Over the past couple of years I kept hearing the phrase “it’s all just an illusion.” I never really understood what that meant until this past weekend. I was listening to a podcast where salesmen for big money corporations talked shop and the secrets to their successful careers, and it suddenly made sense. Psychology and propaganda. Allow me to elaborate…
Do you ever just sit and really watch a commercial? No? Just me?
Luckily with streaming services we can avoid them for the most part, but once upon a time society was bombarded with them. There was no escaping them unless we wanted to risk missing part of our favorite show (with no ability to pause, reward, or start the show over…shocking I know.) commercials had a captive audience.
Psychology is used for everything. Everything. To grocery store layouts, police interrogation tactics, car sales, and you guessed it…commercials. So the basic reason behind an ad is make you aware of a product, a company, and to entice you to buy said product from said company. But how do they entice us? They either appeal to our desires or resort to fear mongering.
Buy this car and you’ll drive through creeks and up mountains while laughing with your best bud. Purchase life insurance so you won’t be a further burden on your family after you die. Buy this brand of pizza so your family love you and praise your effects. Get your doctor to prescribe our medication or your woman will leave you for a younger more virile man.
You get the gist. It’s all manipulation. Why do they play on our fears, insecurities, and desires? Because it works. They know if they trigger our feelings and then effect our behavior.
Let’s look at grocery store design a little more closely…hang with me here… When we just go in to buy our weekly groceries we don’t realize that everything in that store to it’s layout, lights, music, temperature, and product placement is all calculated and highly studied and tested design. It’s a choreographed dance to get you to buy more stuff. Effecting your emotions and your behavior is a highly lucrative business to be in.
In short, people are intentionally playing on your feelings so they can influence your behavior and get your cash. They’re intentionally trying to keep you scared, keep you focused on your insecurities, and on what you’re lacking in your life. I promise this isn’t a lecture on consumerism, but an attempt to help you be aware of the world around you.
Teachers use classroom management techniques, therapists use tools to aid in growth and awareness, laws and rules are put into effect to keep us safe…all of these are for the greater good (for the most part). But what about people who have bad intentions? The supervisor who plays on your guilt and inability to say no to get you to work overtime…the friend who says they won’t be friends with you anymore unless you do x, y, z…the salesmen playing on your insecurities to get you to buy a useless product.
The list is literally endless. What makes me angry is the times I knew something wasn’t right or someone was just trying to manipulate me, but I went along with it anyway. People have been manipulating us since day 1, and as discussed above, a lot of people make their living off solely manipulating us. And we let them. We let them knowingly and unknowingly.
I have a theory that many of us doing this have what’s called an “external locus of control.” That’s just a fancy way of saying that we think that whatever happens to us in our life is because of outside forces and that we are powerless. These outside forces effect how we feel on the inside.
We end up giving away our inner strength and power to people and entities that don’t deserve it. They target our insecurities and vulnerabilities and sink their hooks into us. We open to door to victimhood because we’ve been taught that others outside of ourselves know better, do better, and are better. We allow ourselves to be manipulated and it leaves us feeling helpless.
Power comes from knowledge and awareness. Be aware of what’s going on around you. Be aware of motives and intentions. You are not helpless. You are not powerless. You do not have to become a victim. Once you realize someone is trying to exploit you, you can make a conscious decision to be assertive, place boundaries, or disengage from them. You can break the cycle!
This week’s challenge is simple. Watch a couple of ads and then ask yourself:
- Are they trying to scare me or entice me?
- What thoughts and feelings are being triggered in me?
- If you are triggered, what are the insecurities, unhealthy beliefs, values, etc. that are getting hooked?
Are there people in your life who have a history of manipulating you? When you’re ready, take the questions further when dealing with them.
Unbound Light 