Modern Jedi NLP Mind Mastery

Archive for July, 2009

What’s the difference between being brainwashed and being influenced?

And by the way I’m not suggesting that you totally agree with everything in this post because I’m a nice guy and have your best interests at heart.

It’s just that you know there are times when you find yourself suddenly craving a big Mac or salivating about that new GM muscle car or the new Ford mustang or just absolutely have to have those special tooth whitening strips so you’ll be more attractive…

And moments before you watched the commercial or read the ad, you weren’t even thinking about it.

The question is….are you being brainwashed? Or just influenced?

According to my secret sources in the US Military, for brainwashing to be present all 5 of the following conditions must be met. So ask yourself now

1. Have you been removed from your normal environment of influence or confined to the “compound” and not allowed to leave no contact with “outside”?
2. Have you been deprived of sleep getting less than 6 hours per night? (psst are your children brainwashing you?)
3. Are you given emotional, physical or psychological pain or punishment if you disagree?
4. Do you get pleasure or rewards if you agree to “get with the program”?
5. Has your bio-chemistry been forcibly changed through diet or drugs?

Now maybe one or two of these elements are present in your marriage, your job, your sports team, church, chamber of commerce, fraternity or sorority, etc.

But remember, all 5 elements must be present for more than a weekend. After all it may take a bit of time to be internalized into your unconscious mind.

Now. You don’t have to think about army basic training or “bootcamp” unless of course you want to…But if you were to think about it imagine this:

1. You are far from home and confined to some sweltering, mosquito infested “base”
2. You are woken up at the crack of dawn every day by scratchy recording of a bugle playing reveille. When you least expect it they wake you up in the middle of the night for “drills”.
3. If you don’t “get with the program” you are shouted at, made to do extreme physical penance (“GIVE ME 50 PUSH-UPS WORM”) and are subject to other emotional and psychological punishment.
4. If you get along and follow orders and are a good little soldier you get praise, awards, medals, shore leave, extra dessert etc.
5. Think about the food in the military! Just eating S.O.S and mountains of potatoes every day will change your bio chemistry.

I don’t know why but all of a sudden I’m thinking about this Christian summer camp I went to with my church youth group for a week the summer between 9th and 10 grade….

Hmmm.

1. I wasn’t in my normal environment. It was way nicer. A beautiful camp on a pristine lake in the mountains.
2. They kept us up late singing songs and woke us up really early. Averaged about 5 hours a night.
3. They didn’t shout or use overt physical pain. But they made use feel guilty as hell about all the impure thoughts we were having about the opposite (or same) sex. And all the sin we were carrying around with us. It felt painful to me. Very painful. So very, very painful. Forgive me Father for I have SINNED.
4. If you gave your life to Jesus you got applause and that special feeling of “getting with the program.” Plus some of the cutes girls were serious bible thumpers and I wanted “in” with them. ooooo more SIN for which I must feel shame and guilt!
5. Damn! No drugs or bizarre food. The food was good. For some people it was “better than home” Nobody was made to drink actual cool-aid or eat bugs.

So even though 4 out of 5 is pretty darn close, I managed to survive Christian summer camp with all my skepticism and doubts intact. Never underestimate the power of bad food or at least very different food to tip the brainwashing scales. It’s all in the details.

Now let’s talk about TV.

1. You are not isolated from your normal environment of influence. When you’re watching the tube you are most definitely in a zombie like trance but you are usually sitting on your own couch.
2. You’re sleep patterns are not interrupted. In fact many people prefer to fall asleep watching TV. There seem to be few reports of people sleep walking into a Hummer dealership with a bag of cash after falling asleep in front of the telly.
3. A really good commercial may remind you of the pain you are already in and may anchor pleasure to the idea that you can get out of pain by making a decision and taking action. Think about your hard earned dollars sneaking out your leaky, inefficient old windows… pain.
4. A master of influence will definitely link pleasure to his or her idea or outcome for you. … now think about how wonderful the snug, tight, energy efficient thermal windows will be as they save you bushels of cash over the next 30 years…
5. An argument could be made that McDonalds food will change your body chemistry and get you hooked. Or all those pharmaceutical ads for the weight loss drug (with the rectal leakage side effect) could get you hooked and change your bio chemistry. But you’re still in your own home and they have yet to figure out how to get the TV to dispense their stuff. Plus, the other elements of brainwashing must also be present and you can…always….

