I am always amazed when I see someone making use of percentages or odds to cause a reader or listener to think in a certain way. You may have seen or heard stories that say, for example, if you engage in certain activities (whatever those may be) you double your odds of contracting some disease. The problem that I have with those types of statements is that if they gave you the actual numbers instead of the "double the odds", you might come away with a totally different perspective.
To illustrate my point, let's say that studies have shown that if a person does not engage in a certain activity then the odds of them ending up with a certain disease is 1 in 3 million. Now, if they do engage in that activity the odds of them having that disease doubles to 2 in 3 million! Yes, the odds doubled, but even if you engage in whatever activity is being discussed, you still have a better chance of being in the 2,999,998 people out of 3 million that will not get the disease!
Please do not think that I am advocating that you abandon all advice about healthy lifestyles. I am not. Studies have shown, for example, that smoking will cut 10 years from your life on average. But just think about how much more effective that "10 year" actual number is than some percentage or odds. Percentages are used many times when actual numbers would reveal a different message than the speaker or writer wants to convey.
Keep that in mind when reading or hearing unemployment statistics. I saw a Breitbart.com article just today that reported that unemployment may reach 7.7 percent over the next 14 months. The writer of that article was probably just using figures received from a source and did not intend to influence readers toward negative thinking. However, just think about it, that same percentage means that 92.3 percent of the eligible workforce will have jobs!
Make sure that you are in the majority that do have a job. And, not just any job, but the job that is right for you. Job Finding Formula will show you exactly how to do that.
Michael Britner
Job Finding Master
To illustrate my point, let's say that studies have shown that if a person does not engage in a certain activity then the odds of them ending up with a certain disease is 1 in 3 million. Now, if they do engage in that activity the odds of them having that disease doubles to 2 in 3 million! Yes, the odds doubled, but even if you engage in whatever activity is being discussed, you still have a better chance of being in the 2,999,998 people out of 3 million that will not get the disease!
Please do not think that I am advocating that you abandon all advice about healthy lifestyles. I am not. Studies have shown, for example, that smoking will cut 10 years from your life on average. But just think about how much more effective that "10 year" actual number is than some percentage or odds. Percentages are used many times when actual numbers would reveal a different message than the speaker or writer wants to convey.
Keep that in mind when reading or hearing unemployment statistics. I saw a Breitbart.com article just today that reported that unemployment may reach 7.7 percent over the next 14 months. The writer of that article was probably just using figures received from a source and did not intend to influence readers toward negative thinking. However, just think about it, that same percentage means that 92.3 percent of the eligible workforce will have jobs!
Make sure that you are in the majority that do have a job. And, not just any job, but the job that is right for you. Job Finding Formula will show you exactly how to do that.
Michael Britner
Job Finding Master
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