internal/external', well they're right dead in the middle. They don't seem to go either direction, they don't seem to really care. I just would ignore the internal/external in my languaging because that one just isn't going to make a big difference. (I'll get into more detail on the 'languaging' in an upcoming article.)

These continuums are organizing principles for people; they're a filter, a way of looking at things. And, lucky for us, they're habitual, meaning, people tend to keep the same perspective within the context in which you've inquired.

Sometimes big life changes can make these things change, but basically they are a set way of looking at the world.

I've talked about lenses before ("Adjusting Your Lens") and this is a similar concept. Continuums shape the way we view the world.

We have the 'towards and away' lens. We have the 'internal/external' lens. We have the 'options/procedural' lens. These lenses, when you understand them, enable you to focus straight into the mind of the person you're influencing. This is where they start getting real powerful.

The idea is to learn to adjust your language to take advantage of the continuums you hear like notching a key to fit into a lock.

Most of us, we just assume that everybody else thinks the same way we do.

Wrong! They think the way they do.

The very first step is to learn to put your mind into a white board state. You're there to be marked upon by the way your prospect thinks and speaks and you define yourself by those strategies.

I am not talking about changing your values or your beliefs. I'm not talking about changing who you are at your core. I'm talking about changing the way you express yourself to influence another person.

As an example, are you what you eat? Are you the shoes you wear? Are you the car you drive? Are you the city you live in? You are none of these things and you are made up of all of these things. You're a sum total of a great bunch more than what you eat, wear, drive, and where you live.

Are you a belief? No, but you're closer to that than you are a shoe. Are you a value? Well, that's part of who you are. You're part of all those things. When you combine it together you have you.

It's really important to understand that when you change your language, you're not changing who you are, you're changing your shirt, you're changing your shoes, you're changing your tie.

I realized that it's important to have a particular look and so in the last little over a year, I've conformed to that look a little bit more.

Am I inherently different as a person? No. I carry around 140 pounds less fat than I used to, but I still have the same passions and hopes and dreams and beliefs and core values. If I wear a suit or a T-shirt, I'm still the same person.

I'm changing the perception of my message and that's what continuums are. They're a way for you to change your verbal shoes. To change your verbal pants or shirt, and the key to this is to develop flexibility in the way you talk, to have a wardrobe, to take advantage of what the person you're influencing is using and not default to your own continuums.

When we're pushed into a corner and we have to come out swinging, we're going to simply do what it is that we know how to do. And from there, we hope to improve. Every time you're in front of a prospect, you're in a corner, so to speak, and you do what you know how to do as best as you can. The goal is to have flexibility, to increase that.

Remember, that as the context changes from like work to home to love to health, so too will the way a person uses a continuum including not using that continuum at all in some, but not other contexts. Don't assume that because you know the continuum in one context that it will hold up in others.

Are you starting to get it? Odds are, if you've read Persuasion Continuums I and II a few times, the light is starting to come on. Coming soon: Backing the Ambulance Up to the Door: The 'Away' Perspective.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

So now we have some framing basics. By no means can framing be summed up in three little articles, but in that, there's a beginning foundation from which to build our persuasion arsenals.

Now that we have frames in mind, it's time to examine our lenses. When you wear glasses, you don't walk around with just the frames on, you have lenses that fit your particular prescription.

Some lenses are distorted. The frame an alcoholic or drug addict has is: how can I get more of what I'm addicted to? The lens they're looking through is highly distorted and fraught with denial.

Are all of our specific issues lenses? If these issues are strong enough to warp and distort reality, then I'd say, yes. My whole life I was using a really strong lens when it came to food. I'd think about my next meal as I was eating. My blood sugar was so out of whack that I craved more and more sugar or simple carbohydrates after finishing and filling up on an entire meal. The lens I was looking through was overpoweringly focused on unhealthy foods and fear of scarcity. But by adjusting this view, things have changed dramatically.

On the opposite end of things, consider an anorexic who looks in the mirror and sees themselves as fat when they actually have little or no body fat whatsoever. Distortion.

