NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Four)

Are you getting excited yet?

If you've read the first three articles in this series, you are probably beginning to realize how easy it can be to create super motivation to get yourself to do anything, regardless of how much you have avoided doing this thing, how much you tend to procrastinate doing it, how much you internally resist doing this activity or behavior.

In the first three articles, we have talked about how to create links between the activity you wish to get yourself to do (the target) and something you already derive a great deal of pleasure from.

We've been using a hypothetical example of imaging you are a college student who has a great deal of difficulty getting yourself to study. At the same time, you also LIVE to ski. You cannot wait for winter to come and the snow to start falling, because when it does, you head for the ski slopes and stay until the last snowflake melts.

We have then used the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) technique of creating triggers for your studying and for skiing. In the example given in the article 3, you pinched one earlobe when you visualized yourself studying and the other earlobe when you visualized yourself skiing. By pinching both earlobes at once, you were able to create the same pleasurable sensations you feel when you ski, when you study.

Obviously there is some fine-tuning to be done before you can master this technique completely, but you now have all the basics.

But before we go any further, let's add one more final step.

You still have to reinforce the triggers you have created. You do this by pinching both earlobes simultaneously. When you do this, both the image of you studying and the image of skiing will flash back and forth for a while. Practice this step for a while and practice it every day for several weeks. Your goal here is to link studying so deeply with the same pleasurable sensations of skiing that whenever you pinch both earlobes at the same time, you cannot help yourself from studying.

Before long, your biggest problem will be stopping when they start to close the library on you. (I am of course only using the college student and skier examples as working analogies for this article, but the technique will work for you regardless of what type of behavior you are trying to create motivation for you to do).

Also, please note that all the examples we have used so far have been about creating motivation for behaviors you want to do, or want to stop procrastinating on. There are different methods to be used for behaviors you want to stop, which we will discuss in future articles in this series.

But what if you cannot think of something you enjoy doing as much as our hypothetical college student enjoys skiing? Remember, the pleasure that you are drawing from ( ie the skiing) must be greater than whatever pain you perceive is in the target activity you want to motivate yourself for (ie the studying).

In other words, if our college student didn't derive greater pleasure from skiing than the "pain" he or she perceived was associated with studying, this whole exercise would not have worked. Fortunately, NLP practitioners and researchers have discovered a technique called "stacking" which solves this problem.

We will discuss how stacking works and how you can use it in a future article.

NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Three)

Is it really possible to create super motivation in a half hour or less?

Think about the impact this question could have on your life if the answer is true. Any action, any behavior, any task that you now put off or hate to do, could instantly become pleasurable and you could condition yourself to do it without all the endless self reproach you probably inflict upon yourself now.

Well the truth is that the science of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) has made it possible for you to create such instant super motivation in your life. And this motivation is not created with so-called "willpower". Instead this motivation is created by linking pleasure or pain with the behavior you want to change.

In the first article in this series, I put it like this: 

Every change we create in our behavior results from changing how we associate that behavior to either pleasure or pain. Our mind automatically creates these links, with or without our conscious awareness that an association exists.

Now in the last article, I left you hanging (sorry) as I began to explain how to use this technique. We were using a hypothetical example that you are a college student who is having difficulty motivating yourself to study on a regular basis.

At the same time, we imagined that you also LOVE to ski. You cannot wait until winter comes and the snow starts to fall so you can head to the mountains. Absolutely nothing in your life is as much fun to you as skiing.

When I ended the last article, we were beginning to show how a link or association can be created between studying and the pleasure you derive from skiing. (By the way, if you are waiting for an apology from me for keeping you in suspense, don't hold your breath. I WANT you to read this article and the ones that follow it as well).

Step one: Visualize yourself doing the target behavior (studying). As you visualize this, create a trigger for this by doing something like pinching your right earlobe. Do this for a few minutes until pinching your right earlobe is linked in your mind with this visual image of yourself studying.

Step two: Now visualize yourself doing the thing you enjoy doing (skiing). As you visualize this, create a second trigger by doing something like pinching your left earlobe. Do this for a few moments until pinching your left earlobe causes you to feel the pleasure you normally experience when you are skiing.

