How To Use Incentives [ Session - 2 ]

In session 2 you’ll learn how to use incentives to motivate thoughts and behavior, and the difference between inspiration and motivation. You’ll also be doing an exercise to help you put these new tools into practice.

• Since incentives are lying underneath all of our thoughts, decisions, and actions, you can use them to persuade.
• An Incentive is something that motivates choice or behavior. Example: An incentive for playing the lottery might be winning $1 million.
• A good question to ask is, “What is the incentive lying behind the surface unseen that influences behavior?”
• The anticipation of getting something is often a more powerful motivator, or incentive, than actually betting that thing. Getting, kills wanting.
• The best persuasion tactic is aligning the incentives with the goal. Then, keep connecting the motivator with the outcome.
• You can never talk about a person’s incentive too much. People often forget why things are really important so it’s important to continue to align incentives.
• Align your incentives with the incentives of the other person. Find a time in the future when your successes and incentives intersect with theirs.
• A person will only do something in the real world that they first see in their own mind.
• Most people can’t figure out the value of something or what something is worth. To successfully persuade someone, it’s important to put the value into terms that make sense to them.
• Have a bigger vision for the other person than they have for themselves.
• Inspiration and Motivation:

1. Inspiration is seeing something bigger in the future that will pull you into that future.
2. Motivation is something that forces you to take action.

Exercise

• Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.
• On the left side write “Fears & Frustrations”, on the right side write “Wants & Aspirations”. Try to relate these to the future you want to avoid and the future you want to create, respectively. Write 3-5 in each column.
• Next, honestly ask yourself which one is really motivating you the most. Put a star next to it.
• Extra Credit: When you’re interacting with others find out what is motivating them. Ask them what their fears & frustrations/wants & aspirations are. Use their words and keep repeating it.
•  Then, align this incentive with all the future thoughts, decisions, and actions you’re persuading them towards.