Chapter 9: Dropping Anchors 157
- Play the first piece of music while thinking about your issue, and then
rate your thoughts on a scale of 1 to 10. Make a note of how you now
see the issue and feel about it.
- Play the second piece of music while thinking about your issue, and
then rate your thoughts on a scale of 1 to 10. Make a note of how you
now see the issue and feel about it.
- Play the third piece of music while thinking about your issue, and
then rate your thoughts on a scale of 1 to 10. Make a note of how you
now see the issue and feel about it.
Has your thinking shifted? Which music was most powerful for you to
become more resourceful?
Walking in someone else’s shoes
Another way to develop your NLP skills is to find a positive role model – someone
who seems to behave how you want to – and try on that person’s body language
for size. For example, you can copy how they hold themselves – upright or soft,
smiling or serious – and then try walking the way that they walk. You may
hear of a technique called the moccasin walk – you imagine that you’re wear-
ing that person’s shoes and try to walk as if you’re treading in their footsteps.
By moving your body differently, and adjusting your posture, gestures, and
breathing, you automatically change your internal state – how you think
and react.
If you’re a small woman copying a large man or vice versa, the moccasin walk
can give you new insights into how your physical shape makes a difference to
the way you influence people. Gill, one of our petite female clients, was strug-
gling to get attention at board meetings. By becoming more attuned to the
physical mass of her male counterparts, she adapted her presenting style to
be more expansive – moving purposefully across the room or presentation
stage as she spoke. She also now spreads out her papers and takes up a larger
portion of the boardroom meeting table. Both moves are ways of marking out
her territory and authority. Similarly, large men working with children often
talk to children from a seated position closer to the floor, instead of towering
above them – as you can spot clever politicians doing when visiting schools.
Becoming Sophisticated with Anchors
This section shows you how NLP anchoring techniques can help you face
challenging and fearful situations. Perhaps you’re battling with changing
unhelpful behaviours such as smoking or eating the wrong foods; or maybe
