My sisters are coming for a visit at the end of June. One is coming from Puerto Rico and the other is coming from Wisconsin. Ruth and I are really looking forward to their visit for many reasons, one of which is that they are great cooks.
I called each of them to verify the travel itineraries. The one form Puerto Rico is very excited, as is her husband who has never been to Las Vegas. The one from Wisconsin is beginning to dread the plane ride. She has taken plane rides many times before so I was a little puzzled. She revealed that a couple of recent events such as the disappearance of the Malaysian plane have brought back unpleasant memories.
My sister had an incident many years ago where one of the plane’s engines caught on fire on the tarmac. It was on a propeller plane. She was horrified as you can imagine.
I am researching the 7 Triggers to Yes – The Magic of Influence webinar that I will present for TechNation on May 28. The research has brought to light scientific evidence that when memories are stored, the emotions associated with the events are also stored. This is accomplished by the part of our brain called the amygdala. The memories are “tagged’ with those emotions. When we remember anything, the emotions of the memory override the actual facts of the event.
I was about to encourage my sister when I realized that there is no rational argument that I can use to refute her feelings. Her emotions are her emotions and there is nothing that I can do about that. This one incident, and its accompanying emotions, overrules any logical thinking. It matters not that she has safely traveled by plane many times, as do millions of passengers each year. The amygdala tagged plane travel for her with a very negative emotion and that is that.
So what do I do? I will attempt to activate some of the 7 Triggers to see if I can minimize and alleviate her fear. I will try to activate the Friendship and Hope triggers since they are the most powerful. I will attempt to active a couple of others such as the Reason Why and the Consistency triggers.
If I fail, I guess that I will have to make a trip to Wisconsin to see her. Then I will just have to alleviate Ruth’s fear of flying or use a protective brace for my hand. She has a very powerful grip when the plane takes off.
Please join me for the TechNation 7 Triggers webinar where I will discuss seven triggers that influence the amygdala to make the quick yes decision before the thinking brain gets a shot. These are seven powerful persuasive triggers. I will present the webinar on May 28th, at 2PM EDT. Mark your calendar.
Click Here to register.
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