Can Tension, Angst and Anxiety Be A Good Thing?
Every few seconds I inched up a bit further. The color coded signals and lane assignments require laser focused attention.
Stay focused on “purple.”
That’s what I told myself. Failure to heed your assignment disturbs the herd behavior. It invites a harsh tongue lashing. It’s something I’ve experienced once before. The crowd gets some perverse enjoyment from the public humiliation.
Finally, it’s my turn. I see the purple color flash with a number. I hurried my way over to the assigned station.
I made it.
Of course, I refer to the checkout line at the Whole Foods near the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. I was in the neighborhood and decided to go there for lunch.
At the checkout, there are six or seven aisles. A color coded board hangs from the ceiling. Each color flashes the cashier assignment. The numbers range from one to thirty.
It goes pretty fast. If you fail to pay attention you miss your turn and everyone behind you suffers.
That almost never happens. If you miss your cashier assignment or go to the wrong one, customers waiting behind you scold you for your mistake. And they do it in a snobbish, scornful manner. I’ve seen powerful, rich, meat eating men in suits cut to shreds for paying more attention to their cell phone than their register assignment.
I get it. It’s lunchtime. People are hungry. They’re anxious to eat. Tension and angst are the unfortunate result. It leads to irritable behavior.
The Power Of Angst
Nobody likes to feel angst, anxiety and tension. Like any strong emotion, you can exploit it for positive or negative results. When you face scorn from your fellow customers for missing your check out assignment, there is no positive spin.
But there is one situation where it helps us. It gets us past the inertia that keeps us from taking positive yet frightening actions.
It may sound evil to some but creating angst, anxiety and tension may do your audience some good.
Facts Are Not Enough
Here’s what I mean.
I know all the logical arguments for healthy eating. I know I should do it. Here’s the reality. Knowing the facts isn’t enough to push me past my primal urges to gorge on cake and ice cream.
I need to feel the fear of eating unhealthy. I need to feel angst about the damage that will occur if I eat that piece of cake. Show me how that piece of cake leads to being poked and prodded in a hospital gown by third year medical students in a teaching hospital.
That’s how you get someone to take a painful, yet life-changing action. Create angst, anxiety and tension about their current, damaging behavior. Build it up to the point where their current path feels like a road to hell. Only then will she push past the natural inertia that craves the status quo.
Creating angst is a powerful tool. Want some other tricks? Get my free guides on persuasion and creativity here. Oh, If you liked this story, click the ❤ so others may find it.