Some social issues can also be thought of as lenses. I read about a summer camp in Northern California where the campers would go to the camp to 'unlearn' issues of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism. The presupposition of the facilitators of the camp was that if we grew up in the US, we've all been indoctrinated into a racist, sexist society, either subtly or overtly and the only way social change and equality can be achieved is to examine the lenses we've been looking through to view the world.

Now, whether or not you believe this, it's a very strong frame and by 'unlearning' these 'isms', they believed the distortion of the lens is lessened.

What are some other distortions that prevent us from seeing the real picture? How about religious fanaticism? How scratched, cracked and myopic is a suicide bomber's lens on the world? VERY. Their views go WAY beyond framing.

As I mentioned before, addicts have distortions, as do violent criminals, people with mental illnesses, the Klan/Aryan brotherhood. . .they're extreme and often view the world literally in terms of 'black and white'.

What are your extremes? Where do you find your lens distorted? One of the first steps in persuasion excellence is the ability to persuade yourself. I'm not suggesting that we eliminate everything about ourselves that make us who we are, not by any stretch, but I'm just looking to examine where we might have some blockages and/or weaknesses and/or blind spots in relation to ourselves and our outlook on the world. Remember, for all of our beliefs, there's an equally strong opposing belief in someone else.

I'll tell you a little secret. My lens is powerfully, intensely, vigorously focused on persuasion. Some might think to the extreme. Okay, maybe that's not a secret. But it's definitely my lens to the world and I'm thrilled to share it with you.

Need more? Look over our programs that can help focus your lens, or Call Kim about ways to turn up your persuasion power.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

Recently I heard a comedian tell this joke, 'I have the idea that one person's dream is another person's nightmare. For example, it's my dream to sleep with Cindy Crawford. I'll bet you anything that would be her nightmare.'

Some of us like to take tests. Some of us like maps. Some of us actually enjoy cleaning. Our differences are what make us unique. And our differences are what can make persuasion unbelievably powerful.

The key to unlocking your prospect's particulars is finding the key, deciphering their messages and understanding that all of our keys are uniquely configured.

This is a strategy that will make it easier for you to grasp persuasion continuums and how you can take advantage of them in your life.

Persuasion continuums are an interesting phenomenon. What is a persuasion continuum? If you were to draw a straight line on a piece of paper and if you were to put one of the directions of the continuum on the right side and the opposite on the left side, then you'll know what I'm talking about when I say 'continuum'. These are patterns that exist in the minds of people and they exist in particular contexts. As the context changes, so too can a continuum. They won't always hold the same across all contexts.

In future articles I'll explore these more specifically, but a few of the continuums we're working with are: 'towards and away', 'sameness and difference', 'internal and external' and 'options and procedures.'

A lot of these are intertwined with or are dependent upon or utilize your understanding of criteria. If we define criteria as that what which points people to relevance, we are in fact giving people relevance.

You've heard of WIIFM. What's in it for me? Well, that, in essence, is the concept of criteria and values. Is there something here for me or is this not for me? That's the big question everybody has when they come to talk to you.

Continuums are content free strategies, meaning they're not dependent on what you're going to be saying, it depends upon the context that you're talking about.

So if you're an advisor and you're talking to people about their finances, then that's the context with which these will hold, then they'll hold today, tomorrow, next week, next year. They tend to not change over time much if at all.

What are we doing here? We're increasing rapport, increasing our persuasion skills and creating magical differences fast.

The continuums I've mentioned are ones that we can spot and find everywhere. There are significantly more but over the next few articles, we'll just be focusing in on these four.

Phew! This is some deep, powerful persuasion and if you're feeling a little overwhelmed, it's perfectly natural. This discussion of continuums will be continued in an upcoming article but if you're as fascinated by this stuff as I am, and can't wait for more, check out my Persuasion Factor program.

P.S. The discussion of continuums now continues in my post "Persuasion Continuum II: Getting in Deeper".

Enjoy,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Dear Persuader,

I thought this an appropriate subject to discuss on Halloween...

