Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today, we are going to learn about 10 psychology tricks
that will blow your mind. Now, let’s begin.
1. Fewer Choices Are you indecisive? Do you
struggle to make difficult decisions? Let’s say you’re buying a new mattress for your bed. You
go to a store and lay on a dozen mattresses, but you can’t decide which one you want. You may feel
overwhelmed by the wide variety of options at your disposal. Luckily, there’s an easy trick you can
use to make better, smarter, and faster decisions. Most people can’t make up their minds because they
give themselves too many choices. If you have a dozen different mattresses to choose from,
your brain can’t weigh the pros and cons of each option. You start to feel confused. You
may doubt your judgment. You may wonder, “what if I make the wrong choice?” or
“what if I’m missing out on a better option?” As soon as you start down this road, you’re
going to make poor, impulsive decisions. According to a 2000 study in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, there is a maximum number of options any one person can handle. Whether you’re
buying a mattress, a car, or a brand new house, limit your choices to four concrete options.
With only four options on the table, you can confidently assess pros and cons,
eliminate the wrong choices, and decide which option is right for you.
2. Last Impressions Everyone wants to make a
good first impression. We worry endlessly about introductions, handshakes, and body language.
It’s true—the first few minutes are essential—but what about the last few minutes? Are last
impressions as important as first impressions? Your brain pays the most attention to two things:
the very beginning and the very end. A good first impression starts your
conversation on the right foot, but a poor last impression may erase or undo all your hard work.
So, how do you make strong last impressions? Before you say goodbye,
bring the conversation to a personal and meaningful conclusion. Say something like,
“it’s been a pleasure meeting you,” or “I’ve had a great time talking with you tonight.”
Phrases like these remind the other person that you have enjoyed their company, which
gives them a boost of confidence and puts a smile on their face. If you’re sincere and confident,
a great last impression turns every conversation into a positive and memorable experience.
3. Feeling Needed Imagine you need a favor
from someone in your life. Maybe you need help with a project at work. Maybe you need someone
to drive you to the airport over the weekend. In either case, how do you guarantee this person will
come to your aid? What simple psychological trick will persuade others to make sacrifices for you?
People are much more generous when they feel needed. If you want someone to do you a favor,
start the conversation by boosting their ego. Use phrases like, “I need your help” or “I couldn’t
do it without you,” because these phrases raise their confidence and swell their pride.
When someone feels confident and proud, they’re more likely to say yes now and in the future.
In other words, a simple change in phrasing can be the difference between a yes and no. If you need
someone to do you a favor, make them feel needed and valuable. If you can do that, people will jump
at the opportunity to make your life easier. 4. Teaching Mastery
What’s the best way to learn a new skill? Imagine someone is teaching you how to build
a table. After learning how to build a table, you jump into the shop and start building,
but you realize halfway through that you don’t know what you’re doing.
Turns out, there’s a better way to retain new information over time. Normally, after you learn
something, you move onto real-life experience. But what if you added a third step in between?
After you learn a new skill, before you put that skill into practice,
spend a few minutes teaching what you learned to someone new.
This is a critical step in the learning process. Regurgitating new information challenges your
brain to assemble more concrete concepts. Not only will you retain more information,
but you’ll also remember smaller details, which may have otherwise slipped your mind
But that’s not all. Teaching also presents a unique opportunity
to create new connections and draw greater conclusions. By teaching another person,
you gain a fuller understanding while giving you confidence and vital experience moving forward.
5. The Mere-Exposure Effect Is there an easier way to connect
with new people? Making new friends isn’t as difficult or complicated as most people think.
In fact, one psychological trick can make you more likeable in almost any context.
To meet someone new, all you need to do is spend time in the same environment.
Psychologists call this the mere-exposure effect. You naturally gravitate toward people that feel
familiar, even if you haven’t spoken to those people before. In other words, if you want to
befriend someone new, find ways to occupy the same space. Even if you hardly say two words
to each other, familiarity creates comfort. And comfort paves the way for a stronger connection.