Step three: Merge these two visual images together by pinching both earlobes (or whatever stimuli you gave yourself) simultaneously. For a few moments, the two images of yourself skiing and studying will flash back and forth until they create a single impression. Don't sweat this step. It will probably happen before you are aware it has been done.

Now there is still some fine tuning to do on this technique (I still want you to keep reading the articles in this series) but for now, when you want to motivate yourself to study, all you must do is pinch both earlobes simultaneously until you feel the same pleasurable sensations of skiing when you imagine yourself studying.

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NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Two)

At some point, don't we all wish we had more motivation?

More motivation to quit a bad habit, more motivation to get started on an important project that will bring us more success in our life, or even more motivation to clean out the garage so our spouse will be happy.

We all have a list of things we want to do or things we wish we would stop doing, but we just can't find the motivation to do so. Well the good news, as many researchers in the field of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) have made clear, is that such motivation can be created. And it can be created in a matter of a half hour or less.

The key is to create new links or pathways between certain behaviors and things we find either pleasurable or thins we find painful or uncomfortable. That's it, at the root of our motivations are the two triggers of pleasure and pain.

In the first article in this series, I put it like this: 

Every change we create in our behavior results from changing how we associate that behavior to either pleasure or pain. Our mind automatically creates these links, with or without our conscious awareness that an association exists.

Let's start with a simple example. Suppose you really enjoy skiing. You live for winter and that beautiful white powder. And when winter finally comes, you cannot wait to get on the slopes.

Using NLP conditioning, you can create a link between the pleasures you derive from skiing to any other activity you want to motivate yourself to do more of. Suppose you are also a college student and you are having difficulty motivating yourself to study. If you want to create a motivation to get yourself to study more, you can actually link studying with the same sensations you get when you are skiing.

In other words you can create an association between skiing and studying so that you find studying just as pleasurable as you do skiing.

In order to create this association, you must first break your target behavior (studying) into its individual components. These could be, finding a quiet place to study that is conducive to good learning. Gathering all your materials together so you will not have to leave. Actually sitting in the chair and opening your books, etc.

In the process of doing this, you may find that one particular component is what you put off doing. Perhaps it is just simply getting to the library to study. Throughout your day, you may engage in all kinds of other activities that prevent or delay your getting to the library (by the way, if all this sounds like I had experience in these kinds of avoidance behaviors, you would be right).

If you find a particular behavior is what you have been avoiding, you can focus your efforts on this one target activity. Continuing on with our example of getting yourself to the library and finding a quiet corner to study, create a strong visualization of yourself going to the library, finding a table and sitting down to study.

Create a visual image of yourself doing this very clearly. In the next article, we will discuss how to then create an association with the pleasure you derive from skiing to create that same pleasure with your studying.

NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part One)

In his wonderful book, Awaken the Giant Within, Anthony Robbins says: 

Every change you've ever accomplished in your life is the result of changing your neuro-associations about what means pan and what means pleasure

This means that every change we create in our behavior results from changing how we associate that behavior to either pleasure or pain. Our mind automatically creates these links, with or without our conscious awareness that an association exists.

Suppose you want to start working out more, but you find yourself putting it off, dreading it, or finding anything else to do instead of working out. Why is this? You understand all the wonderful health benefits that come from working out. You also understand that working out will make you feel and look better, yet you still can't seem to get motivated to take the first step.

In all likelihood, your subconscious mind has linked exercise to something unpleasant. Perhaps you had a high school coach (like my track coach) who liked to say "no pain, no gain." After an experience like that, it is understandable that you might link exercise to pain or something unpleasant.

So how do you create super motivation for some new action or behavior? It really is not very difficult at all. In the next few articles, we will discuss how to identify a new behavior you want to create. Then we will learn how to find something that already gives you pleasure. And then we will learn how to link the desired new behavior to the thing that you already find pleasurable.

Using a few simple techniques, you will learn how to create the same amount of pleasure in the new action you want to create, that you already receive from the thing already existing in your life.

Finally, in those cases in which you want to rid yourself of a behavior that you are already doing, you will learn how to replace that unwanted behavior with a new behavior that gives you greater pleasure.

