Fake it until you make it.....

An interesting response of mine to reading about some of the basics of neuro-linguistic programming was that suddenly my emotions had less value.

Imagine you had just had your wallet stolen by a pickpocket. You were lamenting why you didn't have your wallet more tightly held, why you had walked through the crowded shops and why you had $200 in your wallet when normally you had no cash.. You had just spent an hour on the phone cancelling all your credit cards with recalcitrant bank operators. You might imagine how you were feeling - angry, depressed, frustrated and just in a bad mood.

The phone rings. It is someone telling you that you have just won $100,000 from a raffle you entered at a shopping centre a number of months ago. How do you imagine your mood might shift - disbelief, elation, surprise, joy and generally a great mood.

How quickly did it take you to change from a bad mood to a good mood. "In a heartbeat" as Anthony Robbins would say.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is more or less about the power to control our emotions and our emotional responses. Just like an external event such as the one above can change our emotional state 'in a hearbeat', we can trigger ourselves internally to also change our emotional state.

One of the simplest and most effective ways of doing this is to physically 'act' as if we were already in that more positive state.

What does a depressed person look like? They may be hunched in their seat, they would have a frown on their face, their shoulders may be drooped, and their body language very inward facing. Compare this to someone who feels excited and enthusiastic about the future. They would be standing up straight, smiling, looking directly at the world, they would be well groomed, walking briskly and with open, welcoming body language.

If you feel a bit depressed, watch for your physical 'symptoms' of depression. Choose to do the opposite. Choose to 'move' and 'act' as if you are not feeling depressed. Sit upright, move around, go for a walk, do something positive for yourself.

As much as we can attach ourselves to our emotions, and even define ourselves by our emotions, it is scary how quickly we can override and change these emotions.