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What if you could access your most inspired, positive attitudes and feelings in an instant, would you like that?
What if you could instantly shift your focus in any area of life to reflect your most resourceful mindset, would you do it?
Sounds a little over the top, I admit. But, it’s not beyond your ability to create instant access to some of your most powerful assets if you are willing to put a little effort into it. You already have an inner arsenal of positive attitudes ready to be deployed. All you need is a way to gain quick and easy access to them.
What is “Touchstone Triggering”
The key to this method is a process I call “touchstone triggering.” Essentially, it’s an easy way of connecting directly to any existing positive attitude by creating a simple trigger.
Once this touchstone triggering method is associated with, and anchored to, a specific positive attitude or other resourceful mindset, you’ll be able to access that attitude or mindset as easily as flipping on a light switch. In time, you won’t even need the switch. All you will need to do is picture the switch in your mind and presto, you will be in that resourceful mindset. Sound interesting? Well then, let’s jump on in.
Tapping your storehouse of positive attitudes
We can use this method to access any attitude we like. For example, let’s say we decide to focus on happiness as the specific positive attitude we want enhance. Somewhere in your memory is your file on happiness. That file contains all of your greatest happiness hits. Everything you know, feel, and associate with happiness is in there. When you reflect on those memories you can’t help but smile and be filled with warmth and a deep sense of inner joy.
Why not take a few minutes right now to access that file and really focus on all of the beautiful memories it holds. This will serve as a trial run for the actual touchstone triggering exercise coming up. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Okay, how was it? If you really let yourself get into it, you should be feeling pretty happy right now. What we want to do is create a trigger that automatically takes you to those feelings without having to think about it. We want an emotional shortcut to happiness.
This is where touchstone triggering comes in
The reason it’s called touchstone triggering is because we actually use a small stone or pebble to create the trigger. You could use anything, but I like a smooth flat stone that I can carry around in my pocket. In this case, that little stone will serve to represent happiness temporarily. So obviously, at this point you need a pebble or suitable substitute to participate in this exercise. If you need to go look for one that’s okay, I’ll wait.
By the way, there is no significance in whatever you use to create your trigger. The object (pebble or otherwise) is just something tangible that can serve as a mental and emotional switch during the initial anchoring process. By comparison, it doesn’t matter what color or style a light switch is. All that matters is that it is wired to the light fixture.
Linking your switch to the desired positive attitude
Now it’s time to connect the wires between the trigger and the positive attitude, in this case, happiness. While holding your touchstone in your hand, I want you to go back and visit your file of greatest happiness hits. This time I want you to really dig into those happy memories. Allow the feeling of happiness to cover you like a warm blanket until you are completely involved in one of the most prominent memories.
Once you are there, pick out one scene in that mental movie that seems to epitomize complete and total happiness. As you focus in on that scene, I want you to fully engage your feelings, and at the same time start rubbing the stone with your thumb. Stay with this for as long as you can hold that intense feeling of happiness. As soon as your focus starts to lessen, stop rubbing the stone.
Touchstone triggering is now activated
At this point, the action of rubbing that stone has been wired to the positive attitude, feelings, and resourceful mindset of happiness. You can increase that connection by repeating the exercise several times. If you find yourself in a very happy situation where you are really enjoying yourself, rub that stone while you are laughing or feeling especially happy.
Every time you reinforce the link between rubbing the stone and experiencing happiness you will strengthen the trigger. Soon, the very act of rubbing the stone will trigger feelings of happiness without any effort or concentration. It will become an automated response.
Accessing your positive attitudes without the stone
Remember I said that the use of the stone would only be temporary? Well, now it’s time to take the stone out of touchstone triggering, which leaves us with touch triggering. Once the emotional link between rubbing the stone and feeling the positive attitude is firmly established, you can lose the stone.
All you need to do now is visualize the stone and rub your thumb over your index finger as if you were holding it in your hand. That’s all there is to it. Now you have a way to instantly access happiness any time and any place you want to. And you can do it as easily as flipping on a light switch.
Anchor any positive attitude or resourceful mindset
This method will work on everything from confidence, self-esteem, and courage, to gratitude and compassion. There really are no limits. The only guidelines I would offer are to work on just one positive attitude at a time, and use a different stone for each one. Happy anchoring!
Did this method of accessing a positive attitude seem possible to you? Were you able to get into your greatest happiness hits file? Have any opinion about touchstone triggering one way or another?
The lines are open and your thoughts really matter!
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