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There are many different ways to persuade people to your way of thinking. Politicians, writers, and advertising companies use multiple techniques to get the masses to buy into their message. But persuasion techniques are important for everyone to learn.

We are constantly trying to persuade others in one direction or another. Whether it is trying to convince your friends to eat at one restaurant instead of another, or getting your boss to give you a raise, being able to persuade other people is important.

Ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle understood the power of persuasion. They used persuasion (rhetoric) to win support from the people. In his writings, Aristotle outlined three elements of persuasion; logic, emotion and character.

A lot has changed since the fifth century B.C. and many new persuasion techniques have been developed. But do they really work? I set up a challenge to test 5 common persuasion techniques to see if they really work.

Persuasion vs. Manipulation

There is a difference between persuasion and manipulation. Being persuasive is having social influence to move others to your way of thinking. Manipulation is usually always unethical and does not pay off in the long run. While doing my research for some of the best persuasion techniques, I found that many of them were borderline manipulation tactics.

Manipulation uses other people’s emotions against them. It involves making people do something that they obviously don't want to do. If you’ve been manipulated, you understand that feeling. Giving misinformation, reducing others to ‘things’ instead of people, and attempting to control are all characteristics of manipulation. Here are some other common manipulation tactics to watch out for,

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Top 5 Potential 2 Success Post of 2009

The New Year is coming and as I look back on 2009, I can’t help but to think of all of the exciting things that have happened to me as well as the site this year. So I thought it would be a good idea to look back at the best posts of this year based on pageviews, reader reactions, and my personal favorites. Starting with a “post” that almost made the list.

The Runner-Up:

“Free Copy of The Quick Confidence Guide to Potential 2 Success Subscribers”

This was by far the most viewed feed item of this year! This didn’t make the list because technically, it wasn’t a post. This was an announcement that went out to all of my subscribers that I was giving away an ebook copy of my upcoming book “The Quick Confidence Guide” to all subscribers. I had an idea for this book in late 2008 and began writing it soon after. I’ve been working on it throughout the year but before I got it published, I wanted to thank my subscribers by giving them a chance to have the ebook version for free but I only made it available for one month.

It was an amazing response. Once the promotion ended, and I got the feedback from those who read it, I went back and added more information and a more chapters. I was so happy to see that there was a demand for the book. The full paperback version is going to be released in January 2010. You can reserve a copy at the bottom of this page and receive 10% off.

1) How To Wake Up Early Without Hating It: My 3 A.M. Experiment

I placed this article #1 on the list for many reasons. The first reason is because this experiment has changed my life and the way I operate day-to-day. Since waking up at 3 a.m., I have been able to get much more done. I’ve also become much more disciplined and focused since I made the change. This has also proven my belief that once you make a decision to change a habit in your life, it is possible if you are willing to do what is necessary.

Another reason why I love this post is because of the response I got. I’ve gotten more questions and responses via comment section, forum posts, email, and “@ replies” on Twitter than any other article posted this year....

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The Change Blindness Phenomenon and How to Stop it From Ruining Your Plan

I came across a video recently that made me think about life and how we get from point A to point B. The video was about Change Blindness. Change Blindness is the phenomenon that occurs when a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene.

Experiments have been done to see if people would notice subtle differences in two identical pictures. Researchers would show the subject a picture then the exact same picture would then flash but with a change to a significant item in the picture. Many people have a problem finding the changes. It’s one thing to not notice an item that has changed in a picture, but it is a completely different thing to have that change happen in real life.

Watch this Change Blindness Video

75% of the people did not notice the change! I thought that was amazing and I wondered if I would have noticed the difference.

Changes in Our Daily Lives

Watching this made me think about changes in our daily lives. Most people feel as though they have a great understanding of how things change in their lives. But I wonder how often change happens without us even realizing it. Change blindness is a visual phenomenon but wonder if the same thing can be applied to other parts of our perception.

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The Ultimate Guide to Giving and Taking Constructive Criticism

photo-© pressmaster - Fotolia.com

Life is full of give and takes. But when it comes to criticism, most people would rather give than take. People react differently when they are criticized. Some people get angry while others may lose confidence in themselves. Then there are some who can take criticism and apply it in a positive way. My goal in this article is to help you become one of those people.

Giving criticism can be as difficult as taking criticism. If your intentions are good but the delivery is not, your message will not be well received. When that happens, the person will not have the opportunity to improve. Instead, the feedback may be seen as an attack. That is why understanding how to give criticism in a constructive way is so important.

The Magic of Feedback

Getting feedback is a valuable tool for self improvement. Sometimes it is hard to hear that you are not perfect but the truth is, you’re not. When I was a child, I couldn’t stand to hear that I was doing something incorrectly. Now, I constantly ask for feedback because I realize that it really does help me improve myself.

