“Sunday Negotiation Insight”
“When we seek the truth, we believe the lies that we choose to believe.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert
“Are You Looking For The Truth?”
If you seek to advance in life, you must look for the truth and you must be watchful for the lies.
The challenge in deciphering the signs of truth and lies becomes evident when accessing what signs to observe and which ones to accept as being valid. As an example, look at the ‘truth’ picture in this article. The word, ‘truth’ is immediately recognizable. That’s also a metaphor for how we interpret life. At times, we see what we believe to be the truth, accept it, and continue on our way. But, if you look at the ‘truth’ word picture from a different angle (e.g. through squinted eyes, closer – further away, titled head), you’ll detect the word ‘lies’ … and that’s why you should be overly observant when accessing which path to take in life. Thus, before making life-altering changes/decisions, be 100% sure you’ve considered all possibilities and looked at it from different perspectives.
Take note of two things in your assessment:
- When you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to miss what’s in front of you. Message: be observant.
- Once you know what to look for, it’s easier to spot what’s before you. Message: lookout for what you’re looking out for.
Always keep in mind that the truth may lie within a lie, and thus, there may be benefits uncovered by uncovering a lie. The perspective you’ll have will depend on what you seek from the truth and to what degree you’re motivated by lies. Once, you’re positively sure that you’ve reconciled the difference between the truth and a lie, and you’ve weighed the benefits of both, set out upon the course that’ll take you where you wish to go. You will have to make course corrections along the way. Do so by weighing the truth and lies as you do … and everything will be right with the world.
What does this have to do with negotiations?
In a negotiation, you must be very aware of what motivates you. If you desire a particular outcome too much, you may become susceptible to lies, simply because your desire for an outcome tilts your perspective in that direction. Thus, you may overlook something that appears too good to be true and become dismayed with yourself when later you’re proven right.
To insulate yourself from such possibilities, ask yourself probing questions. Go deep by asking and answering one posed question after another. By doing so, you’ll uncover more thoughts from which you’ll have greater insight. The answers will always lie within the questions.
What’s your opinion? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com
Remember, you’re always negotiating.