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Understanding How Tiredness and Self-Control Are Mistaken for Resistance

Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by nardene in Blog, focus, resistance, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

I noticed something very unusual when I went for my 7 km walk.
I noticed that as I passed the liquor store, my brain would start to wander.

And it wasn’t the liquor. It was just the point in my walk.

You see I’d pass the liquor store at about 40 minutes into my walk. And no matter what I was listening to on my iPhone, I’d find it hard to concentrate on. Even on days when I was really trying hard to pay attention, my mind would wander.

So I tried to listen to music instead

Same thing. Around the 40 minute mark, my brain was off for a walk of its own. And there’s a reason why this happens. It happens because of the blood flow to your brain. When the brain has to concentrate on an activity, it fires up its pumps and hey the blood comes rushing in.

To find out just how much you’re paying attention, University of Cincinnati researchers tracked mental activity using transcranial Doppler sonography (TDS). The device measures blood flow velocity in the brain. Joel Warm, Professor of Psychology at University of Cincinnati, believes the reading could be an indicator of sustained, or non-stop, attention, also known as vigilance.

“The velocity goes up, it means that blood is being rushed to an area to carry away the waste product.

The more mental activity, the more the waste product,” he says. During various 40-minute tests, researchers saw a decrease in blood-flow velocity over time, and, therefore, a decrease in attention.

“Sometimes in the first 10 minutes,” Warm says. “That early.” And he says many times the participants didn’t realise it was happening.

What this means is simply that our brains can’t sustain the intense pressure

But it depends. If the brain has to tackle stuff that is well within our comfort zone and mildly challenging, it will hold out for a lot longer. But if we’re learning something new, or doing something that is challenging, the brain feels the intensity. And after a while it just needs a break. In everyday terms this break is often termed as exhaustion.

We don’t know why we’re feeling so drained, but drained we are.

And of course, we don’t want to appear lazy, so instead of taking a break, we soldier on. And the brain doesn’t co-operate. Which is when you find yourself checking email, hovering endlessly on Facebook and doing activity that tires you even further.

You’re not dealing with good ol’ resistance here. You’re dealing with a brain that just can’t function at that level. And of course, the more you push it the more resistance you feel.

But it gets worse

Just focusing on a task is hard enough. But when this focus has to be run over the term of a project, we have to put in tremendous self-control. And as you accurately guessed, self-control is extremely draining. And the reason it’s so draining is because self-control seems to be in limited supply.

So if you’re on a weight-loss diet AND completing an article that needs to meet a deadline, you need twice the self-control. If you add another factor to that list, you would need thrice as much self-control—and so on. So if you use up self-control completing the presentation, you’re more than likely to chew on the chocolate cookies—despite the diet.

What seems like resistance is really a factor of exhaustion

What seems to be a factor of giving into resistance is actually just an inability for the brain to sustain continuous control over the situation. Not only is it battling with tiredness, but the self-control is adding another level of intensity.

Something has to give. And that’s when you officially lose the plot. That’s when you think you’ve lost the battle to resistance.

Which is why rest matters

Every 40 minutes or so, you need to take a break from what you’re doing. On a day to day level that helps you prevent this endless back and forth bounce between Facebook and back. But remember what’s also happening when you’re resisting Facebook.

You’re using up your self-control.

You actually like ambling around checking what’s happening around the Internet. So don’t resist the Facebook temptation. Give in to it. Allocate a fixed amount of time, e.g. 5-10 minutes doing something that makes you happy. Then when your ten minutes are up, and you’ve had a bit of a rest, go back to what you’re doing.

But surely no one has time to take these crazy breaks all the time

No one does. And that’s the point. Your brain is going to stop being attentive. And though you may be sitting at your computer pounding away at the keyboard, it’s not going to do an hour’s worth of work in an hour. It’s going to do just 20-30 minutes.

And then it’s going to have drop outs in your attention. As it gets more tired, you get more inattentive. By the second hour, you’re pretty much drooping.

But if you took the break, and don’t constantly strain the leash on your self-control, you give your brain it so richly deserves. That blood-flow velocity reduces naturally. And you’re more refreshed to take on the next hour, and the next and the next.

When I’d go for my walks past the liquor store, I’d fight my brain.