6. Memorable Imagery Your brain processes millions
of pieces of information. From perceptual cues to intelligent language, your brain is continuously
bombarded by sensory signals. Unsurprisingly, many signals, even those you want to remember,
accidentally through the cracks. For example, think about what you did yesterday
afternoon. You might remember a few things, but unless you did something extra special,
you may struggle to remember what happened. When your brain is bored or disengaged,
it doesn’t bother storing detailed information. For example, if you’re making a sandwich, your
brain doesn’t need to remember how many slices of turkey you used. So, it goes on autopilot. In the
moment, you can function just fine, but when the moment passes, those memories fade and disappear.
So how do you make a specific information more memorable? If you want to remember something,
especially something insignificant, you need to excite your brain with
interesting and novel stimuli; otherwise, your brain will throw that information away.
Think about the cars passing you on the street. You don’t remember dozens of white
sedans and pickup trucks, but what happens when a bright orange supercar pulls up next to you?
That experience becomes memorable. It grabs your attention and excites your brain.
You rarely see cars so colorful and expensive, so your brain stores this novel experience
in your long-term memory. Just like that orange supercar,
you can store more information transforming boring stimuli into interesting experiences.
To remember a piece of information, like a word or phrase, think of an image that’s weird, funny,
or exciting. The best images have strong visual cues. That way, your brain can easily retrieve
this information from your long-term storage. From grocery lists to phone numbers, you can
remember anything with the right imagery. Give your brain something to latch onto, and those
memories will almost always stick around. 7. High Expectations
How do you motivate others to perform at their best? Performance often correlates with high or
low expectations. If you expect someone to fail, there’s a good chance they’re going to. On the
other hand, if you expect someone to succeed, they’re more likely to perform at their best.
So how do you increase other peoples’ performance? Tell them that you believe
in them. Let them know that you expect great things and have faith in their abilities. Once
you raise your expectations, others will elevate their performance and rise to the occasion.
8. Specific Routines High expectations can motivate others,
but how do you motivate yourself? What psychological trick can you use to increase
your productivity? Whether you want to learn a new skill or create healthier habits,
specificity is the key to a more productive routine.
Let’s say you want to read more books. Instead of saying,
“I’ll read 20 pages a day,” choose a specific block of time reserved for reading. You might say,
“I’m going to read every day from 9:00 to 9:45.” If you’re specific, it’s much more difficult
to procrastinate your goals or habits. You can put off reading 20 pages. But
when 9 o’clock comes around, it’s time to start reading, whether you like it or not.
9. Strategic Negotiation Do you want to become a stronger negotiator?
Let’s say you want to borrow $20 from your friend. You could ask them for $20, but there’s a good
chance they’ll say no. So, what psychological trick can you use to get what you want?
Instead of asking for $20 directly, you can use a decoy to hide your intentions. For example,
try asking for more money than you need. Ask your friend for $50, and when they turn you down,
lower your offer to $20. Most of the time, your friend will say yes, thinking they got the better
end of the deal. But the truth is… they fell for your decoy and played right into your hands.
10. Reading Minds Have you ever wished you could
read someone’s mind? You may not have psychic powers, but there is one psychological trick that
gives you a window into other people’s thoughts. The best part is… you can use this psychological
trick without doing anything differently. Most humans experience a unique emotion called
empathy, which allows you to walk in another person’s shoes.
You may not realize it, but empathy gives you a surprisingly accurate understanding
of someone’s thoughts and experiences. It’s not quite the same as mind reading,
but you’d be surprised how much you can learn by empathizing with another person’s problems.
If you ever need to know what someone is thinking, put yourself in their shoes.
Think about what you might be feeling in their situation, because the emotions you experience
aren’t so different from their own. Thank you for watching TopThink,
and be sure to subscribe, because more incredible content is on the way.