The Power Blog

People live inside their heads. And the picture of the “real” world that they have created in their head is VERY incomplete. It only SEEMS complete because there are a lot of biological and psychological processes filling in the gaps for us.

An example I use on my mailing list (if you haven’t joined yet, take a minute and click here) cites a recent discovery that blinking actually shuts off part of your brain for nine days out of every year. That is just ONE example of the leaps our mind takes to create a seemingly consistent external world (I give a lot more examples on the mailing list).

It can’t be helped. We need our construction of reality to be like that of an exquisite corpse. Not all of the pieces necessarily belong together but, somehow, they end up fitting anyway.

In that sense, we are all artists. And “Reality” is our medium with which we forge great expansive works of complete fiction.

So, what does this have to do with power, influence and persuasion?

EVERYTHING.

If you free yourself from the notion that your perception of reality is “reality,” it gives you a LOT more breathing space. You can get away with a lot more shit when you understand reality is simply a construct and its pieces are meant to be put together in ways that we’re not normally taught. In fact, to become an effective person in the world, you can’t really follow what even the self-help/motivational gurus teach.

You see, people live inside of elaborate fictions and they always give themselves a starring role. The individual fictions we’ve all created have inherent common ground that’s shared because we’re taught collectively; motivational instructors deliberately say/teach very little that would upset that dominant paradigm.

And why would they? They make MILLIONS a year by giving simplistic platitudes that most people would like to believe are true (because they make for a more idealized version of humanity). And, since that shorthand has been created already, it requires hell of a lot less effort than to re-invent the wheel (or swim upstream, or some other such bullshit cliche).

The truth is, nearly 100% of all information out there on how to become more influential and persuasive, how to be a LEADER, is taught with the expectation that you’ll remain in a subservient position. Emphasis is placed on rapport building skills, catering to other people’s needs, thinking in terms of win/win, etc.

Sound familiar? “There is no “I” in “Team”; “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” These are all ideas that sound quite nice in theory, but they are also the kinds of things a leader would tell his minions to keep them in a lower position.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Remember all of these concepts; they definitely come in handy when you’re at the top and you have to dish out advice on how you got to the top. And, most importantly, your actions should be perceived as though you’re playing “nice-nice.”

So, without further ado, here are the Habits/Qualities of a Highly Persuasive Person.

I don’t think I have 7 Habits; if I don’t, I’ll make some shit up (if you don’t already know, seven is a number that we use because it strikes a nice unconscious chord. Don’t know why it does, but it does).

1. A person with true power constructs others’ realities for them.

Fuck. That’s not seven habits. That’s just one. But, it’s the most important one, and it takes years to learn.

I’m not talking about hypnosis or NLP. We’re talking on a level where people just automatically assume that what you say is actually the way “reality” is.

Think of Donald Trump as an example. If he were to say that the most important thing you can do to become a millionaire in sixty days is to take ten dollars and invest in Startup Company X, would you do it? I know I certainly would.

And why not? It’s got two elements to it:

a. It comes from a man who, in my version of “reality,” I have decided understands money AND
b. It’s an action I can take with minor consquence.

Point “b” leads me to the second habit, but let me first finish off the first one.

How do you establish the god-like power of manipulating people’s realities? First off, read my previous blog entry and follow everything that I ever say (you don’t need to do that, but it’s generally a smart idea). Assume and assert as though you already had the authority to do so.

YES, some people will hate you and think you’re arrogant. BUT, if you pull it off right, if you do it with just the right amount of social finesse, they’ll hate you and still follow you.

2. Always expect people to do SOMETHING. Always make people jump through hoops, however small they are.

You need to start training people to respond to you as though you were in charge. Start by getting them to do relatively small things (eg tell them to “think about this for a second”). If you’re familiar with embedded commands and NLP, they don’t work NORMALLY. You have to sequence them; starting with commands that are EASY to do, commands they’ll follow unconsciously. You THEN work for way up to see if you have ideo-motor response (eg “any way that you LOOK AT THIS” while pointing to something. If they look, you have them). Then, more blatant stuff like “take a deep breath.”

We’re getting beyond the scope of what this is about, but I think you get my point.

3. The third point is a topic I could write an entire book about, because I think it’s the single biggest mistake that’s been taught in the hypnosis/influence/persuasion/seduction/any community. I think this one idea has perpetuated so many false hopes in people that it sickens me. Unfortunately, it’s also taught as the MOST important step in influence.

Fuck it. I’ll write about it later.

4. A highly persuasive person puts his needs above all others, yet makes it seem like the opposite. He reframes the shit out of his goals/desires and makes it seem to be

a. in your best interest
b. in the community’s best interest

You NEED to be good with words to do this. You need to understand what motivates another person, and then distort it so that whatever you want FULFILLS his/her motivations.

Of course, this is really just part of Habit/Quality number 1. Reframing is a very large part of constructing reality. It also allows you to get away looking like a “nice” guy without actually having to be one.

The truth of the matter is that your actions have nothing to do with a person’s opinion of you. It’s only their perception of your actions that counts. You just have be in control of that.

5. As I mentioned in the previous post, you need to have a full arsenal of shortcut/indicators in your favor. Or know how to manipulate it so it looks like you have them. Or, that the lack is part of the plan.

6. Not only do you need to construct people’s “realities” for them, your “Reality” has to be bigger, stronger, more powerful, and it needs to draw them into it. If your Reality is very strong, then THEY will do a lot of the work and construct their reality to fit yours. Demonstrate knowledge and authority, demonstrate strength and power, EVEN IF YOU DON’T THINK YOU HAVE ANY OF THEM.

Chances are likely, the “reality” they’ve built is weak enough for them to believe in yours. Make them work for it.

7. Look for weaknesses in their models of “reality.” Exploit those weaknesses. While seemingly complete works of fiction, their realities still have unfulfilled needs/wants and emotional sensitivity. Reconstruct their realities around those gaps. Demonstrate how your reality has ALL of those gaps fulfilled (even if it isn’t).

Well, there you have it. This post ended up being a LOT longer than I expected it to be. And, believe it or not, I really do have a habit number 3 that I will share soon, most likely on the mailing list (which you should join right here) or in a special report.

And please leave a comment and tell your friends/enemies about this blog. I don’t post on it regularly but, when I do, it’s definitely worth it.

Yours for More Power,
Lucas West

This entry was posted on Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Mind Control. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.