15 Psychological Mind Tricks That Are Actually Worth Trying Out

The mind is far, far easier to play tricks on than we tend to give it credit for. Seriously, you’d be amazed at just how trippy things can become when you pull the right levers on your mind. A recent Reddit thread has folks sharing various psychological mind tricks that they’ve determined as actually being effective.

1. The old, I might as well trick.

It’s as simple as that. Really. Oftentimes what can end up holding us back when we’re staring down the face of what seems to be an insurmountable task is feeling like we have to do it. Instead, you can pivot into a mindset of, you might as well get it taken care of.

2. Walk towards the door if someone refuses to stop talking to you.

This one actually makes a lot of sense. That being said, it’s obviously brutal, but sometimes you’ve got to look after yourself and do away with the people pleasing. Simply, start walking towards the door while you’re responding to the chatty person. They’ll end up rushing through whatever it was that they needed to say.

3. Improve your relationships with unexpected gifts.

Yes, it’s of course great to put that energy in to mindfully gift someone something on a special day. However, it can be even more meaningful if you go out of your way to gift them something just because.

4. Play dumb when someone insults you.

A lot of the time when someone dishes out a scathing insult you can shake up their whole attack by playing the part of downright dumb. It also might just end up frustrating them that much more.

5. The automatic grab trick.

This one’s just weird. However, try it out for yourself. Apparently, if you give someone something while talking to them they’ll grab it without thinking twice about it.

6. Saying less is truly so, so much more.

Many of us are conditioned to feel generally uncomfortable in periods of long silence during a conversation. It’s during these bits of silence though that it can really benefit you to just listen. You’d be shocked at what kinds of things people will seem compelled to share with you.

7. Stare at someone’s forehead while talking to them.

If you want to make someone uncomfortable during a conversation, simply stare at their forehead while you’re talking to them. Apparently this ends up undermining their self confidence. Not a bad trick to have in the bag if you’re dealing with a bully.

8. Get someone to say yes to something small, and they’ll likely say yes to something bigger.

Building trust is a process. This can be thought of as the old favor trick. If you ask for someone to do you a small favor and they’re game, they’ll be that much more likely to help you out with something bigger on down the road.

9. Brush your teeth after dinner to curb snack cravings.

For whatever reason simply brushing your teeth after you’ve had dinner will work wonders in terms of crushing any snack cravings that you might wrestle with. Snacks are fine every now and then, but can quickly evolve to become a nasty habit.

10. Attempt to recite the alphabet backwards to calm your nerves.

Okay, so this trick seems like it could be effective enough. However, you’re really just winning at life if you’re actually able to recite the alphabet backwards quickly. This is no easy feat.

11. Say thank you more.

It’s remarkable what saying thank you more frequently can do for you in the grand scheme of life. People are hardwired to appreciate recognition when they go out of their way to help you out.

12. Deliver bad news with the sandwich method.

This one makes enough sense. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to deliver some grim news to someone, you can try softening the blow of that news by layering it with some positives. Many of us might already be predisposed to naturally doing this too.

13. Never forget a name again.

When you next meet someone new and need to remember their name, just imagine them meeting someone that you already know with the same name. That association will fortify your memory bank.

14. Observe someone’s foot position during conversation.

If you’re trying to read the room and determine if someone’s actually interested in your conversation, check out to see where they have their feet pointed. If their feet are pointed at you, this likely means that they’re that much more interested in your conversation.

15. Don’t self focus.

Self focusing is the fuel that keeps the fires of social anxiety raging on. Simply work at cultivating more external awareness and less internal awareness. You can do this by picking up a meditation practice, or if you’re actively out and about, by listing off different things in your immediate external environment.