Maximizing Performance Through Applied Common Sense*

If you are like more than half the population out there, you are over-weight.  One in three is obese in this country; two out of three is seriously over-weight.  This means that if you are slim and in shape, then you are the exception!  Well, that has changed in the last 30 years.  Now, virtually everybody is over-weight.  What do you do about it?  The first thing you need to do is take responsibility for the way you are living your life.  Your health is at risk and you generally avoid doing the things you really like to do because you are over-weight.  So take more responsibility for now deciding to do something about it and start anew!  

When you ask people a close-ended question you are likely to get a “yes” or a “no” answer.  The key is to position the question so that you get a “yes” most of the time.  It’s called getting the person in the direction of “yes.”  If you think through how you want to ask the question, and you think that you want to get a “yes,” then you want to position your question accordingly.  More than half the time, if you fail to be careful, you are going to get a “no” answer, and the more “no’s” creates more resistance.  So if you want to persuade anyone to do anything, think through how you ask the question.  Ask the question so that you are more than likely to get a “yes.”  For example, “Does that make sense?  Well, of course that makes sense!”  That’s the way it works.