By: Shantanu Das Sharma, Sr. Associate Editor-ICN Group
Quick recap of what we have covered in Part 18
Steps to Modeling Your Physiology of Excellence
How Sports People Use the Physiology of Confidence to Win
How Agassi Regained His Confidence
The Mind-Body Connection
Exercise 4 – Think of a Challenge You are Faced With
Replicating Another Person’s Winning Physiology
Why to Model Successful People’s Physiology of Excellence
KOLKATA: In the first article, we said that the fundamental principle is that we all have the same neurology. That, if it is possible for others, it is possible for you! It is only a question of strategy. In other words, by modeling someone’s strategy, you can replicate the results they produce. Well, what do we model about a person specifically? Remember that one of the key things that drive a person’s behavior is the states that they experience. People are successful primarily because they are in resourceful states. People perform the way they do because of the states they experience. For example, if you want to model a powerful public speaker, it would be best to model that person’s state. So you too will feel the same level of confidence and power and will be able to express yourself in an equally dynamic way. If you want to model a very effective salesperson you know, you have to model that person’s state of confidence and charisma – both these winning states that enable him to wow and persuade his clients.
The way to do this is to model their physiology! In other words, if you model the physiology of a person who is excellent in something, you would immediately tap into that person’s powerful state. Not only that, but done effectively, you could even tap into that person’s internal representation! So how do you do this? Well, first identify a person who is excellent in a particular skill or behavior that you want to exhibit. For example, this person could be a dynamic public speaker, salesperson, decision maker or communicator.
Next, observe keenly, how this person speaks (their tone of voice), how this person moves, their facial expression, the way this person breathes, the focus of their eyes and their gestures. What you then do is to imagine that you step into the body of this person. Yes! You imagine that you become this person! So the next time you have to go on stage to deliver a speech, you model that person’s physiology exactly! You speak the way they speak, move the way they move, adopt the same body postures and gestures. If you do this you would access the same powerful states that person experiences as well as produce the same behavioral results!
Play-Acting that Kids Do is Early Modeling
In fact, we used to do this when we were kids. We called this play-acting. And this is how children learn to form their personal behaviors, (for good or bad) by observing and unconsciously modeling the adults around them. When you were a kid, didn’t you pretend to be an action star or a movie star? Did you ever imagine yourself to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Rambo or James Bond? You imagined that you were one or more of them and started acting like them, using their ‘props’ (imaginary weapons), even going so far as to dress like them? What we don’t realize is that we were modeling patterns of excellence (or otherwise!) in people whom we admired. Unfortunately, we were told that it was childish and that we were being silly. Hence one of the most natural powerful skills of our early learning never continue to be developed and utilized in adult life. But today, using this technique allows me to hone and accelerate my skills in virtually every area of my personal and professional life.
The Three Speakers I Modeled Myself After… Until I Became Them
I used to have a fear of public speaking and was below average in my ability to build rapport with and communicate my ideas to an audience. Then I started to look out for and observe the most dynamic speakers around. Out of the hundreds of speakers I watched, I was most impressed by the charisma, dynamism and power that speakers like Anthony Robbins, Richard Bandler (the co-developer of NLP) and Brad Sugars (a young, millionaire entrepreneur from Australia) exhibited when they were on stage. I watched their videos intently. I spent hours observing the way they spoke, the way they moved and how they carried themselves. Then, I decided to test it out. The next time I had the opportunity to give a speech, I would imagine that I became these three great speakers and started to model their exact physiology. I went on stage and moved, gestured and spoke like them (interchanging styles, depending on what I was saying). You know what? I felt totally powerful, charismatic and dynamic on stage! I totally tapped into their states of excellence. In a very short period of time, I started to produce fantastic results in the way I connected and communicated with the audience.
Modeling Other’s Excellence in Decision-Making and Rapport Building
I also modeled other people’s patterns of excellence in the area of decision-making, sales and even personal relationships. I have a friend whom I truly admire for his ability to build instant rapport with people. He is very charismatic and influential. And women just melt before his charm. The fact is, he is not even particularly good looking but how he charms everyone to like him instantly.
Being a basically shy person who is not very good at mixing around and breaking the ice with people I meet for the first time, I thought that what this friend had would be a very powerful skill to possess in the area of business networking. So here again, I started modeling the way he spoke, the way he gestured, his mannerisms and the facial expressions he used. Within a very short period of time, I started to feel an ease and confidence networking with people I had met for the first time. I started to experience my effectiveness as a person who can easily build rapport with and create instant relationships with new acquaintances. Now, do bear in mind that there are certain skills and competencies that may not be that easily replicated by just modeling a person’s physiology and states.
In modeling someone else’s strategy, the modeling of physiology and states is one of the most powerful in modeling his or her performance and results. However, there are other elements to be modeled, like that person’s beliefs and values structure. At the same time, there is sometimes a need to model that person’s core competencies, which go way beyond just surface modeling of behavior. For example, if you were to observe and model Jim Rohn’s (he mentored Anthony Robbins) exact physiology and tap into his resourceful states, would it mean that you would be able to inspire, influence and motivate people as good as the world’s number one in a short period of time? Most probably not, because being in the right state may not be enough to generate the same level of performance that Jim has developed through years of rigorous speaking & coaching practice. You may be able to replicate his state of focus and confidence, but replicating his precise speaking & influencing skills will take many more hours of intensive practice. This is not to say that with enough desire, focus and training hours, it is not possible to acquire the appropriate skills.
