In these fast-paced times, things can get very overwhelming, very fast. It’s easy to find yourself going through the motions and surviving. But that’s not what your life should be about; you should truly live and not just survive.
Practice psychological tricks to make life easier, and your days will be much more fulfilling. Among these, a few hacks are the following:
1. The Power of Eye Contact
If you have trouble maintaining eye contact but would still wish to do, then go for looking between their eyes. It will still look like you are maintaining eye contact since your eyes will not converge inward.
Establishing and maintaining eye contact during conversations will help the other party to open up more. Look directly into their eyes, and especially when you are having a one-on-one conversation. The contact will be the subtle coax, and they need to open up.
If you find yourself locked in an awkward eye contact situation, the best thing you can do is to keep your eyes locked on even if your first instinct is to look away. The better if you can smile while at it. It will ease the tension and avoid any lingering awkwardness.
2. Nod while speaking
In addition to maintaining eye contact, nodding while you speak is one of the most effective psychological tricks to make others agree with you. Most people will interpret the nod as a sign of your authority and sincerity on whatever subject matter. Again, most will mirror this trick by nodding back at you, in agreement, of course.
3. Speak to Yourself
Speaking to yourself regularly is one of the psychological tricks to make life easier if you suffer from anxiety. Tell yourself that you should feel anxious or feel a certain way in some situations, and that’s exactly what will happen. Similarly, it will work out well if you tell yourself not to feel as anxious.
Practice positive reaffirmations to boost your self-image, which will translate into the confidence you need to go through your day. Speak to yourself in the third person.
4. Limit the Choices
Examine your behaviour patterns when you are faced with a decision and have to choose from several options. More likely than not, making this decision becomes increasingly overwhelming when you have many choices. Make your life easier by making a deliberate effort to limit your choices. You can move forward faster when you don’t spend time trying to weigh the pros and cons of every available choice.
You can apply the same principle when dealing with others. Think of your kids who are picky eaters. Instead of “what would you like for dinner?” limit their choices to the few meal options, you are actually willing to make.
5. Work on Your Power Language
Expansive gestures and postures are primary elements of the power language. Using this language more frequently will help bring out your dominant self and boost your confidence. You will have what it takes to deal with others and different situations.
It is worth noting that people will recognize and pick up on your power language manifestation. Coming off as dominant will help others to recognize your authority and respond accordingly.
6. Warm over Cold Handshakes
Yes. Something seemingly so small as making sure your hands are warm before going in for a handshake is one of the psychological tricks to make life easier.
How? A warm handshake promotes such a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, setting the tone for your interactions. On the other hand, most people subconsciously link unfriendliness and distrust with cold hands. It’s, therefore, no surprise that the other person may be so quick to pull away and dissociate if you give a cold handshake.
7. The Peg System
Memory is one of the fundamental cognitive skills, without which you may end up making a mess of things. Imagine driving all the way to the grocery store and coming out with only a few of the items you intended to buy because you couldn’t remember the rest. It is such a waste.
The mnemonic peg system is a memory aid that works by creating mental associations between two concrete objects in a one-to-one fashion that will later be applied to to-be-remembered information. The peg is essentially involved linking nouns to numbers, and it is common practice to choose a noun that rhymes with the number it is associated with. These will be the pegs of the system. These associations have to be memorized one time and can be applied repeatedly to new information that needs to be memorized
The peg is essentially a hook onto which you will store information that you need to remember. Every time you think of the peg, which can be anything from a number or alphabet, you’ll remember the details associated with the peg.
8. Start Small
Ever noticed how easy it is to get people to agree to bigger things after some time agreeing to the little ones? That is the Foot in the Door (FITD) psychological trick at play. This technique works on the basis that small favours will create a bond, such that agreeing to bigger ones is that much easier.
Hopefully, these 08 psychological tips and tricks to make your life easier will help. It is recommended to try these and see if your life has changed for the better.