How NLP Can Put You In A Confident State Anytime, Anyplace With Anyone (Part Two)

I have read Anthony Robbins' book, Unlimited Power so many times, it is almost tattered beyond recognition. I have bookmarks all through it, I have highlighted many, many sections, and I have lots of my own personal notes written in the margins.

Have I mentioned that I really, REALLY, like this book?

One story from Unlimited Power that I would like to pass on to you is about an airplane flight in which Tony found himself sitting next to Ken Blanchard, the co-author of The One Minute Manager.

Blanchard had recently had a session with one of the top golf instructors in the United States, and while his golf score had certainly improved, he confessed to Tony that he was having trouble keeping all the individual instructions (like how to stand, how to hold the club, how the upswing should feel, etc) in his mind at the same time.

Tony then launched into a discussion about the NLP term called "state." He asked Blanchard if he had ever hit a golf ball perfectly, and Blanchard said yes.

Then Tony asked if Blanchard had hit the golf ball perfectly on many occasions, and he was again told yes.

This meant, Tony explained, that Blanchard's brain already held all the individual steps to a perfect golf swing. All Blanchard had to do was re-produce the state he was in when he had hit the ball perfectly, and he could re-produce those perfect shots.

Now apply this to your need. Have you ever been in a state in which you were relaxed, totally confident and free from doubt? Of course you have, so now all you need is re-produce those internal and external actions that were present when you were previously in this state.

An example of this is when Tony was working with an Olympic swimmer who had been unable to swim at a time equal to his previous personal best. With Tony's help, the swimmer was able to re-produce all the cues that put him in that previous state (right down to playing a certain piece of music) and the swimmer was subsequently able to match his own previous best time.

Here's the point: If you are feeling un-confident going into a certain situation, think back to a time you previously were very confident and exhibited all the outward behaviors and mannerisms you want to exhibit now.

In your mind, re-create all the inner and outward actions you exhibited at that time, and you can put yourself back into that state and exhibit the same behaviors now. We will continue this concept in the next article and show how to look for those cues and how to re-create them, so you can change your state now.

NLP Modeling - How to Acquire Any Skill or Expertise (Part Two)

There are no limits to what you can do. Your key is power of modeling. Excellence can be duplicated. If other people can do something, all you need to do is model them with precision and you can do exactly the same thing, whether it's walking on fire, making a million dollars or developing a perfect relationship.

Anthony Robbins
Unlimited Power

This is powerful stuff. Anything anyone can do, you can learn to do just as well, and you can learn to do it faster than that person learned to do it, with the NLP (neuro-linguistic technique of "modeling."

Think this sounds far fetched? Well did you notice that Robbins included walking on fire along with making a million dollars and developing a perfect relationship? This is because at the graduation ceremony of each of his seminars, Tony has his students go through a fire walk, just like the Hindu gurus who still walk barefoot across a path of red hot coals without the slightest burns on their feet.

As he explains it in the first chapter of Unlimited Power:

The firewalk is an experience in personal power and a metaphor for possibilities, an opportunity for people to produce results they previously thought impossible.

It teaches people in the most visceral sense that they can change, they can grown they can stretch themselves, they can do things they never thought possible, that their greatest fears and limitations are self-imposed.

If you or I can be taught to walk on fire, and we discover in the process that 99% of the things we previously thought were impossible are merely self-imposed limitations and false beliefs (I haven't yet accomplished that last 1%, which includes things like leaping over tall buildings in a single bound, or running faster than a speeding bullet, but I'm still working on it), imagine what else we can do?

So what can we dare to imagine ourselves doing once we learn that anything anyone else can do, you and I can do as well? Would we dare to make a million dollars? Would we dare to ask the most attractive person we'd ever met out for a date? Would we go back to school? Would we quit a job we hate and start our own business? Would we quit the business world entirely and make our living in the creative and artistic areas we so love?

NLP modeling sets us free to do all these things and more. If we can merely find someone who is already doing what we desire to do, and learn to model that person's actions, both internal actions such as beliefs and thought process, and external actions such as physiology, we will produce the same exact results as that person.

