NLP Anchoring
Monday, March 1, 2010 at 22:46 | in NLP, Personal growth One of the NLP presuppositions is that you already have all the resources you need. Once you identify them, you have to be able to access them. A resource is like a tool and must be available at the particular time an place when you need and want it.
What is anchoring?
Anchoring is one of the most popular NLP techniques out there because of it’s power and immediate impact. It is a technique for consciously and deliberately pairing a chosen stimulus (anchor) with desired response (resource). With it you can choose to deliberately put yourself in any chosen state such as happiness, energetic, confident, cheerful, creative, calm etc.
Anchoring happens all the time in our lives, and is not a new concept. Its just that we don’t realize that anchoring is taking place. Therefore anchoring usually occurs outside our conscious awareness.
Advertisers, politicians and stand-up comedians all know the power of NLP anchors and use them with great cunning. So, allow yourself to start becoming aware of when it is being used on you.
How does anchoring works?
Anchoring is reminiscent of Pavlov's experiments with dogs. Pavlov ringed a bell every time his dogs were fed. The dogs psychologically associated the experience of eating with the sound of the bell. After some parings of the bell and the food, the bell alone elicited salivation. This is similar to what we are doing when we are using the NLP technique of anchoring. When we come across a trigger, all our representational systems are activated.
Anchors can operate in any representational system [VAKOG] (ie. sight, sound, feeling, smell, taste.)
VAKOG = Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Olfactory Gustatory
Steps:
- Select one of your favorite resources (for example confidence or creativeness).
- Take a few moments and remember a time when you had that experience, a time of your life when you had this resource strongly.
- Close your eyes and remember that experience as though you were living it now. See what you saw then, hear what you heard then, feel what felt then, until it becomes as though it's happening now. As you relive this experience, make a unique gesture (for example make a fist or press your middle finger and thumb together) and hold for ten seconds.
- As the feeling fades, release your anchor and relax.
- Repeat step 3 and 4. Do this three times.
Guidelines:
- The anchor should be unique, distinct and easy to repeat.
- Only anchor an intense state i.e. a strongly felt experience.
- The anchor should be fired in exactly the same way every time you link them to the resourceful experience. When you activate the anchor, do it accurately.
- The timing of triggering the anchor is important. To be most effective, only trigger the anchor at the peak moment of the state. At it’s most intense moment.
- You can strengthen the anchor by repeating the above process over several days.
Remember that this stuff is powerful so use your NLP skills wisely.
And by the way, this weekend I finally became a NLP Practitioner. Next step? A NLP Master-Practitioner. :)
Reader Comments (1)
nice...nice...we are going to have an online NLP extract book here... Like IT !