This Magic Trick Can Keep You from Being Manipulated!

In our world full of advertisements and headlines, it can be hard to know when we’re being shown the truth. But is there an easy way that we can ensure we’re making the best choices for ourselves? This thought leader pulls back the curtain and shows us a few magic tricks we can always use.

Ready to be clued in on how our choices are made? And how people are using them for their own agenda? Alice Pailhès is about to pull that rabbit out of the hat and give us some amazing tools to make better decisions for ourselves.

Source: Pixabay

The magic in our choices!

From the grocery store shelves to all of the advertisements we see on Facebook, people are vying hard to get our attention. In fact, Vox reports that it can cost upwards of 5 million dollars for a company to get their product by the checkout lines or around $30,000 to be placed eye-level on a shelf! ¹

The people behind the scenes who are planning out the shelves are banking on what they know about the way we make decisions. Alice Pailhès, a PhD candidate and researcher, hopes to discover even more about how we make our choices, so that each of us can be clued in to how we’re being influenced. But it’s the way she does it that’s truly fascinating!

This will all make sense after you watch her TED Talk. So, sit back, relax, and prepare yourself to have your mind utterly blown.

Amazing stuff, right? To find out more about what the MAGIC Lab is up to, make sure you check out their website! There’s a fantastic video on this page that explains their whole reasoning and passion behind their research. It’s fabulous!

And you can discover even more about what’s happening in grocery stores by checking out this video from Vox!

Knowing that we’re being influenced isn’t a bad thing!

It’s happening all around us, constantly. But being aware of how it works can only get us closer to making choices that are true to who we are and what we really want. There are moments when we know we’re acting out of impulse—like when I snag that bag of Hot Cheetos from the shelf and walk quickly away or buy an expensive cat bed that I saw an advertisement for over and over on Instagram.

Now that we’re a little more clued in to what’s really happening behind the scenes, though, decisions (like a healthier snack option) are easier and easier to make. No longer will we be the unknowing targets of those hoping to capitalize on our choices. With this knowledge, we can make decisions that are true to ourselves; our choices are more our own than ever.

“What if, in our day to day lives, we would stop more often and consciously choose before acting on this impulsive, reactive beast inside of us? We can actually act more consciously if we keep in mind that we have the capacity to be influenced.” —Alice Pailhès

If you’d like to find out how you can have even better control of your life online (and off, let’s be real), make sure you pick up a copy of Happiness is an Option: Thriving (Instead of Surviving) in the Era of the Internet—written by EWC’s founder, Dr. Lynda! She breaks down four simple shifts we can take to rise above the chaos of the web and make the best decisions possible.

Want to discover even more about how our brains work?

Check these articles out next!

I hope this article helps you find a bit more confidence in yourself and the power you have to pause, and make the best decisions for yourself.

As always, my friend, stay open to new possibilities!

• Sam