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ChangingMinds Blog! > Blog Archive > 11-Dec-08

 


Thursday 11-Dec-08

Sick opportunities

I recently caught one of those bugs that have been going around and all thought of work and learning faded as I lay in bed, hoping I was going to get better soon. My daughter called it 'man sickness' and my wife laughingly agreed. I just moaned a little louder, in the vain hope of a bit more sympathy and a bit less ribaldry. What had been pressing business matters were now a distant thing as my body struggled against menacing microbes.

Abraham Maslow described this effect in his hierarchy of needs, where we lose interest in higher goals as more fundamental needs are threatened. When health and safety are at stake, being a social star quickly falls off the motivational radar.

So don't come knocking on my door whilst I'm croaking like a frog, unless you have cure for my ills. And likewise look before you leap into persuading other people, to see if there is some burning issue they have that must be addressed first.

For a good salesperson, such surprises are less hurdles than opportunities. If you can help people with their urgent problems, then imagine how grateful they will be, and how ready to listen to you then. The power of exchange cannot be underestimated, and even if you have no immediate request, helping those who are down is always 'money in the bank.'


Your Comments


 Abraham Maslow described this effect in his hierarchy of needs. I try and apply this in daily life, keep it simple and real. The less melodrama the better works. Shame though there's people who seem drawn to the quiet and calm simplified (dare I say) content and seem hell bent on compromising that slice of paradise. Such is life.
Enjoy clicking through your site here, hope you're feeling healthier.

:)

-- sevenfortythree


 I have just discovered this website and am very new at blogging. This topic appealed to be because we are now experiencing what one might call a "sick" economy. Sadly, it sometimes take a real knock on the head for American's to address the illness of greed that permeates today's society.
My question is how do we address Maslow's hierarchy when we have homeless, hungry, ill and poverty stricken Americans in such need?
Are there any problems more urgent?


-- Judith A. R.

Dave replies:
Good question, Judith. There are and will be many who are sitting near the bottom of Maslow, which could result in less social concerns as they struggle to survive and hence to more law-breaking. Celente's view of social unrest would be a direct example.


I'm amazed and thrilled to find a blog that combines psychology, humanity, and common sense! I found you while researching something else; I was attracted by your Blog's name, even though I expected it to be either lame or a bunch of "Buzz-word hyperbole" What a wonderful surprise! I agree with Judith A. R. that greed is the sickness underlying our economic problems, but I think that our society suffers from a larger illness, of which greed is only one presentation--and that illness is "Lying". A careful examination of our society (and many others) would uncover such a network of deliberate, inadvertent and unacknowledged untruths that the society's own legitimacy to exist would be questionable. My personal theory (hope) is that individual human beings, by making personal commitments to more honest relationships with their fellow humans and their environment will trigger an unstoppable "quiet revolution" which will change our societies from the inside out. Such a dreamer I am! Happy New Year to all--Thanks for being here!

-- Kathleen R

Dave replies:
Thanks, Kathleen. A good point and interesting notion of lying disease. Slightly expanding it, how about 'deception'? Evolution has perhaps made us a mendacious ape, where out-foxing the next person can be a survival strategy. However I also think that those who escape this dark maze can have easier, happier lives. This is the secret of society: creating trust through trustworthiness, eschewing the seeming short-cuts of deception in the knowledge both of its cost and the superior alternatives.


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Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

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Please help and share:

 

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

+ Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

About
Guest Articles
Blog!
Books
Changes
Contact
Guestbook
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Students
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