How can we successfully stimulate thought processes—without overwhelming or manipulating them? This chapter explores the cognitive mechanisms underlying our decisions, and thus identifies a central lever for effective inspiration. Inspiration is far more than the right words or persuasive arguments: it requires targeted impulses that encounter fertile ground in the mind if the recipient. This is precisely where an understanding how our brain works comes into play. Daniel Kahneman's distinction between fast, intuitive thinking and slow, deliberate thinking provide an important foundation for examining, in the following chapters, how a systematic method can be developed that enables targeted impulses—and clearly distinguishes genuine inspiration from mere passive persuasion and short-term motivation that quickly fades.