The Importance of being Earnest, or - Thoughts create Reality
Read time 4:20mins approx
The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the explanation of Earnest as being “a serious and intent mental state”. So why is this so important in business and/or personal life and can we actually pick and choose our own mental state?
It’s essential to observe our own mental states when going through our daily routines, facing obstacles (real or imagined) or building on successes. For example, do you think the same way when you finish a project successfully as when your project hits a wall? What is the difference that makes a difference to your thinking? Think of a time that something didn’t go according to plan? How did you think? Now, think of a time that something went right. How did you think then?
Remember when you first began your project, plan or life goal? What mental state were you in? Were you excited? Feeling ambitious? Feeling invincible? What resources did you have available to you at the beginning that you don’t have now? Recognising the importance of a serious and intentional mental state is what drives your creativity and resourcefulness. Understanding how to elicit that particular state at any time will be crucial to bringing your dreams to life.
In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), we refer to this as state elicitation. Bringing those natural feelings back to life that was once a daily part of your day to day emotions. More often than not, ideas, projects and businesses fail not because of a lack of funding, but due to a lack of a serious and intent mental state. Go back to the paragraph above and ask the question: “what did you have at the very outset that you don’t have now?” What made you think you could succeed then? Why should you quit now?
Was it stressing that brought about the end? Here’s where we come to the part about being serious about laughing. More often, stress can be entirely relieved by shifting our attention away from what we believe to be stressing us and look at it from an entirely new perspective. Can you laugh at yourself? How you react to different situations? Imagine your favorite comedian following you around all day, taking notes on your reaction to things that he or she will use as part of their act to get a big laugh from their audience. What if it was Homer Simpson, following you around, repeating out loud what you said to yourself in your head and then having a knee slapping laugh about it? What way do you think they’d represent you in particular scenarios? Take a minute to “seriously” think about that. Oh, and try not to smile you’re supposed to be stressed right?
Finding the ability to laugh at yourself is probably one of the most useful tools you can ever have in business or life in general. Just don’t take yourself so seriously. Laughing at what stresses everyone else out gives you the edge to move past your particular hurdle and keep on track. I’m not saying there aren’t times you should be deadly serious. If your house went on fire, you wouldn’t want to be running around laughing your head off because you tripped over something in your haste to exit.
Eliciting your serious and intent mental state.
There is a technique in NLP that is super easy for you to learn and apply every day and to even change it to give you different feelings and emotions that help you get the most out of everything you do. It so easy that simply sitting and reading this text will increase your understanding of the concept and enjoyment of the outcome as you continue to read.
First, consider the emotional state that you wish to experience again. For the purpose of this exercise let us choose excitement. A feeling of such excitement as when you had a thought that gave you goosebumps just thinking about the success it could be.
If Excitement had a colour, what colour would it be?
Picture a square lying flat on the ground one step in front of you. Now picture that square filling with your chosen colour of excitement. See how it glows and shines before you. Now take a breath and step into it. Remember that feeling of excitement? Notice what you notice about your feelings of excitement. See what you see and turn the colour up even brighter in that memory. Hear what you heard when you hear that inner voice talking about determination and success and turn the volume up. Crank it all the way to ten! Feel what you felt when that feeling of excitement overtook you and made every nerve jump in anticipation of a brilliant future. Turn up all the colours, all the sounds and all the feelings and spin them faster and faster inside you and notice how much pleasure your body can actually stand. Feel the coloured glow from your square move over your feet, above your ankles, shins, knees, thighs, hips, tummy, arms, chest, shoulders and head. Completely and utterly embracing and covering you head to toe in that square of excitement.
Now step back out of your square. Repeat above, feeling what you felt, hearing what you heard and seeing what you saw and amplify those sensations in your body. Spinning them faster and faster and step back out at the end.
Take a look at your square in front of you. Picture it filling with that colours, emotions and feelings of determination, success and excitement. Feel how you can barely wait to step into it and experience that incredible feeling of excitement all over again.
This is what we call state elicitation in NLP – bringing out a serious and intent mental state, which will help you re-establish those feelings you feel you need to keep going, to laugh at yourself and continually move towards happiness.
Thought Provokers:
What mental state do I want to feel?
What would it look like if my favourite comedian or Homer Simpson made a parody of my reactions to stressful situations? (seriously – stop smiling, you’re supposed to be stressed)
What would my day be like if I was able to go through it in any positive mental state I wanted?
What can I be doing more of, to feel better every day?
If I can’t control the world, can I control my reactions to it?
Thanks for reading – please try out the above techniques and beyond anything else, Be
