Vishen Lakhiani argues emotion always beats logic in a conflict, using examples like cake cravings and fear of heights. His fix: deliberately replace weak emotions with stronger positive ones, like reframing "I'm not good enough" to "I'm amazing."
Chapters
I see so many people every day fight the same battle, and the battle is between logic and emotion. I logically know I shouldn't eat cake. I logically know I should get up early and go to bed early. I logically know that sitting on the sofa watching box sets is not going to advance my career. But I still do it over and over again. That must be because I'm a loser or I'm weak. No, you're not a loser. You're not weak. Happening is you haven't been taught a universal truth. So let me teach it to you right now. When there is a battle between logic and emotion, emotion always, always, always wins. How many of you have gone to a really high building, an enclosed building, like the top story of a hotel or the CN Tower in Toronto, and looked down and thought, oh, wow, I feel really scared. My logic mind knows that I'm safe, that the glass is that thick, that I can't fall. But the emotion that's making my stomach lurch is winning. So when you have a battle between emotion and logic, emotion always, always, always wins. Here's something you all know. We can all ring our friend up. Go, I'm a bit bored, a bit lonely. Can I hang out? Or I'm a bit bored. Let's go to the movie. You would never ring someone you've just met and go, I. I'm bored and lonely. Will you come and hang out with me? Let's go to the movie. Because the emotion that you might be rejected will overrule the logic that says, this person may be the person for me. So if you're having a battle between yourself, here's a great one. I know I shouldn't eat cake. That's the logic. But the emotion is, oh, the cake feels so good. And this creamy sugary stuff reminds me of being a baby when all my needs were met by having creamy sugar stuff. So in a battle between emotion and logic, logic will never win. Emotion will always win. And you can make that win for you by making it a better emotion. So here's how to do it. Here's an emotion. I'm scared to ask for a pay rise in case my boss laughs me out of the office. Make it a stronger emotion. If I go to my boss and show them what I've done, how valuable I am, that won't happen. Here's an emotion I really want to ask that person on a date. I'm not good enough. Change the emotion. I'm wonderful. I'm amazing. What could I get from asking someone On a date that says yes so much. And if they say no, I'm only exactly where I was before. Except I've been brave. I've done something courageous. I've taken action. Even if it doesn't work out, I've lost nothing. But I've gained courage. When you're having a battle between logic and emotion, emotion always wins. Logic never wins. That's why you could stand on the windowsill of your apartment if it was on the ground floor. But you would never stand on the windowsill same size if it was 100 stories up. Because the emotion that you may fall defeat the logic that says, I can do this when it's a few feet off the ground. Why can't I do it up here? Because emotion overrules logic. You can make your life phenomenal, extraordinary, and wonderful by always using emotion to defeat emotion. I want to speak to a crowd. What if they don't like me? Now the emotion says, don't do that. But if you make the emotion better, I can speak. I've got something to say. People like me. And when I do that speech and I connect to that audience, my life gets better and better. And now I can give little speeches at work. I can lead the team. My boss just loves me, recognizes me. I'm so valuable. Now you're exciting your imagination with a good emotion, a powerful emotion, an emotion that excites the imagination. And your imagination loves, loves, loves to be excited. So when those battles come up, make the emotion more powerful. Use exciting language, and now you can win. And you can win again. And you can win again because you know what to do. Forget about logic. Use a stronger, better, more compelling emotion, and you'll get everything you want. And even more, too. So if you want to learn more about this, if you want to know how easy it is to make some powerful, lasting changes that really will transform your life, go ahead and sign up for these free masterclasses with mindvalley. I can't wait to see you there. And I can't wait to help you become and stay the person you've always wanted to be, living the life you've always wanted to live. Sam.