If you are going to try to do anything worthwhile in life, you will be criticized. Even if you choose not to do anything worthwhile, you may still be a target of criticism. People who are unable to handle feedback well are unlikely to reach their full potential. They miss out on the experiences and insights of others. Learning how to take criticism constructively is big step towards improving your performance and effectiveness in all areas of your life.

I have decided to collect as much information on this topic as possible and I’ve separated them so that you will have a situation followed by how to give and take constructive criticism in that situation,

For the Friend-How to address an issue with a friend without losing them.

For the Blogger-For all of you bloggers out there, this will help you to handle negative feedback.

For the Artist/Performer-This is for artist, musicians, speakers, and anyone else who presents their craft to an audience.

For the Employee-If you would like to know how to talk to a fellow employee or boss about their habits or actions, this section is for you.

For the Employer-Being in charge means that you will have to give criticism and sometimes it means that you need to take some too.

For the Romantic Relationship-Giving feedback the wrong way in this situation could lead to a major argument. Learn how to dish it and take it in this section.

For the Friend

Friends are supposed to be able to talk to each other open and honestly. But giving criticism the wrong way may offend a very important person in your life. Saying “no offense” before or after a harsh criticism won’t make it any less painful. Here are some ways to give and take constructive criticism without ruining a friendship.

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The 3 A.M. Experiment Part 2: From Experiment to Lifestyle

“You’ve been waking up at what at time the past few weeks?”

“Three.”

“Three?”

“Yes, Three.”

“Well, I usually go to bed at around three every night so I guess I’ll give you a call before I go to sleep to tell you good night.”

That is how many of my conversations have been going in the past few weeks when I revealed to someone about my 3 a.m. experiment. Some would say that they admired my ability to wake up early. Others wondered how I was able to do it without falling asleep at work. And a few just looked at me as if I were crazy. It was as if I just told them that I thought that The Transformers were real. On one of my first days of waking up at 3 I posted an update on my Facebook page and the only other person awake to respond at the time was a friend who just delivered twins. I don’t think she was awake by choice.

In How to Wake Up Early Without Hating It: My 3 a.m. Experiment pt1, I wrote about my fist week of waking up at 3 a.m. I also gave some tips that would help you get out of bed with more energy. In this post I tell you more about my experience and my conclusion of the entire experiment.

I recommend waking up at 3 for those who have a flexible work schedule, entrepreneurs, writers and others who have the ability to control their own time. But I still think that waking up 1-2 hours earlier is extremely beneficial even if you have a 9-5 schedule.

One of the rules that I established for myself was that I would not be taking in any caffeine during my experiment. That meant no caffeinated tea, coffee, energy drinks, chocolate and sweets. To my surprise, I had no need for any of those energy boosters. Instead I would drink decaffeinated tea and an all natural powdered vegetable drink.

I also allowed myself a 15 minute powernap in the afternoon if I felt tired. The strange thing was there was only one afternoon in the past few weeks when I needed a powernap. The powernap lasted about 20 minutes and didn’t affect my night sleep.

Monday & Tuesday

A friend and I have been working out in the mornings together for the past few weeks. He is not an early riser but I wondered if he would be willing to go for a run. I decided to give him a call at 5:15 to see if he wanted to go for a run earlier than usual. After a few moments of telling me how much he hated me for calling so early, he reluctantly agreed to go out to a local lake and run. He told me later that he felt good after the early morning run and that he would try to wake up earlier to get a workout in.

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The Know-It-All: My Interview With Bestselling Author A.J. Jacobs

by Ralph Jean-Paul

He has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and now, Potential 2 Success.

I was first exposed to the writing style of AJ Jacobs while reading The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. AJ wrote about an experiment he called “Outsourcing Life”. In the experiment, Jacobs outsourced his entire life to a group of virtual assistants in India. The well written witty piece influenced me to hire my own virtual assistant. Along with being Editor-at –Large at Esquire Magazine, Jacobs is known for taking on unusual life experiments. So when I saw the book The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World in the bookstore, I knew that it was going to be entertaining.

In the Know-It-All, Jacobs attempts to regain lost intellect by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z. “That’s Insane”, I said quietly as I read the back cover, “How can someone read the entire Encyclopedia?”

Well, AJ Jacobs did, and in this book he talks about his experience. The Know-It-All is a great book that follows one man’s quest to do the impossible and become the smartest man in the world. Probably one of the funniest non-fiction writers around, Jacobs’s book is one of the best I’ve read this year.

