Jedi Mind
Tricks
Star Wars is
probably one of my favourite films, and when working on intention, I often
suggest that my clients use Jedi mind tricks. This is in reference to the scene
in the film when the Stormtroopers are looking for two specific droids and
Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight, is able to deflect them simply by using the Jedi
mind tricks and saying with great conviction and influence, “These are not the
droids you are looking for.” Through his sureness alone, he’s able to convince
the Stormtroopers that it’s true, that those are not the droids they were
looking for, when in fact, they were.
Holding on to
your intention throughout both setting goals and taking action is very
important. To have intention for a particular conversation or negotiation, for
instance, is to be laser focused on the desired outcome. If you’re clear on
that, you’ll be better able to recognize any and all available opportunities to
achieve it.
When you’re
going into a situation that you’re unsure of or nervous about, you can apply a
Jedi mind trick and draw confidence from your intention. I’ve learned that when
I focus on positive outcomes and hold the intention for them, good things
happen much more often.
Carlos: A Story
of the Jedi Mind Trick in Action
As an example,
one of my clients, Carlos, was about to buy a house but felt that the seller
needed to lower the price by £50K (c.$80K) to reflect remedial works that
needed to be carried out. He was anxious about the meeting that had been
arranged, and we discussed it in preparation. I asked him what his intention
for the meeting was.
“Well, to get a
lower price,” he said.
“Why does the
house warrant a lower price?” I asked.
He explained
about all the work the house needed and how he felt that justified an
appropriate price reduction.
“Okay,” I said.
“You know what you want and why. Exactly what is the intention for this
meeting?”
“To get the
seller to approve a £50K reduction in the cost of the property
because I’m going to have to spend that on things that should have already been
done.”
“Are you
comfortable that that figure is appropriate?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Right, then,”
I said. “So you know what you want to do with this conversation. Keep that
intention at the forefront of your mind. Your intention is ‘I want this person
to take off £50K’. Go and look the seller in the eye and
think, ‘I want to pay £50K less’, and actually hold the full price you want to
pay in your mind.”
Carlos got the
discount, bought the house, did a year’s worth of renovations, and moved in.
The FORCE was strong in that one!
