NLP technique “Anchoring”: how to use it

In this article we will tell you:

The essence of the “Anchoring” technique
The benefits of anchors in everyday life
How to create a positive anchor for yourself
How to anchor your desire
Kinesthetic anchor
Expert: How to Anchor a Man
Conclusion

Let's continue the conversation about NLP. How does it work? This direction is based on the idea that you can change your own state. All NLP techniques are your conscious actions that lead to results at all levels of the psyche. The most famous techniques are anchoring, language strategies and reframing.

The essence of the “Anchoring” technique

Everyone knows very well what an anchor is on a sea vessel. But not everyone knows what an anchor is in the human mind and how it works.

An anchor in a person’s mind is a mark that evokes a specific state in him. An association with a specific image, feeling or thought can also become an anchor.

To be simpler in description, according to the theory of reflexes, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov described this very “anchor” as a stimulus that causes the same constant reaction.

Stimulus – The light bulb came on. The dog was given food. The reaction is salivation. Repeat the procedure several times and the mechanism will start, even if there is no more food.

The anchoring process itself is a “learning” process. A stimulus is created, and having received the necessary reaction to it once, it is positively reinforced by repetition. Subsequently, “throwing this anchor”, each time, you will receive the same constant reaction (the person’s immersion in the same state/experience/memory).

The essence of anchoring is the creation of a binding based on kinetic, auditory, visual or other influence.

How to anchor

By using:

visual and visual images;
auditory system (speech or sound settings, music);
kinesthetic sensations (smells, tactile sensations, taste);
logic and reason (as the leading channel of perception recently opened).

The anchor must necessarily be a unique “action”. If it occurs too often, it will lose its value almost instantly.

In order for an installed anchor to work, it must be reproduced in exactly the same way as it was installed.

An anchor is established at the moment of highest intensity of experience.

An anchor is considered established if, as a result of three repetitions, it caused the same reaction.

Examples of anchors:

person's name;
good luck talisman;
your perfume smell;
“this is our song/movie, etc.”;
code phrases/sayings;
the aroma of pie - home comfort;
a special “our” place;
“Cupcake” dress/suit for successful negotiations.

The benefits of anchors in everyday life

get to work faster;
it is easier to get out of a stressful situation;
switch attention from one task to another;
when resting, relax, and not continue to think about business.

3 important steps

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Life story

Yeranika from St. Petersburg

During my university years, when I had to write large scientific papers and process colossal amounts of information, I created an anchor for myself on one rhythmic track and the smell of citruses. As soon as you turned them on, your head became crystal clear and you could work for hours.

At another point in my life, in order to get out of depressive and hopeless states, I managed to put together a whole “chain anchor” in the form of a music album, where track by track the states change by degree, but in the end the feeling is radically different.

You can learn to evoke (create an anchor) in yourself some positive emotion. Or replace a negative habit with a useful one. Or quickly get out of some states.

What is the anchoring effect

The easiest way to understand anchoring is through examples!

If you go to the exam in “lucky clothes”, it will be easier to pass the subject with a high score.
A mug of coffee before work and a great day is guaranteed...
Special sneakers and music “for jogging”...
Touching the side of the court before a serious game (for athletes) is the path to victory.

So here it is. Clothes, coffee, music, shoes and touch are all anchors.

With their help, a person quickly enters the necessary resource state, leaving behind all thoughts, ideas, and emotions that are unnecessary at the moment.

There is even a definition that says:

anchor - any attachment that causes a certain emotional state.

How to create a positive anchor for yourself?

For example, having to speak in public makes you panic, and you would like to change that. Therefore, we can create an anchor for successful public speaking.

Find a moment when no one is bothering you, sit back and remember when you felt confident . You can close your eyes at this time or not. First you need to see this event, then hear and feel (what you felt at that moment, what emotions and sensations were in your body). It is important to immediately dive into this situation. When you do this, take a few deep breaths in and out, strengthening your emotions.
Make any movement that will become your anchor for this state (you can squeeze the thumb and index finger of your right hand, scratch your nose or ear, turn your favorite pen in your hands, etc.) . Let this emotion “stagnate”, hold your breath slightly and slowly release your hand.
Once will not be enough . The anchor must be secured, otherwise it will disappear. Therefore, consciously repeat this movement - anchoring twice a day in the first week, once a day in the next week, and at least three times a week in the third. When the anchor is fixed, just do this anchor every time before a performance, and you will instantly get a “splash” of the desired emotion. And in this way you can “fix” any emotion, from success to calmness and relaxation.

