Steve Perry - Oh Sherry

This is another one of my favorite songs of all time. Steve Perry without Journey but still just as excellent. Enjoy.

Related and Suggested Posts:

Journey - Separate Ways
Chicago - Will You Still Love Me
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

The Last of the Mohicans - Summary, Trailer and Review

   Another one of my favorite movies of all time. A movie that teaches the values of courage, honor, true love, strength, masculinity and the desire and willingness to fight for freedom and love.  From IMDB: The story is about a dying tribe called the Mohicans in which only two are left as well as one adopted white man. These three men refuse to enter the English militia in 1757 because of their desire for freedom. On their way to Kentucky, they intercept Indians attacking a small regiment of British including the two daughters of an English Colonel on their way to a fort. The three men lead the survivors to the fort while two love stories take place, but the French and Indian War continues.

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The Psychology of Winning Seminar - Positive Self Esteem

By Broderick Boyd

    Even if it feels uncomfortable, accept all the compliments, gifts and values offered by others for whatever reason they offer them by simply saying, "thank you."  Allow that deep down inside feeling of your own worth to shine through you.  Accept yourself as a growing individual with room for improvement.  Give yourself your own love so that you can give it away, and share as much of it as you can with others.  Be proud of your own accomplishments and goals, and talk yourself up as a winner every day of your life.  Your subconscious is listening!  

Techniques for More Positive Self Esteem:

• Accept yourself as who you are right now, an imperfect, changing, growing and worthwhile person.
• Accept yourself, be willing to be yourself and live your own life and accept responsibility for the ultimate outcome.
• View yourself in terms of your own abilities, interests and goals.
• Take pride in what you accomplish.
• Dress and look your best at all times
• Volunteer your own name first when being introduced
• Write down your blessings, accomplishments and goals.
• Respond with a simple courteous “thank you" when anyone pays you a compliment for any reason.
• Sit up front in the most prominent rows when you attend meetings, lectures or conferences.
• This will make it easier for you to exchange questions and answers with the speaker.
• It will also make it easier to listen and focus.
• Walk more erectly and authoritatively in public with a relaxed but more rapid pace
• Set your own internal standards rather than comparing yourself to others
• Keep upgrading your standards in lifestyle, behavior, professional accomplishment, relationships etc.
• Use encouraging, affirmative language when you talk to yourself and to others about yourself
• Keep a self development plan ongoing at all times.
• SMILE!
• A smile is the light in your window that tells people that there's a caring, sharing individual inside.

***For possible future seminars on this book, please go HERE***

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The Psychology of Winning

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The Techno Viking

    Watch the Techno Viking defend the blue haired girl and then dance through the street's of Berlin. The Techno Viking is good for you, he teaches the value of standing up for others and also dedicating yourself with full forced passion to whatever you want to do in life.

Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight

    Another one of my favorite songs of all time. Enjoy.

    If you liked this song, some other great songs by Phil Collins include: Paradise, Against All Odds, and Easy Lover.

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Legends of the Fall - Summary, Trailer and Review

    Another of my favorite movies of all time, a story of love, loyalty, tragedy and the battle between civilization and everything that is wild and untamed. The story follows three brothers and their father trying to raise his sons well in the wilderness of the Montana Rocky Mountains in the early 1900's. Conflict ensues when the youngest brother, Samuel, brings home his lovely fiance from college. Sibling rivalry and Samuels desire to enlist against the Germans in WW1 soon drive this movie into a whirlwind of passion, despair and forceful awakening. Enjoy.

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Journey - Separate Ways

    Here's another one of my favorite songs of all time.  Enjoy.

    If you like this song, some others that I highly recommend by Journey include: Don't Stop Believing, Send Her My Love, After the Fall, Girl Can't Help It, Message of Love, The Eyes of a Woman, "Mother, Father" and Somethin' to Hide. All of these songs can be found on the album "The Essential Journey" which is also one of my favorite albums of all time that you can preview or buy here.

