If you want to get someone to buy a service, product, or idea, you must connect with them on an instinctive level. As a behavioral science practitioner who has dedicated my professional life to understanding how people make choices, I lay out the first and only systematic process for expanding the physical presence of an idea or brand in our minds. That’s right: The more neural connections an idea takes up in the brain, the more power it has.

My approach has enabled hundreds of organizations to leverage the memories and associations of consumers to increase sales. In doing so, they’ve grown the physical size and salience of their brand’s Connectome, the command center for choices residing in the unconscious mind.

Everyone wants validation—they want to be told that they are right. That’s why success requires leveraging familiar anchors in people’s memories that work with, not against, the mind. When you leverage people’s memories, you bypass the conscious mind and reach people at the instinctive level. You do this by planting a seed, nourishing it, and growing its physical footprint. As the tree grows—the Connectome—so will your idea, successfully getting people to buy, vote, and do what you want.

The book reveals that “auto-pilot” decisions occur when positive associations reach a critical point. This phenomenon explains why voters automatically pull the lever for the same party in election after election. I show readers how to add positive associations through “Growth Triggers,” supercharged cues that expand a brand’s Connectome and sway decisions—allowing any brand, candidate, or idea to become the “go-to,” automatic choice.