Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal Achievement

by Anthony Robbins

EYE -ACCESSING CUES*

VR Visual remembered: Seeing images of things seen before, in the way they were seen before. Sample questions that usually elicit this kind of processing include “What color are your mother’s eyes?” and “What does your coat look like?”

VC Visual constructed: Seeing images of things never seen before, or seeing things differently than they were seen before. Questions that usually elicit this kind of processing include “What would an orange hippopotamus with purple spots look like?” and “What would you look like from the other side of the room?”

AR Auditory remembered: Remembering sounds heard before. Questions that usually elicit this kind of processing include “What’s the last thing I said?” an...

Ac Auditory constructed: Hearing words never heard in quite that way before. Putting sounds or phrases together in a new way. Questions that tend to elicit this kind of processing include “If you were to create a new song right now, what would it so...

AD Auditory digital: Talking to oneself. Statements that tend to elicit this kind of processing include “Say something to yourself that you often say to your...

K Kinesthetic: Feeling emotions, tactile sensations (sense of touch), or proprioceptive feelings (feelings of muscle movement). Questions that elicit this kind of processing include “What does it feel like to be happy?” “What is the feelin...

Every strategy elicitation follows this pattern. You have to get the person in the appropriate state by having him remember a specific time when he was motivated, or felt loved, or felt creative, or whatever strategy you want to elicit. Then get him to reconstruct his strategy by asking clear, succinct questions about the syntax of what he saw, heard, and felt. Finally, after you have the syntax, get the submodalities of the strategy.

Try this technique for eliciting a motivation strategy with someone else. First, put the other person in a receptive state. Ask, “Can you remember a time when you were totally motivated to do something?”

When you get him in an involved state, ask, “As you remember that time, what was the very first thing that caused you to be totally motivated? Was it something you saw, something you heard, or was it the touch of something or someone?”

Next you ask, “After you heard that thing, what was the very next thing that caused you to be totally motivated to do something? Did you picture something in your mind? Did you say something to yourself? Or did you have a certain feeling or emotion?”

If he answers that he got a picture in his mind, the second part of his strategy is visual internal (Vi).

STRATEGY ELICITATION

Can you remember a time when you were totally X’d? Can you remember a specific time? Go back to that time and experience it... (get them in state) As you remember that time ... (keep them in state)

A. What was the very first thing that caused you to be X’d? Was it something you saw? Was it something you heard? Was it the touch of something or someone? What was the very first thing that caused you to be totally X’d? After you (saw, heard, or were touch...

B. Did you ... make a picture in your mind? say something to yourself? have a certain feeling or emotion? What was the very next thing that caused you to be X’d? After you A’d and B’d (saw something, said something to yourself, and so on),...

C. Did you ... make a picture in your mind? say something to yourself? have a certain feeling or emotion? Or did something else happen? What was the very next thing that caused you to be X’d? Ask if the person was very X’d at this point (attracted, motivated, whatever). If yes, elicitation is complete. If no, continue eliciting syntax until congruent completion of state. The next step is simply to elicit the specific submodalities of each representation in this person’s strategy. So if the first step of the strategy was visual, you would ask: What about what you saw (visual external)? Then you would ask: What was it specifically about what you saw that motivated you? Was it the size of it? Brightness of it? The way it moved? Continue this process until you have all the submodalities for the st...

You still don’t have his whole strategy, so you need to keep asking, “After you heard something and then saw a picture in your mind, what was the very next thing that caused you to be totally motivated? Did you say something to yourself? Did you feel something inside, or did something else happen?” If at that poi...

Now that you know the syntax of his strategy, you need to find out the submodalities. So you ask, “What about the thing you heard motivated you? Was it the tone of the person’s voice, the actual words themselves, the speed or rhythm of the voice? What did you picture in your mind? Was it a big picture, bright ... ?”

every motivational technique aimed at a group should have something for everyone—something visual, something auditory, and something kinesthetic. You should show them things, you should let them hear things, and you should give them feelings. And you should be able to vary your voice and intonations so you hook all three types.

ELICITING LOVE STRATEGIES

Can you remember a time when you felt totally loved? Can you remember a specific time? As you go back to that time and experience it... (get the person in state.)

V: In order for you to feel these deep feelings of love, is it absolutely necessary for your partner to show you he/ she loves you by ... taking you places? buying you things? looking at you in a certain way? ... Is it absolutely necessary that your partner show you he/ she lo...

A: In order for you to feel these deep feelings of love, is it absolutely necessary for your partner to ... tell you he/she loves you in...

