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.