The Carrot? Or the Stick? Which Do YOU Prefer?

In this article, we’re going to discuss something vitally important that may very well help you understand a LOT about yourself and everyone around you on this planet.  Yes, that includes dealing with sellers, buyers, private lenders, and even those alien creatures we love to call tenants. Also-your mother, brother, father, sister, sons and daughters, uncles, best friends and distant relatives.

So You might NOT want to read this article… Unless you want to discover the secrets behind the reasons WHY people DO or DON’T Do the things they do…or don’t do.

It all comes down to TWO things. The Carrot and the Stick.

The CARROT represents something GOOD that we WANT, while the STICK represents something BAD that we DON’T want. 

It’s taken from the example of getting a donkey to pull a cart. You dangle the carrot in front of him, while having the stick ready to give further motivation if needed.

There are many ways that this same sentiment can be expressed, such as:

Moving towards something vs. moving away from something (thank you, Tony Robbins).

Love vs. Fear; Pleasure or Pain; Good vs. Bad; Good vs. Evil; Desire to Gain Pleasure vs. Desire to Avoid Pain (thank you, Napoleon Hill); or Incentives vs. Consequences.

All of those expressions basically represent the same thing. And while many of us are at least somewhat familiar with the idea, have you ever really stopped to consider what truly motivates YOU? What kind of person ARE you? Are you the type of person who typically seeks to get what you want, or do you just try to avoid pain?

And don’t just casually blow this off because you think you know. Honestly ask yourself this question. It’s vitally important. Start with yourself, because it’s all about you. And once you truly understand yourself, you’ll be in a much better position to understand and properly, positively influence others around you – both personally and professionally. Still not sure? Ok, keep reading…

Things That People Are Typically Afraid Of: Fear of missing out; Fear of getting hurt – or of hurting someone. Fear of regret. Fear of FAILURE (that’s a big one). Fear of SUCCESS (crazy, right?). Fear of the Unknown. Fear of abandonment or of being alone. Fear of the dark. And everyone’s favorite: Fear of clowns (watch the movie “IT”).

Things Most People Desire: Love, money, sexual gratification, good health, a sound mind, a clean conscience, desire to express yourself, desire to give back or help out our fellow man, better relationships, to laugh more, to do more of the things we enjoy doing, peace of mind, simplicity, good food, drink, and music, desire to improve ourselves, desire to show that we matter and that people care about us. Peace.

So now that you know of some of these common fears and desires, I’m sure you’ll recognize some familiar things from those lists. And while we all seem to want the same things from the ‘good’ list and not want the things from the ‘bad’ list, one is always going to be stronger than the other. I didn’t make this up. It’s just human nature.

Did you know that most people are ‘moving away from’ type of people. They do the things they do because they’re AFRAID of something. This is why scarcity is so effective in sales – because people are afraid of missing out! It also explains why some people remain in a toxic relationship instead of getting out – because they’re afraid of being alone or they’re afraid of the unknown. As they say, “The devil you know is better than the one you don’t!”

If you’re not as successful as you’d like to be, chances are it’s because you’re afraid of something. You might be afraid of what you’d have to give up in order to be successful, so you keep hanging out with your stupid friends that are bringing you down. You might be afraid of getting rejected or looking stupid, so you don’t pick up the phone and make the calls you know you need to make. Sound familiar?

I could go on and on about this, but space is limited here. So we’ll have to get to the next juicy part: Secrets to understand & influencing others in next month’s article!

So be sure to check this space here one month from now, when we’ll finish up our discussion.

In the meantime, go grab a carrot!

Until Next Time,

Tony Pearl