How To Become A Jedi Master Part 1

How To Become a Jedi Master Part 1

I have a dear friend who tells me that I am too serious and that I need to relax and be more of myself. Which just goes to prove that she has met me!

So as a personal development specialist who is also a sci-fi fan let me offer the first in a light hearted series of notes entitled:

“How to be a Jedi master.”

Oh come on it was a no brainer really wasn’t it. I saw Star Wars when I was seven and I always wanted to be a Jedi knight. Now that I know some techniques that come very close to Jedi mind tricks it seems like fun to share them with you…oh and I’m not making this stuff up. Everything I am going to share works and comes from either the world of NLP (neuro linguistic programming) or similar psychologically based disciplines. So I invite you to read on and “Learn how to be a Jedi master!”

Let’s start with mind control – the famous scene in the first star wars movie features obi-wan kenobi telling the storm troopers that “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”. He then suggest to the troopers that “They can move on.” which then the troopers tell him to do and thus he and his group escape capture.

So how great would it be to able to do that…to influence another person’s thinking in the direction you wanted…well here’s the thing; you can. And it’s pretty easy.

Let me show you…by asking you one question…and consider the answer as you read the question…

“Your mother. Your mother what’s her first name?”

Okay so do you have a picture of your mother in your head now, or did you when you thought of the answer to the question?

let’s try another one…again consider the answer as you read…

“Your front door. The front door; of your house, flat or apartment…what colour is it?”

Again do you have an image of your front door in your mind, or did you when you thought of the answer to the question?

I’m going to stick my neck out as assume that you did. (This is a lot harder to do on paper and so much easier to do verbally!)

Now how it works is very simple, yet it highlights a fundamental fact about how the human brain works; “labels”. You see the brain is hard wired to generalise and assign labels to things. When you are young you learn that small, squeaking creatures are called ‘mice’ yet not all small squeaking creatures are mice, which you learn later, so your brain has to do some translation work when presented with something small and squeaking; literally is it or is it not a mouse. And when you see the word ‘mouse’ you think of something that your brain has labelled as a mouse, whether that is a white mouse, brown one, cartoon one or whatever.

In short when you are presented with a label your brain rushes off to access a meaning for the label, which means that when you present a label to someone you literally mind control them for a split second to think about what you want them to think about. Which is why the label in the examples above were written as they were – label first! I could have asked:

“What is the name of your mother?” but that isn’t as effective as trigger the label of mother first and then asking the question. I could get technical and explain why this works on at least two levels but this is supposed to be a light weight article not a thesis so let me press on with why this might be of interest to you…

Let’s say you want to have a conversation with an attractive woman or man at the bar…how about…

changing the old “Can I buy you a drink?” (a very weak line for so many reasons!) to “You’re favourite drink, what would that be?”

Note the delivery is important in particular put the emphasis on ‘You’re’ and pause at the comma.

taking it further…

“You have beautiful eyes.” to “You’re eyes, they’re very beautiful.”

and even better and using some other psychology…

“You’re eyes; they’re a beautiful shade of blue”
(obviously assuming here they are blue)

Putting the ‘You’re’ first triggers association and sends the signal that the message is personal to them and about them. And the above example contained Jedi mind trick number two – make compliments specific. The more specific and personal to the individual that you are speaking to the more impact it will have psychological.

…hey try it out…nothing ventured nothing gained

Now whether using this technique to attract the opposite sex is going to the dark side is something I can’t answer!

You can use it in lots of situations to direct people’s thoughts. If nothing else it is a great way of getting someone’s attention diverted to the thing you want to talk about. Throw out a label, give them a second to consider it then ask your question. It works in

Next time; how possibility allows you to influence events…

Or in other words…once she (or he) has told you what their favourite drink is, how to get them to let you buy them one

Until next time;

Stephen

Stephen Hart

The second part of this blog is now done and can be found at:

http://edenchanges.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/how-to-be-a-jedi-master-part-2

The full size original of the brilliant Jedi painting used at the start of this blog can be found at :

http://saehral.deviantart.com/art/Painty-Jedi-36127695

and is used by kind permission of the artist – thanks Britt!