CREATE POSITIVE ANCHORSAnthony Robbins, in his book Unlimited Power, gives a powerful tool for dealing with negative anchors (triggers). Firstly he suggests creating a positive powerful resource anchor. He says it's best to start with the positive rather than the negative, so if the negative becomes difficult to deal with, you have the tool to help yourself get out of the state quickly and easily: I want you to think of the most powerful positive experience you’ve ever had in your life. Place that experience and it’s feelings in your right hand. Imagine doing this, and feel what it’s like to have it in your right hand. Think of a time when you felt totally proud of something you did, and place that experience and feeling in your right hand as well. Now think of a time when you felt powerful, positive, loving feelings, and put them into your right hand as well, experiencing how they feel there. Remember a time when you laughed hysterically, maybe a time when you had the giggles. Take that experience and put it into your right hand as well, and notice how it feels with all those loving, resourceful, positive powerful feelings. Now notice what colour these powerful feelings have come together to create in your right hand. Just note what colour first comes to mind. Notice what shape they have come together to form. If you were to give them sound, what would they all sound like? What is the texture of all these feelings together in your hand? If they were all to come together to say one powerful positive statement to you, what would it be? Enjoy these feelings, and then close your right hand and just let them remain there.
Now open your left hand, and in it place a negative, frustrating, depressing, or angry experience, something that is or has been bothering you. Maybe something you’re afraid of, something that worries you. Place it in your left hand. There is no need to feel it inside. Make sure you disassociate from it = it’s just over there in your left hand. Now I want you to become aware of its submodalities. What colour does this negative situation create in your left hand? If you don’t see a colour, or have a feeling right away, act as if you did. What colour would it be if it did have one? Run through the other submodalities. What shape is it? Does it feel light or heavy? What’s the texture o fit? What sound does it make? If it were to say one sentence to you, what would it say? What sound does it make? What texture is it?
Now we’re going to do what’s called collapsing anchors. You can play with this in whatever way feels natural for you. One approach would be to take the colour in your positive right hand, make believe it’s a liquid, and pour it into your left hand at a very fast pace, making humorous noises and having fun as you do. Do it until the negative anchor in your left hand is the colour of the positive experience in the right?
Next take the sound that your left hand was making and drop it into your right hand. Notice what your right hand does to it. Now take the feelings of your right hand and pour them into your left, noticing what they do to your left hand the minute they enter it. Bring your hands together in a clap, continuing to hold them there for a few minutes until they feel balanced. Now the colour in your right hand and left should be the same – the feelings should be similar.
When you are through, see how you feel about the experience in your left hand. Chances are you’ll have stripped it of all its power to bother you. If you haven’t, try the exercise again. Do it with different submodalities and a more active sense of play. After one or two times, almost anyone can utterly obliterate the power of something that used to be a strong negative anchor. You should now either feel good at this point or at least have neutral feelings about the experience.
You want to do the same process if you are upset with someone and want to change how you feel about him. You can imagine the face of someone you really like in your right hand and the face of someone you don’t like very much in your left. Begin by looking at the person you don’t like, then at the person you do like, the person you don’t like, the person you do. Do this faster and faster, no longer labelling which you like or don not like. Bring your hands together, breathe, wait a moment. Now think about the person you didn’t like. You should now like him or at least feel okay about him.
The beauty of this exercise is it can be done in a matter of moments and you can change how you feel about almost anything!
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