I’d want to keep concentrating. But now I don’t. I realise that I’m fighting two pitched battles: tiredness and self-control. And if I just play along with my brain’s natural rhythms, I stand to learn more and achieve more—while still resting more. And what’s more, I don’t feel bad that I’m just giving in to resistance.

Interesting, huh?

Research source: Science Daily + ‘Switch’ by Dan and Chip Heath

The Brain’s natural rhythms help us achieve and learn more. Do let me know what you have learned from this article?

[next_step]

Understanding How Tiredness and Self-Control Are Mistaken for Resistance

Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by nardene in Blog, focus, resistance, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

I noticed something very unusual when I went for my 7 km walk.
I noticed that as I passed the liquor store, my brain would start to wander.

And it wasn’t the liquor. It was just the point in my walk.

You see I’d pass the liquor store at about 40 minutes into my walk. And no matter what I was listening to on my iPhone, I’d find it hard to concentrate on. Even on days when I was really trying hard to pay attention, my mind would wander.

So I tried to listen to music instead

Same thing. Around the 40 minute mark, my brain was off for a walk of its own. And there’s a reason why this happens. It happens because of the blood flow to your brain. When the brain has to concentrate on an activity, it fires up its pumps and hey the blood comes rushing in.

To find out just how much you’re paying attention, University of Cincinnati researchers tracked mental activity using transcranial Doppler sonography (TDS). The device measures blood flow velocity in the brain. Joel Warm, Professor of Psychology at University of Cincinnati, believes the reading could be an indicator of sustained, or non-stop, attention, also known as vigilance.

“The velocity goes up, it means that blood is being rushed to an area to carry away the waste product.

The more mental activity, the more the waste product,” he says. During various 40-minute tests, researchers saw a decrease in blood-flow velocity over time, and, therefore, a decrease in attention.

“Sometimes in the first 10 minutes,” Warm says. “That early.” And he says many times the participants didn’t realise it was happening.

What this means is simply that our brains can’t sustain the intense pressure

But it depends. If the brain has to tackle stuff that is well within our comfort zone and mildly challenging, it will hold out for a lot longer. But if we’re learning something new, or doing something that is challenging, the brain feels the intensity. And after a while it just needs a break. In everyday terms this break is often termed as exhaustion.

We don’t know why we’re feeling so drained, but drained we are.

And of course, we don’t want to appear lazy, so instead of taking a break, we soldier on. And the brain doesn’t co-operate. Which is when you find yourself checking email, hovering endlessly on Facebook and doing activity that tires you even further.

You’re not dealing with good ol’ resistance here. You’re dealing with a brain that just can’t function at that level. And of course, the more you push it the more resistance you feel.

But it gets worse

Just focusing on a task is hard enough. But when this focus has to be run over the term of a project, we have to put in tremendous self-control. And as you accurately guessed, self-control is extremely draining. And the reason it’s so draining is because self-control seems to be in limited supply.

So if you’re on a weight-loss diet AND completing an article that needs to meet a deadline, you need twice the self-control. If you add another factor to that list, you would need thrice as much self-control—and so on. So if you use up self-control completing the presentation, you’re more than likely to chew on the chocolate cookies—despite the diet.

What seems like resistance is really a factor of exhaustion

What seems to be a factor of giving into resistance is actually just an inability for the brain to sustain continuous control over the situation. Not only is it battling with tiredness, but the self-control is adding another level of intensity.

Something has to give. And that’s when you officially lose the plot. That’s when you think you’ve lost the battle to resistance.

Which is why rest matters

Every 40 minutes or so, you need to take a break from what you’re doing. On a day to day level that helps you prevent this endless back and forth bounce between Facebook and back. But remember what’s also happening when you’re resisting Facebook.

You’re using up your self-control.

You actually like ambling around checking what’s happening around the Internet. So don’t resist the Facebook temptation. Give in to it. Allocate a fixed amount of time, e.g. 5-10 minutes doing something that makes you happy. Then when your ten minutes are up, and you’ve had a bit of a rest, go back to what you’re doing.

But surely no one has time to take these crazy breaks all the time

No one does. And that’s the point. Your brain is going to stop being attentive. And though you may be sitting at your computer pounding away at the keyboard, it’s not going to do an hour’s worth of work in an hour. It’s going to do just 20-30 minutes.

