Maximum Achievement

by Brian Tracy

  THE END OF THE MOVIE

  Here is an illustration. Imagine you go to a theater to see an exciting adventure movie. You arrive at the theater ten minutes before the earlier scheduled movie is over. Instead of waiting in the lobby, however, you go into the theater, sit down and watch the last ten minutes of the movie.

  You see how the entire plot unfolds and how everything turns out for the principal actors. You see the problems resolved and what happens to everyone when the movie ends.

  Then, when the next showing begins, you go back and sit through the entire movie from the beginning. Only this time, instead of being caught up in the suspense and drama of the unfolding plot, you relax and watch the movie objectively. You take time to appreciate the cinematography, the dialogue, the way that the scenes are connected and how the plot unfolds and develops. You are calm and relaxed. You are far less anxious or emotional than you would be if you had not already seen the last ten minutes. Because you already know how it ends.

  SPEED UP THE PROCESS

  This is exactly the same method you use to program your new self-concept, and your goals, into the deeper levels of your subconscious mind, where they “lock in” and take on a power of their own. The emotional component is critical. It is the calm, confident, expectant, positive emotion, combined with relaxation, that activates your subconscious and brings about rapid change. This mental state, self-induced, is followed very quickly, sometimes instantaneously, by the physical manifestation of your desired result.

  Here is a five-step process you can use to implement this method to help bring about any desired mental, emotional or physical condition.

  Step one, verbalize and affirm your desired outcome. For example, if you are wrestling with a problem involving someone else, you could say, calmly and confidently, ’This situation is resolved happily with good for all concerned.” Your statement should be a clear description of your desired outcome or end state. Don’t get wrapped up in detail. Don’t worry about the process.

  Step two, visualize and clearly see the outcome you desire in this situation. See yourself, and everyone else involved, happy and at peace with the outcome. This will require effort and concentration.

  Step three, emotionalize your combined affirmation and visualization by creating “the feeling” that you will actually experience when everything is resolved happily. Imagine yourself already successful, the goal already attained.

  Step four, and this is the catalyst in the process, release the situation completely. Let it go just as you would if someone you trusted said that he would take care of it and that you need not ever think about it again.

  Step five is realization, the appearance in your outer world of the solution. The realization or manifestation of your desire is in direct proportion to the extent to which you have completely released all concern for the outcome and turned your mind to other things. “According to your faith, it is done unto you.”

  Once more, the five steps to activating the Law of Reversibility are (1) verbalization, articulating in words the desired outcome; (2) visualization, creating a clear mental picture of what the outcome will look like; (3) emotionalization, creating in yourself the feeling of satisfaction that would accompany the resolved situation; (4) releasing all concern while you turn your mind to other things; and finally, (5) realization, the appearance of the solution, or the achievement of your goal.

  This attitude of calm, confident expectation that all will be well is an experience of higher consciousness. Religious people refer to this as prayer, and it is said that prayer is the highest form of affirmation. Ralph Waldo Trine called this state of consciousness being “In Tune with the Infinite.” It doesn’t matter what you call it. All that matters is that it works with amazing reliability. The reason for this is that it activates your superconscious mind, which we’ll discuss thoroughly in Chapter Six.

  ACCELERATING THE PROCESS OF CHANGE

  There are several additional mental techniques you can use to activate your master mind and accelerate the process of inner change and external realization. Each of these methods is a combination of the mental programming techniques for changing your self-concept explained in Chapter Three.

  Each of them is extremely effective and when you use them regularly, alone or together, you can transform yourself and your life in wonderful ways.

  Written Affirmation Technique

  The first of these methods for accelerated change is “written affirmation technique.” To use this technique, you sit down with a pad of paper or a notebook, preferably in the morning, and write out a clear, present-tense description of your major definite purpose or goal, exactly as you would like to see it in reality. The description can be as long or as short as you like. It can be brief or detailed. You can write a present-tense description of the way you would like to see the events of the day unfold, or you can describe how you would look and feel with the new personality qualities you desire.

  Once you’ve written out your goals, put down your pen, close your eyes, breathe deeply, and visualize your goal as accomplished, or see the events of the day unfolding satisfactorily. As you visualize, create the feeling that would go with your imagined success. Smile and enjoy the pleasure that would accompany the achievement of your goals. Then, release it completely, let it go, open your eyes, and carry on with your day.

  Writing is a powerful way to imprint your goals on your subconscious mind. Many people have had the experience of writing out a list of their goals for the year on January first, just once, and then rereading the list at the end of the year and finding that most of the goals have somehow been achieved.