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The Psychology of Winning Chapter Summary - Positive Self Image

    The following is my review and summary of the chapter "Positive Self Image" from the book "The Psychology of Winning" published in 1979 by psychologist Dr. Dennis Waitley.   Positive Self Image is all about how you see yourself.  Winners see themselves as winners.  They have programed their subconscious through affirmation, imagination and visualization to believe that they really are true winners and that they will succeed in their goals and purposes in life.  Use your imagination and visualize yourself winning.  See and feel the images and emotions that will come from that success.  This chapter of the book is probably my favorite because of how powerful and how valuable it can be to understand the concept of the self image.  Enjoy.

    Your self image is either you life handicap or your auto pilot for winning.

    Winners act like winners, imagining with pictures, feelings and words the roles they want to play.

    What you "see and feel" about yourself is what you get.

    Individuals behave, not in accordance with reality, but in accordance with their perception of reality.  How the individual feels about themselves is everything, for all that they ever do or aspire to do, will be predicated on that all important concept which is the self image.

    The self image is the fundamental key to understanding human behavior. Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the great plastic surgeon and author of the best seller Psycho Cybernetics, said that "The most important psychological discover of this century is the discovery of the self image."

The Blue Eyed vs. the Brown Eyed School Children Experiment

    With approval from their parents, a young primary grade school teacher revealed to her students that "a recent scientific report has verified that children with blue eyes have greater natural learning abilities than children with brown eyes." She then had them make up little signs designating them as either "Blue Eyes" or "Brown Eyes" which were hung around their necks. After a week or so, the achievement level of the "Brown Eyes" group fell measurably, while the performance of the "Blue Eyed" group improved significantly. She then made a startling announcement to the class. It was actually the "blue or lighter eyes" who were the less intelligent, and the "brown or dark eyes" who were the more intelligent, and the pattern reversed itself.

    Each of us are controlled by the mental pictures that we have formed of ourselves.

    Your subconscious strives to meet the objectives and goals that you set for it, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. Furthermore, it cannot tell the difference between an actual experience and an experience that is imagined vividly, emotionally and in detail. Many of your everyday decisions are based upon information about yourself that has been stored as truth, but is really just a creation of your imagination shaded by reality.

    A change in your conscious mind, through willpower, will only be temporary, but a change in your subconscious is much longer lasting.

    Whenever your conscious and subconscious minds come into conflict, your subconscious will most likely win the battle, unless any newly acquired fears or desires are strong enough to override it.

    Any permanent change in your personality or behavior, should first involve a change in your self image, reinforced by a change in lifestyle.

    Your behavior, personality or achievement level is usually consistent with your self image.

    Your self image is your homeostatic pull.

    A positive self image is your achievement mechanism.

    You can't escape from your self image.

    Winners control their self image and change it as they desire.

    Winners dwell on and hold the self image of the person that they would like to become. They get a vivid, clear, emotional, sensory picture of themselves as if they had already achieved their goal. Like children playing "Let's Pretend," they play the role of whomever they want to be. They know that their subconscious can't tell the difference between "the real me" and "the one I see".

    They see themselves standing in the Winner's Circle. They feel that solid weight of the gold medal around their necks. They hear the approval of the crowd. They smell the roses in the Rose Bowl. They touch the diploma in their hand. They feel the self esteem of their personal achievement in advance.

    Winners feel like winners. Winners "see" through the eyes of winners.

Review

    Winners are especially aware of the tremendous importance of their self image, and of the role that their imagination can play in the creation and upgrading of their self image. They know the self image acts as a subconscious life governing device, that if in your self image, you can't possibly see yourself doing something, or achieving something, you literally cannot do it.

    They also know that the self image can be changed since the subconscious is incapable of differentiating between a real success and a success imagined again and again vividly and in full detail. A winners' self talk is "I see myself changing , growing, achieving, winning!"

    Your behavior and performance usually are consistent with your self image. Your self image is an intricately woven concept made up of all of your feelings, fears and emotional responses to each and every personal experience up to the present. What you imagine as being real, with frequency, becomes your version of reality. Winners imagine and fantasize about the person that they would like to become, and their subconscious self image reads that script, memorizes it, and acts accordingly.

