Directing Your Focus Towards Success

It is not just WHAT we think about that determines how we feel, but also HOW we think about it.

Has there been a time when you thought about something you were really motivated to do, like going shopping?

Yet, on another occasion, you thought about the same thing and were less motivated to go.

Why? The pictures, sounds and feelings that we generate in our mind determine the state that we are in. However, the intensity of our state is determined by HOW we generate the pictures, sounds and feelings.

What do I mean? Well, think about something which you are motivated to do, say going shopping or maybe eating your favorite ice cream.

As you think about it, I want you to close your eyes and make a picture of it. See yourself enjoying that tasty ice cream cone. Notice what else you see around you in this experience.

What sounds do you hear that is associated with this picture? You could hear the slurping sounds you make when you are eating the ice cream.

What would you normally say to yourself as you think of this? For example, you may say to yourself, 'Mmmm, yummy'. I want you to notice how motivated you are about doing this right now.

Next, I want you to make some changes to the picture you are making of this experience. Take the picture in your mind and make it twice as big. What happens to the intensity of the state?

Does the feeling of motivation increase? Now, make the picture brighter and bring it closer to you. What happens to the intensity of the motivation? If it is a still picture, make it into a movie, where everything is moving.

Now, make whatever sound you hear around you much louder. Make the sounds close and stereo, so you hear it in both ears. Do you feel a lot more motivated to eat that ice cream cone?

For most people, making these changes to the picture (visual) and sound (auditory) elements of the experience will significantly increase the intensity of their state.

Those times when you felt extremely motivated or excited to do something, it is because the pictures tended to be bigger, closer, brighter and more dynamic. The sounds and internal dialogue you generated were also probably louder and closer to you.

Now, the reason why you didn't feel so motivated at another time was because the pictures and sounds you made were smaller and further away.

We normally do not consciously direct the way we make up the pictures, sounds and feelings in our mind. This is why we have little control over how we feel.

By shifting these elements, we can immediately shift the intensity of any state we experience. These elements that we can shift are called our Sub modalities.

If you have ever watched a great movie, you will know that what makes a movie truly outstanding is the director's ability to bring the audience through a series of intense emotional states like excitement, fear, anticipation or romance.

How does he achieve this? He does it through manipulating the images and sounds on the screen. The angles, speed, color, focus, brightness, volume, size and distance all affect the intensity of the state that we experience.

In order to get us intensely excited, the director will make the images move fast and increase the volume and tempo of the music. To capture the intensity of the emotions, he will zoom up close to the faces of the characters and may even place the audience in a first person position (we call this an associated experience).

Well, we do the same thing in our minds! For example, in order to get highly motivated our brain must generate the pictures and sounds inside in a certain way.

The trouble is that most people have never learnt to consciously be the director of their own mental movie. They allow their minds to run on autopilot!

As a result, they are not in control of what they feel and how they feel.


To Your Success,

Adam Khoo
www.SuccessWithNLP.com