His quest is made even more interesting when he joins MENSA, tries out to be a contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and meets his intellectual nemesis and host of Jeopardy Alex Trebek. Along the way AJ tries to work his new found knowledge into everyday conversations and shares some of the more unusual facts with the reader.

I was privileged to get a chance to ask AJ himself a few questions about his amazing experiment.

RJ: Your book The Know-It-All is about your quest to become the smartest person in the world by reading the entire abridged set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. That seems like an amazing feat to want to accomplish. Why did you decided to do it?

AJ: There were a couple of reasons. First, I felt that, after graduating college, I began to forget all the important information. I felt my IQ was doing a slow but sure swan dive. So I wanted to do something drastic to get my knowledge back. Secondly, I was inspired by my dad. When I was a kid, my dad started to read the encyclopedia. But he only made it up to the middle of the B’s. Around ‘Boomerang,’ I think. So I wanted to finish what he began and remove that black mark from our family history.

RJ: With a project that big and challenging, there must have been times when you said to yourself “maybe this wasn’t such a good idea”. How did you stay committed to finishing during those times?

AJ: Absolutely. That happened pretty much every day. I just reminded myself that this was my version of Mount Everest, and it’d be a shame to quit till I reached the summit. It also helps to be obsessive compulsive.

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Self Discipline for Success
by Brian Tracy

I was so excited when I opened the email from Brian Tracy International and I saw the offer for content for my site. If you don’t know who Brian Tracy is, he is one of the top self-improvement and business motivation writers and speakers today. Brian Tracy is the real deal when it comes to personal development.

He is the author of some of my favorite books such as Million Dollar Habits and Master Strategies for Higher Achievement which is a book that I listen to often on my iPod. He is also the author of Eat That Frog which is a great book on productivity. Brian has helped millions of people succeed and I am ecstatic to have one of his articles on my site. Enter, the one and only, Brian Tracy.

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There is one special quality that you can develop that will guarantee you greater success, accomplishment and happiness in life. Of a thousand principles for success developed over the ages, this one quality or practice will do more to assure that you accomplish wonderful things with your life than anything else. This quality is so important that, if you don't develop it to a high degree, it is impossible for you to ever achieve what you are truly capable of achieving.

The quality that I am talking about is the quality of self-discipline. It is a habit, a practice, a philosophy and a way of living. All successful men and women are highly disciplined in the important work that they do. All unsuccessful men and women are undisciplined and unable to control their behaviors and their appetites. And when you develop the same levels of high, personal discipline possessed by the most successful people in our society, you will very soon begin to achieve the same results that they do. read

A Bug's Life: Applying the Success Principles of Ants

Have you ever seen a trail of ants going from one destination to another? They seem to have a great sense of direction and are intensely focused on where they are going and what needs to get done. Even though ants are responsible for so many tasks, they always seem to accomplish everything they set out to do. Because of their success principles, if ants were human, they would be the most successful group of people on the planet. So how is it possible that such a tiny creature can achieve so much?

I once heard speaker Jim Rohn talk about the ant philosophy. He explained their ability to never give up and how they prepare for the future. I decided to take a closer look the ant and found that there are many more principles that they live by that, if applied to the human life, would almost guarantee success.

Fearless Persistence

Ants are remarkably persistent. If they are on their way somewhere, they are focused and determined to get there not matter the obstruction. They often scale great heights and travel long distances in order to get to food. No obstacle is too big to conquer. If an ant comes across a morsel of food too big to carry, it will find a way to summon other ants and they will work tirelessly until they have broken the food down to a size that is more manageable.

Persistence pays off in the human world also. Persistence is a common trait that almost all successful people share. Billionaire businessman Paul J. Meyer said, “90% of failure comes from quitting. I’ve seen so many people, that if would’ve turned one more corner or just wait one more day, they’ve have it.”

Fearless persistence means fighting each challenge to the end. It means looking at the things that are in the way of your goals and resolving to overcome it no matter what! It may mean going under, over, around, and through just about anything to reach your destination. Just like an ant, you cannot let the size of the obstacle stop you from reaching your goal.

Stay Self-Motivated

There is no other group of animals that is more efficient, effective, and motivated. They seem to always be focused and working towards the common goals of building and repairing the nest, collecting and distributing food, and caring for eggs. But although they have a queen, she does not direct the actions of the other ants. read

Controlling Your Time: Simplify Life Part 2

Did you ever feel as though you don’t have the time to do everything that you want or even need to do? Most of us feel that way at one point or another. In reality, we have more time than we think. We just aren’t sure how to use it to our advantage.

Lucky for you, I had no idea how to get control of my time either. Why is this lucky for you? Because my disastrous breakdown in time management forced me to evaluate and restructure the way I run my life. Now I get to share what I’ve learned in this Simplifying Life series.