Techniques for More Positive Self Image:

• Go for a walk on the beach, in the country or at a park and recall your childhood play time
• This will help you dust off an oil your imagination
• Set aside 20 to 30 minutes a day for relaxed imagination, whether commuting somewhere, at lunch or in the morning or evening
• As you relax during this time, imagine yourself achieving and enjoying your most personal desires
• See them as if you were previewing them on a movie screen
• Read a biography every month of someone who has reached the top in your career or passion or just someone that you admire 
• As you read, imagine yourself as the person you are reading about
• If you spend time around young children, become a storyteller, this will boost your imagination power
• Limit your television viewing to stimulating, special shows
• Watching too much television can lead to tunnel vision which will limit your imagination
• Take a deep relaxation, meditation, auto suggestion, or biofeedback training program
• Develop the habit of listening to educational and motivational audio programs
• Write a two page resume of your professional and personal assets as if you were going to apply for the job of a lifetime
• List your maximum current potential and ultimate future growth potential instead of your past experience
• Read it every week and revise it every two months
• Improve your external image to help improve your internal image, take stock of your clothes, car, home, garage, closet, dresser drawers, desk, photos, lawn, garden etc
• Make it a priority to get rid of all of the clutter and sharpen up your environment

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There Will Be Blood - Movie Clip, Summary, Trailer and Review

    Heres' a clip, trailer and my own summary and review of one of my favorite movies of all time about a man's ruthless rise to power in the oil industry in the early 1900's, starring Daniel Day Lewis (who won the academy award for best actor in this movie) and released in 2007.  The acting in this film is truly superb, and if this film teaches nothing else, then it teaches persistence, drive, focus, dedication, self motivation, determination, long term goal setting and vision.  Enjoy.

    Here's the original theatrical trailer:

    The story of this film follows the rise to power of Daniel Plainview, a ruthless oilman who works, along with his adopted son H.W., to expand his oil empire into the small town of Little Boston, California.  Tipped off as to the presence of oil in the small town from a twin brother named Paul Sunday, Daniel travels to the Sunday ranch in Little Boston where he manipulates the people of this small town into allowing him to buy up land and draw up up and sell the oil lying below. He soon begins to crush his competition and alienate the townsfolk, his friends, and even his adopted son H.W. in his drive to accumulate wealth. Based on the book "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair.

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Chicago - Will You Still Love Me

   Here's one of my favorite songs of all time, I hope you enjoy it!

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The Count of Monte Cristo - Summary, Review and Trailer

     Another of my favorite movies of all time, a tale of true love, betrayal, despair, revenge, honor, and the courage that comes from having hope and cultivating one's character to the highest level.  From IMDB: 'The Count of Monte Cristo' is a remake of the Alexander Dumas tale by the same name.  Dantes, a sailor who is falsely accused of treason by his best friend Fernand, who wants Dantes' girlfriend Mercedes for himself. Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Chateau d'If for 13 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him. With the help of another prisoner, he escapes the island and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge.  Enjoy.

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Maximum Influence Chapter Summary - The Law of Obligation

    The following is my summary and review of the Law of Obligation from the book "Maximum Influence" by Kurt W. Mortensen.  This chapter of the book also has a parallel with the chapter "Reciprocity" from Robert Cialdini's persuasion classic "Influence". There are plenty of juicy examples and great tips for using this powerful law in this chapter, and much to be learned and used by almost anyone.  I hope that the concepts I listed can be easily understood, tested and implemented by you as soon as possible and that they help you to become a person of extreme influence.  So without further ado, here is:  The Law of Obligation.  Enjoy!

    "Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge." -Japanese Saying

The Soldier in WWI Who Couldn't Resist the Law of Obligation

    A German soldier during WWI once caught an enemy soldier off guard, eating his lunch alone in a trench, and he was easily captured.  Not knowing what else to do, the soldier tore off a piece of bread and gave it to his captor.  The German soldier was so surprised by the friendly gesture that he couldn't follow through with his assignment. Turning away from the soldier, he headed back in to neutral territory and on to face the wrath of his superiors.

    Definition of the Law of Obligation

    When you do something for someone else, they will feel a strong need, even a push, to return the favor. 