When a person sneezes, we say ‘God bless you’. That’s a superstition. It started in the Middle Ages when it was thought that the devil could enter a person when unguarded, such as in the midst of a sneeze. If someone said the magic words, ‘God bless you’, immediately after the sneeze, then this unfortunate demonic possession could be avoided.

In many high rise buildings, you can take the stairs one flight up from the twelfth floor to the fourteen floor. What happened to the thirteenth floor? It’s called triskaidekaphobia, and in Western cultures, it’s a fear of the number 13. (Eastern cultures have a superstition about the number 4 called tetraphobia.)

As our world becomes more unstable, the more we look for stability and for explanation. In a moment I'm going to tell you how to use this fact to your advantage in persuasion.

What about something as innocuous as walking under a ladder? This dates back to early Christianity as the sides of the ladder and the ground form a triangle, the symbol of Holy Trinity.

It was thought that when one walked through it, it violated the trinity and put you on the same level as the devil. Nowadays, no one really knows where this superstition came from and yet, people avoid walking under ladders without reason. Maybe it’s wise to avoid walking under ladders simply because you might end up with a bucket of paint on your head, but to believe bad luck will befall you? It’s kind of a stretch.

I have an acquaintance who believes all religion and spirituality is superstition. I happen to think he’s wrong, but I appreciate the perspective in that it’s just another example of how framing is a powerful tool for looking at the world around us.

Superstition is defined as ‘an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.’

Even Helen Keller’s assertion that, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” is an example of how diverse we all are, and yet, we all believe in something irrational.

With that said, how can we use the fact that we all believe in something (which may actually be an ‘irrational belief’) to persuade?

The more our world becomes unstable, the more people look for stability and look for ways to explain things. As a persuader, you have the ability to offer explanations, just the same way that they do to make sense out of their life.

So in the same way that people look for supporting reasons, even nonsensical ones, to explain their reality, and they look to assign blame, we can do the same.

‘There are no accidents’ is a great phrase born of superstition, that we can use to persuade our affluent clientele. Especially if our prospects have had problems in the past, we can use this term to indicate that, ‘Yes, you’ve had problems in the past (with your agent, advisor, etc.), but those problems are over now and we live in an infinitely wise universe where there are no accidents. You ended up with me for a reason.’

Is this true and verifiable? No. Absolutely not. But will you be called on it? Unless you’re trying to sell my acquaintance, the cynic, who views the world through the frame that everyone is superstitious except him, I seriously doubt it.

For more language patterns and ideas on how to layer them for maximum persuasion, check out my Persuasion Factor monthly at-home program. For more intensive learning, for those of you who reach or wish to reach a truly affluent clientele, consider my Elite Coaching Club. You will find yourself becoming less superstitious as you take control of your universe and begin hitting your targets.

Happy Halloween!

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"Use An Old Dog's Old Tricks"

Dear Persuader,

The definition of Revivification is: 1. Renewal of life; restoration of life; the act of recalling, or the state of being recalled, to life. 2. Bringing again into activity and prominence.

I want to walk you through an exercise using Revivification as a technique for persuading your most affluent prospects. Read through, maybe a few times, practice, and try this in your next Persuasion situation...

First, I’d like you to remember a time when you made a really big purchase. Maybe a house, maybe a car, maybe a piece of jewelry. Think about how you felt at the moment of ownership. It’s all yours now. That little piece of security or freedom or luxury is all yours. Does it feel good?

By revivifying this moment in your life, I’ve just reminded you of a groove, a path that you’ve already traveled, a warm, fuzzy feeling that you already know.

Remember when you use these persuasion techniques that they've been created so that you can easily persuade any affluent prospect, and do it in such a way that is unique to that person. You need not use any sales scripts, complicated sales tactics, or manipulation. You simply use these skills to help guide your prospect to the right decision for them.

In revivifying our prospects' well-tread paths and grooves, we’ve set the groundwork for persuasion. We can assist the process of persuading the affluent by directing our prospects to remember times they did the kind of thing we want them to do.