….turn….off…..the ……TV.

So in a nutshell, TV advertising, is not brainwashing. Ads may be powerful. They may be insidious. They may be persuasive. They get stuck like a sappy love song in your rostromedial pre-frontal cortex and play over and over again. They may be hugely influential. They may be hypnotic, mesmerizing and trance inducing. They may not always be a force for good in our lives.

But you can always hit the off button…so it ain’t brainwashing.

Now I know you didn’t totally agree with everything I’ve said in the past or right now or in the future so if there are other things you agree with me on feel free to leave a comment below or just think of me as a genius for the next few moments….that’s right…I know you’re wondering and it’s a good thing to wonder what NLP language patterns I’ve woven throughout this post that just might influence you to not just think of me as a genius but as someone who’s got your best interests at heart…

I’m not suggesting you leave your comments and questions below!But if you did leave a comment below what would you feel good about saying? Thanx! – Mark

© 2009 by Mark Shepard

My 81 Year Old Dad is So Damn FRUSTRATED!

Have you ever shared an idea with someone who totally "got" what you were saying right away? I don't know if you can remember a time, a specific time when you learned something new and just couldn't wait to run and tell your best friend about it. Maybe you saw a great movie or TV show and just had to bring someone else into the experience. Chances are there was no hesitation on your part. You learned something or discovered something, got excited and shared it.

Then perhaps you shared it with someone else and they just weren't impressed. They didn't "get" it. Or worse like Little Miss Crankypants (yes that is a reference to a song I wrote recently) they metaphorically popped your balloon.

Or, could you kind of tell they were just humoring you and hoping you'd talk about something else?

All of a sudden your wonderful, shiny new discovery started to get a bit tarnished.

What if you had the ability to keep your passion and excitement and communicate it to other people in a way that you the results you wanted?

How do you learn to influence other people so easily, positively and effortlessly it seems like magic?

Whether you're inviting people to a party or asking someone out on a date or selling your products or services or convincing your teenager to stay away from drugs and alcohol, the ability to influence and persuade are just about the most crucial skills anyone can have. Don't you agree?

Some people just seem to come by it naturally. For the rest of us, it takes conscious, persistent effort to learn and integrate the many beliefs, behaviors, skills, and mind sets that enable us to become masters of our communication.

Now, you could take my Modern Jedi NLP Training now available in a convenient,  affordable On-Line/Hands-On format.

or you could check out this 7 day persuasion program I recently discovered by AJ Kumar.
AJ Kumar's 7 day Persuasion course

Or you don't have to change what you've been doing...if it's working for you and you're getting everything you want out of life why change now?

You know the truth though. What you've been doing ain't working that well is it? Frustration is a great motivating force! So Get EXCITED!

Why my Dad is so FRUSTRATED

I was talking to my dad the other day. He's 81 years old and healthy as a horse. He swims a half a mile 3 times a week. He looks like he's 60. He has a trim muscular body with no flab at all. He's sharp and alert. He just did the swimming leg of a Tri-athelon. For the last 30 years he has passionately and thoroughly studied everything there is to know about health, nutrition, natural healing etc.

He has vast amounts of knowledge about health and nutrition but little experience in getting other people to STOP and:

a.  Listen to him

b. Value his expertise

c. Take his advice

d. Make the changes that in some cases could save their lives!

He's so FRUSTRATED.

Can you relate? He wants so much to help people and to guide people to a place where they can feel good physically. He walks his talk. But he wants to be more than just a "good example". He wants to actively influence other people in a positive way.

Now a lot of 81 year olds would say, "oh well. Too soon oldt, too late Scmartt". Not my dad! In fact, I would be willing to bet that after he reads this blog post, he'll sign right up for my NLP Training so he can learn how to actually get his message out to people who most need and want to improve their health and well being. And you know I'll help him and by helping him I will indirectly help people I wouldn't otherwise have any hope of influencing. That's why I get so excited about this stuff that I have to share it with YOU!

Or maybe he'll order  AJ Kumar's 7 day Persusuasion course

After all AT AGE 81 he has a lifetime of knowledge to share and he only has another 30 years to get it out! )

Please leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts about persuasion.

-Mark

p.s. What would you think about some guest blog posts from my dad the "Modern Jedi Health and Nutrition Specialist"? Let me know.