NLP - 8 Techniques To Overcome The Beliefs That Limit Your Ability And Gain Excellence In Your Task

By the time you read this NLP article completely, you will be amazed as there will not be any belief that would restrict your ability anymore. The NLP says that the beliefs that we hold give us both strength and empowerment. So, it becomes important to have the belief that can enhance your ability rather than restricting it.

NLP classifies the limiting beliefs into three categories as follows:

• Desperation - Under this situation, the person thinks that he can never achieve his goal under any circumstances. He desperately tries to achieve his goal but fails because he works with half-heartedness.
• Defenselessness - Under this, the person thinks that he can achieve his goal, but he rely more on luck and fate.
• Worthlessness - Under this, the person think that he is unable to deserve to achieve the goal. He finds himself as incapable and not worth any thing.

To which category do you belong? NLP can surely help you to come out of the limiting belief. These are 8 NLP techniques that can help you overcome the belief that restricts your ability and gain excellence:

1. Hold the belief that gives you strength and empowerment: Research has shown that the people who think they are unhealthy and suffering from any disease die early than the persons who are actually suffering from any diseases. NLP states that your thinking affects your both mentally and physically. Hold the belief that bears a positive impact on you.
2. Ignore the beliefs that restrict your energy and confidence levels: When you tell your mind that you cannot do a particular thing or you are not capable of doing any thing, then you surely never do that thing. Such beliefs are restricting you to achieve any thing are called as the 'limiting beliefs' in NLP.
3. Limiting belief can be the consequence of any significant experience in your life - come out of that experience with NLP: NLP sates that most of the beliefs that we hold are because of any kind of significant experience that you must have been through in your life. Once a boy was so focused on his target to hit the ball with his bat that he hurt his brother who was coming towards him. His parents scolded him. Since then he made up his mind that if he will go after his target he will hurt someone. This belief affected him badly in this adult life. Hence, the boy must have tried to overcome that bad experience and improved on it rather than allowing that experience to come with him all through his life. NLP calls this as framing the bad experience for well.
4. Make yourself aware of the belief limits you: When you do not attempt to do any task or you fail in the task that you have done, the first thing that most of the people do is, they try to justify their failure rather than finding out the ways to improve them. This is most common attitude of people, proved by NLP. Instead of this, you must find out the reasons that are responsible for your failure.
   Ask your self the following questions:
   a. Why is the goal unattainable for me?
   b. Why skills do I lack in to attain this?
   c. Why do I think that I do not deserve to achieve this goal?
5. Work on your limiting beliefs: Once you uncover the beliefs that are restricting you, try to eliminate those beliefs that are not allowing you to achieve your goal. Work on limiting beliefs and try hard to make changes. NLP techniques mentioned below can help you to do that. The techniques of NLP tries to eliminate the gap between you and your restricting beliefs.
6. Do not allow that belief take power over you: NLP advises you to work on your odd beliefs and get it out of your life as soon as possible before they gain power and superiority over you. Once they gain power over you, you will start losing your one or the other power or ability.
7. Uncover the purpose of the belief: Ask yourself how does this belief affects or benefits you. Give your belief a thought and find out the answer. NLP techniques can help you uncover the true purpose of your belief in your life. If you hold the belief that all men are troublesome, think and mould your belief like 'some characterless men are troublesome while all are not the same.'
8. Proving a wrong belief as wrong: This is one of the most powerful NLP techniques, which help you eradicate the limiting beliefs in your life. You have to prove wrong the wrong beliefs. The only way of doing that is, when you think that you cannot do any thing just go for it. Attempt to achieve that thing. It is natural that you may be unsuccessful in the first attempt but once you do it your false belief that you cannot do it shatters away.
   Belief change exercise:
   a. Replace your negative belief with the positive one.
   b. Analyze your dream and the circumstances in which you generated that belief.
   c. Examine whether it bears a positive or negative impact on you.
   d. If it is negative one, try out the most possible ways that you can find to replace it with the positive one.

This is most easy, simple yet powerful NLP technique that you can implement today for your benefit. It can help you eliminate the limiting beliefs and gain excellence in your task.