    If you give something to someone or do them a favor, in some cases, they will feel the need to repay your gift so overwhelmingly, that they will even end up dramatically exceeding the value of your original favor.

2 Keys to the Law:

• The law of obligation works whether or not the favor or gift you gave was desired by your receiver.
• The law of obligation can backfire if you shower a person with favors but don't give them a chance to repay you.

    The pressure to reciprocate is strong enough that when people don't return a gift or favor, they are viewed with contempt and disgust. Accepting gifts or favors without attempting to return them is universally viewed as selfish, greedy, and heartless. 

    Examples:

The Man Who Lent His Car to a Teenager

    A man ran out of gas once and a young man pulled over and took him to get gas at a nearby gas station. He then brought the man back to his car.  Three weeks later, the young man asked if he could borrow the man's expensive car and the man said yes.  He actually lent his EXPENSIVE CAR to a TEENAGER (who ended up recking his car) all because of the Law of Obligation.

The Nice Man and the Rude Man Selling Raffle Tickets

      In one study, one man made a conscientious effort to befriend his targets before attempting to sell any raffle tickets to them, the other man was rude to his targets but bought them drinks before trying to sell them tickets.  The rude man sold twice as much tickets as the nice man. The Law of Obligation beat niceness and friendliness.

Free Film in the Mail

    A film-developing company used to send potential customers a roll of film in the mail along with a letter explaining that it was a free gift.  Most of the receivers ended up processing their film through the company that sent them the film even though a number of local stores also could have processed the film for probably even lower prices.

    The Law of Obligation and Marketing

    Pre-giving is effective because it makes your target feel like they have to return the favor.

    Some people feel discomfort at being indebted to someone else because it threatens their independence. The more indebted they feel, the more motivated they are to eliminate that debt.

    The American Veterans Organization revealed that their usual 18% donation response rate nearly doubled when theor mailings included a small, free gift.

More Examples:

• Free samples at grocery stores
• Someone taking a potential client out to dinner or to play golf
• Offering free tire pressure check at tire centers
• Someone washing your car window at a stoplight whether you want them to or not
• People generating money at "free" car washes by asking for a donation after the service is rendered
• A carpet cleaner offering to clean your couch for free
• Door-to-door salespeople offering free brushes, free encyclopedias and free estimates
• People throwing parties in their homes, serving refreshments and giving away free Tupperware or other products

    Fundraising and the Law of Obligation

The Hare Krisha's

    To raise money for their organization, the Hare Krishna's would go to crowded, public places such as airports and give aways flowers to passersby.  They would then, under no circumstances take the flower back but instead ask for a donation.  Some of the people would throw away the flowers even after they donated to the Krishna's and some of the Krishna's would then patrol the trash cans and pick out more flowers so that they could give them away again.

    Applying the Law of Obligation

    Create a need or obligation in the mind of the other person.

    What could you do, give or say that would create a sense of indebtedness in the mind of the other person?

Things you could give:

• A service of some sort
• Information or concessions
• Secrets
• Favors
• Gestures
• Compliments
• Smiles
• Gifts
• Invitations
• Attention
• Your time

    Make sure that your gift or favor is perceived as altruistic and not as manipulative.

    Take caution with the Law of Obligation, the use of it will backfire if your target sees your actions as a bribe.  Feeling tricked, they will not be pressured to comply or reciprocate.

    Honestly give value to others and they will be more under your influence.

    Reciprocal Concessions

    If you let someone persuade you in one area, they will be more likely to let you persuade them in another area.

    Give a Favor, Expect a Favor in Return

    Before a negotiation it is wise to offer some sort of gift. Make sure you offer the gift before and not during the negotiation, otherwise your gift will come across as bribery.

    Make sure that your motives come across as a sincere effort to help the recipient rather than yourself.

    Secrets Create Obligation: The Secret of Secrets

    When you share something personal or private with another person, you create an instant bond and sense of obligation and trust with them.

    Secrets create a sense of intimacy and make them feel important. They will feel compelled to share a secret with you.

Examples:

    "Off the record, I think you should know..." 

