Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen to television commercials and dialogue in shows and movies, or hear people around me in everyday life use commands such as
following examples, I feel dismayed for them. This is because I understand something that many others do NOT!
And, since learning what I now understand, while I am BOMBARDED every day from all directions with commands like those listed below, in all their variations, I feel worse and worse for not speaking up!
I feel especially badly for all those advertisers out there who are ignorant about this, because I also realize they are often sincerely excited about what they are sharing and are working very hard to attract attention of others.
Examples:
- Don’t miss this [fill in blank]!
- Don’t delay!
- Don’t forget to be there!
- Don’t forget to stop and buy milk [or pick up dry cleaning -- fill in blank]!
- Do not forget to be on time!
- You can’t miss out on this opportunity!
- Don't be afraid to ASK!
- Would you like to [fill in blank]? If so, don’t wait another minute! Order Your [fill in blank] NOW!
- Don’t Live With Depression [or fill in blank]
And so on...
This is because your subconscious mind works in strange ways. I learned this while training to become a hypnotherapist.
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FACT: Your subconscious mind cannot recognize a negative!
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As a result, when a person reads or hears statements similar to above, their subconscious mind actually understands command as follows.
Examples:
- Miss this [fill in blank]!
- Delay!
- Forget to be there!
- Forget to stop and buy milk [or pick up dry cleaning -- fill in blank]!
- Forget to be on time!
- Miss out on this opportunity!
- Be afraid to ASK!
- Would you like to [fill in blank]? If so, WAIT another minute! Order Your [fill in blank] NOW! (in this case, you might think it’s okay because negative statement is followed by a positive request for action... but keep reading, you’ll see how it can be improved!)
- Live With Depression [or fill in blank]
Whenever I have tried to explain this to those who use this type of command in their advertising or their everyday language, they ALWAYS say, “I’m trying to create a sense of URGENCY.”
But research is absolute on this...
The subconscious mind CANNOT recognize a negative command.
And so, anytime you use a statement that includes a negative command, you are actually giving OPPOSITE command for action or results you desire!
