Category: Success Attitude

Our brain is by far one of the most powerful tools in the world. Habitual performance is created on the fly. We hardly have to sit down and design our experiences. However, this short cut comes at aridiculous price. Most people form habits and then think that they cannot change them anymore.

I think it is from my own experience that I say that habitual performance can make or break you. But, if it is at breaking point,it would be a smart choice to decide to create a new and empowering habit instead, do not you think? How do habits form? Let us take a peek into our brain for the moment. We know that we have got brain cells known as neurons.

Habits are formed when neurons begin to branch out to other neurons through a communication mode called an action potential. This is a small electrical impulse that runs through our brain cells that help to form neuro-connections.

The closest visual representation is much like what might happen if an octopus were to extend on of its tentacles to touch another octopus. When a connection is formed, we have a neuro pathway. The more this neuro pathway is used, the more solidified it becomes.

So, when do we get these electrical impulses in our head? All the time! Think about it this way: Every time you wake up, you wake upin a particular way and move in a particular fashion, and carry outa particular sequence or steps in order for you to get out of bed, and off to work. And this is a pattern of habit for you everysingle day, is not it? Likewise, is not it true that sometimes when you see someone, you might just feel lousy? Think, boss! The key issue is some of these habitual patterns take place when you least expect or want it to happen.

In such a situation, you will have to use a technique to get a new pattern installed and let the old pattern die away. This techniqueis known as The Switch Pattern, developed by Dr. Richard Bandler. The Switch Pattern uses distance as a driver because distance tends to control other sub modalities. For instance, if you made an image go further into the distance, the picture tend to become smaller, less focused, and tends to lose color along the way. In order for us to do The Switch Pattern effectively, we need to identify the characteristics of effective change processes using The Switch Pattern.

Creating behavioral change processes, not imaginary static outcomes. It is important to focus on the outcome of the changethat you want to create. For instance, if your problem situation isovereating, you cannot simply imagine yourself being thin. You have to think of behaviors you will be exhibiting in order for you to eat less. For instance, you could deliberately choose to see yourself, or imagine yourself eating half of what you normally eat. You could deliberately choose to eat only up to seventy percent of your stomach’s capacity and drink more water.

For instance, clearly imagining the feeling of what it is like when you eat up to seventypercent of your stomach’s capacity.

Likewise, if you are procrastinating, just visualizing yourself doing work is not going to cut it. What do you want to feel instead? How would you help yourself to get there? You will have to see yourself do something to change your state. For instance, if you procrastinate, you might have to visualize the image ofyourself feeling the fear of the consequences if you did not do it. Some of you already do this. You think about how bad the consequences will be if you did not get it done right now. Alternatively, you might choose to do something else that changes your state, such as doing a set of fifty push ups to suck yourself up. Once you know of a behavior that you can do to change your state, see yourself doing the desired behavior clearly.

To your success!

Has there been another time when you felt totally motivated in getting started on a project? A time when you just sat down and got it done immediately?

I believe we are aware that this situation rarely happens, never happening in times when we need to get something done.

We Create our States of Motivation and Procrastination

We have to understand that we create entirely different states using our physiology and internal re-presentation. When we understand this, we will be able to change, interrupt and change states whenever we need to.

When you were procrastinating, you were using your physiology in a particular way. Your breathing was probably slow and shallow. Your muscles were droopy, your eyes were looking down and your facial muscles were probably flaccid.

What about your internal re-presentation? You were probably seeing pictures of yourself having a tough time, being overwhelmed and getting frustrated. You were probably saying to yourself in the most weary and bored tone of life, “Must I do this now? Can I do it later?”

How do we create Motivation?

A question we have to ask ourselves, when we are in a motivated state, taking action and accomplishing our tasks, how did we create that?

Our physiology was probably different. We were sitting differently, breathing differently and moving differently. We were probably re-presenting the task very differently in our mind.

We were seeing ourselves getting results, having fun and doing things effortlessly. We were probably saying, “do it now!” “Let’s get it done!” in a more excited, higher pitched tone of voice.

Remember, our states are hardly managed consciously. We do not consciously shift our physiology nor do we control our internal re-presentations with the intention of controlling our states.

Instead, our minds are allowed to run on autopilot causing us to lose control of our own states, ensuing in mediocre results that we are not to be pleased about.

Now that we are aware that states of motivation and procrastination are entirely created by us, the responsibility is on us to learn and take charge of our physiology and internal representation, propelling us to attain the greater results we desire.

If we can replicate the way a winner runs his brain, then we can replicate the way they think and behave, and hence the results they produce. If others can walk on stage and deliver a speech with confidence, so can you.

If others are able to constantly direct their emotions to feel motivated and confident, so can you! If others display highly creative skills, you can do so too.

Remember, they are able to do so because they are running effective mental programs. With the same neurology, you just have to unlock their secrets and run your brain in exactly the same way.
Think about this for a while.

Are you afraid of public speaking? Some people get terrified just by looking at a large audience in front of them. Their hands turn cold, their legs shake uncontrollably, their face turns white and they start to stutter when they open their mouths.

This is called a phobia and all of us have phobias for one thing or another. Yet at the same time, why is it that another person, seeing exactly the same audience can feel comfortable, relaxed, confident – even eager to speak.

Such seemingly natural orators speak to an entire auditorium as easily as if there was only one person in front of them. They may even be able to entertain the audience, make people loosen up and laugh, and they feel great about being up there too.