    "I shouldn't be telling you this, but..."

    Be sincere by showing that you really care and truly have their best interest at heart.

    Caution

    If you use the law of obligation to manipulate, you will lose your ability to persuade. People will catch on to your tactics, quickly declining any gifts you might offer or even refuse to be around you.  Your gifts will be perceived as set-ups.  People will know that it's only a matter of time before you come back around asking for that favor to be reciprocated.

    Conclusion

    Try giving to people.  Give freely and give often.  Give value wherever you can, and you will begin to build up equity.  People will begin to give back to you in various and suprising ways.  Try giving something to someone before you ask for something in return, no matter how big or small your request is and your success rate will increase dramatically.

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Braveheart - A Tribute to William Wallace

     Here's a video in tribute to William Wallace, a great man who lived in the 13th century A.D. who helped Scotland win it's independence from England, and also the main character in the movie "Braveheart" played by Mel Gibson.  This is one of my favorite movies of all time and also one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time.  Enjoy.

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Are Women are Like Apples?

By Broderick Boyd

Women are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don't want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they're amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
man to come along, the one
who's brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.

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Maximum Influence Chapter Summary - The Law of Dissonance

    The following is my review and summary of the Law of Dissonance as presented by Kurt W. Mortensen in his book "Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion".  The Law of Dissonance is law 1 in this book and it can be an extremely useful law to understand when becoming a person of influence.  It seems to parallel the chapter "Commitment and Consistency" in the book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini which is also probably why I like it so much.  Commitment and consistency are powerful psychological triggers for influencing human behavior and they can be further understood by fully understanding the law of dissonance. This chapter does this amazingly well and also provides many useful examples, tidbits, strategies and research studies to help smooth the rough edges of this theory.   So without further ado, let's get to the juice of: "The Law of Dissonance". Enjoy.

    The Law of Dissonance

    "There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything.  And that is by making the other person want to do it." -Dale Carnegie

    People will normally act in a manner that is consistent with their beliefs, attitudes, and values.  If someones actions don't match their beliefs, attitudes or values, then one or the other will have to eventually change in order to achieve harmony.

    Internal pressure is the secret.

    The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

    Leon Festinger in 1957 at Stanford University asserted that: "When attitudes conflict with actions, attitudes or beliefs, we are uncomfortable and motivated to try to change."

    Methods of Protecting Mental Consistency

Denial

    People will deny that there is an inconsistency.

Modification

    People will modify their beliefs, attitudes and values to match their actions.

Reframing

    People will change their interpretation of the inconsistency to make it seem as if it didn't exist.

Search

    People will search for clues in reality to refute an inconsistency, "there must be some mistake". 

Separation

    People will separate their attitudes, values or beliefs that are perceived to be inconsistent with their actions from other similar attitudes, values or beliefs. In effect, they will "cut off the infection before it spreads".

Rationalization

    People will make rationalizations for the existence of an inconsistency.  They make excuses and justifications.

    Everyday Examples of Dissonance

• Someone is a strict vegetarian but they see a stylish leather jacket on sale and they want to buy it.

• Someone made a New Year's resolution to exercise every day but it is halfway through February and they haven't gone to the gym once.

• Someone is on a stringent diet when they see Ben and Jerry's ice cream on sale at the grocery store.

    Maintaining Psychological Consistency

    In order to maintain their psychological consistency, some people will simply make something true in their mind that isn't true, but that supports their beliefs, values, attitudes and/or or actions, and others will simply refuse to observe contradictory information to their beliefs, values, attitudes, or actions.

    Examples:

• Smokers who wont read articles about the dangers of smoking.

• Political activists who won't watch or listen to commercials or speeches given by opposing party members.

• A person who is more confident of their bet made at horse track or casino after they have placed their bet because they have justified it to themselves.

    People tend to convince themselves that they have made the right decision in order to reduce dissonance.

    People will fight to eliminate their dissonance.

    Examples:

McDonald's and the London Activists Suit

    McDonald's took five London activists to court for libeling them in a leaflet entitled "What's Wrong with McDonald's".  The case evolved into the longest court proceeding in the legal history of Britain.  It came to be considered "The most expensive and disastrous public relations exercise ever mounted by a multinational company," all so that McDonald's could eliminate dissonance.