And then it’s going to have drop outs in your attention. As it gets more tired, you get more inattentive. By the second hour, you’re pretty much drooping.

But if you took the break, and don’t constantly strain the leash on your self-control, you give your brain it so richly deserves. That blood-flow velocity reduces naturally. And you’re more refreshed to take on the next hour, and the next and the next.

When I’d go for my walks past the liquor store, I’d fight my brain.

I’d want to keep concentrating. But now I don’t. I realise that I’m fighting two pitched battles: tiredness and self-control. And if I just play along with my brain’s natural rhythms, I stand to learn more and achieve more—while still resting more. And what’s more, I don’t feel bad that I’m just giving in to resistance.

Interesting, huh?

Research source: Science Daily + ‘Switch’ by Dan and Chip Heath

The Brain’s natural rhythms help us achieve and learn more. Do let me know what you have learned from this article?

[next_step]

Why Resistance Detests Groups

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by nardene in Blog, resistance, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Resistance loves a loner.
Because loners have limited energy.

They start out on a project, all excited about what’s about to unfold. Then, for some reason or the other, they lose their way. And that’s when resistance gangs up on the loner big time. It’s not much of a fight.

The loner is already exhausted. One tiny tap on the head from resistance, and the loner falls into a heap on the floor. But this miserably one-sided bout could be avoided with the understanding of group work.

In Africa there’s a saying:

If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go with a group. And resistance detests groups. And there are several reasons why a group helps you get a project done with far more efficiency and a lower failure rate:

So how do groups help?

1) Release of Pressure
2) Exponential Learning
3) Support

1) Release of Pressure

The toughest part of a project is dealing with the pressure. And a release of that pressure is needed to give you a breather.  When you rant and rave alone, it’s kinda depressing. When you’re suffering alone, you think it’s something to do with your talent, or your genes, or that you’re a freakin’ loser (yes, everyone feels super-lousy often enough).

And having someone to just listen to your rant is amazing therapy. You rant, you’ve been heard and now it’s time to get back to work, because you have a ton of mistakes to make, and learning to look forward to.

2) Exponential learning

Mistake making is frowned in our society. We love to get things right the first time. And yet all of us know that it’s impossible to learn without making a ton of mistakes on any project, no matter how familiar we are with the project. The problem is that mistake-making, instructive as it is, is also terribly depressing.

When you’re going round in concentric circles, your exhaustion builds up rapidly. However when you’re in a group, you learn from someone else’s mistakes, thus getting a bit of respite from the exhaustion factor.

When a group shares its learning and mistakes, everyone learns and everyone gets a little samba in their steps because you’re not just learning, but it’s exponential learning. You’re learning from four-five mistakes every day, and guess what? Most of those mistakes aren’t yours.

3) The third factor is just one of support

While resistance can take on a loner, it’s a lot harder to take on a group. If someone falls, there’s usually someone to pick you up. If someone is struggling, there’s someone to help. If someone has questions, there are answers that help you move along.

Working by yourself, you not only miss the ongoing support, but the struggle wears you out. And inevitably you give up.

Now this kind of group support doesn’t necessarily work for all kinds of projects

Sometimes the project is just to clean your desk. You could do with ranting and group support, but it’s an overkill. Besides it probably takes under an hour to get even the messiest desk tidy.

But if this seemingly mundane desk has to go on over a longer period of say, six to eight months, then you definitely need the power of the group.

In fact at Psychotactics, groups form a critical part of the project experience

If we take just the Copywriting Course for instance, the three months of learning and implementation are physically exhausting. If you were to try and replicate the same pace by yourself, you’d give up in a week or less.

But with a group, 75-80% make it to the finish line. When you consider the sheer intensity of the Copywriting Course, you should have the figures the other way around (namely 75% should fail to make it to the end). And yet it’s the group that helps you through.

But how do you work with projects where the group doesn’t have a common goal?

Admittedly it’s harder to pull off a project where everyone is headed in different directions. When the African saying suggested you go a lot further with a group, they were indeed suggesting the group had a common goal.

And if everyone in the group isn’t headed towards the same deadline, or using similar tools etc., then they have nothing in common. Then it’s relatively easier for the group to be counterproductive, as no one is learning from group-mistakes, and everyone has their own agenda.

It’s important for the group to set out a common agenda and at least have some common guidelines. So even if you have ten different writers, writing ten different types of books, they should ‘meet’ online every day and post their learning for the day, as well as a minimum of 800 words.

If they’re a group working on a gardening project, there needs to be the shared learning, the shared support moments, and shared implementation.

But don’t you need the right group for things to work?

Yes, having the right group is important. But how do you choose the right group? Groups need to be chosen primarily on the basis of attitude. Which is why for instance, at Psychotactics, we call our courses the World’s Toughest Courses. This weeds out the excuse-makers and ensures that you get the cream of the attitude crop.

And just as you get a great group, you can also get a lousy group. Then whining, whingeing and depression will be constant, and progress will be impossible. So just having a group isn’t enough.

You need to put in some filters to ensure that at least 75% (or more) of your group will make it to the finish line. And it’s a bit of work putting a group together, but hey it’s a lot less work than starting endless projects only to see them go up in flames.

Resistance likes fires

All this namby-pamby, touchy-feely stuff makes resistance look really bad. If prefers the loner. And most projects are done by loners. And resistance is happy. Now it can wield it’s little finger and push you over.

And resistance laughs and walks away contentedly.

When a group shares its learning and mistakes the learning is exponential. Do you have a story to share about how groups work? Share it here..

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Five Ways to Turn No into Yes

Posted on 17. Jul, 2010 by James Chartrand in action, argument, benefit, Blog, confidence, Contributions, Copywriting, Dean Rieck, decision, doubt, objection, offer, purchase, question, resistance, response, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

No is a very powerful word.

It’s one too easily spoken, as any parent of a small four-year-old will tell you. It’s also detrimental to effective copywriting and sales, because it’s an absolute brick wall of resistance.

The minute a potential customer says no, you’ve either lost the sale, or you have to pull out some pretty convincing arguments to sway them back to a yes. Chances are you’re not going to make it.

It’s much harder to change a person’s mind when it’s already made up.

Here are practical tips on how to turn a potential customer’s no into yes, where you’ll learn specific resistance you’ll face and how to magically turn it into sales.

First, Address the Doubts

To believe that people are going to land on your page and immediately say, “This is exactly what I need,” is a belief best left to amateurs. (Of which you are not one, because only smart people read this blog.)

Everyone has doubts. You have them, I have them, your potential customer has them.

Now, no one enjoys having doubts, because they make us feel worried and uncertain and unsure. That’s not a good place to be, and instinctively, we know it. So we seek reassurance that erases our doubts and takes them away.

We look to be confident. When we feel confident, we feel able to make good decisions that are right for — which include, of course, saying, “Yes, this is exactly what I need.”

So address those doubts in your copywriting. Put them on the table right from the start. Show people that you know their concerns and worries, and give them the appropriate answer that provides reassurance.

This doesn’t mean raising questions that weren’t there to begin with. What it means is acknowledging potential questions and concerns and responding to them appropriately before the potential customer picks his own response.

The Best Example: Your Local Garage

Here’s an example of how you can address a potential customer’s doubts:

Let’s say your garage mechanic tells you that repairing your car will cost you $800. You can bet that you’ll have buyer resistance, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll say, “This is exactly what I need!”

It’s far more likely you’re already trying to figure out how to get out of paying that amount.

Then your mechanic says, “I’m sure you’re wondering how necessary it is to repair these parts.” And he proceeds to tell you exactly how unsafe your car becomes if you don’t have them repaired — and if you have kids, he points out, their safety means everything.

Then your mechanic says, “Now I know you’re probably wondering whether you can wait a while. But let me explain why that’s a bad idea.” He goes on to show how much more costly repairs will be if you don’t get this fixed soon.

By now, you’re not thinking about how to get out of the repairs. You’re into thinking about where you’ll get the money to pay for it all. You’ve already started moving from no to yes.

The mechanic doesn’t really know what’s going through your mind, but what he’s doing is covering his bases. He’s presuming you might have doubts, he’s assuming which doubts you might have, and he’s addressing them before you even voice them aloud.

If he guesses wrong? No problem — call it extra bonus arguments. You know, just in case. And if he guesses right? Then you haven’t had to say a word, and you have all the answers you need.

Be that proactive in your copywriting. Assume the arguments, address them with confidence, reassure your potential customer and you’ll be turning no into yes before you know it.

