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I recently saw a humorous bumper sticker that read, “Don’t believe everything you think.” I liked it because it made me ponder thought and how at times, I find thinking to be somewhat overrated.

Wikipedia defines thought or thinking as: a mental process that allows beings to model the world and to deal with it effectively according to their objectives, plans, ends and desires.

Writer C.S. Lewis (most notably the author of The Chronicles of Narnia but also a very active writer of non-fiction) believed that there are three levels of human thought. The first level is ‘the will’ and contains everything that is tangible and factual. These are the thoughts that rule your day-to-day activities and influence incredibly your other than conscious thoughts.

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“It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

When we talk about the top assets of a persuader, one of the most beneficial attributes is the ability to listen. Some people are naturally good at listening. Some are not so good. Others are downright poor listeners. If you’re eager to become an excellent persuader, then honing and/or improving your listening skills is mandatory.

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We live in a world of distractions and this, I feel, is an understatement. We have so much coming at us from all arenas. . . Even as I sit here typing this, I’m getting alerts that I have new e-mail, I’m getting instant messages from my assistant, I’ve got my kids vying for attention, the dog wants to play, nature calls, I’m thirsty, the phone rings. Phew. It’s exhausting just to write a paragraph with all of the other things intruding on concentration and focus.

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“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances - to choose one’s own way.” - Victor Frankl

“Thinking outside the box”. . . you hear this all the time from business coaches, to management, to sales training, to sports training, to self help and educational areas. It’s overused so much it’s almost become meaningless. How many times have you heard this cliche that suggests you have to step outside “their” box in order to succeed and achieve? Are these boxes, boxes that have been set up by society? By our teachers and parents? By our bosses and management? And if so, why are they hindering everything so much? I believe that ‘the box’ is just another way to say that we must enlarge the frame through which we view a problem or situation in order to find solutions.

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Habits, by definition, are habitual things we do. Whether it be a habit of needing that after dinner cigarette or biting your fingernails during a stressful period, we all are creatures of habit no matter how spontaneous we like to think we are.

The examples listed are somewhat negative, though mostly benign conditions (aside from smoking, which can be deadly). And in the western framework, habits are considered negative things which are supposed to be broken.

Aristotle observed, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

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I’m guessing this has never happened to you (or to anybody in the history of the world ever). You’re driving down the freeway, maybe a little too fast, and you get pulled over by a police officer. The officer walks up to your car, you roll down the window, and he says, “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I think maybe a slight infraction of the law has occurred. . . I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing me your license and registration. I’m so sorry to inconvenience you here.”

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I saw an article recently about the Ritz Carlton Hotel. It’s a perfect example of what needs to be done in order to court and cater to (and persuade) an affluent client base. This is exactly the way to keep your clients interested and involved with you and your product or service.

The Ritz Carlton Hotel has a policy that any employee (and I mean, any employee from the housekeeping staff to the desk clerks) can spend up to $2,000 a day (without prior authorization from management) to solve the problems or needs of any of their clients.

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I recently came across the following list written/compiled by David Heenan: Ten Keys to Life Fulfillment: 1. Listen to your heart 2. Take one step at a time 3. Deliver daily 4. Maintain a maverick mind-set 5. Focus, focus, focus 6. Never stop learning 7. Build a brain trust (network of knowledgeable people) 8. Reinvent Yourself 9. Sell Yourself 10. Start now!

This list rocks!!! I love it. It’s balanced and passionate and practical and focused and full of hope.

These are all things I strive to deliver to my students and clients.

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“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” –Abraham H. Maslow

Unless you had an alternative eduction, you probably learned U.S. history the same way a majority of American students learn U.S. history, through the eyes of the power elite. According to text books, all that ever happened, happened because of presidents and wars and assassinations. We learned of Columbus ‘discovering’ the new world. We learned of Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves. These are broad strokes and highly impartial.

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Well. . .it seems like some of my readers have been paying careful attention. I like that. A while back I wrote an article about the eight most common avoidable pitfalls in language–but, if, try and might. Hey, that’s not eight! What are the other four? Several people commented on my blog that I was utilizing the open loop method of persuasion by saying there were eight, and only revealing four. Was this intentional? Maybe.

Now whether or not I was being sneaky and slipping in an open loop on purpose . . well, I’m not going to admit or deny that at this time.

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