Came upon an old Grasshopper Note that seems particularly relevant in today’s world:

“Acting On Headlines Will Make You Frown.”

Too often we react to the surface material and neglect to dig deeper for a response.

Who can hook you with a stimulus? What stimulus will do it every time? When you answer those questions, you’ve found your headline.

Notice that your reaction to headlines is always the same – a furrowed brow that leads to “Ow!”

For example, political advertising, which is abundant these days, depends on hurting you enough to make you react. The folks behind the ads are pandering to the surface part of you that’s too conditioned or too lazy to dig deeper. They want you to viscerally respond to their headline.

The best headlines in the world belong to The National Enquirer. These folks are masters at hooking you with headlines that drive you to buy. The results are always the same – no substance or source to backup the headline, leaving you once again dining on cotton candy.

If you too often react to headlines, not only will you be misinformed, you’ll act out again in a way that only makes you pay.

If you are tired of being a pawn in the headline game, start to take notice of the refrain that causes you pain. What do you react to in the same way every time? Find that headline and then dig deeper for a response.

Your first reaction is what the issuer of the headline wants. Deny them that access and find your true personal power. Watch your initial reaction go by like a float in a parade and just wait for one that has less feathers and more substance.

It’s hard to think of ours brains as stimulus/response machines but that’s exactly what they are until we discover our free will. That’s our ability to choose a new response rather than reacting the same way again.

How hooked are you? Find a headline that makes you stew, then respond to it differently and watch the whole story start to come through.

All the best,

John