GET PEOPLE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO!

Wendy Lipton-Dibner, MA

You're sleeping soundly when suddenly your eyes pop open and just like that — you're wide awake.

You lay in the dark staring at nothing, drenched in sweat while your heart pounds in your chest and your mind races from thought to thought without completion.

Now begins the familiar routine ...

Half asleep, you roll out of bed and shuffle through the dark ... one foot in front of the other ... Arms and hands outstretched, touching walls that aren't there, you find your way to the kitchen where you promptly stub your toe and whisper words that will never appear in a children's fairy tale.

Welcome to 2:00 a.m. Hell — the loneliest place on Earth.

If this sounds familiar, please know you're not alone in your aloneness.

In a national research study of thousands of doctors and executives, 100% of respondents reported waking in the middle of the night, consumed with thoughts about work and/or home problems.

The really fascinating finding in the study was this:

All respondents reported their 2:00 a.m. Hell could be summarized by one question ...

The Universal Question

I've had the privilege of meeting hundreds of thousands of people in my work as a professional speaker, media guest, coach and trainer. From Akron to Australia in industries ranging from healthcare to hair care, people always ask me the same question:

How do I get people to do what I want them to do?

I'm guessing you're not surprised. Nearly everything that leads us to 2:00 a.m. Hell finds its beginning in something someone else did or didn't do.

What would life be like if everyone would just do what you want them to do?

At home, dishes would get washed and put away, dirty socks would land inside the hamper, the remote control would always be in your hands and no one else would even think about taking that last piece of pizza.

At work? Well, if everyone would just do what you want them to do, things would get done faster and easier, you'd make more money and you could spend more time doing what you love instead of battling the things you wish would disappear.

Whether you're a doctor, an entrepreneur, an executive or non-profit volunteer ... in a relationship or living single ... mother, father or grandparent ... no matter what your age, occupation or gender ... The simple truth is: life is better when you know how to get people to do what you want them to do.

But you can't really get people to change — can you?

They say we can't change other people. They even say we ourselves can't change — that we are creatures of habit, born to be who we are and nothing anyone else says or does can change us.

In my experience, those statements are myths. There are proven formulas you can use to get people to do what you want them to do and more importantly, to get them to actually want to do what you want them to do!

I first discovered the magical formulas at age 2 (yes, that's me in the photo).

I loved those private moments with my mom, so I figured out how to get her to stay there with me for as long as I wanted!

All I had to do was not ... well, you get the idea.

As I grew older, I became a dedicated student of human behavior. From graduate school forward, I studied what makes people do what they do and continually searched for strategies to get people to change.

I certainly wasn't the only person fascinated with finding the secrets to move people to action. The fact is everyone tries to get someone else to change at one point or another.

• Mothers use tricks to get their children to eat broccoli.

• Teachers use persuasion to get students to sit quietly.

• Employers use threats and incentives to get employees to be more productive.

• Advertisers use tactics to get customers to buy products and services.

• Entrepreneurs use strategies to get new customers to choose them over their competition

• Professional speakers use stories to get a rise from their audiences

• And teenagers ... ah they are the masters of manipulation!

Let's face it — at some point everyone tries to get someone else to change. It's in the minds and conversations of men and women in bedrooms and boardrooms all over the world.

• How can I get him to tell me what he's thinking?

• How can I get her to stop asking me what I'm thinking?

• How do I get my boss to give me a promotion?

• What do I need to do to get people to come to my business?

• How do I get my employees to stop texting on the job?

• How do I get more traffic to my website?

• How do I get people to LIKE, SHARE, CLICK and BUY everything I offer online?

And the list goes on and on.

After studying, testing, refining and teaching formulas to move people to action, I can tell you it all boils down to 5 simple steps.

5 Steps to Move People to Action!

Step 1: Identify the precise actions you want people to take. Most change initiatives fail right from the get-go because we don't clarify what we really want from people.

Yeah ok, but I just want people to come to my website.

Really, is that all you want? Or do you want them to actually DO something when they get to your website?

• Do you want them to read the words on your site?

• Do you want them to give you their contact information?

• Do you want them to buy what...