After understanding that selling without selling is possible, we're left facing a conclusion: we are all products. Not in the derogatory sense of "merchandise," but in a higher sense, linked to the construction of emotional experiences that others simply cannot forget.

In the biohacking chapter, we'll delve into this in depth, but 95% of purchasing decisions occur in the subconscious, while only 5% of marketing targets the rational part of the brain. This disconnect explains why so many technically perfect products fail while others, objectively inferior, become cultural icons.

(In case you often wonder why we make the wrong people famous)

Consumer neuroscience reveals that we process emotional information 5 times faster than rational. Your brain decides if it likes something in 0.05 seconds, long before your prefrontal cortex has a chance to analyze technical specifications.

As a Cancer sign, I say: emotions are literally the native language of human experience. Before we had language, we had emotions. They are older, deeper, more universal than any language.

Give me examples

To visualize how this transformation operates in the real world, let's look at those who have mastered the art of turning their professional practice into unforgettable emotional experiences. These are "templates" of a new way of existing professionally.

In art, from objects to opening portals

Marina Abramović sells the experience of confronting your own limits. In "The Artist is Present," thousands lined up to experience truly being seen, to feel pure human connection, shared vulnerability.

As mentioned when discussing the power of the brain to process synapses and create neural connections, studies show that experiential art activates the same brain areas as mystical experiences: the posterior parietal lobe deactivates, temporarily dissolving the boundary between self and other.

Olafur Eliasson took this to the extreme with his "Weather Project" at Tate Modern. An artificial sun that turned the museum into an existential beach where thousands lay on the ground to contemplate. His product was the collective experience of shared awe, that specific emotion the Japanese call "yugen" - the profound awareness of the universe that evokes feelings too deep for words.

In music, from sensory shows to parasocial relationships

Björk creates emotional ecosystems. "Biophilia" was a multimedia experience including apps, installations, and even an educational program. Each song was designed to activate specific emotions through calculated frequencies.

Music can induce up to 13 distinct categorizable emotions, from fun to anxiety, from triumph to sadness. Musicians who understand this design emotional journeys.

Arca, the Venezuelan producer, goes further: her shows are rituals of transformation where gender, identity, and emotions become fluid. She sells the experience of dissolution and reconstruction of the self. Attendees report experiences similar to those induced by psychedelics, but completely legal and reproducible.

In acting, triggering catharsis

Tilda Swinton understood this when she slept in a display case at MoMA during "The Maybe." She became a contemplative experience. Visitors experienced the strangeness of observing pure human vulnerability.

Recalling what we explored about mirror neurons in our brain episode, the neuroscience of theater shows that when we see acting, our mirror neurons activate as if we're living those experiences. Actors lend us their bodies so we can process our own emotions safely.

Adam Driver took it to the extreme in "Marriage Story." He became a conductor of collective catharsis. Viewers reported processing their own relationship traumas through his performance. His product was vicarious emotional healing.

The designer: stimulated by the unconscious

Stefan Sagmeister provokes. His work for Lou Reed's album, where his own tattooed skin was the cover, sold the experience of confronting mortality and art as sacrifice.

Emotional design activates three brain levels simultaneously: visceral (brainstem), behavioral (limbic system), and reflective (neocortex). The best designers orchestrate this neurological symphony consciously.

Neri Oxman merges design, biology, and architecture to create experiences that awaken what she calls "material ecology consciousness." Her pieces are catalysts for a new emotional relationship with the material world. Visitors report lasting changes in their perception of nature and technology.

Let's get real: what if I'm —for example— an accountant?

Talking about experience, and linking it to art or Apple products, are simple examples because we can easily showcase the sensory aspect. However, I like difficult things, so instead of giving distant examples, let's explore something everyday. How would my life be if I were an accountant, and wanted to become a product, and therefore an experience?

Step 1: Identify the base emotion. The traditional accountant processes numbers. Our accountant-product will generate the experience of "control over financial chaos." Financial anxiety affects 73% of adults, causing insomnia, digestive problems, and cognitive decline. An accountant with this narrative is an accountant whose brand personality should be type 1 with a wing 9. (Soon the episode explaining this will be available) He is an extremely correct, perfectionist person whose secondary goal is to bring peace and tranquility.

Step 2: Map the emotional journey

• Start: What context is the person I want to speak to in? What expectations do they have? What do they value highly? Answer: It's a person that all tax matters generate anxiety for, they've had bad experiences with other accountants. They don't have much deep knowledge, but enough to know that having tax troubles is very uncomfortable.

• Process What does my work involve? Where do my colleagues constantly fail? What is supposed to be my hallmark?

• Answer: Everyone disappears, creating a loop of anxiety that makes clients lose trust, which, added to some people's irresponsibility, creates the perfect scenario for the entire tax universe to be a no-man's land.

• Output What part of my product stays with the client? What part of my product will their friends see? What aspects of what I do give visibility to what I do?

• Answer: Nothing, we only exchange emails, invoices, and such

Step 3: Design your own emotional journey

• My start: Weekly, I create reports with a minimalist "zen" aesthetic turning accounting concepts into simple snacks. Those reports become content script that I share on my favorite social network. People who consume both contents are attracted to my approach and would like me to manage their accounting.

• My development: I identified that there are thousands of contexts in the tax world, so I systemize, through several forms, the data that allows me to understand what a client needs and how much time it requires monthly. My hallmark “tranquility” will be the automation and management of a WhatsApp just to handle requests and queries. On my side, I activate alerts so that a query never takes more than X hours. My accounting reports also arrive religiously on the dates committed to the client.

• My output: A personalized dashboard with everything the client has saved on fines and blunders thanks to proper tax administration. An annual rewind in October as a reminder that the year is ending, and you know what I mean.

Step 4: Measure the impact

• The classic birthday greeting, accompanied by a personal email so the client can share how they felt.

• Interview your own clients. People love talking about themselves. I’m not talking about a dull satisfaction survey, which doesn't mean you can’t get the same information from a satisfaction survey, in a personal conversation. I turn success stories into testimonials. Many accountant-client relationships start after fixing a mess.

The science behind the transformation

Meta-analyses of recent studies show that positive emotional experiences generate measurable epigenetic changes. The emotions you generate in others can activate or deactivate genes related to health, longevity, and well-being.

If you design experiences that generate specific emotions, you're participating in human evolution in real-time.

In a world where AI can replicate any technical skill, the only truly irreplaceable thing is the ability to generate authentic emotional experiences. Current LLMs can write code better than 90% of programmers, but they lack the ability to make someone feel the specific mix of nostalgia, hope, and determination that only your personal story can evoke.

You are already a product. The question is whether you are one consciously or unconsciously, since our most valuable product is how we make others feel while we navigate together, another end of the world.