By: Stephan Thieme

Author of Persuasion Mastery: 500 Lessons in the Psychology of Sales

Too much consistency can really drain away our energy and motivation. There is a Twilight Zone episode from the classic Rod Serling television series, in which a big criminal thinks he is in heaven. But everything always goes exactly as he wishes. He even wins whenever he gambles. When he asks for some unpredictability, saying that since he’s in heaven he should get what he wants, his guide starts laughing. “What makes you think you’re in heaven?” he asks.

Also, this need is tied to our sense of achievement. If we lack challenging goals, there is a part of us that really wants that special kick in the pants that gets us going. When motivation returns because of goals coming into focus, it is a very refreshing feeling.

I’ll try applying this to some products.

Life insurance: (Extra ideas are in parentheses, I wouldn’t say them out loud.) I know that the ins and outs (notice the physical, animated language) of life insurance can be deadly (attention-getting word) boring (oh no, not boredom!), and only a bean counter like me (you aren’t me but you need me to do what you hate) wants to indulge (action) in all the details (yuck, details), so I can tell you right now what policy you can get (action!) immediately (action!), so you can get your focus (intensity) back on living and enjoying your life (exactly what he wants, he can fill in what that means to him).

Vacations: This is not your typical vacation. There are no families with special needs, everything isn’t programmed. Most people really need a lot more, uh, maintenance (yuck, those high maintenance people, keep them away from me) than this vacation affords. I’m sure you know how that feels. It can be worse than staying at home because you got your hopes up. (Feel the hurt!) But this endeavor places you directly (no screwing around, let’s go) into the settings where you can experience these diverse sports adventures (yes, adventure!) with experts that absolutely love them and think they’ve died and gone to heaven because we only connect them with people who are on the same wavelength (no lightweights, yes!)