Friday, July 15, 2011

Covert Hypnosis for the Self?

Can You Use Covert Hypnosis to Imagine Your Way to Success?

This is not about sitting back and waiting for the universe to deliver success while you daydream or "imagine" it.

But new research does suggest that both mental imaging and daydreaming can be a factor in future performance.

That we can in fact "dress rehearse" for success in our mind..

and daydream our way to solutions...

Here is the latest.

Association for Psychological Science (2011, June 24). Imagination can influence perception.

"Imagining something with our mind's eye is a task we engage in frequently...But how can we tell whether our own mental images are accurate or vivid when we have no direct comparison? "

...How can you TRUST them to guide you, to serve you?

.. the article above refers to a study done by Joel Pearson of the University of New South Wales, Rosanne Rademaker of Maastricht University, and Frank Tong of Vanderbilt University, who wanted to test how accurate our knowledge is of our own imagery performance.

Here's the question: If you "imagine" yourself completing a task successfully, how helpful will this be?


They believe that the results of their test show that..."our evaluations of mental imagery bear a direct relationship to our performance on perceptual and cognitive tasks in the real world".

We can see how things might have been.

We can see how they might be.

Being able to imagine objects and scenarios is "one of the fundamental abilities that allows us to successfully think about and plan future events," says Pearson.

So as PART of your preparation for your next speaking gig
you might want to ponder running through a successful dress rehearsal in your mind, with as much vivid detail as possible.

In addition, research shows that while we are "daydreaming", we are problem solving for the future.

University of British Columbia (2009, May 12). Brain's Problem-solving Function At Work When We Daydream.

A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously
thought.
"
Mind wandering is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness," says lead author, Prof. Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. "But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks."

The study further points out throught the use of fMRI scanners, that our brains "executive network" – associated with high-level, complex problem-solving becomes activated when we daydream.

"The quantity and quality of brain activity suggests that people struggling to solve complicated problems might be better off switching to a simpler task and letting their mind wander".

Have you ever taken a nap when your mind was just overloaded with data and then woken up with a clear head about what needed to be done?

Cognitive Overload is a common tool of skilled hypnotherapists. It isn't always effective but there are times when obviously...it is.

Daydreaming is essentially the same thing...switching to a rote task(mowing the lawn) while the brain is still working but you are not aware that you are still in "high gear"...but your brain is.

And when you get to your computer again, the solutions are there.

Learning influence is one of the most valuable things you can do to understand yourself, subtly influence others and get pretty much everything you want in life.

0 comments: