Morning Minute 11/05/24:
“Facts vs Feelings? How Will YOU Decide?”
Sales trainers share that most people will buy based on feelings, before facts.
Those feelings can be triggered by life experiences, individual aspirations and goals, or research on the subject. Is it possible that fact-based decisions can be triggered in the same way? Let’s examine these triggers and the factors that control them.
First, let’s address paradigms. A paradigm is a standard, a perspective, a set of ideas. Your paradigm is the filter through which you process information. It is shaped by your life experiences, your personal aspirations & goals, and your research on the subject.
Let’s assume that, as a child, you experienced a parent dying in an auto accident with a drunk driver. That life experience may forever shape your paradigm, the way you view drinking or driving while impaired (DWI). Then, suppose you were positively influenced by an outstanding teacher. That life experience may shape your paradigm, your view of personal relationships. These life experiences may determine whether you use facts or feelings to make decisions about alcohol, drugs, driving, personal responsibility, and whether you will respect your friends, your boss, or your spouse.
Then, let’s assume that your personal goal is being happily married with children. Your professional goal is to progress in your occupation to become a vice-president of the company where you work. Those goals become your paradigm, affecting both how and when you make your decisions. Your decisions will be based both on how you feel about your situation, and the facts affecting your opportunity.
Suppose that you have an opportunity to invest in a start-up company producing medical equipment. In your past investments, you’ve both made money, and you’ve lost money. Those financial results affect your paradigm, your view of this opportunity. As such, you will most likely not invest until both the facts concerning the company, and your feelings based on your previous investments, are in alignment. Thus, we see that both your feelings, and the facts, will control your decision.
Now, you are faced with deciding between hiring one of two candidates. You have a joyful, very positive feeling about one of them. Then you discover that person has lied to you about certain facts. How will her lack of honesty affect your decision? Will your feelings about her, in spite of her dishonesty, cause you to choose her anyway?
The current Democrat presidential nominee claimed the border was secure, even as 8+ million illegals invaded our country. She claims that crime is down, inflation is under control, that she has changed her views, and will turn the page on her current policies. She shares we had a successful retreat from Afghanistan, when it was our single worst defeat in history. Then, she falsely claims her opponent will enact a nationwide abortion ban, and will use the military to round up his enemies, putting them in prison camps. None of these accusations are provable, because none of them are true.
So, what criteria, facts, or feelings, will affect your decision about this candidate.
“Facts vs Feelings? How Will YOU Decide?”
That is today’s Morning Minute.
Morning MinuteSomeone’s11/08/24:
‘First, Identify The REAL Problem!”
Smart Phones, Online Banking, and WIFI? What do these inventions have in common?
Each of these great products fills a significant need. They improve the lives of those who use them. And, they broke the mold by creating new ways to solve problems. Let’s examine each of these innovative products, as we better understand problem solving.
How does your smartphone improve your life? Your old cellphone only allowed voice communication. Your smartphone enables instant voice, text, & email communication. You can get your news, research people and products, play games, watch movies and sports, and use thousands of apps for information on any subject. Your smartphone broke the mold by innovating personal communication and online research.
Do you remember the wasted time of going to your bank? Online banking frees you from that. You can apply for loans, open accounts, access your cash, move money, make deposits, pay bills online, and so much more. These functions are available without ever going to your bank. Instantaneous online banking broke the mold by eliminating the wasted time of in person visits to your bank.
How do you use WIFI? This tremendous product provides you with access to the many advantages of the internet without a phone line or a cable. WIFI is what allows you to work from home, at a restaurant, or almost anywhere. Plus, 5G transmits voice, data, and information almost instantaneously around the world. I can use any number of providers to meet and/or broadcast to partners, clients, and subscribers regardless of their location. WIFI has broken the mold that required people to meet in person.
So, what can we learn from the success of these innovations? Each of these products was developed as an ANSWER to a PROBLEM. We can use this same problem-solving approach in both our professional and personal lives. Here is that process…
1st: Identify the REAL problem. Be specific. You can’t solve a problem if you can’t state the problem in simple terms. Communication and research without a smart phone wasted lots of time collecting necessary information. So did multiple visits to the bank. And, there was a tremendous waste of time and resources getting people from multiple locations together to meet for education and/or collaboration.
2nd: List ALL the causes of the problem. There are almost always multiple factors causing the problem. Write them ALL down. The solution will be easier to identify when you see ALL the issues contributing to the problem.
3rd: List ALL the possible solutions. And, remember. There will always be multiple options for solving the problem.
4th: Pick the solution you think is best. Then, get busy implementing it. This process works for solving problems, both personal and professional, big, and small.
And remember that LIFE…rewards ACTION!
“First, Identify The REAL Problem!”
That is today’s Morning Minute!