Revivifying a past experience cuts by an enormous percentage the difficulty of getting the affluent to do what we want. Why try to teach an old dog new tricks when you can simply use a trick the dog already knows to get it to do what you want it to do?

Here we have an opportunity as it relates to persuasion to really make our job easy. We can do it by getting the affluent to think about and remember times they did the kind of thing we want them to do, or thought the way we want them to think, or acted the way we want them to act.

If you are a financial planner, for example: Have your affluent prospect think of the first time they made it to a million. What did it feel like when they became a first time millionaire? Can they envision a future when that number is multiplied by ten or twenty? How will that feel?

How about in real estate? Maybe try revivifying ‘home’. Get your affluent prospects to picture in their head what 'home' means to them. If it doesn’t seem to be a very positive picture, move it around to their dream home. We need to keep the affluent mentally on track with our persuasion and not let them go off down a rabbit hole, especially a rabbit hole of negativity.

We need to get to the people that have some money, that have some ability to buy what we have to sell - the affluent. To actually start things off on the right foot we need to position and frame ourselves in such a way that’s easy for the affluent to hear our message.

If we can get our affluent audience to think the way we want them to, instead of having to teach them something brand new (and especially something that’s bad or difficult), well, we’ve already got half the battle won.

It’s really that simple. That’s what we’re doing. We’re literally getting the affluent to remember the track that will carry our message to success. That’s the way to think of this.

Revivification is the art of getting people to remember the track so that when they do so with our message, they’re already accessing a worn-in pathway. And the minute they start the pathway, people need to complete the pathway. People don’t like to leave things half done.

Your message will be carried to fruition much easier than if you tried to teach the affluent how to think in order to do what needs to be done.

What would be the kind of thing you would want your affluent clients to think about? What pathway would you want them to find that already exists, that would help you to make your message come to fruition?

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." - Henry Miller

Hi Persuader,

I love language. I get really excited about words, patterns, meanings and the indescribably magnificent world of linguistics.

For the past 30 years I've been studying persuasion, but really if I think about it I've been studying the language of persuasion. Physical mirroring and matching aside, persuasion is a world of words and it just thrills me to bring this information to you.

When you hear and understand the Awareness Pattern and how to use it in your persuasion, you will kick yourself and think why you didn't use it sooner. This pattern is an absolutely essential tool in your persuasion arsenal.

Aldous Huxley said:

"Every individual is at one the beneficiary and the victim of the linguistic tradition into which he has been born - the beneficiary inasmuch as language gives access to the accumulated records of other people's experience, the victim in so far as it confirms him in the belief that reduced awareness is the only awareness and as it bedevils his sense of reality, so that he is all too apt to take his concepts for data, his words for actual things."

This is an amazing description of how language can either expand our universes or reduce our awareness. And by studying persuasion, we can maximize our benefit of our linguistic traditions.

Language patterns are one of my favorite aspects of linguistics. And the Awareness Pattern is one of the most powerful patterns you'll ever learn. It qualifies as one of my absolute all time favorites.

The three words that I tend to like a lot in this category are: aware, realize, experience.

By simply saying one of these words you're making the person start the mental process that you mention.

In other words, you're enticing them to become AWARE, to REALIZE, or to EXPERIENCE.

These words are very important in your persuasion arsenal because everything that follows them is presupposed to be true. These words also force the issue of not "will you do," but instead, "are you aware of," which is far more powerful in persuasion.

As you gain skill in being able to use these words powerfully, you might think that someone may respond to the question, "Are you aware of?" by saying "No". I assure you, when done properly, this does not happen. And if it ever did, all you need to say is, "Not yet, huh?"

Here's an example: The more you begin to construct your mind in the ways you'll be using these patterns, the more you'll begin realizing the explosively profitable techniques you are learning. Are you starting to experience the growing awareness of what being involved in MAXpersuasion brings you as I tell you about it and as you go through it?

Is the awareness of the power of these patterns starting to sink in? Let's go through this carefully.

I'm not asking you if these patterns have power; that would not be a presupposition. Do you think these patterns have power? That's not helpful.

