Whaaaaaaaaaaat????? We don’t make our own decisions???
Of course we do! Don’t get all up in arms just yet. While this video shows us how marketing can INFLUENCE our decisions, we are still very much in control of that decision. Now, you can make all the excuses you want to justify the decision you make, YOU still make the decision. Make no mistake about it.
For this article I have used the originals title so I can answer the very question it poses. YES, YES and YES. We are in control of our decisions. Can exterior “forces” influence those decisions? Of course but at the end of the day we allow those influences to guide the decision we take. Let me give you an example:
The speaker explains an example of how we are not in control of our decisions by describing a curious study about organ donation and why some countries have more and others have less. Now, I am paraphrasing quite a bit and if you would like to see this in the video, it is around minute 8.45. Anyway, he tells us that the reason that some countries have more than others is because of the way the question is postulated on the DMV form. I fully believe this is true. Marketing experts know this and survey experts have been using this tactic for years (think “loaded questions”). Nothing new here. But where I begin to disagree with Dan is from here on. In fact, Dan makes my point for me by stating that the decision is so difficult for us that we simply decide to accept the answer that was provided.
What is my point, you ask? Let me tell you.
When making a decision we don’t always choose the correct one for us, but we choose the one which is normally the easiest and which requires the least amount of effort at that moment regardless of possible future outcome. It is not because we are puppets being manipulated, but because we allow ourselves consciencely to be manipulated because it frees us from responsibility and effort. Another, example of this very premise is when signing your mortgage papers (this happened to me!!!). There is endless fine print in those papers which is your responsibility to read and understand. If you sign without reading and understanding that fine print, of your own free will, and later you find out that the terms are unfavorable to you, any court in the world will tell you should have read and understood what you were signing and rule in favor of the bank. However, when you are faced with that stack of papers and all those terms and conditions and are dying to get into that great new pad, you have to decide what to do. The wise choice is to dedicate a few hours and read the T & Cs carefully and understand what you are signing. It is your decision to take the easy route and go and have some beers with friends or stay at home reading the fine print (we could get into a discussion about our will or lack thereof but we’ll leave that for a later article). No one else makes that decision for you.
I could go on and on with examples like this, from major to minor, but I think you can see my point. I’m not trying to judge whether the decision itself is good or bad, only you know if it is or not but rather I want you to begin to see how we get to where we are in life through the decisions we make on a daily basis. Decide to eat a a double cheeseburger XXL meal everyday and you’ll be fat and unhealthy for the rest of your life. Decide to eat vegetarian and you won’t (more than likely). It’s as simple as that.
One of my biggest goals in life to help you see just that and give you another perspective on how to transform your goals, dreams and desires into reality through making better conscience choices and by taking responsibility for your future. I want to see you succeed and I truly want to see you enjoy the best in life. We just need to get you looking at decisions in a different way.
Take responsibility for your actions and decisions and watch your life transform before your very eyes. Watch your “luck” change dramatically. Watch how things seem to effortlessly fall into place. Create excuses for poor decision making or take the easy route and the outcome is fairly clear.
You decide!
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