Mental Techniques

The Swish Technique

This mental technique was created by Richard Bandler co-creator of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Anthony Robbins has popularized it in his books.

To begin choose a behaviour or mental state that you want to change. Now try to imagine it as clearly and with as much detail as you can muster. The more detail in your mind picture the more effective the mental technique will be.

Focus on all the sensory input this thing can give you -

See it

Smell it

Hear the noises associated with it

Feel it

Taste it

Now you have two mental pictures - one you want to change or get rid of and one that makes you very happy. Every picture needs a frame so put your mental pictures in frames.

For the moment make the pleasant picture small and put it off to the side or the corner of your mental wall. Make the 'change picture' big with a bright frame. Ok, you have two mental pictures nicely framed hanging on the wall of your mind ... here comes the 'swish' part...

Imagine the two pictures swapping size and place on your mental wall.. make the pleasant picture grow large and bright, make the change picture dull and small.. try to hear the sound effect of the two pictures morphing.. swish! Say 'swish' to yourself as they change place..

Repeat the swish part of the exercise as many times as you can and remember that it works best with speed and intensity. The swish should make you jump if you were watching it like a movie...

It will take at least 10 and most likely more 'swishes' to program your mind to link the two pictures... if you have done this correctly when you are faced with the behaviour you want to change your mind will jump tracks to the very happy picture..

... automatically moving you away from the change picture and towards the happy picture.

The Anchor & Trigger Technique

An anchor is a mental technique that is designed to create a specific response to a specific stimulus (the trigger). The stimulus can be anything you choose, pinching your ear lobe, snapping your fingers, tapping your foot, lighting a match, it can be anything as long as it is specific.

The response part could be for just about any purpose as well. You might want to put yourself into an alert mental state, or stop a craving for a cigarette or a drink. The key to this mental technique is intensity and repetition... the desired mental state or physical situation must be intense at the time you create the anchor.

The best time to create an anchor is when you are deeply, deeply relaxed or in a solid 'Theta' state. In a relaxed theta state you can create any state or circumstance that you want. Imagine yourself to be where you want to be - happy, smoke free, confident, etc.

In the same way that dreams can be very realistic, your imagined state or situation needs to be *that* real. Create a mental movie that is over-the-top intense. Once your mental movie is as clear as it can be ...

....Start your stimulus.

If you choose to pinch your ear lobe you will need to pinch it repetitively while at the peak of your desired mental state. You could also hear a specific phrase or see an specific mental picture.

This process will create the perfect mental anchor but only if your mental picture or state is intense and the stimulus is repeated often enough to get programmed into your mind.

Circumstance Programming

This mental technique lends itself well to affirmations. It works by imagining a circumstance and affirming that the event will happen. The sky is the limit for using this.

Any situation you might find yourself in or want to find yourself in can be programmed with this mental technique. When you do this properly your subconscious mind will go to work for you and engineer things in the background to bring this circumstance into reality.

Circumstance programming is as easy as imagining yourself in a scene being played out while obeying all the rules for making the scene intense. (See above) In fact this is like creating an anchor with the exception that you aren't trying to create a mental state. What you are doing is creating instructions for your subconscious mind to execute.

Once again repetition is key. Replay your mental movie in your head as often as you can. You will reinforce your instructions to your subconscious and make sure that it stays on the task. When you play your mental movie use your affirmations for radical success to lock it in place.

Modeling

No, this does not mean that you have to sashay down the cat walk. This mental technique builds on the success of successful people. The human brain was designed to recognize patterns - it is also designed to copy patterns. This is very evident in children.. monkey see, monkey do applies to all children everywhere.

Copying patterns is how we all learned to walk, talk and many other things. Now that you are an adult you may have forgotten that your brain wants to copy things ...

... but it does. Think about the people you socialize with a lot -- have you ever caught yourself using the same expressions, telling the same jokes, or wearing similar clothes?

The point of modeling is to copy the behaviours of someone who is very good at what you want to be good at.

Here's how to use modeling..

Pick a character trait or habit that works against your efforts to succeed. For example if you believe you stink at golf, imagine yourself out on the golf course. Or if you struggle relating to members of the opposite sex imagine a situation you might find yourself in - at a club, restaurant where you see someone you want to ask for a date. Now pick someone who would excel at golf or is super confident around the opposite sex.

Imagine the entire situation playing out - applying all the rules for intensity. Watch as this person performs the task exactly like you wish you could.

Now imagine yourself as if you were inside that person - observe what they would see, think and feel. See how your limiting thoughts & beliefs have disappeared. Feel the relaxed confidence and feel how good it feels to perform exactly how you wish.

Repeat this exercise but in slightly different ways perhaps with different weather, with other people watching and so on. Keep doing this until you have the traits of your model merge with your own behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes.

Aversion Technique

Have you ever watched a child, who has been told not to do something, go ahead and do it, only to hurt themselves. Usually, if the experience is unpleasant enough, the child will not repeat the performance.

This is aversion.

The aversion mental technique can be used to to release you from the chains of destructive habits.

The mental technique is straightforward - you associate the the behaviour you want to change with one that is intensely disgusting, nauseating, or painful. For example let's say you have a problem of drinking too much pop. In order to get rid of this habit you must first imagine the bottle or can of pop - see it, smell it, taste it as if it where right there....

... now morph it into something vile. The more disturbing the repulsive image is the better this will work.

Now imagine that you have just drunk the pop and you feel like you did with the worst flu you ever had. Feel your stomach churn, feel how weak and sick you did.. taste how your mouth tasted after vomiting but be sure to taste the pop along with it.

If you use this method correctly your cravings for pop should pretty much be replaced by feelings of disgust and nausea.

Summary of mental techniques

Any of these mental techniques are powerful by themselves. They can be used together or in conjunction with affirmations as well. Remember that persistence, desire, and belief will take you where you want to go...

Now see how you can practice some mental techniques with creative visualization.

Radical success can be yours!

Mental Techniques and Affirmations for Radical Success