I'm asking, "Are you aware of the power?"

If you're not aware, it presupposes you need to be aware. And if you are aware, you'll state that you are in fact aware. If you say, "Yes, I am aware," then you know the power of the patterns and you agree they're starting to sink in. And if you're not aware, then by hearing the question asked, you begin to become aware.

If you're getting excited about this information, you're ready to learn more about how language can expand your universe. There are several of these patterns that will work for you to persuade the affluent. All you have to do is to take action, learn them, and implement them.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, and when you have it, you have it all over." - Elvis Presley

Hi Persuader,

It starts in the womb with the thump of the mother's heartbeat. Then come lullabies, rocking chairs, and bouncing the baby for relaxation.

Rhythms lull us. Rhythms soothe.

Just as a lullaby does with a baby, there are ways to use persuasion to soothe, calm, and lull the affluent. It's an incredibly powerful and effective way to influence others. Here's how to do it...

The goal of Repetition in Threes is to establish a rhythm so that we can embed suggestions.

When you get this down you'll really begin to see results. And when you continue using persuasion, before you know it everything you've ever wanted will just fall right into your lap. It's amazing how well this works and what a snowball effect it has on your life and your career.

Symbolically, the number three has extraordinary power in our society - the Trinity. Most every major religion on the planet talks about three things: God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If anyone who has ever been exposed to anything religious, (and that's pretty much 100% of the population on the face of our planet today), has heard something from the Christian religion that deals with the Trinity, even if they couldn't express it in those words, they've at least heard of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

That's another reason Repetition in Three works; it is an immediate reference to religion, a subconscious reference to religion. And if the people you were persuading were highly religious, repeating in three could have a dramatic impact on them.

Even in humanist psychology, they talk about the id, the ego, and the super ego (the conscious mind, the sub conscious mind, and the super conscious mind).

There's the father, the mother, and the child. These are all iterations of the number three in our society.

Here's an example of using Repetition in Threes:

Today, there are a few things that I believe so strongly that I want to emphasize so profoundly, that I believe in with all my heart, that I'm going to do my best to try to take the position of a father who's giving this information to his beloved son in such a way that he can infuse his heart with the spirit of the message such that it's really understood through and through. And there is a resulting change, such that today, by the time we've gone through this process together, you will experience this information in a whole new way.

Not only will you be excited about it, not only will you feel fantastic about it, not only will you have a sense of understanding that you've never had before, but you'll begin to experience how it will work in your life.

Now I want you to understand that for me, this is a mission. It's a mission that I live my life for every day. See, my dad taught me something very important when I was young. He said, 'Kenrick, if you love what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.'

And he also taught me that if you don't like what you do, then every day will be a struggle and a fight. So I realized early on that I had to love it and it's my mission to help people understand these principles just like I do so that they can have a change of life, then can completely accept into their heart a new way of understanding, a new way of dealing with this subject matter and that's my goal for us today as we talk.

Now, what have I just done there? Let's analyze it...

First, I've used all kinds of religious symbolism, repeating in threes. I used the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit symbolism to infuse you with the spirit.

Secondly, (and this is one of the main reasons Repetition in Threes works), I repeated my message. Repetition helps install anything. It's simply a convenient way of remembering to repeat the things that you most want to install in people.

And thirdly, spoken in a soothing cadence with emphasis on the proper words, Repetition in Threes utilizes the lullaby rhythm that helps put our affluent prospects in a very receptive mode so that persuasion is inevitable.

Repetition in Threes is just one way to install things into your affluent prospect's mind. When you use this in conjunction with other persuasion strategies, you will have exceptional results.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

How do you know if something has really made it into the collective consciousness?

Well, I'll tell you one way... it's on Oprah. Oprah features it.

I want to talk with you a little bit about the movie The Secret. I imagine you've probably seen it, or have heard about it. Maybe you even own it.

Let me give you a few thoughts:

I absolutely love it. It's phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it and here's why I think it can have a significant impact on your life...