    Using Dissonance to Create Action

    Examples:

Researchers, Beach-goers and Stolen Radios

    Researchers did an experiment in which one researcher would place a radio next to a beach-goer and then leave and then another researcher would pretend to be a thief and steal the radio.  Only 20% of beach-goers who witness the theft made any attempt to stop the thief.  Next, the researchers did the same experiment except that they would have the researcher with the radio ask the beach-goer: "Could you please watch my things?" each beach-goer consented.  This time, after the thief took the radio, the law of dissonance kicked in and 95% of the beach-goers sought to stop the thief either by chasing, grabbing back the radio or physically restraining them.

    Most people try to follow through when they promise they will do something, especially if it's in writing.

Corporations Sponsoring Writing Contests

    Corporations will often sponsor writing contests with huge prizes because they want consumer endorsement. Having made a written commitment to support and endorse a product, a consumer will now more willingly to buy their product.

    The Law of Dissonance in Marketing

The Bait and Switch

    Get them to mentally commit to doing what you want them to do.

    Examples:

Bait and Switch in Retail Stores

    Some stores advertise very low prices on one item such as a television with the small print "Quantities Limited". By the time people go to the store, all the bargain televisions are sold out, but the potential customers have now committed themselves in their minds to buying a new television. Luckily for them, there are more expensive models available, so they go home having spent $300 more on a television than was actually planned.

Bait and Switch at Car Dealerships

    When people are about to sign a contract for the purchase of a new car, the price is usually about $200 more than expected because someone conveniently forgot to tell them about the advanced suspension or some other feature involved with the purchase of the car.  They pay the extra $200 anyway because they are already mentally committed to the car and they don't want to go through the whole hassle and headache of trying to renegotiate the deal. Often car dealerships promise incredible prices to help customers to commit to buying a car from them and to bring them to their dealership. Next, lengthy forms are filled out, great lengths are taken to set up specific financing terms, the customer is encouraged to take the car home and drive it to work, to run errands and to cruise the neighborhood.  The dealer knows that while the customer is out joy riding, they are thinking of all of the reasons why their purchase is justified.

Bait and Switch at Colleges and Universities

    Just like car dealers, colleges and universities often give people a low estimate on their costs of attending at their school, and it's not until after the student has signed up and registered that they discover the actual costs of attending that school.

Brand Loyalty

    Companies sometimes give away things that have their company logo on them, such as coffee mugs, T-shirts, pens and mouse pads.  These items will tend to create loyalty towards their brand, simply because the person who received them now owns them and will justify that ownership of that item to eliminate any dissonance.

    Cognitive Dissonance and Public Commitment

    Public commitments and dissonance go hand in hand.  

    Even if someone doesn't feel that an action is right, they will still go through with it if they have publicly committed to such a course of action.

    Example:

Proposing Marriage

    1st - Someone asks someone else to marry them and they say yes

    2nd - They announce the engagement 

    3rd - They tell their friends, buy a ring, tell the parents, decide on a date, take the pictures, send announcements, pay the deposit for the reception location etc.  

    Each step closer to "I do" results in a greater level of commitment. Therefore, it is often easier as it gets closer to "I do" to go through with a marriage than to call the whole thing off.

    The more public someones stand is, the more reluctant they are to change.

Examples of Public Commitment:

• Fraternity initiations
• Military boot camps
• Political rallies
• Protest marches
• Demonstrations
• Weight loss centers commonly encouraging clients to share their goals with as many friends, relatives and neighbors as they can.

    When people make their vows, beliefs, statements or endeavors public, they feel bound to them. There is a psychological and emotional price to pay in order to back out of any commitments and/or claims that someone has made publicly.

    "Persons who go through a great deal of trouble or pain in order to attain something tend to value it more highly than persons who attain the same thing with a minimum of effort." -Elliot Aronson and Judson Mills

    A study of 54 tribal cultures found that those with the most dramatic initiation rituals also have the most group unity, loyalty, solidarity and commitment. 

