The Power of Perception

I wish everyone wore one of those Italian charm bracelets that enable you to choose the charms and simply clip them on. When I was sitting next to one of our Joint Venture Forum Members and reading her charm bracelet in Toronto the other day, I saw Mother Mary and “I Love Polar Bears”, so I asked her about her faith and the significance of the polar bear on her charm bracelet. A very interesting conversation ensued, in which I got to know her at a deeper level. When I got to the airport to fly home, I went to a booth selling these charm bracelets and bought a bunch for my daughter. It was interesting deciding which charms to buy her, (it took me a full hour) and also very interesting to see what charms are available, including “I Hate Men”, “Support Our Troops”, “Las Vegas”, “Daddy’s Girl”, “I Love My Man” (Note – not one reference to ‘Husband’), “Quilting”, pictures of dogs and cats, birthstones, cartoons, colleges, flags, music… you name it!

Bill Bernbach said, "Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature, what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action, even though his language so often camouflages what really motivates him. For if you know these things about a man you can touch him at the core of his being." The more you know about someone, the more effectively you can communicate with them, help them, understand them, and love them. We’re always looking for tells and clues and information about the people we want to know better, and open-ended questions work very well. What books do they read? What are their religious beliefs? A charm bracelet could tell you a lot in a short amount of time. A website could tell you a lot, too, but not as much personal information. The charm bracelet is about who they really are, whereas a website (as opposed to a Blog or a Vlog) tells you what they want you to think about them.

We can also learn a lot from the words that people use. When you hear, “I will try” (TRY= To Relive Yesterday’s Failures), “I’ll do my best” “I can’t guarantee anything” or excuses, you know you’re talking to a non-starter. When you hear, “Let’s make it happen”, “Whatever it takes”, “It’s as good as done”, “Piece of cake” and “You can count on me”, you’re talking to an Eagle. Read that bumper sticker. Take note of the charms on her bracelet. Don’t talk about yourself but learn about others to see if you are even interested in working with them. Information, properly applied, is power. Perception is reality. Make sure you know who the person is behind the mask.

Here’s an interesting project. Visit this webpage and choose 20 charms for yourself. You might learn something about your own values, expectations, beliefs, and aspirations. And if you want to find over 400 top Joint Venture Partners, join the DollarMakers Joint Venture Forum: Click here.

Robin J. Elliott www.dollarmakers.com