Unlimited Power - Chapter 17

 

Chapter 17 - Anchoring Yourself To Success

 

A flag, like countless other things in our environment, is an anchor, a sensory stimulus linked to a specific set of states.

An anchor can be a word or a phrase or a touch or an object.

It can be something we see, hear, taste, or smell.

Anchors have great power because they can instantly access powerful states.

Our world is full of anchors, some of them profound, some of them trivial. If I start to say to you, "Winston tastes good like a..." chances are you'll automatically say, "Cigarette should."

Anchoring is a way to give an experience permanence. We can change our internal representations or our physiology in a moment and create new results, but those changes require conscious thought.

However, with anchoring, you can create a consistent triggering mechanism that will automatically cause you to create the state you desire in any situation without your having to think about it.

Anchoring is the most effective technique I know for constructively channeling our powerful unconscious reactions so they're always at our disposal.

We all anchor regularly. In fact, it's impossible not to.

All anchoring is a created association of thoughts, ideas, feelings, or states with a specific stimulus.

Remember Pavlov's dogs?

We live in a stimulus/response world, where much of human behavior consists of unconscious programmed responses.

So how do anchors get created?

Whenever a person is in an intense state where the mind and body are strongly involved together and a specific stimulus is consistently and simultaneously provided at the peak of the state, the stimulus and the state become neurologically linked. Then, anytime the stimulus is provided, the intense state automatically results.

Not all anchors are positive association by any means. How do you feel when you see a red flashing light in your rearview mirror? 

Does it instantly and automatically change your state?

One of the things that affects the power of an anchor is the intensity of the original state.

Sometimes people have such an intense unpleasant experience-like fighting with their spouse or boss-that from then on, whenever they see that person's face, they immediately feel anger inside-and from that point on their relationship or job loses all its joy.

There are two simple steps to consciously create a positive anchor for yourself or others.

First you must put yourself, or the person you're anchoring, into the specific state you wish to anchor.

Then you must consistently provide a specific, unique stimulus as the person experiences the peak of that state.

Another way to create a positive anchor - let's say a confidence anchor-is to ask that person to remember a time when (s)he felt the state (s)he wishes to have available on cue, then have that person step back into that experience so that (s)he is fully associated and can feel those feelings in the body. As the person does this, you will begin to see changes in physiology-facial expressions, posture, breathing. As you see these states nearing their peak, quickly provide a specific and unique stimulus several times.

KEYS TO ANCHORING:

1. INTENSITY OF THE STATE

2. TIMING (PEAK OF EXPERIENCE)

3. UNIQUENESS OF STIMULUS

4. REPLICATION OF STIMULUS

1. FOR AN ANCHOR TO BE EFFECTIVE, WHEN YOU PROVIDE THE STIMULUS, YOU MUST HAVE THE PERSON IN A FULLY ASSOCIATED, CONGRUENT STATE, WITH HIS/HER WHOLE BODY FULLY INVOLVED.

I call this an intense state The more intense, the easier it is to anchor, and the longer the anchor will last.

2. YOU MUST PROVIDE THE STIMULUS AT THE PEAK OF THE EXPERIENCE.

If you provide an anchor too soon or too late, you won't capture the full intensity.

3. YOU SHOULD CHOOSE A UNIQUE STIMULUS.

It's essential that the anchor gives a clear and unmistakable signal to the brain-a handshake, for example, would not be very unique.

4. FOR AN ANCHOR TO WORK, YOU MUST REPLICATE IT EXACTLY.

 

ANCHORING EXERCISE

Stand up and think of a time when you were totally confident when you knew you could do whatever you wanted to do.

Put your body in the same physiology it was in then.

Stand the way you did when you were totally confident.

At the peak of that feeling, make a fist and say, "Yes!" with a strength and certainty. 

Breathe the way you did when you were totally confident.

Again make the same fist and say, "Yes!" in the same tonality.

Now speak in the tone of a person with total confidence and control.

As you do this, create the same fist and then say, "Yes!" in the same way.

If you can't remember a time, think of how you would be if you did have such an experience. 

Put your body in the physiology it would be in if you did know how to feel totally confident and in control.

Breathe the way you would if you felt total confidence.

Now as you stand there in a state of total confidence, at the height of that experience, gently make a fist and say, "Yes!" in a powerful tone of voice.

Be aware of the power at your disposal, of the remarkable physical and mental resources you have, and feel the full surge of that power and centeredness.

Start over and do this again and again, five or six times, each time feeling stronger, creating an association in your neurology between this state and the act of making a fist and saying, "Yes!" Then change your state, change your physiology. Now make your fist and say, "Yes!" in the same way as you did when you anchored, and notice how you feel. Do that several times over the next few days.

Get yourself into the most confident, powerful state you're aware of, and at the peak of those states make a fist in a unique way.

You should also have resourceful states available at your fingertips.

Select three to five states that you would like to have available, then anchor them to a specific part of yourself so that you have easy access to them.

Let me give you a few techniques for handling negative anchors.

One is to fire off opposing anchors at the same time. 

We call this COLLAPSING ANCHORS.

Anchor a series of resourceful states in one part of your body, then anchor the unresourceful state on a different part of your body, then trigger both anchors at the same time. You'll find something remarkable happens. The brain connects the two in your nervous system; then, finny time either anchor is touched, it has the choice of two responses. And the brain will almost always choose the more positive response. Either it will put you in the positive state, or you'll go into a neutral state (in which both anchors have canceled each other out).

Now, if you've just been reading this book, WITHOUT DOING THESE ANCHORING EXERCISES, they'll seem silly. But if you do them, you'll be able to see the incredible power they have.

This is a key ingredient of success: THE ABILITY TO ELIMINATE FROM YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT TRIGGERS THAT TEND TO PUT YOU IN NEGATIVE OR UNRESOURCEFUL STATES, WHILE INSTALLING POSITIVE ONES IN YOURSELF AND IN OTHERS.

One of the ways to do this is to make a chart of the major anchors-positive and negative-in your life.

Note whether they're primarily triggered by visual, auditory, or kinesthetic stimuli.

Once you know what your anchors are, you should go about collapsing the negative ones and making best use of the positive ones.

Think of the power you could have in your own life if you could take the things that used to bother you and have them make you feel great or resourceful enough to change them.

You have the power to do it.