BREAKING IT DOWN TO THE RIDICULOUS

Have you ever gone to purchase a big ticket item before and had second thoughts once the salesperson told you the total cost? Of course you have, and the salesperson knows that unless they can get you to forget about the total cost then most likely they are going to lose that sale.

One sales technique that many salespeople use is called “break it down to the ridiculous.” I’m sure you have experienced this at least once in your lifetime. It’s when the salesperson proceeds to break down the total cost of a product or service over a certain period of time like a month or a year in order to make it easier for you to say yes to their offer.

For instance, that $200 watch is only going to cost you $6 a day for one month or that car will only cost you $150 per month on a payment plan. When we look at it from this perspective, it becomes easier for us “mentally” to make the purchase.

Now while this strategy may certainly be used at times to get us to purchase things that we may not really need or can afford, it can also be a great technique that we can use on ourselves to achieve some of our big goals that we have in our lives.

For example, one of my goals is to maintain a healthy body by eating right and exercising everyday. When I first set this goal I found that I had difficulty sticking to it because I would always find myself thinking about the total workout (cost) rather than the individual smaller steps. When I hopped out of bed each morning the last thing my body wanted to comply with was working out for an hour.

So what did I do? I broke it down to the ridiculous. I made a mental and verbal commitment to myself that no matter what I had to do at least one pushup, one sit up, and one jumping jack every day. Also, if it was the day that I was supposed to get on the treadmill, I was only obligated to just 60 seconds. Now of course this sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Well my friend; that is the object of this strategy. It needs to be so ridiculous that we convince ourselves that we can do it.

On those days when I wake up and feel like doing absolutely no exercising, my mind now knows that I would have to really be lazy if I can’t at least do ONE of each exercise. There are two main results which occur from using this method. First, I end up developing the habit of exercising even if the amount is small, and when you are just starting off, creating the habit is far more important than the quantity. Second, 99% of the time I always end up doing my full exercise routine anyway. You will also discover as I did, that typically once you get some sort of momentum going, you will usually just keep on going.

If you are looking to save money on a regular basis then break it down to the ridiculous. Start off by committing to save just a dollar a week. That book that you want to write but never got around to starting because of the total time it would take can finally be written. Commit to writing a minimum of one page a day, if that’s too much then make it one paragraph.

I once read somewhere that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Stop focusing on the total cost or task involved to achieve your goals. Instead, make a commitment today that you will break it down to the ridiculous, so that each day you will be able to do something...anything...that will help take you a step closer towards achieving whatever goals you have set for yourself.

Wishing you success!

Shaun Maddox
The Living Success Network

www.LivingSuccessNetwork.com

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