If you’re just sitting at home, waiting for people to contact you, and the phone never rings…you have 0 social proof.

If you’re still in school and everybody knows you only as “the creepy loner” you’re going to have a harder time turning this reputation around…

Social proof is really like celebrity status — the more, higher quality people you have approving
of you, hanging around and talking to you, and paying attention to you, the more proof you have of being socially valuable.

High school is a prime example we can use. Do you remember how there was that one group everyone thought were cooler than everyone else in your grade (or the school?) People wished they could be in that ‘inner circle’, but weren’t.

I refused to be limited by restrictions and part of knowing me was to accept this. People did accept it because I had VALUE. My value was that I was funny. Humor is valuable in SO many ways and can open up many doors. What you need to remember is to NOT be the butt of the joke. Don’t be a dancing monkey and entertain on command.

Demonstrate your value from time to time, but don’t ring every last drop until there’s nothing else to give. Demonstrate, then move on. Leave them wanting more.

Any talent can be used as a demonstation of value; Some guys can perform magic, some can sing, some can play instruments, etc. As you win more friends, you’ll also win more influence thanks to social proof.

This is a monster topic in itself and I plan to get back to it next time. I’m trying to make it simple to understand but for some reason I’ve read too many psychology books and am probably making it too scientific…So I must find more examples so you can say, “Ah HAH! I get it now Diabolik!”