Towards the end of chapter 4 of Bob Cialdini’s book Influence, Cialdini shares a personal story that I want to share with you today.
I want to share this story with you because it serves my purpose.
But you might want to read this story because it can help you achieve your purpose as well.
Here goes:
Robert Cialdini, a world-famous expert in influence, persuasion, and communication, wanted to get his 3yo son to learn to swim without wearing an inflatable inner tube.
Each year, a bunch of kids in Arizona, where Cialdini lived, drowned in unattended pools. Cialdini wanted to make sure it wouldn’t happen to his boy.
So he tried a direct appeal — “Let’s teach you how to swim, son.”
NO!!! was the response. Cialdini’s kid liked water, but he was terrified of getting in without the inflatable inner tube.
No matter how Cialdini tried to “coax, talk, or shame” his 3yo son, the boy wouldn’t let go.
Fine. Cialdini hired a graduate student of his, who was also a lifeguard and swimming instructor, to get his son to learn to swim.
Nope. Once again, the kid refused.
Not even the lifeguard’s professional techniques could overcome the boy’s fear of swimming without the inflatable inner tube.
Fast forward a couple days. Cialdini’s kid was attending a day camp.
One day, as usual, Cialdini went to pick his son up. And he saw a shocking, never-before-seen sight:
His kid was running down the diving board at the pool. He reached the end of the diving board and jumped into the deep end. No inflatable inner tube.
Cialdini rushed over, ready to dive in the pool and to rescue his certainly drowning son.
Except the kid wasn’t drowning. He was swimming.
Cialdini was stunned. He helped his kid get out the pool. And he asked the boy how come he could finally swim without his inflatable plastic ring.
Response:
“Well, I’m 3 years old, and Tommy is 3 years old. And Tommy can swim without a ring, so that means I can, too.”
You can probably imagine a bright-red handprint on Cialdini’s forehead as he slapped himself upon hearing that.
Point being:
We’re all looking for some kind of confirmation that what we’re trying to do is actually possible.
Examples from others can help there. But in order for it to actually help, those others must have the same limitations we have.
If you’re 3 years old, it doesn’t help much to see a 26-year-old lifeguard swimming without an inflatable plastic ring. But when you see 3-year-old Tommy do it, then that means something.
And now to my purpose:
If you are not yet writing daily emails for your personal brand, or if you are not yet successful with it, then next Thursday I’m putting on a workshop called Daily Email Fastlane.
A key part of this workshop will be the common elements I’ve seen among three daily emailers I have coached over the past 18 months.
These three coaching students have stood out to me in terms of the money they make, the stability of their income, and simply in how much they seem to enjoy their business and their life.
My claim is that seeing inside these guys’ businesses can help you overcome your own self-imposed or real limitations.
Because among these these three daily emailers, you can find at least one who has faced the kinds of problems that you might be facing now:
– a small list
– an unpromising niche
– leads without money
– imposter syndrome
– a genuine lack of credibility
And yet, these three guys turned out successful. Maybe seeing their examples can make you successful also, and quickly so.
If you’d like to join me for this workshop to try it for yourself, here’s where to dive in: