By: Shantanu Das Sharma, Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group
Quick recap of what we have covered in Part 15
Your Action is the Driving Force that Produces Results
Apparently ‘Ignorant’ Henry Ford was Smart Enough to Hire People Smarter than He!
As Emotion Drives Action
Find The Checklist of Your States
Top 10 Emotional States Experienced Daily
Top 10 Emotional States of a Successful Person
Top 10 Emotional States of a Typical Person
Are You in Control Over Your States?
Your Emotional States Are Self-Created
KOLKATA: Every single time, you create your own states. This is an existential reality. If you are feeling confident, then you are creating that confidence within yourself. If you are feeling depressed, you are creating your own depression. When you are motivated, you are creating that state of empowerment. No one or nothing can affect or change your state unless you choose to allow yourself to get into that state.
Now do you accept it is really true? Well, think about this. Why is it that two people can encounter the exact same event, but feel totally different about it? One person may feel the sense of fear at having to speak in front of a large audience, while the other feels totally relaxed. One person may feel totally motivated coming into the office, while the other feels bored and tired. One person may feel inspired and challenged when faced with an obstacle while another person feels demoralized. So, you see, it is not what happens on the outside that affects a person’s state, but what happens on the inside. So how do we create our states? During the times when we feel totally motivated, how do we create that? And when we are depressed, how do we create that depressed feeling?
And the reality is here. How you feel at any moment in time is determined by two things, 1) your Physiology and 2) your Internal Re-presentation.
Your State Is Affected By Your Physiology
The first thing that determines the state you are in is your physiology. I define broadly physiology as the condition and use of our physical body. The condition of your body has a direct impact on how you feel. Do you feel differently when your body is well rested and physically vibrant? Of course. When your muscles are relaxed and your cells are bursting with energy, you are most likely in a peak state. But if you have to get out of bed after a night of tossing and turning with worry, or insufficient sleep, won’t you feel your muscles aching and your joints stiff? And I bet you won’t be in a very resourceful state at all. You will easily get into states like tiredness, frustration and depression. This is why it is so important that your body is maintained in peak condition through both proper diet and exercise.
Highly successful individuals from Presidents to pop stars are consistently able to be in peak states because they keep themselves in peak physical condition through a comprehensive exercise regime. Past U.S President Barrack Obama still runs an average of three miles (within 8 minutes), four times a week, and also routinely cross trains with swimming, free weights and an elliptical trainer. As a result, his resting heart rate is 43 beats per minute, equivalent to that of a professional athlete.
In order to maintain her level of energy both on and off stage, pop queen Madonna runs daily, follows a strict routine of yoga and avoids all junk food. When you engage in daily aerobic activities like swimming, running, cycling or even jumping on the trampoline, you oxygenate your body more readily. Oxygen and nutrients will be carried to and nourish your cells more effectively, giving you a lot more energy!
With your physical body in a peak condition, you will find yourself being in peak emotional states as well. Know too that the way you use your physiology (Body) equally affects your state. What do I mean by this? Well, if you were to be in a depressed state, what would your physiology be like? Your posture would probably be slouched. Your eyes would be downward looking. Your breathing would be slow and shallow. Your facial muscles would be drooping and your tone of voice low and soft, even barely audible.
Now, what if you were in a state of total excitement? Your physiology would be completely different, wouldn’t it? Your posture and shoulders would be upright, your eyes would be wide open and more focused, your breathing would be faster and deeper, your facial muscles would be firm and your voice would be much louder and you would speak in a higher pitch! You see, every state we experience has a specific physiology associated with it. In other words, in order for us to create depression, we must shift our physiology into a depressed one. When we feel excited, we automatically have to shift our physiology into an excited format. It is just that we are so used to doing it; we don’t realize that we can actually control it. Can you feel depressed if you were to stay in an excited physiology? Of course not! It is impossible because your brain and body are neurologically linked. When you shift your physiology, you automatically shift your mind and your state!
Subsequently now, we will explore how you can take immediate control over your states through consciously directing your physiology.
Your State Is Affected By Your Internal Representation
The second thing that affects the state you are in is your internal representation. Our internal representation is a fancy term meaning How and What we think about. It is how we internally represent what is going on around us inside our mind. We may all experience the same external event, but we represent it very differently in our minds. Now, we all experience the external world through our five senses. Right? We cannot consciously be aware of everything that is happening around us because every second there are two million bits of stimuli hitting our brain. In order for our brain to cope, our minds filter all this information by deleting, distorting and generalizing all this stimuli into an internal representation of what is happening around us.
In other words, what we perceive is not reality but an internal re-presentation of reality. This is why two people can encounter the same event, but represent it and feel very differently about it in their minds. For example: Couple A on an European packaged tour LOVED the ambience of the old hotels, the high ceilings, the soft double beds, even the rickety lift they thought charming. Couple B, who COMPLAINED about everything, hated the ‘faded appearance’ of old hotels, they would have far preferred the compactness and modernity of motel rooms with their twin beds. See the same hotels and the difference in representations or perceptions?
Some of the key filters that determine what we delete, distort and generalize are our Beliefs, Values and Attitudes. Because different people have different beliefs, values and attitudes, they delete, distort and generalize things very differently. As a result, all of us experience a very different representation of the world. Some people have powerful beliefs, values and attitudes that allow them to constantly represent things in a way that puts them in an empowering state while others constantly represent things in a way that puts them in a lousy, ineffective state.
So What is Our Internal Representation Made Up Of? How do we re-present things in our mind?
