Be a positive persuader

A married couple was driving down the highway doing 90 kilometers per hour. The wife wanted to persuade her husband to agree for a separation.

The husband was behind the wheel.

His wife looked over at him and said, “Honey, I know we’ve been married for 15 years, but I want to separate.”

The husband said nothing but slowly increases speed to 100 kilometers per hour.

She continued to persuade her husband.

She then said, “I don’t want you to try to talk me out of it, because I’ve been having an affair with your best friend, and he’s a better lover than you.”

Again the husband was not persuaded.

He stayed quiet and just sped up as he clenched his hands on the wheel.

She said, “I want the house.” Again the husband speeds up and now was doing 110 kilometers per hour.

She said, “I want the kids too.”

The husband keeps driving faster and faster, until he’s up to 120 kilometers per hour.

She said, “I want the car, the checking account, and all the credit cards too.” The husband slowly started to veer toward a bridge overpass piling, as she said, “Is there anything you want?”

The husband said, “No, I’ve got everything I need right here.”

She asked, “What’s that?”

The husband replied just before they hit the wall at 130 kilometers per hour,

“I’ve got the airbag, and you don’t.” One thing for sure here is that the wife is lousy when it comes to persuasion.

Speaker and motivator Charlie “Tremendous” Jones talks about persuasion. He says, “All our lives we encounter persuaders. Those who were successful are primarily responsible for the way we are. Because some of us are exposed to some positive persuaders, we are drawn to become positive persuaders. I believe all successful persuaders are a result of having been successfully persuaded at some time in their lives.

What a strange world it would be if there were no persuaders. Life is one continuous series of persuasions. At home, it is the parent persuading the child, the child persuading the parent, the salesman persuading the prospect, the lawyer convincing the jury, the boy persuading the girl, or the politician persuading his constituency. And so on and on.

To be a persuader, you must be persuaded, and to continue to grow we must practice the art of persuasion. The old saying, “Nothing succeeds like Success,” fits the persuader perfectly. The earlier in life you begin, the fuller your life will become. It is only in sharing and giving that we realize what we have, and we can provide nothing better than persuading others to worthwhile goals, right motives, and eternal values.

I think it is safe to say that sometimes in our lives we will be persuaded to become positive persuaders seeking to give and share, or we’ll not be persuaded and spend the rest of our lives waiting for a break, taking and keeping.

I hope these thoughts on persuasion have increased your awareness of the great privilege and obligation of the persuader. The world needs one more positive persuader. Is it you?”

Jones is right on the dot. I’ve been featured in many of the country’s major business conferences and conventions, and I have had people come to me and say, “I heard you speak a few years ago and followed your advice. I read books, I exercise and I live my life correctly. I want to thank you for changing my life.” It’s such a great thing.

Things are a little different these days. While big events and conferences may become rare due to physical distancing the same work is now done online. In fact, technology amplifies the work and enabled me to reach out to more people than ever. As in the old ways as will be in the new economy when all these crises settles, a word of encouragement, an act of kindness and dispensation of hope can change lives. And we have to be a positive persuader first to our family and then to our community whether it be physical or online.

People today are living in fear. Every person is in some ways struggling. Everyone on this side of eternity is fighting a war for personal and economic survival. In whatever sphere of influence you have, dispense hope and encouragement. Vaclav Havel says: “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” I agree. And when we see that, then things usually turn out well.

(Connect with Francis Kong in www.facebook.com/franciskong2. Or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 DZFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.)