What if you could change your physiology in a split second? Give yourself more energy, focus, or positivity on command? By employing strategies with anchoring you can do just that and more. Let's take a look at how you can implement your own anchors and how you might never want to live without one for the rest of your life.

What Is It?

Do you remember the famous experiment on conditioning, in which Pavlov would ring a bell and then feed dogs some food? In that experiment, the dogs became conditioned to hearing the bell and preparing to eat. Our brains make these kinds of connections all the time, and using Neurolinguistic Programming in psychology you can take advantage of how your brain is wired and use it for good.

I was first introduced to anchoring through Tony Robbins' "Personal Power" program decades ago. The concept itself has been around since NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) was really put into name in 1979 by Bandler and Grinder, but the practice an understanding of it goes back to earlier examples of conditioning. The methodology of conditioning and the ways in which it can be used for benefit in psychology is typically limited to therapists who use NLP or certified practitioners of NLP.

How Does It Work?

By associating a specific physiological state, like having energy or confidence (including reduced stress), with the anchor you create and continually repeating the anchor with the desired effect, you can develop your own anchors however you'd like! For someone completely new to the concept, I would recommend a short video like this one from Mike Sweet:

I first began practicing anchoring when I was trying to get myself out of a rut, and found it difficult to go running or do any cardio work. I just didn't have the discipline or motivation to start an effective routine, and wanted to see if I could use any cheat codes to get me there.

I set myself up every time I began a run by listening to the same song. As I started running I made myself jump high with each step to give myself a heart rate boost. I even skipped excitedly to the edge of the parking lot to create a whole routine for this too! Eventually, every time I heard the song it got me pumped up and the energy came before I started running, and any time I wanted to feel energetic and focused I played this song and those feelings immediately followed.

Incorporating that song into my morning ritual and playing it first thing helped me start my day off in the right direction and put me in a place to succeed.

Transform Yourself Instantly

While I'm not a psychologist or NLP practitioner, I do like trying out different ways to work with these types of things to see what works best for me. My song method was powerful, and definitely something I suggest newcomers to the technique try out as we are all aware of the impact music can have on ourselves and it helps break down that 'is this really a thing?' doubt that can crop up from time to time.

Anchoring works really well for a whole ton of situations that you might want to try out for yourself:

• Creative Sessions
• Before a Speech or Presentation
• Exercising Writing
• Socializing

There's a lot to be said about anchoring, and I'm only opening the door for your exploration into using your mind to help you so you can stop feeling like you're only reacting to the situation. Keep trying out your own anchors and set sail for freedom.