K: In order for you to feel these deep feelings of love, is it absolutely necessary for your partner to ... touch you in a certain way? (Judge by physiology.) Now elicit the submodality. How specifically? Show me, tell me, demonstrate for me. Te...

If a husband has an auditory love strategy, how is he most likely to express his love to his wife? By telling her, of course. But what if she has a visual love strategy, so her brain causes her to feel deeply loved only after it receives certain visual stimuli? What will happen as time goes by? Neither member of this relationship is going to feel totally loved.

Physiology is the most powerful tool we have for instantly changing states, for instantly producing dynamic results.

When your physiology runs down, the positive energy of your state runs down. When your physiology brightens and intensifies, your state does the same thing.

There are two ways to change state, by changing internal representations or by changing physiology.

When people come to me and say they can’t do something, I say, “Act as if you could do it.” They usually reply, “Well, I don’t know how.” So I say, “Act as if you did know how. Stand the way you would be standing if you did know how to do it. Breathe the way you’d be breathing if you did know how to do it right now. Make your face look as if you could do it right now.” As soon as they stand that way, breathe that way, and put their physiology in that state, they instantly feel they can do it.

Think of something you imagine you can’t do but would like to be able to do. Now how would you stand if you knew you could do it? How would you talk? How would you breathe? Right now, put yourself as congruently as possible in the physiology you would be in if you knew you could do it. Make your whole body give you the same message. Make your stance, breathing, and face reflect the physiology you’d have if you knew you could do it.

We can change our states and empower ourselves to take action either by changing the pictures and dialogues in our minds or by changing how we are standing, how we are breathing, and the tone of voice we are using. The ideal is to change both physiology and tone.

Let’s start with the first key to living health—the power of breath.

Breathing not only controls the oxygenation of the cells. It also controls the flow of lymph fluid, which contains white blood cells to protect the body. What is the lymph system? Some people think of it as the body’s sewage system. Every cell in your body is surrounded by lymph. You have four times as much lymph fluid in your body as you do blood. Here’s how the lymph system works. Blood is pumped from your heart through your arteries to the thin, porous capillaries. The blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the capillaries, where they are then diffused into this fluid around the cells called lymph. The cells, having an intelligence or affinity for what they need, take oxygen and nutrients necessary for their health and then excrete toxins, some of which go back into the capillaries. But dead cells, blood proteins, and other toxic material must be removed by the lymph system. And the lymph system is activated by deep breathing.

The bloodstream has a pump, your heart. But the lymph system doesn’t have one. The only way lymph moves is through deep breathing and muscular movement. So if you want to have a healthy bloodstream with effective lymph and immune systems, you need to breathe deeply and produce the movements that will stimulate them.

here’s the first key to healthy living. Stop and take ten deep breaths, in the above ratio, at least three times a day. What’s the ratio? One count inhale, four counts hold, two counts exhale. For example, starting in the abdomen, take a deep breath through your nose while counting to seven (or pick a larger or smaller number based upon your ability). Hold your breath for a count four times that of your inhalation, or twenty-eight. Then exhale slowly through your mouth for a count two times the length of your inhalation, or fourteen.

See what numbers you can build up to by slowly developing greater lung capacity. Take ten of these deep breaths three times a day, and you’ll experience a dramatic improvement in the level of your health.

The other essential component of healthy overall breathing is daily aerobic exercise.*

“There is only one success—to be able to spend your life in your own way.“ —Christopher Morley

“People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals—that is, goals that do not inspire them.“ —Anthony Robbins

Our bodies, our brains, and our states are like a tuning fork in harmony with that higher level of existence. So the better attuned you are, the better aligned you are, the more you can tap into this rich knowledge and feeling.

A key part of this process is knowing what you want.

The difference in people’s abilities to fully tap their personal resources is directly affected by their goals.

Settle into a place where you feel particularly comfortable—a favorite writing desk, a sunny corner table—someplace you find nurturing. Plan to spend an hour or so learning what you expect to be and do and share and see and create.

Follow these five rules in formulating your outcomes.

1. State your outcome in positive terms. Say what you want to happen.

2. Be as specific as possible. How does your outcome look, sound, feel, smell? Engage all of your senses in describing the results you want. The more sensory rich your description, the more you will empower your brain to create your desire...

3. Have an evidence procedure. Know how you will look, how you will feel, and what you will see and hear in your external world a...

SETTING OUTCOMES KEY COMPONENTS

Specific