It’s hard to believe that a 30 second commercial can influence your behavior. So you see people having a good time, there are attractive women around, they tell you that you need something – like that’s going to influence you?
Except it does.
Do you really think companies are paying 5 million dollars for 30 second spots at the Super Bowl if they’re not making the money back? McDonald’s spent more than a billion dollars on advertising in 2015. Do you think McDonald’s would do that if it couldn’t turn it back into money?
You may think these commercials aren’t influencing you, but obviously a lot of people are being influenced by commercials. And how are they influencing people? Mostly, by convincing them that they have a deficit in their life. They tell you you’re not happy enough, not having enough fun, not good enough and you can fix that by buying their products. Of course, that’s a lie. The beer isn’t going to get you beautiful women; you’re not going to laugh uproariously if you use that detergent and you’re not going to have the best meal of your life at that fast food restaurant.
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So, you have to contend with that all day long on TV, the radio, the Internet and on billboards. Of course, there’s also music influencing you. TV shows. Movies. Politicians. And these days, EVERYONE is a brand with his own social media presence. So, you’re bombarded with all of that every time you look at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The one thing all these different sources that are trying to influence you have in common is that they don’t have your best interests at heart. Instead they want you to buy their product, listen to their song, watch their movie, vote for them, to do what THEY want you to do. If you’re not careful, your life can end up like a raft floating on a stream, going with the currents chosen by someone else.
That’s why it’s so important to engage in counter-programming. You need SOMEONE programming your brain on a regular basis who has your best interests at heart. Who better to do that than you?
How do you do it?
1) Create a Dream Board: If you had an unlimited amount of money, time and options, where would you go? What would you do? Who would you do it with? Once you come up with that list, you may be surprised at how many of those things you could actually do with your current resources. Then, think about some smaller stuff you want to do. Maybe Leg press 800 pounds, ride a jet ski or get an hour and a half massage. Find inspirational pictures that remind you of your goals, print them out and put them up on a bulletin board where you can see them. Over time, that will seep into your consciousness and you’ll start doing those things.
2) Create a list of affirmations: Think about the person you want to be and start hammering that home to yourself every day.
3) Pay attention to the outside programming you allow in: Are you listening to sad songs or upbeat music? Watching porn or watching inspirational biographies? Binge watching junk TV or reading self-improvement books? You may not be able to control all the outside programming you’re exposed to, but just making smart choices about which programming you expose yourself to can make a huge difference.
4) Create an audio tape: Use a program like Cool Record Edit Pro and do dozens and dozens of affirmations, repeating your goals and talking about your dreams. Then, when you lie down to go to bed, play your recording back and let it permeate your subconscious as you go to sleep.
5) Ask morning and evening questions: As Tony Robbins likes to say, “Quality questions create a quality life.” So, what questions are you asking yourself? In the morning, are you asking, “What are my highest priorities today?” “How can I help more people today?” “What is the single most important thing I can do today?” At night, are you asking questions like, “Did I do everything I needed to do today?” “What could I have done better?” “How can I have given more today?”
What all of this does is keep you focused on being your best instead of just being a cog in someone else’s machine. Your job isn’t to eat hamburgers for McDonald’s, make the guys who own Budweiser even richer or to retweet someone else’s thoughts on twitter. Your job is to achieve your dreams, your goals and what’s best for you and it’s time you started programming your mind to do exactly that.
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