Encoding Your Mind for Success - - Manifest Moments, Issue 38

P rofessor Richard Wiseman at Hertfordshire University in England has spent more than a decade researching why some people have more ‘luck’ than others. In fact he has a book called The Luck Factor.

The results will not surprise any of my readers. To change your fortune Wiseman says it’s NOT about luck... “rather it’s a way of thinking and behaving.” He quotes Louis Pasteur who said, “If you lay the groundwork, then when something happens by ‘chance,’ your memory goes right to work and you notice it.” You act on it. You ‘seize’ the moment!

Or as Colleen Seifert PhD says it, “Success needs to start the day before a success event happens.” Colleen is a Professor of Cognitive Psychology. She’s discovered that people are not very good at recalling intentions when they need to. “Though you know what you want, the knowledge doesn’t always come to mind at the right time to guide your behavior.”

Therefore the success or behavior change you want needs to start in your mind first. “You have to ‘seed’ your mind with the vision of success first.” In other words, you have to imagine yourself acting in a certain way in a certain situation. “This gives your mind instant access to the information it needs on how to act when the time is right,” emphasizes Seifert.

One example she gives is the person who wants to become less shy and have more friends. In that case it’s important to visualize using more eye contact, shaking more hands, being more open to chance meetings, and being excited about meeting new people.

Two experiments come to mind to support that. One is from Tony Robbins. I heard him say once that when he was poor, struggling and unknown, he decided that he wanted to be successful and well known. So he said to his wife, “Honey, how would you like to become a public figure?” Then he said, “OK, we’re going to walk through the lobby of this hotel as though we are already a public figures.” And the rest is history. We have to see it in our minds in order to make it materialize.

Another experiment was in basketball. Perhaps you remember it - Two groups of players, both new to basketball and both equal ability, were shown a training film. Then the two groups were sent out to practice. There was only one difference. One team had a ball to practice with and the other had to practice in their minds. The result of the experiment was that the ones who used only their minds to practiced making baskets, than the one who used the ball.

Here’s the bottom line. According to Colleen Seifert’s research, “Preparing your mind for a certain behavior increases (by as much as 50%) the chance that you’ll pull off that behavior.”  She says, “If you think about what you want, you imagine the situations in which you’ll need to remember it, you’re more likely to get it.” That’s what she calls, ‘predictive encoding the memory.’

3 MINUTE ACTION TIP: Why not ‘encode’ your memory with the success or behavior difference you want in life? All you need to do is this - STEP 1: Think of the success you want. STEP 2: See yourself acting the new way when the event or opportunity presents itself. STEP 3: Put yourself out there where it’s most likely to happen. Then let your mind work do the rest through the encoding you’ve given it.

Much love,
Christine

About the Author: Christine Harvey is the author of six international marketing and leadership books now published in 25 languages by 48 publishers, including ‘In Pursuit of Profit.’ She was the first woman and first American elected to Chair a London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a business start-up initiative launched by Prince Charles. She served as Director on the International Board of Zonta, with 36,000 members in 62 countries, as well as two venture capitol boards – one in the UK and one in the US. She’s been honored to address two Parliaments of the world on the ‘Privatization of Industry,’ and ‘Policy for the Growth of Private Industry.’ She has been interviewed by the media in dozens of countries. Her company trains people in sales, motivation, management and presentations with persuasion - in America, Europe, Australia and Asia.