NLP Core Skills: Anchoring
Anchoring is simply creating a link between a trigger and an emotional/mental state.
When someone is experiencing a state, we can condition them to feel that emotion again, much like Pavlov did with his dogs. Usually, there's less drool involved though.
- You can anchor yourself (anchor fun states)
- You can anchor others
- It's a wonderful tool to help people get out of stuck states
- It's one of the core NLP skills that we use almost any time we work with someone
- It takes some skill and timing but nothing you can't learn with a bit of practice
A lot of people think this is namby-pamby, emotional wishful-thinking thinking but it's actually scientifically based. For example, there was a study that showed that if you inject rats with insulin, then later injected them with a placebo, the placebo would cause their blood-sugar levels to respond as if they were being injected with insulin! That's a real, physical, measurable effect.
But we don't typically use anchoring to produce either dog drool or change blood-sugar levels. We usually use it to help people feel and act more resourcefully in situations in which they're feeling stuck. In other words, if they feel terrible when they're interacting with their boss, we can help them feel better with anchoring. If we help them feel better, they'll likely act more resourcefully. That's because many times "negative" emotions shut out the kinds of thinking and behaviors that help us problem-solve.
Feel better -- do better!
Enjoy,
Keith