Stop. You Can’t Change People’s Minds with Facts.

But you can with these 2 methods.

Ron Markley
3 min readFeb 27, 2025
Photo by Vlad Tamkin on Unsplash

You can’t change someone’s mind with facts.

But you can change someone’s mind with these two methods.

How?

Let me tell you a story.

A long time ago, on a platform that starts with an M and ends with an M,

I’ll call this platform M&M.

This platform was a great place to start writing,

Because they paid writers from day one.

  • No sales required.
  • No writing experience required.
  • No minimum follower count required.

One day, a writer with the largest account on M&M said:

“This platform has screwed me over. You all need to start a newsletter.”

But the writers on that platform thought, “Starting a newsletter is a stupid idea.”

Why bother writing for free when I can make money on M&M???

Then, one day, M&M slapped a few groups of writers in the face.

They cut off earnings for some writers.

“Hey, trust me, it only affects a small group of writers,” the CEO said.

But after that, writing on the platform felt like driving in the fog with no headlights.

And when the situation was full of uncertainty,

Writers on M&M decided to pack their bags and move to another platform.
Yes, they were suddenly happy to write for free.

That’s when the change happened.

Let’s get back to how to change people.

Change happens when the opportunity is better than the current situation.

People think in relativity, not absolutes.

They tend to compare their current situation to the opportunities available.

So, the first way is to make the current situation unbearably bad.

Now you might understand why some people who hit rock bottom make a 180-degree change.

Of course, they hate their current situation.

But making the current situation worse isn’t the only way.

Do you remember when you switched from an analog phone to a smartphone?

Sorry Gen Z, you might not remember that experience.

Yeah, when a choice is way better than the current situation, people embrace it.

  • People embraced Netflix because it’s better than going to a Cineplex.
  • People embraced YouTube because it’s better than random TV programs.
  • People embraced smartphones because they’re less hassle to use.

So, the second way to drive change is by offering opportunities that are so much better that people who stick with the current situation will look foolish for refusing.

To sum up:

Change happens when the opportunity is better than the current situation.
And you have two ways to manipulate the choice:

  1. Make the current situation worse.
  2. Make the new opportunity so much better that it’s hard to refuse.

But if you watch change closely, you’ll realize it doesn’t happen logically.

Change happens psychologically.

People need to feel the opportunity is

  • better
  • less risky
  • effortless

It’s about feeling, not just understanding facts.

That’s why facts alone don’t work.

If you want to change someone’s mind, highlight the benefits and show them how bad their current situation is.

Thanks for reading!

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Ron Markley
Ron Markley

Written by Ron Markley

I'm not a writer, just an ordinary guy who writes. Get free writing tips every Monday. https://writeeasyliveeasy101.substack.com/

Responses (14)

Write a response

I’ll call this platform M&M.

I like M&Ms. My wife prefers M&Ms with nuts, but the nuts can be hard to handle sometimes. I'm ok with them, but I can do without them too. I think there's still enough nuts left to keep it interesting here, what do you think?

It’s so true, dear Ron, that just throwing facts at someone doesn’t always help them see a different perspective... I feel, instead, it's all about feelings and showing them how much better things could be....💗💗
Have a peaceful time ahead... 💖💐💐💗

M&Ms is the best analogy ever. Trying hard not to laugh.