Success Advice
7 Powerful Ways Successful People Persuade Their Way to the Top
Have you ever wondered how successful people always have their way? When they speak, everyone listens. If they have a request, they meet ZERO resistance. Whatever they do, there’s always a crowd to cheer them on.
You can’t attribute it to good looks; not every entrepreneur out there looks like Bradley Cooper or Brad Pitt. You also can’t blame wealth. Some of the most successful people came from poverty. They built their business through sheer effort and work ethic.
So how? In my investigation, I found one common thread: they know how to persuade. They know what “hot buttons” to press to make people act. This is a highly complex skill they mastered to win businesses, create a tribe of fans, and live the 1% life. If you want to be successful, you need to learn how to persuade…because in this world, you’re either the persuader or the persuaded.
The 6 Principles of Persuasion by Dr. Cialdini
Dr. Robert Cialdini’s best-selling book, Influence, became the “go-to” book for influence and persuasion. In his book, he explains the 6 principles of persuasion:
- Reciprocity
- Commitment and consistency
- Social proof
- Authority
- Liking
- Scarcity
Below you’ll see how successful people put these principles into action:
1. They shift your paradigms
A paradigm is how you look at the world. It’s what you perceive as normal or standard. You don’t expect it to change, you believe “this is how things should be.” Now, here comes a person who shifts your paradigm and opens you to a new world where everything is bright, easy, and fun. You’re instantly hooked! And then he constantly supplies you with “aha” moments and epiphanies.
Once your paradigm shifts to theirs, this person becomes your thought-leader, your head-honcho, and the big guy. And we all know we’d do anything for a person we follow, admire, and respect. Hot button pressed: Authority
2. They side with you to fight your enemies
Nothing bonds more than having a common enemy. If a person helps you defeat an enemy, not only will you thank them, but you’ll be grateful for their existence. The enemy doesn’t even have to be a person, it can be a struggle, a challenge, an event, a pain or frustration. Hot button pressed: Liking
3. They confirm your suspicions
We want confirmation about what we want to believe, not just want we currently believe. I know it’s kind of sad, but this is how most of us think. That’s why when an expert finally confirms our suspicions, we latch on to them in a heartbeat. We don’t even think about it. Why? Because we love telling people “I told you so!” We feel superior. The thoughts and opinions we secretly held are now validated and just like #1, the person who confirms our suspicions becomes our thought-leader. Hot button pressed: Commitment
4. They encourage your dreams
The world is full of naysayers. Most of them are losers who haven’t done zilch in their life. They just throw rocks at people who are attempting to transcend mediocrity. Successful people are encouragers, they’re teachers and they want other people to succeed. They don’t bash other businesses or call people names, they elevate all the people around them. That’s why people love to be around them. They have a proven track record of success and are willing to share it to anyone who listens. Hot Button: Consistency
“Since 95 percent of the people are imitators and only 5 percent initiators, people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer.” – Robert Cialdini
5. They justify your failures
“Every mistake, failure, accident, and misfortune that came your way is not your fault.” You know that’s not true, yet, you want it to be true. You want to shift all the blame to someone or something else.
This is the mentality of 99.9% of the population. If you want to succeed, eliminate this attitude NOW. If you don’t, you’ll always have the *victim mentality* preventing you from succeeding. Once you erase it from your system, tap into this fact to persuade people around you. Successful people always found creative ways to justify a person’s failures without lying or being unethical. Hot button: Reciprocity
6. They want you to belong
Ever since we were born, we wanted to belong. We want to be accepted, to feel safe, and be cared for by a community. Each of us longs for this either consciously or subconsciously.
This need goes back to our ancestors. Back then, if you were kicked out of a tribe you were good as dead. No one is going to protect you against the tigers and have your back while you rested. That’s why we desperately want to belong.
Successful people know this all too well. That’s why they give this as a reward for buying their product, promoting their cause, or anything they want you to do. You’ll finally belong if you do anything he/she says. Hot button: Social Proof
“We like people who are similar to us. This fact seems to hold true whether the similarity is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or life-style.” – Robert Cialdini
7. They’re protective of their time
The more limited edition a product is, the more value it has. For example: rare baseball cards, luxury cars, 5-star hotels, 5-star restaurants…the list goes on and on. The same goes with successful people, you can’t get ahold of them quickly, you have to go through hoops, talk to “their people” before you can even request a meeting.
Yet you still do this and desire to grab their attention because you know it’s valuable. Some of them are actually doing this to protect their time. Some are doing this to position themselves as scarce, because the less you have of them, the more you want them. Once they decide to give you their attention, you’re all eyes and ears. Hot button: Scarcity
By doing these 7 things, you’re triggering the 6 principles of persuasion. As you can see, it’s not that hard to do. With a little bit of research and focus, you can persuade ANYONE on the planet. You don’t even have to do all 7, pick one and use it over and over again. You’ll be surprised how effective these methods will be.