How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 184

Thinking About Not Thinking
In his book Triggers, best-selling author Joseph Sugarman estimates that
95 percent of the reasoning behind a consumer's purchase is associated
with a subconscious decision. In other words, most buying is done for
reasons a person hasn't even fully formulated. Professor of psychology
Gregory Neidert estimates that our brains actually run on idle 90 to 95
percent of the time. Let's face it, thinking is hard work. It is human nature
to conserve cognitive energy. Thinking burns three times as many calories
as watching TV. Those who use their brains for a living have traditionally
been among the highest paid professionals. Consider the incomes for
doctors, lawyers, and engineers, just to name a few. Most of us feel we
don't have the time or even the desire to think on the level that these
professionals do each day.
What are the main reasons we choose not to think? First, sometimes the
amount of information available is so overwhelming we don't even
attempt to digest any of it. Sometimes our decisions simply aren't weighty
enough to warrant the effort of researching all the available information.
Consciously and subconsciously, from the bombardment of information
we receive, we selectively choose what we will acknowledge and what we
will ignore.
Whether we realize it or not, we love shortcuts to thinking. When we buy
an item, we don't always take the time to research the product or read the
latest consumer guide's ratings on the product. Instead, we often rely on
the salesperson's advice. We might just buy the most popular brand, or we
might bring a friend along for his opinion. Although we would never
admit it, we sometimes even buy an item just because of its color or
packaging. Certainly we know this is not the best way to make decisions,
but we all do it anyway, even when we know we might make a mistake or
feel regretful afterwards. If we thoroughly considered every single
decision, we would constantly be overwhelmed and we'd never get
anything done.
The Rules of Persuasion are so powerful because they capitalize on two
very predictable things: one, what we expect from human nature, and two,
how people will respond in certain situations. People react predictably
under a given set of circumstances. If we learn to recognize how the Rules
of Persuasion work, we will know how to use them in our interactions
with others.
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