    Getting Your Foot in the Door

Small Commitments

    Small commitments often lead to large commitments.  Some salespeople secure and initial order, even if it is a small one. This makes the customer more likely to commit to buying from them again in the future.

Written Commitments

    Written commitments are usually more powerful than verbal commitments.  Written contracts increase commitment tenfold.

Public Commitments

    Public commitments are stronger than private commitments.  People who cop out of a  public commitment risk being seen as inconsistent, weak or dishonest.

    Get them to initially accept a small request.

    Examples:

    Start with a small request:

        "Can I have just thirty seconds of your time?"

    Move to a second, slightly larger request:

        "Can I try this on the stain on your carpet?

The "Drive Carefully" Billboard Request Study

    A researcher posing as a volunteer canvassed a California neighborhood asking residents if they would allow a large billboard reading "Drive Carefully" to be displayed on their front lawns.  So that the resident had an idea of what it would look like, the volunteer showed his recruits a picture of the large sign obstructing the view of a beautiful house.  Naturally, most people refused, but in one particular group, an incredible 76% actually consented.  The reason for their compliance was this:  Two weeks prior, these residents had been asked by another volunteer to make a small commitment to display a three-inch-square sign that read "Be a Safe Driver" in their windows.  Since it was such a small and simple request, nearly all of them agreed.  The astounding result was that the initial small commitment profoundly influenced their willingness to comply with the much larger request two weeks later. These same researchers also presented California homeowners with petitions to keep California beautiful.  Nearly all of the homeowners signed the petitions.  Two weeks later, another volunteer asked those same homeowners if they would allow the "Drive Carefully" billboard to be displayed in their yards.  Nearly half of them consented.

The 7 A.M. College Student Appointment Study

    In one study, two groups of college students were asked to participate in a 7 A.M. thinking session.  In one group, college students were called and asked if they would participate in the session, and they were first told that the session would begin at 7 A.M.  Only 24% of this group agreed to participate.  The second group was told about the study and was asked for a commitment before they were told that the session was at 7 A.M. Of this group, 56% of them agreed to show up.  They were then presented with an opportunity to change their minds which none of them took advantage of.  95% of them showed up at the 7 A.M. session.

    Using FITD (Foot in the Door) Effectively

The First Request

    Present the largest possible request that will still be accepted.

Your Prospect's Viewpoint

    They must believe you are acting for their (or societies) best interests and not just your own.

External Incentives

    Don't offer them external incentives for agreeing to your first request, otherwise they won't make an internal commitment to your request.

The Source of the Request

    Having different people employ the initial and subsequent requests can be an effective strategy so that the prospect won't feel like their being taken advantage of.

    Three Steps to Using the Law of Dissonance

Step One: Get a Commitment

    Public

    Make it so that their commitment is as public as possible. Get a written commitment and make that written commitment public. Involve family and friends in their commitment. Engage them with a public handshake.  Seal the deal publicly.

    Affirmative

    Get as many "yes" answers from them as possible because yes answers will develop consistency within the person.  This will reduce dissonance when they say yes to your main request.

    Voluntary

     Make sure that they feel that they are committing out of their own free will.  Let them volunteer to commit, otherwise they won't be as internally committed to your requests. 

    Effortful

    The more effortful their commitment is, the more likely they are to commit more to you down the line. Get them to invest as much as possible in their progressive commitments to you.

Step 2: Create Dissonance

    Show them that they haven't kept, or that they are keeping their commitments to you. This will create uncomfortable dissonance in them that they will have to resolve.

Step 3: Offer a Solution

    Show, prove or explain to them how them doing what you want them to do will reduce their dissonance.  Show them how they will feel great about doing what you want them to you.  This is your call for them to act.

    All in all this was a great chapter and I suggest that you go out and try to use it today. Just remember as a simple way to use this law; whenever you want to ask someone to do something for you, first ask them to do something that is much smaller and easier and that they will almost certainly say yes to. This will get them to think of themselves as someone who likes to help you out when they can.  Do this weeks or even months in advanced and see how much it helps!

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