How do you feel about addressing doubts in copywriting? Are you great at dismantling arguments? Do you hate forking money over to garages? And how reassured do you feel when your doubts are addressed?

The Copywriter’s World is One Filled With Battle

It’s your copy against the consumer, and his defensive shields are strong — so very strong. Each time you valiantly knock down an argument he’s presented, another flies up, as if the consumer creates them right out of thin air.

Dean Rieck once wrote, “Selling is simply offering the right product to the right people at the right time in the right way. You aren’t forcing your customer to say yes; you’re taking away his reasons to say no.”

The consumer holds all the power, the final decision, the last word. But if you’ve done your job copywriting job well and taken away all his reasons to say no, the only word he’ll have left to say is, “Yes.”

How do you take away his reasons to say no? Here are five ways to do just that:

“I Don’t Need This.”

When people tell you they don’t need something, what they’re really saying is that they don’t want something. There’s a huge difference between need and want.

Take the lowly car, for example. We don’t need more than a basic box with wheels that gets us from A to B, but we consistently buy vehicles that offer far more luxury, bells and whistles — and we pay dearly for them too.

Turn needs into wants. Tell people why they want this. Get down and dirty in desire, play up how much their life will change for the better and let them visualize how fantastic their future will be. You’ll be changing “I don’t need this” into “I want it so bad I can taste it” in no time.

“I Can’t Afford This.”

Let’s face it. When people want something — really, really want something — they find a way to make it happen. They stretch their budgets or go without for a few weeks or tighten the bootstraps until they’re straining. They’ll even go into debt, all just to get what they want.

But you need to make sure they want it, and then you need to make this purchase a priority above other wants they have. Show them the benefits of buying, and convey that the value of what you’re selling is worth the price.

Make the offer too good to pass up. Make it unmistakably clear that turning away now means losing out in the long run. And make it a priority — they can’t afford not to buy.

“Mmm… Maybe Tomorrow.”

If someone’s not feeling the need to check out your offer today, there’s been a misfire on the urgency front. You can guarantee they won’t be back, because out of sight is out of mind. Or, maybe they actually want to think over their decision to be sure it’s the right one for them (which is fine), but leave them thinking too long without following up, and the result is that they just plain forget.

Or something more important comes up. And there’s no money left for you.

Convey the need to consider the offer today. Set a deadline or create scarcity with limited offers. Give rewards for fast action with a special price or an extra-value bonus. And if you can’t do that, drive home what happens to people if they wait — prolonged pain, extended misery and longer unhappiness. Who wants that?!

“I Don’t Really Know Who You Are.”

This really means, “Why should I buy… from YOU?” And this baby is a big one these days, with all sorts of unknown people cropping up as overnight experts without the backup to prove their cocky claims. No one wants to risk wasting money on something that’s not very good or useful.

Show people you’re trustworthy by showing them the credentials, skills, background, history and testimonials they need to believe you know what you’re doing. Downplay the wing and a prayer that got you where you are today, talk up what qualifies you, even if it’s your first sale, and hush up with the expert claims.

Experts don’t need to tell people they’re experts; it shows.

The Value of No

If you don’t get the sales you hoped for and your copy converts horribly, don’t despair. There’s a positive in every negative, which means there’s a yes in every no.

There’s a learning experience in why your potential customer didn’t buy, and you can take the opportunity to climb into your prospect’s head and find out what went wrong. That lets you improve your copywriting, your offer, your business and your sales.

Which means less people say no next time.

So go ahead and find out why people didn’t buy. Send out a survey or even personal emails that say you’d like help so you can improve and offer better products or services. Their feedback is valuable to you, so ask for it. Open your mind to what people tell you, and receive the feedback with a willingness to learn from it.

Be objective, and be respectful of the person’s decision not to buy. You’re not going to change their mind; they’ve said no already, and this isn’t about pushing a sale. It’s simply about learning what didn’t work, and how to make it work better the next time.

Ask people what might have swayed their vote, too. By knowing what might have tipped the scales of sale in your favor, you’ll have a good idea of what to add to your next piece of copy — and you’ll just get better and better.

Five Ways to Turn No into Yes originally appeared on The Michel Fortin Blog. Please visit to subscribe to it, or Tweet This.