The Law of Attraction is absolutely at work in my life and in the lives of everyone who has the ability or inclination to pay attention. (Obviously that's you, since you had the good sense to subscribe to this newsletter and learn more about persuading the affluent.)

What is the Law of Attraction?

Basically, it says whatever you concentrate on, you'll get more of in return. If you concentrate on your lack of money and worry about paying bills, you're going to get more 'need'.

On the other hand, if you concentrate on drawing money to you, becoming a money magnet, you will attract affluence.

And this isn't just about money. It's about every single thing that you think about. This includes influence, sales and conversion, as well as more personal aspects of life like health and wellness, relationships and spirituality in such concepts as gratitude.

I'm sad to tell you that there are a number of people that, in an attempt to make a name for themselves and parlay off the success of it, have decided that it's appropriate to tear this movie down.

Why? You may ask. And you're probably also thinking, "what does this have to do with persuasion?"

So why would people want to put this movie down?

Well, a typical way of trying to promote oneself these days is to piggyback what you're doing along with something else that's happening in the news.

The Secret is certainly in the news and I have no issue with doing that. In fact, I love to use the piggybacking strategy myself when I get a chance. And I guess you have to take a stand one way or another on things, so this group of people chose to take a negative stand.

Do you agree with everything that you hear from any source? I don't, and I doubt you do either.

So I guess we could then turn and ask, do you agree with everything that you've heard about The Secret, or as a result of watching The Secret? I can tell you that I don't.

But disregarding the entire movie just because there are a few things I disagree with would be like saying, "Money can be used wrongly so I'm going to do the right thing and never try to earn another dime as long as I live. I'll make sure that if ever anyone gives me money, I'm going to give it away because, after all, I don't want to be involved with something bad."

That is definitely throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

If a person objects to positive mental thinking, positive mental attitudes, and the sage advice that has shaped our nation and most all of the successful people in the world today that have followed along the footsteps of great thinkers of our time, then I guess someone could genuinely be upset with The Secret.

But in particular, what did the naysayers pick on? One is that The Secret talks about being responsible in every way. The movie says something to the order of, "We all choose our own reality. Even the people of Darfur consciously chose their plight in life."

Alright, so the people that stood against this movie basically said, "That's nonsense. The Secret is a cult and so it's saying things that are blatantly untrue." They are framing the creators of this movie as a cult.

Do I believe that the people in Darfur (or anywhere else in for that matter who are having horrible problems) consciously choose to be there? No, of course not. And I think in the attempt to entertain and be dramatic, The Secret went a bit too far.

However, do you know that there are many, many millions of people that actually believe along those lines?

I don't think anyone would say someone would consciously choose that kind of life, but let's say that you believed that we are here on planet earth for a reason: to learn. Life is a school and we're trying to learn all the lessons this school has to offer.

Were all of the lessons you learned in high school positive? Probably not.

Some of them were very difficult. Some of them hurt a lot. Maybe you broke up with a special boyfriend or girlfriend during that time and it was quite devastating. Maybe you thought your whole life was coming to an end and then all of the sudden you were saved by something else going well for you.

Alright, so you learned the lessons of your schooling, good and bad.

Well, there are a lot of people out there who believe in reincarnation. Now once again, I'm not going to ask you to believe in this, not for a second. I'm not going to ask you not to believe in it, not for a second.

Through the perspective of reincarnation they might believe that we choose our parents, we choose the country we're going to be born in, and we choose to live the lessons that earth has to give us such that one day we don't need to come back anymore and we can evolve to a higher level.

With this belief as the basis for this premise, then would it be reasonable if you were the creator of the movie The Secret and you believed in these things, that you would make a statement such as, "The people in Africa who are starving have chose their plight in life so that they could experience these difficulties to learn how to overcome them or simply experience a life of poverty"?

I think the answer is absolutely yes. They didn't choose them consciously; they chose them before they came into this earthly experience.

The big question I have for you is: why should we knock it?

I have my own beliefs and thoughts. I believe we need to be responsible. I believe we need to be careful, but to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I just can't fathom.

What do you think?

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland