Channel Motivation In Times Of Need By Anchoring A Memory

If you’ve ever gotten sick eating or drinking something and smelled that same food or drink later on in life, just its odour was probably enough to make you feel a little nauseous again. Our brain has the ability to recreate a feeling based on an anchored memory, and while that can sometimes make you feel sick it can also be used to create positive effects as well.Life coach Tim Brownson, writing for Freelance Folder, suggests that you can create your own anchors by simply taking the feeling of motivation and assigning it to an action, such as pulling on your earlobe. The process basically works like this:

1. Get relaxed, so you’re not stressed out while you’re doing this.
2. Think about a time when you were really motivated and happy. Walk through it in your mind slowly. Remember what you said and did until you can start to feel what you felt at the time.
3. Allow those feelings to build until they’re really intense. If you’re having trouble visualising any past events, Brownson suggests that you just pretend that you can — fake it ’til you make it, in a way.
4. Once you’ve got the feeling in mind, set your anchor. You can pull on an earlobe, snap with all of your fingers, grab your arm in a particular, or whatever you can easily do whenever you want to bring the feeling back. Just make sure it’s not something you do regularly, as a habit, or it won’t work.

You can’t stay motivated forever, though, so Brownson suggests breaking your state of motivation when you don’t need it anymore. To do that, just think of something completely unrelated. And, of course, once you have your anchor set be sure to practice.

7 Steps to Instant Motivation [Freelance Folder]