You can learn to step quickly
into a resourceful state
6 Now apply both anchors simultaneously. You will feel some
confusion as the two states sort themselves out into a new,
integrated state. If the less resourceful state is still a strong
part of the subsequent state, go back and choose and
anchor an even stronger resourceful state. Repeat the
process. You may also find that it helps to fire the anchor for
the resourceful state for a second or two before also firing
the anchor for the unresourceful state.
7 Now think of a future situation, one that typically in the past
would have triggered off the unresourceful state. What
happens as you think of this situation? If the collapsing
anchors technique has worked, the unresourceful state will
not exist any more.
Some of these techniques may seem quite formal at first, yet
these processes are ones that we are slipping into and out of
through a typical day. What we are doing here is breaking them
down into their constituent parts in a similar way to how we
might learn to drive a car. However, once you master the skill,
you can begin to use it more informally. For example, if you
find yourself slipping into a state of unresourcefuIness, you
can learn to step quickly into a resourceful one. Recall a time
when you felt particularly resourceful and reaccess those
feelings by associating yourself once more into that situation.
Eventually you will find that even the process of switching
from unresourceful to resourceful becomes automatic. Your
unconscious mind makes the switch for you without your even
having to think about it consciously. You will have “hard-wired”
the strategy for resourcefulness by learning to chain anchors.
Sometimes the gap between the unresourceful state and the
resourceful one that you would like in its place can be too wide
to step from one to the other in one go. In such cases it is useful
to learn to move through a series of anchored states to lead
yourself gradually from the least resourceful to the desirable
state. It is worth emphasizing there that it is also important to
know when to stay in what might at first seem to be an
200 NLP AT WORK