This post is all about finding positive triggers that can help you change your thoughts & feelings in an instant!
Some of you may have already heard of anchoring, used in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). For those who haven’t, put simply, anchoring is the process of associating a chosen stimulus (like tapping your fingers) to a preferred response or reaction (like thinking a more positive thought or even the feeling of elation).
For example, you may want to change the way you feel about your appearance. Perhaps you find yourself thinking negatively about your style, shape or facial features. Each time you look in the mirror, you trigger yet another negative thought or feeling. This is something anchoring can help with! Your negative thought processes are just habits, or repeated/ learned processes… And they can be changed.
Before I go any further, I would like to remind your that we have developed our own toolkit for thinking and feeling more positively, so although it incorporates NLP & CBT, please remember that we have put our own spin on all of the tools we share! They have worked for us and we hope they work for you too…
Anyway, back to anchoring.
It’s all about turning the volume up on what you say to yourself and being more aware, so that the next time you catch your brain saying something like, “I look rubbish in this,” or, “I’m ugly,” you can use your anchor to change the thought process to something more positive – like, “I like the way this looks today,” or, “I’m starting to feel more attractive”.
Does that make sense?
Ok, so let’s take it step by step.
- You choose your anchor, something will trigger you to change a thought or feeling. You decide to pinch your index finger and your thumb together, whilst mentally repeating “delete, delete”.
- Your turn the volume up on your negative thoughts. You listen for a while and consciously choose more helpful thoughts to those you notice yourself thinking.
- The next time you look in the mirror and catch yourself thinking negatively, you use your anchor to stimulate a new thought-process, like the helpful thoughts you started coming up with earlier.
Are you still with me?
You can use this tool to help with any negative or self-sabotaging thoughts or feelings. Whether it’s anxiety, worry or even anger. The full anchoring process is a tiny bit longer and a little more complex, but if you’d like to find out more about this technique or any other NLP or CBT based tools, please head over to www.happi-me.org .
As always, stay awesome!
Abby & the HappiMe Team x
HappiMe Coaching 