This series is composed of experiments and strategies that I have used to simplify the overwhelming mess that my life has become in recent months. I am happy to report that the strategies and tactics are working well. Now, let’s simplify that life of yours shall we?

Evaluating Your Time Audit

In Part 1 I talked about a time audit with the intention of knowing exactly how your time is spent. financial specialist do the exact same thing when they are trying to help someone create a budget. They find how much money is coming in and how much is going out. read

How To Create More Time: Simplify Life Part 1

Life is becoming more complex. We have jobs, finances, school
work, blogs, businesses, families, and other things we are
responsible for. We also have smartphones, Google Calendar, and
notebooks to help us save time. Although technology is making our
lives easier, we still have less time than we did before. Is this the
way life is supposed to be? The obvious answer is 'no'. So why do
so many of us find ourselves in this situation?

Lessons Learned During My Self-Discipline Fast

After I wrote Building Self-Discipline, I thought a lot about my own self-discipline. Being busy had caused me to comprise on my good eating habit. Enjoying pizza, wings, and rich dark chocolate mousse, had taken its toll on my energy level. I decided it was time for a fast.
(Posted at Ralphs Words)

Perform Under Pressure

There is something special about someone who can perform when the stakes are high and time is short. There’s something very heroic about Michael Jordan stealing the ball from Karl Malone, taking the ball up court, and hitting a last second shot as his defender stumbles to the floor. We love to see the dauntless doctor on television spring into action to rescue the patient whose vital signs are dropping at a rapid pace. Or the firefighter who is able to maintain a certain level of focus even though flames and smoke threaten to consume him alive.

Building Self-Discipline

Why does it seem like every time you commit to changing a bad habit, something happens that tests just how committed you are? You start a diet, and then you get a call from a friend who wants to go to your favorite restaurant. Or sometimes you promise yourself you are going to immediately start on an assignment that has to get done but you end up procrastinating until the very last minute? These types of things are common and one of the major reasons why they occur to all of us is due to the lack of self-discipline.

How To Make Important Decisions Quickly

Making important decisions in less time means more power and control over your life. It also means that you will have the opportunity to gain the trust of others. Being able to make important decisions will enhance your business and personal life. It is a skill that must be developed in order to be fully effective but if you understand the dynamics of decision making and apply what you have learned, you are well on your way to becoming an effective decision maker. read

How To Become a People Person

This article will not focus on the basics of dealing with people. If you’ve made it this far in life and have at least one friend, you don’t need me to tell you that complementing people makes them feel good. This article’s focus is to help you become the kind of person that can influence and positively affect those around you. Some people can walk into a room and light it up. They have an energy around them that makes others instantly gravitate to them. Although the people who can do this most effectively have been doing it since they were young, anybody can learn this ability. read

Napoleon Bonaparte's Guide To Leadership

Revolutionist, brilliant military strategist, fearless solider, charismatic speaker, tyrant, all of these words could be used to describe the life of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. One thing that is undeniable is that Bonaparte was an astounding leader. This Corsican born soldier who was teased as a child for not being able to speak proper French, showed fearless determination on the battle field and an extraordinary ability to lead people which enabled him to raise to become the of emperor of France by the age of 34. read

This website is built on the fact that everyone has the potential to be great. No matter the circumstances or background, success is possible for all. Potential To Success is a website helping you reach the next level of accomplishments.

"The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won't work - if you won't" -Zig Ziglar

It takes understanding, information, motivation, and work to achieve the great things in life. That may be the reason so many people fall short of what they want to achieve and what their purpose in life is. Here I will present you with a wealth of solid, meaningful, and practical information that will help you stay motivated, eliminate the obstacles, and develop the habits that will make a difference in your life. I have taken the knowledge of all of the resources that I have studied, people that I have met, successes in my own life, and compiled them into this website. There are no quick fixes when it comes to success. Most of my personal post are between 1,500 and 3,000 words. This is because I want to fully inform you and give you as much knowledge as possible. And if that's not enough, I also add articles every week from experts around the world. So if you’re ready let’s get started.

Visit my Blog for Updated Insight

Here are just a few topics you will find here.

Goal Setting- Learn the right way to set and reach goals.

Confidence- Gain and display confidence in everything you do.

Money and Wealth-Enjoy financial freedom by learning how to master your money.

Communication-Use the power of words and speech to motivate, persuade, converse with, or inspire anyone.

Purpose- Explore and define your purpose in life.

Time Management- Get things done and still have fun!

Mind Control-Take control of your own mind and learn to align your thinking with your goals.

other topics include Risk Taking, Over Coming Obstacles, Visualizations, Public Speaking, Handling People, and much more.

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