Anchoring is a common technique that is used in neuro-linguistic programming or NLP. Creating an anchor involves creating a link or connection between a stimulus and a desired emotional response. At Premier NLP Life Coaching, anchoring is one of the techniques that we use to help our clients to achieve their goals.
What is anchoring?
Anchoring is a process in which you recall a time in which you experienced a certain desired emotion. While you think about this memory, you simultaneously apply a specific stimulus. Doing this allows you to link the stimulus that you choose and the targeted emotion. With anchoring, you can associate reflex responses, memory recall, or state change with a stimulus.
Anchoring allows you to willfully place yourself in the desired state regardless of how you might feel. The process lets you use positive resources from one part of your life and to apply them in a way that improves your sense of well-being.
Anchoring might remind you of the experiments that were conducted by Ivan Pavlov in the early part of the 20th century. Pavlov conditioned dogs with a tuning fork by tapping it just before giving the dogs meat. He noticed that the dogs started to salivate whenever he rang the tuning fork.
Anchors can also occur naturally. For example, you might hear a certain song and recall a specific emotional state from an earlier time. Anchors can also be established deliberately.
You have likely had many anchors placed unconsciously during your life. For example, maybe your father used a specific tone of voice that you perceived as angry when you were young. Later, if someone uses a similar tone of voice, you might immediately experience the same types of emotions that you did when you were a child.
Anchors can be visual, auditory, or physical. Regardless of the form that they take, they are designed to elicit certain emotional responses. Visual anchors might include logos such as the yellow M used by McDonald’s, for example.
There are things that you can do to change the automatic reactions that you have to different stimuli. You can change your negative anchors so that you respond with positive feelings rather than with negative emotions. NLP anchoring allows you to have a choice over the reactions that would otherwise be automatic for you.
Once you understand the process, it is relatively straightforward and simple. You are able to elicit a prior state with an anchor only if that earlier state was anchored in the past. Eliciting a state occurs by using a specific question that is called the state elicitation script.
The script will involve asking yourself if you recall a time when you were completely experiencing the desired state. Next, you will ask yourself if you recall a specific time when you felt that way. You will then immerse yourself in that specific instance, considering what you heard and saw and the feeling that you felt at that time. This can help you to step into a more positive emotional state in a controlled way whenever you want.
Contact Premier NLP Life Coaching
Seeing a life coach at Premier NLP Life Coaching can help you to learn how to create anchors so that you can elicit your desired positive emotional states. With NLP techniques, it is possible for you to achieve your goals and to live a more rewarding life. Contact us today to schedule a consultation by calling us or filling out our online contact form.