Thinking-Rich.com

Along with reading motivational books and blogs to rev up your money mind, are you listening to audio books or podcasts? Depending on your learning style and receptivity you might actually be better off by listening - especially with headphones to cut down on distractions.

The reason I ask is because of an experiment I read about in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point.” If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s a fascinating look at how small things can make huge differences in business, society and success.

In the chapter “The Law of the Few,” Gladwell discusses a study that was done on the effects of head movement on a person’s receptiveness to a message he or she heard.

Here’s the quick and easy: Three groups of college students were told they were part of test to determine the quality of a set of headphones while the listener’s head was in motion. The groups listened to a few songs and a short editorial on whether college tuition should be raised. Group one was told to shake their heads from side to side while listening, group two was told to nod their heads up and down, and the third group was instructed to keep their heads still.

After listening to the audio, the groups were asked a series of questions about the sound quality and then the trick question: Should their tuition be raised?

The students in group one - who’d been making the “negative” head movement - “disagreed strongly” with a raise in tuition, so much in fact, that they argued the fees should decrease. Group two - who’d been happily nodding - thought the tuition increase was a good idea, even though the money would be coming out of their own bank accounts. The third group thought the rate was fine just where it was.

All of this happened under the radar of the students’ conscious minds. They thought they were just checking whether the headphones were crappy or not. But what if we did it intentionally? What if, when we’re listening to a motivational track, we consciously decide to nod our heads? How about, when self-doubt creeps up and we hear that nagging voice, we consciously decide to negate it by the simple act of shaking our heads?

It’s certainly worth a try. It’s free after all. If you use affirmations or self-talk, make sure to nod the next time you say them. If you have some audio on thinking rich, the law of attraction, or any other self-improvement, just keep up a relaxed, easy, agreeable nodding as you take in the message.

If you happen to get phone calls from a person who’s less than supportive or who never has anything positive to say, try shaking your head purposefully when you hear negativity that has an affect on you. You don’t have to argue or say a word. Just deliberately shake your head “no.” (This might cause a problem if you do it in their presence … or it might solve one.)

Let me know how this works for you. If you need a podcast to get started on, Steve at stevepavlina.com has some MP3s you can listen to online or download. Some relate to money, others cover different aspects of self-improvement. I’ll look around for other links and add them to this post. If you know of some good wealth-enhancing audio, please leave the link or referral in a comment.

Thinking rich agreeably …

~$~