Again, what is it that makes the confident speaker different from the fearful one? They have the same mental resources available to them.

The difference lies in how they represent the experience of the audience and the stage in their brains. You see, the thought and behavioral patterns they run through their neuro-connections are completely different.

The first person’s brain is wired up in such a way that seeing the audience immediately triggers off a ‘fear’ program that shuts their entire body down. This is expressed physically in sweaty palms and brow, butterflies in the stomach.

Quite the opposite occurs when the confident speaker sees the audience. His neural connections fires off a ‘relaxed and confidence’ pattern that allows him to perform at his best!

Unfortunately, most people have never learned how to direct and re-program the limiting patterns they run. They are not in charge of their brains. Instead, their brains take charge of them.

They let their brains go on ‘auto pilot’, running mediocre programs that keep limiting their performance.
As a result, they will always feel that there are things they can never do, simply because they believe that it is not within their control. Or ability.

You too can do what you thought was impossible before, like exercising consistently until you get to your ideal weight. Or give a powerful speech and inspire a two-thousand strong audience.

Once you learn how to change a program in your brain, in fact any program, it will ultimately change how your body reacts. And you can accomplish anything you set your mind (or brain) to.

All of us have got dreams we aspire to attain in our lives. These dreams come from people who inspire us.

We may dream of making $20,000 a month, owning a luxury-y car and living in a million dollar mansion. At the same time, based on our beliefs, we also have what I call a ‘level of acceptance’.

This ‘level of acceptance’ means that though you may aspire to earn $20,000 a month, you are willing to accept earning $3000 a month.

Although you would love to live in a million dollar house, you are quite willing to settle for a small apartment, Although you would love to be at an ideal weight of 65kg, you are willing to live life at 75kg.

You may set a goal to earn $20,000 but if you are willing to accept earning $3000, then $3000 is what you are going to end up getting. Why? Because the $3000 level of acceptance is what we make a ‘must’ for ourselves.

We will not allow ourselves to earn below that level of what we believe is our minimum. This is our tolerance level. The moment we think we are going to go below our acceptance level, our mind hits panic mode and we will do whatever it takes to get above that. Again, when we are committed to do whatever it takes, we will get it.

People who make $20,000 a month do so because to them, that is their level of acceptance That is what they believe they are worth. They will not accept anything less. They will never accept $5000 or even $10,000 a month. They will do whatever it takes to get the level they believe they deserve.

You Must Raise your Acceptance Levels.

Unless we raise our acceptance levels, we will never do what is necessary to achieve our goals. So if you want to make more money, you have to raise your standards of what you are willing to accept. You have to raise your standards of what you are willing to accept.

Be very honest with yourself, what is your current level of expectation and level of acceptance in the different areas of your life? Invest the time to reflect and to write down your thoughts.

If you want success to become your reality, make it so that you will never settle for anything less. Raise your level of acceptance to the level of your goals and you can’t help but become successful.

The process of turning a negative experience into a positive one is called reframing.

The two ways in which you can do this is Content Reframing and Context Reframing.

Content Reframing

Content reframing is the process of changing a negative experience into a positive one by changing the meaning of the experience. Remember, every event has multiple meanings. The meaning we choose to focus on is what becomes real for us.

The best way to do a content reframe is to ask the question, ‘What else can this mean?’ ‘How can this benefit or empower me instead of depressing me?’

For example, if the recession hit when you were about to start your business, you could content reframe it by saying, ‘Good! This means that business costs, like rental and salaries, will be lower and allow us to break even faster’.

Or you could say, ‘Good! This means prospective clients will be more open to listening to suppliers who offer better value for money.’ There are multiple reasons why starting a business in a recession will be a positive experience!

What if someone told you, ‘My son does not stop talking’ You could reframe this negative comment by saying ‘Good that means he must be full of ideas’, or, ‘This means he must be very intelligent.’

If the person you love leaves you for someone else, reframe the loss by saying, ‘Good. This means that I can find someone who truly loves me’ or ‘this means I can find someone who is more caring, beautiful and loyal.’

Context Reframing

Another way to reframe an experience is to do a context reframe. A context reframe is the process of changing a negative experience into a positive one by changing the context from which it is perceived.

Have you ever had a negative experience only to look back at it five years later and say, ‘That was a blessing in disguise?’ In a different context (i.e. the future), the meaning of that experience changed from bad to good.

In doing a context reframe, you must ask the question, ‘in a different time or place, how would the meaning be beneficial?’
You see, everything that seems bad now, when put into a different time or place, could appear beneficial.

Going back to the first example of starting a business in a recession, you could use a context reframe by saying, ‘When the economy picks up, the company will be positioned to do very well as it has been tested & strengthened by the recession’.

You could do a context reframe on the boy who talks all the time by saying, ‘When he grows up, he will make a good public speaker’ (context of time). Or you could also say, ‘The fact that he talks all the time will certainly earn him a place on the school debating team (context of place). Are you getting the hang of it?

How we represent or (frame) our experiences determine our response and the outcomes we achieve. Therefore we must learn to constantly frame experiences in ways that empower ourselves and the people around us.

When we change the way we represent (frame) something, we totally change the meaning and the emotions associated with that experience. As a result, we change the decisions we make and the actions we take.

You must learn how to create resourceful meanings out of every experience. Successful leaders and entrepreneurs do this to empower themselves and others to reach their goals.