Best Ways to Control

Here is my meditation on the best ways to control others
1. Pretend not to hear what they are saying. You can give this technique even more power by saying some mocking word in reply – like “excuse me”.

2. Quickly get mad about most anything you don’t like. It won’t take long and people just won’t trouble you with stuff you don’t like. All good for you.

3. If you are not all that skillful yet at #2, you can follow up by going to others who know the two of you and say “I don’t know what is wrong with _______________”. You can also say “I just don’t know what they were thinking” as long as you really mean “I don’t know what is wrong with”.

4. Moan or groan when you are talking to people and they say things you disagree with. Turing you head is disgust or rolling you eyes helps people with hearing problems “get it” faster.

5. If you are in a discussion you can say about anything as long as you start with “I agree, but I think if we were wise…” Don’t say this to fast. Take a long pause after “agree” and say the word “wise” and thoughtfully as possible.

6. Don’t say “we have never done that before”, that just keys in those who know how to control the controlling person. You want to ask, “has that worked in the past” and since they never did it in the past it has not worked, so if it didn’t work in the past, why try it now.

7. Don’t be in a hurry to try and stop things you want to control, just slow them down and the busyness of life will take over. Instead of going forward suggest “slowing down for a little more insight”. Taking time to get everyone on board is a great way to control too. When was the last time everyone was on board (don’t mention that)?

8. If you find that you want to control people who are going to spend money in an area or way that you don’t want – just remind them that they promised to do ______________________ before they made any others investments. If you have been with this group long you should have several things they were suppose to do but you got them to not do them because that is not what you wanted them to do. Make sure you remember the things they were to do but failed to do, you can always use these later.

9. Threaten to quit. Don’t threaten to quit yourself, but rather say someone else will quit if this goes ahead. This other person should be someone who doesn’t like the direction and someone who is honest. Even if they are willing to yield you can gain control by threatening the group with this other persons leaving, someone who they probably like more than you.

10. If all else fails and you think your efforts to control are lost, go all out in the opposite direction. Go to the store and ask for those “cheerleader” vitamins and promote, encourage and sell others on this new direction. Hopefully others are so sick of you by now that they will go completely in the opposite direction just to avoid agreeing with you.