Are You A Bee or a Fly?

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Plenty of people, including myself, love con artist movies.

They are usually written so the bad guy has kind of a good reason for being the bad guy.

And the guys they usually con aren't that innocent.

What's particularly interesting is all the thinking and planning that goes into the con.

Movies like Ocean's Eleven, for example, involve a gigantic con centered around a robbery.

The entire purpose of the con was an enormous sleight of hand.

Get everybody looking over here, so you can do something over there.

PT Barnum was famous for saying there's a sucker born every minute.

But what's not usually mentioned is the second half of that famous quote.

Namely, that suckers are suckers BECAUSE they are willing to believe something that is TOO GOOD to be true.

The flip side of this idea is that you "can't con an honest man."

Perhaps this is we love con artist movies so much.

Nobody is innocent.

Even in Ocean's Eleven, they were robbing a casino.

A place that makes its money by tricking people that they can get lucky, and go home richer than they came.

Some of the coolest cons are ones you'll find in nature.

The Venus fly trap and other plants that trick insects into thinking they are getting some kind of delicious snack.

When it reality they about to get digested.

Some creatures get lucky and "co-evolve."

Bees and flowers, for example.

Bees aren't any smarter than the poor suckers who get eaten by Venus fly traps.

But they DO provide a service to the flowers.

Even though it's something that arose organically, it is very instructive.

The bees get something, and they give something in return.

The flowers get something, and they give something in return.

Bees get paid in nectar for doing the work of pollination.

We humans like bees because they make honey.

And we like flowers because they are easy on the eyes and nose.

Flies on the other hand?

If they get suckered into getting eaten, no worries.

This idea is very useful, and very powerful.

If you expect to GET something, you should always expect to GIVE something.

Not necessarily in exchange, like bees and flowers.

But generally speaking, good results will COST something.

Either time, risk, patience, or skills that few people have.

The more you think you are going to "get lucky" and get something for free, maybe it's time to check your assumptions.

As they say in poker, if you don't know who the sucker is, it's you.

Even though bees sting (everybody gets to defend themselves) we all like them because of what they provide.

You want to get something, you got to give something.

Inside your brain, and outside in the world.

Learn More:

http://mindpersuasion.com/goal-setting-sucks/