  The more often you write out your goals, the more rapidly they materialize. Use a spiral notebook and write them down every day. It only takes a few minutes, but it programs you for the hours ahead. Writing and rewriting your goals convinces you more and more that they are attainable. As your conviction deepens and your confidence grows, you become more alert and aware of opportunities to make them a reality. You activate the Laws of Attraction and Correspondence and the goals begin to materialize around you. Many of our seminar graduates have been astonished at how rapidly their lives began to improve once they began using this technique.

  Standard Affirmation Technique

  The second mental programming technique you can use is “standard affirmation technique.” This consists of writing out your goals in bold letters on a series of three-inch by five-inch index cards. You write the things you want as affirmations, in the present tense and in words that are clear and definite.

  This method is best used twice per day, morning and evening. Find a place where you can be alone and quiet for a few minutes. Take several deep breaths to relax your body and prepare your mind. Exhale slowly. Sit comfortably with your cards in your lap. Then read the first of your goals. Close your eyes and repeat it to yourself five times. Visualize your goal as it would be if it were already achieved. Imagine how you would walk, talk and act if the goal were a reality right now. Emotionalize your picture of the goal and create the feeling of pleasure and happiness that would accompany successful accomplishment of your desire.

  Then take another deep breath, exhale and release the goal confidently. Do this with each of your goals. Your subconscious mind can work effectively in this way on ten to fifteen goals at a time. (You’ll learn an advanced system for setting your goals in Chapter Five, The Master Skill.)

  This entire exercise should not take more than thirty to sixty seconds for each goal, for a maximum of fifteen minutes for fifteen goals. By doing this in the morning before starting out, you send a strong set of signals to your subconscious mind. It then activates the Law of Attraction and heightens your awareness of anything going on around you during the day that could help you accomplish one or more of your goals. By reviewing your goals in this way again in the evening, immediately before sleeping, you set your subconscious mind to work on your goals during the night. Often, it will bring you ideas and solutions when you
awake in the morning.

  Quick Affirmation Technique

  The third acceleration method is called “quick affirmation technique.” You can use this technique before any nonrecurring event of importance, such as a sales call or a meeting with your boss. This method of mental programming is used by professional speakers, actors, entertainers and top business people. They use it to prepare themselves for upcoming events when it is important that they be at their best.

  The quick affirmation technique consists of telescoping the steps to mental preparation we discussed earlier. It is like a mental warmup. You can do it in less than thirty seconds. You can use this technique in your car, in the elevator, or even in the washroom.

  The way it works is simple. You get by yourself, close your eyes, affirm the ideal outcome, visualize it, emotionalize it and release it. See and feel the event working out successfully. Then go into the meeting (or whatever) with calmness and confidence.

  If you have an important presentation or interview coming up in a few days, you should use this technique every time you think about it. Instead of looking forward with nervousness and anxiety, use the Law of Substitution and perform this quick affirmation technique. As you get closer and closer to the actual day and hour, you will feel yourself growing in confidence and self-assurance. By the time the actual event arrives, you will be mentally prepared to perform at your best.

  Autogenic Conditioning: The Method

  The fourth accelerating technique is the complete process of “autogenic conditioning” that we discussed earlier. This is a more elaborate exercise, in which you systematically relax your entire body before affirming, visualizing, emotionalizing and releasing.

  In its simplest form, you can get most of the benefits of autogenie conditioning by assuming a comfortable position, either sitting in a comfortable chair or lying on a bed. You close your eyes, breathe deeply and begin talking to the six parts of your body—your left arm, your right arm, your left leg, your right leg, your chest and your head.

  These are the words that seem to work the best. Begin by repeating six times, one breath to one repetition, “My left arm is becoming heavy and warm.” Then repeat six times, “My left arm is now heavy and warm.” Finally, say six times, “My left arm is completely heavy and warm.”

  Each time you inhale and exhale, you speak one command. Repeat this process with each of the other five parts of your body, going from your left arm to your right arm, then from your left leg to your right leg, then to your chest and finally to your head and neck.

  In less than ten minutes, you will have talked your body down into a deep state of relaxation. Your mind will be in the alpha state. You will then be ready for deep programming.

  This technique is sometimes called self-hypnosis or autosuggestion, and is extremely effective in two areas. First, you can use it to overcome fears and build confidence in your relationships, work, financial life, health and other activities. It can even help solve such problems as call reluctance in salespeople, fear of public speaking and nervousness in dealing with any challenge of daily life. Second, you can use it to accelerate the development of motor skills and sports ability in areas such as tennis, golf, skiing, hockey, figure skating, football, and basketball.

  It is a form of mental rehearsal. You practice the movements over and over in your imagination, visualizing perfect performance every time and programming that image of excellence into your subconscious mind.

  Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a real experience and one that you vividly imagine, especially one that you vividly imagine when you are deeply relaxed. Your subconscious merely accepts the mental picture as a command to guide future action. The next time you actually perform the activity you will be much more relaxed and confident. You will be noticeably better than you were before.

  Most gold-medal-winning Olympic athletes use this technique or something similar to it. Successful business people use it to give themselves the psychological advantage in any meeting, negotiation or confrontation. And it works better and better the more you practice it.

  Heterogenic Conditioning

  The fifth technique of rapid mental transformation is called “heterogenic conditioning.” This is conditioning or programming by someone other than yourself.

  Your self-concept has been formed largely as the result of two primary forms of suggestion: autosuggestion, the things that you have said to yourself and believed, and heterosuggestion, the things that other people have said to you that you have believed. Everything you believe to be true about yourself today is the result of one of these influences, especially the second.

  You are already aware of some examples of heterogenic conditioning. These are the things that your parents, your older relatives, your teachers or other people you respect have told you about yourself. Other heterogenic examples are lectures or audiocassette programs in which the speaker uses the word “you” in making each recommendation.

  Whenever you hear the word “you” attached to a message, it influences your subconscious mind. That is why you must never allow anyone to say anything to you about yourself that you do not sincerely desire to be true. You are dealing with a very powerful principle and you must use it deliberately in a positive and constructive way.

  THE LOZANOV EXPERIMENTS

  During the 1950s and 1960s in Bulgaria, psychologist Georgi Lozanov conducted extensive research on the process by which people learn and permanently record information. He was intrigued by examples of “superlearning” from around the world, such as the fact that Muslim students memorize and recite the entire Koran, a book the size of the New Testament, before entering any Muslim university.

  Lozanov found entire religions in India with no written books or materials. The masters and disciples of these religions passed down their teachings orally from one generation to the next. He met people who could recite religious teachings for hours with no reference to notes.

  As his research progressed, Lozanov became interested in the idea that each of us actually has two brains, a right and a left hemisphere, and they perform different functions.

  For example, the left brain is the logical, linear, practical brain. It is responsible for reasoning, analysis and calculation. It is the mathematical, verbal, sequential, pragmatic and skeptical side of the brain. It is responsible for language and for processing facts and is concrete and straightforward. It is the “no-nonsense” or engineering side of the brain.

  The right hemisphere of the brain is very different. It thinks in terms of pictures and stories. It is holistic, dealing with all aspects of an idea or situation simultaneously. The right hemisphere is intuitive, musical and creative. It is the artistic, abstract and imaginative side of the brain.

  The left brain seems to be stimulated by intense, logical, linear presentation of information. The right brain seems to process information best in a state of relaxation. What Lozanov discovered was that it was when both brains were working together harmoniously that rapid learning took place.

  Lozanov went on to pioneer research into the various levels of brainwave activity—beta, alpha, theta and delta. He found that in our normal waking state, beta, the brain functions at fourteen waves per second or faster. In alpha, the relaxed or meditative state just below beta, the brain functions at eight to thirteen waves per second. This seemed to be the ideal brain wave level for learning.

  The third level of brain wave activity is theta, five to seven waves per second, and the fourth is delta, the state of deep sleep, where brain waves slow to one-half to four waves per second.

  Lozanov was interested in accelerating the speed at which the brain absorbed and stored new information. He developed what is today called “accelerated learning” by combining all these findings into a new way to learn and retain information of any kind.

  Lozanov discovered that if you could put a person into a deep state of relaxation, into alpha, and then present new information while gentle classical music pla
yed in the background, the right and left brains would synchronize and learning would take place at a rapid rate.

  His experiments involved having classes of adults sit deeply relaxed with their eyes closed while music played softly in the room. The instructor would then read lists of words in a foreign language, repeating them in different ways.

  Afterward, the students would be brought to full alertness and tested for retention. With this method, the students learned at a remarkable rate. They remembered 98 percent of what they had been taught.

  In 1969, Lozanov was able to teach students 150 new words per three-hour session, easily three to five times the rate of learning in a traditional language school. Later, he increased the learning rate to 500 words per day and then to 1,000 new words in a single day, by using more advanced combinations of relaxation, music and repetition.

  In 1974, with a special class of students, Lozanov increased the learning rate to 1,800 new words of a foreign language in one day, still maintaining a retention level of 98 percent.

  In 1979, Lozanov was able to teach a special class 3,000 new words, the equivalent of fluency in a foreign language, in a single day. Six months afterwards, these students could still recall 60 percent of what they had learned, compared with the 10 percent average recall rate in an American university. The work of Lozanov demonstrated that rapid learning is possible—not only for facts and information, but also for new behaviors and new mental habits.

  TAPED AFFIRMATIONS WITH MUSIC