# 045 - 9 Phrases that Create Immediate Action

Why is it that words can have such a dramatic effect on human behaviour? Well you only have to go back 2 million years because it’s your 2 million year old reptile brain that controls virtually everything you think about and therefore every action you take following that thought. Your 2 million old brain is constantly alert and on the lookout for problems. It especially likes anything that can potentially cause you danger and this means that many people live in a constant state of fear. I’m sure you’ve heard of the acronym F.E.A.R. which stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Montaigne the great French philosopher (1533 – 1592) said “He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears” but I like his most famous quote: ”My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened” Even in the bible over 2,000 years ago there is a quote in Job 3:25 that says “That which I have feared has come upon me.” The very act of thinking about something can make it happen or bring it into being. William James the father of modern psychology (1842 – 1910) said that “That the greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” That’s crazy isn’t it? Thoughts travel faster than anything in the universe…and you will all have examples of that. A thought can travel so quickly in your own brain from thought to action or a thoughts can spark your hormones into releasing chemicals that either inspire you or deflate you. So years and years before "The Secret" or before anyone “bought into” the idea that thoughts are things….and thoughts most certainly ARE things….we see many of the great thinkers in life acknowledging that as being true. So, if thoughts are things and thoughts alone can make things happen, then the use of words will allow your thoughts to affect someone else’s brain. We are, after all, just moist robots, programmed by language. (Before we get into the 9 Phrases That Create Immediate Action, I want you to remember one crucial thing; that whenever you start something new, something for the first time, you will not be very good at it. That doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you use these as and when you can.) These came from a great book by Chris Voss entitled: Never Split the Difference - Negotiating as if your life depended on it. I thoroughly recommend it to you. 1. “Is now a bad time to talk?” 2. “Have you given up on this project?” 3. “How am I supposed to do that?” 4. “What does it take to be successful around here?” 5. “My name is Ray. What’s the Ray discount?” 6. “Your offer is very generous. I’m sorry that just doesn’t work for me.” 7. “I don’t see how that would ever work.” 8. “Why would you ever do business with me?” or “Why would you ever change from your existing supplier, they’re great.” 9. “It seems like you strongly value the fact that you’ve always paid us on time.” Or “It seems like you don’t care what position you are leaving me in.”