In my seminars, in both Huna (the indigenous spiritual path of the Hawaiian Islands) and NLP (neuro linguistic programming), I often talk about the awesome standard equipment we’ve all been given – brilliant brains, bodies that perform amazing functions in every moment, our incredible ability to see, hear, taste, feel, and communicate. Every one of us has the standard equipment to live highly successful and happy lives.
Yet too many of us walk around with fantastic equipment that we haven’t plugged in! We’ve stopped the flow of our natural capacities so they don’t function as magnificently as they could. As a result, we struggle to create the life we desire. Even if we win the battle to get to where we want to go, we do so at a cost to our health or our relationships. We don’t enjoy the journey and it just seems hard!
In NLP, we’d say that we’re spending too much of our life trying to operate from a non-resourceful state that blocks the full power of our standard equipment.
A non-resourceful state includes things like worry, doubt, fear, tension, exhaustion, blame, self-flagellation, distractedness, foggy headedness, resentment, panic, anxiety, anger, distress, and sadness.
An extreme example would be a panic attack: You can hardly breathe much less think. Your emotions on red alert and you don’t know who to trust or which way to go. Your body freezes and your mind goes blank. Totally non-resourceful, right? In a more subtle example, say you’re concerned about your relationship. You spend your days trying to figure out what’s wrong, running the “what ifs” over and over in your head, and playing out worst-case scenarios rather than being proactive and solution-oriented. It’s not as painful as an anxiety attack, but you’re still not using the brilliant natural resources available to you.
In contrast, a resourceful state feels calm, centered, and comfortable in your own skin. You feel capable and confident. Your body is relaxed yet energetic. Your mind is able to generate all kinds of options and make clear decisions. You’re very aware of the environment and people around you and you can respond easily.
The good news (and there’s only good news!) is that we can intentionally, easily, and effortlessly, put ourselves into a resourceful state any time we choose. We literally can switch within seconds to be able to think clearly and creatively, express ourselves authentically, and do whatever we need to do feeling energetic, powerful, and happy.
Most importantly, this resourceful state is not dependent on your circumstances or specific events. You don’t have to be winning. You don’t have to be with people who clearly adore you. You don’t have to be a master at whatever you’re trying to do. Just like every state, you are the one who generates this resourceful state. You bring it to the circumstance.
To be clear, a resourceful state is not just positive thinking. It’s not the Little Engine chanting “I think I can. I think I can.” It’s a fully experiential state. You don’t have to convince yourself that you can. You know that you can on every level: physical, emotional, and metal.
Some people have intuitively found ways to get themselves into this state when they’re feeling “off.” But people need to learn how to switch from a non-resourceful to a resourceful. We teach several techniques to the students in our NLP seminars.
One is to create an “anchor.” An anchor is a trigger to signal your unconscious and physiology to enter your resourceful state. An anchor can be a word or a motion. It can be tapping a part of your body. The process only takes a few minutes and five simple steps:
- Recall a time when you felt especially empowered, confident, and capable. Get into the memory until you can really feel what it felt like.
- As that “resourceful” feeling builds, activate your anchor (do the motion or say the word you’ve chosen). Keep the anchor going until you feel the emotions of the memory begin to fade.
- Break fully from the memory and, for a moment or two, distract yourself and think about something totally different.
- Repeat steps 1-3 with one or two other positive memories.
- Reactivate your anchor (say the word or do the motion you’ve chosen). How do you feel? Isn’t this the state you’d prefer to be in most of the time?
The keys to this process are intensity (choosing an empowering memory that you can really get into), timing (making sure you activate your anchor when the resourceful feeling of that memory is peaking), uniqueness (choosing an anchor that is distinctive), and the number of times the state is anchored.
Do this process then take your resourceful state for a test drive. Next time you are about to be faced with an experience where you’d normally feel non-resourceful, use your anchor and step into your resourceful state instead.
Mahalo,
Dr. Matt
Empowerment, Inc. is the leading authority on NLP, Huna, Mental and Emotional Release®, and Hypnosis.
For more information, visit us at www.empowermentinc.com