We do so primarily by seeing pictures (visual) and playing sounds (auditory). We also tend to talk to ourselves through an internal voice (auditory digital). What we picture in our minds, the sounds we play and what we say to ourselves ALL affect the states we get (ourselves) into. Some people have a pattern of constantly representing things in such a way that makes them feel depressed. Others do the opposite. For example, what happens when the alarm clock rings in the morning? For some it automatically fires off an internal voice that goes, ‘What time is it? Why must I wake up so early? How much longer can I sleep? Give me five more minutes.’ They then picture in their minds all the people and things they dislike but will have to face during the day. What state do you think this will trigger them into? Most probably a state of lethargy that will get them to turn over and go back to sleep. And then be really late for work… which will put them into a frantic state for the entire day! Have you ever wondered how some people can jump out of bed feeling excited and energized every morning?
Well, for one thing, they run a very different program in their minds. Their internal representation is completely different. The moment the alarm rings, they start playing a voice that goes ‘Wow! It’s morning. Time to get up! There are so many things to do!’ And this internal voice is probably in a loud, enthusiastic tone. They then create pictures of all the exciting things they will be doing that day and how good they would feel getting it done. This gets them to instantly jump out of bed, all energized.
Are Failures, Rejections and Obstacles Experienced By All?
Of course we all do… from Royalty to the trash collector. Just think of the many knocks the British royal family have had from the ridicule Prince Charles has had to endure and overcome, the loneliness Princess Diana felt so acutely, to the pain and rejection Queen Elizabeth experienced when Diana died and the public criticized what they perceived to be her ‘coldness’.
Again, how you represent happenings, incidents, and other people’s behavior in your mind will affect the state that you create for yourself. For some people, the moment they experience a setback, they will create all the worst pictures & sounds in their mind! They will keep re-playing the internal movie of themselves failing and even picture themselves screwing up all future attempts. They will have an internal voice that goes, ‘Why does this happen to me?’ ‘I always screw up!’ By representing the experience this way, you put yourself in the worst possible state! You will probably feel so frustrated, overwhelmed and scared that you will stop taking action. Most successful people I know choose to represent their setbacks in a way that keeps them in an empowering state. When they experience a set-back, instead of painting a gloom and doom scenario, they picture all the possibilities of turning the situation around.
They picture their final, successful outcome and also say to themselves, ‘What can I learn from this set-back? How can I turn this around?’ So they constantly find themselves confident and motivated to keep taking action until they succeed. So which ‘mental program’ do you play daily? How do you habitually represent things in your mind? If you have been playing a destructive program, then you must begin to change it immediately. The moment you start consciously directing the pictures and words in your head, you start getting control over your emotions and actions!
We Create Procrastination & Motivation
Have you ever experienced the state of procrastination? Stupid question? All of us have, at one time or another!
Procrastination is the number one killer of success. It is the single most common state that keeps people from taking action. It’s when you know that you should do something, but keep putting it off. Have you ever had to start on a project but kept doing everything else that would delay you getting started? You cleaned your desk, got a drink of water, checked your emails, walked around and finally said, ‘I think I will do it tomorrow!’ Has there also been another time when you felt totally motivated in getting started on a project? A time when you just sat down and got it done immediately? Of course, the trouble is that this situation rarely happens, and never when we need to get something done. Again, I want you to understand how you create these two states using your physiology and your internal representation. When you understand this, you will find yourself being able to change, interrupt and change states when you need to. When you were procrastinating, you were using your physiology in a particular way. Your breathing was probably slow and shallow. Your muscles were droopy, your eyes were looking down and your facial muscles were probably flaccid. How do you think you were creating your internal representation? You were probably seeing pictures of yourself having a tough time, being overwhelmed and getting frustrated. You were probably saying to yourself, ‘Must I do this now? Can I do it later?’ In the most bored and weary tone of voice. And that is why you don’t feel like starting on it at all.
On the other hand, when you were in a motivated state and just got things done, how did you create that? Well, your physiology was probably completely different. You were sitting differently, breathing differently and moving differently. You were probably representing the task very differently in your mind. You were seeing yourself getting results, having fun and doing things effortlessly. You probably said to yourself, ‘Do it now!’ ‘Let’s get it done!’ in a more excited, higher pitched tone of voice.
Again, remember, we hardly manage our states consciously. We never consciously decide to shift our physiology and control our internal representations to control our states. Instead, we let our minds run on autopilot and in doing so, sit back and lose control of our own states and consequently results. Let’s now begin to learn…
(I facilitate Thought Leaders, Change Makers; Professionals & Business Owners translate NLP concepts into actions to achieve and elicit personal excellence. I conduct NLP Lifestyle Coaching Certification programs for individuals, corporate and celebrity clients. We will discuss in detail ‘How We Can Create Physiology Of Excellence To Affect Our States’ in the next article and after that you will come to know in subsequent articles, how you can utilise concepts of NLP+ in all walks of your life to replicate the success blueprint of a winner mindset to win through life. So, stay tuned every Monday & Saturday and fasten your seat belt to ‘Enhance Your Lifestyle With NLP+’)
My #1 Amazon Best Selling book ‘Awaken The Incredible Within – Incredible Is The New Giant’ is available at Amazon in English at http://bit.ly/Awaken-The-Incredible-Within
Shantanu Das Sharma, Creator of the concept NLP Lifestyle Coaching with NLP+, Founder of Neuromind Leadership Academy is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author, NLP Lifestyle Master Trainer & Coach, Clean Language Facilitator & Strategic Interventionist.