In order for the anchors to act more and more stably, every time something related to your anchor happens in everyday life, make the cherished movement - and the positive anchors will be summed up.

Reviews and comments

Have you ever experienced the anchoring effect? Share your thoughts on the topic of this article below.

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
Halo effect
Kahneman's Fallacies: Should You Think Slowly and Decide Fast?
Behavioral Economics
7 cognitive distortions that prevent you from making good decisions
The Rosenthal effect or how to wisely lead a team
Representativeness heuristic
The Lachins effect, or the Past Experience Barrier
Cognitive economics: the science of thinking
Daniel Kahneman “Think Slowly... Decide Fast” - summary of the book
Pygmalion effect

Key words:1Communication

How to anchor your desire

1. Think about your desire, clearly imagine what you want:

what does it look like?
How does this make you feel?
what's going on around?
What do you do?

Feel the state when internally you will feel joy, satisfaction and euphoria from what is happening.

2. Anchor to this state.

It is better to come up with an anchor for the desire in advance before practice. Analyze what helps you remember vivid life events. What is it: music, photos, touches?

If it’s a photo, then you can choose a picture that you associate with this desire; if it’s music, then a suitable song; if it’s touching, then squeeze your index finger, for example. That is, they presented their desire in all colors and included, for example, an inspiring song.

3. This needs to be done several times so that the psyche remembers it (at least three times with an interval of several days).

4. Then start enjoying the advantages of this method.

When reproducing the anchor, your brain will automatically insist on the state when this desire is fulfilled. Accordingly, you will also subconsciously begin to act differently. What will lead to new results

This algorithm can also be used to set yourself up for a resourceful state. In this case, for example, when playing a certain song, you can quickly return from a state of emptiness to the resource.

Procedure

First, you need to choose for yourself the emotional state that you want to anchor. For example, relaxation, rest.
You stay in this state for a while.
You use memory to pull out various memories and actions. You may remember sitting in a beach cafe on the sandy seashore, drinking cold orange juice. You choose this as an anchor at the peak of emotions. This is your link to the picture.

Photo by ABD NIMIT: Pexels

Then you repeat the situation again and again, connecting it with the desired anchor.

Now, when you need to relax, all you have to do is recreate the picture of a beach cafe in your mind and take a sip of cold juice. You are guaranteed a good rest, even if you are not on the seashore, but sunbathing on the lawn of your dacha.

Kinesthetic anchor

We will set a kinesthetic anchor and use it in life. Let's take calm.

Remember a situation in which you felt calm.

It could be anything. Some favorite place where you feel exactly like this. Think about it, plunge into it. What do you see and hear there? What's around in that very place, what's it like there? Feel these emotions by remembering yourself in this place. If this is not the case, come up with a place where you could feel calm.

Expert: how to anchor a man?

Nadezhda Mayer – psychologist, candidate of psychological sciences. She has been studying psychology for 21 years.

How to make sure that you don’t just date a man, but that he falls in love with you more and more over and over again?

We immediately warn you that the video will be a powerful, proven, although very simple technique for influencing a person’s state, which can be used, among other things, to strengthen his feelings for you.

If you are against influencing this, if you want everything to happen on its own, feel free to skip this video. It's not for you. The information will be useful to those women who consider influencing a man acceptable for themselves, especially if in the end you and your partner benefit from this - your feelings become stronger.

Experiments

Scientists, through a series of experiments, have substantiated the phenomenon of anchoring, even if disproportionately high or low numbers are used as an anchor.

It is worth noting that the fact of anchoring continued to be noted even after the subjects became aware of it. Let's take a closer look at a few examples of experiments:

UN experiment

Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky conducted an unusual experiment. They asked the subjects the following question: “What is the percentage of African countries that are members of the UN?”

Before participants answered the question, a random number was determined on a roulette wheel in front of them.

Subjects who saw a larger number on the roulette wheel assumed that the percentage of African countries in the UN was much larger than it seemed to participants who saw smaller numbers.

Auction

A group of economists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led by Dan Ariely, held an auction for students at their business school. The experimenters put up for sale a variety of items, from a bottle of vintage wine to a wireless keyboard or a box of chocolates.

Before the auction began, students were asked to write down the last two digits of their Social Security policy. Next, the subjects had to answer whether they were ready to pay the stated amount for each of the lots.

For example, if the last two digits of a student's insurance policy were 43, he would have to decide whether the price of a vintage wine or box of chocolates could be $43.

As a result, students were asked to indicate the maximum amount they expected to spend on various auction lots. Subjects whose Social Security numbers ended with the highest numbers (80-99) were willing to spend 200% more than students with low numbers (1-20).