Gentle parenting with malicious intent

I saw something brilliant yesterday while doom-scrolling in the school pick-up line.

A dad cracked the ultimate parenting hack. Instead of nagging his kids to clean their room, he used psychological warfare.

“If you don’t pick up your stuff, I’m gonna start flirting with mom.”

Then he walked over to his wife: “Honey, your butt looks amazing in those jeans.”

The kids immediately started cleaning in complete disgust. Problem solved.

Genius. Why? Because it’s about leverage, not force.

Force is exhausting. It’s what happens when you’re trying to convince someone who doesn’t want to be convinced. You end up shouting into the void.

Leverage is different. Leverage whispers instead of screams. It presses the one button that actually matters to your audience. It’s the difference between dragging a horse to water… and making it thirsty.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: most businesses run on pure force. They blast features and benefits at people who don’t care, then wonder why their marketing feels like pushing rope. They think they need bigger megaphones… when what they really need is better messaging.

You can yell at your kids to clean their room. Or you can make out with your spouse and watch magic happen.

Same thing applies to your business.

Stop trying to convince people they need what you’re selling. Start showing them you understand exactly what keeps them up at night.