However, by modeling Jim Rohn’s physiology and hence states, do you think your level of being an influencing & inspiring speaker will improve? Yes! Why? Because if you are in the art of personal development or any other change work stuff, you will realize that a big part of your performance depends on the state of mind you are in. You may have the capability to recognize the simplest change that your trainee or coachee may need which can create a mega shift in most other aspects of his or her life, but when you are not in the right state, you will not be able to recognize it. I figured that if I could consciously direct myself into a super resourceful state, I would definitely begin to have a superior sensory acuity and can recognize the simple shifts needed to bring about mega shifts in people’s lives. I decided to test this out personally. I used to meet people face to face for introductory coaching sessions and on average convert 4 out of 10 attendees sign up for my NLP Lifestyle Coaching sessions during such meeting, which is pretty average for a non-regular life coach. Then I started to model Jim Rohn’s physiology. I modeled the way he talked, the way he addressed his audience, his gestures, his mannerisms and his swing (to the best of my ability). As I got into his physiology, I could feel myself being in a totally focused and confident state. Within three months, I managed to bring up my signing up rate to 9 out of 10! Today as I meet my prospects for the first time or even speak over phone for about few minutes I get to understand what simplest shift he or she may need in them to produce a major shift in producing mega impact in their lives!
Consciously Model Patterns of Excellence Rather than Patterns of Mediocrity
Some people I train acknowledge that the power of modeling is impressive. Yet, they feel uncomfortable about ‘copying’ someone else’s style. They say, ‘I am not comfortable with this as I feel like I am not being myself. I am trying to be someone else instead’. As a result, they deprive themselves of the power of modeling excellence and producing exceptional results in a short time. Well, let me ask you a question. Think about the behaviors and physiology that you exhibit right now. Where did they come from? Were you born with your gestures, mannerisms, tone of voice and behaviors? No. You behave the way you do now because ever since you were a kid, you had been unconsciously modeling the behaviors and physiologies of the people around you. Do you realize that the way you speak or react to things may sometimes be similar to your parents or your close friends? And, the mannerism or gestures you exhibit could have come from people whom you admired (for whatever reason), and unconsciously adopted as your own. So, you have already been modeling your whole life, this is nothing new. I was just sharing this in my NLP Lifestyle Coaching session today.
The problem is that in the past, you did not consciously model people of excellence. As a result, you may have unconsciously modeled a lot of ineffective behaviors and negative states of the people around you. For example, if you are a poor mixer or ineffective communicator, it is because you (unconsciously) modeled poor speakers and communicators when you were young. If you are a poor decision maker and constantly find yourself feeling anxious and lacking in confidence, it is because you have unknowingly adopted the patterns from your friends or family. Haven’t you ever behaved in a certain way and suddenly realized, ‘Oh my gosh! I’ve become my mother or father!’ So, isn’t it time you start to consciously delete ineffective models of the past and start modeling and adopting patterns of people who exhibit excellence instead? Another point to understand is that modeling is not just about copying. It is about replicating and then improving on what you have modeled, or modifying it to suit your personal style.
For example, if you were a woman and you were to model the physiology of a male speaker exactly, it may not turn out that well. You may have to modify elements of that person’s physiology to suit your personality. Again, by modeling the best patterns of those three great speakers I spoke about earlier, I now exhibit patterns of all three in the way I speak. I have taken the best patterns, combined them and adapted them to make them my own. That is what modeling physiology is all about. The science of modeling extends to other areas that we will explore in future articles.
Exercise 5 – Think! Who Can You Model?
So, I want you to think. Who can you model in the different areas of your life? Who are some effective role models that you can begin to observe and model their physiology?
1 – Communication
Who do you know who is an excellent communicator? Someone who builds rapport with people easily and is very charismatic and persuasive?
2 – Decision Making
Think of someone who makes decisions confidently and effectively.
3 – Your Career
Who is a person you can model who is excellent in your chosen profession or business? An excellent teacher? An excellent salesperson? A great deal maker? A terrific speaker?
4 – Confidence
Who do you know exudes a lot of confidence and power and commands a lot of respect?
5 – Motivation
Who can you model in the area of motivation? Who is always bubbling with enthusiasm, always energized, no matter how negative everyone else around is?
6 – Attractiveness
Who do you find is able to exude lots of genuine charm and attracts both sexes?
Once you have identified these models of excellence, test the effectiveness of this technique by going through the following steps:
STEP 1 – Observe how this person moves, breathes, gestures, behaves. Observe this person’s facial expressions, postures & tone of voice.
STEP 2 – Rehearse mentally. Imagine in your mind what it would be like to be this person. How would you react to the things around you? How would you move, breathe, act and behave?
STEP 3 – Physically do it. Imagine yourself being this model of excellence and take on the physiology as you perform the task or interact with other people.
While directing our physiology is a great leverage for shifting our states, let’s now shift our attention to learning how to direct the other factor that affects our states, our internal representation!
(I facilitate Thought Leaders, Change Makers; Professionals & Business Owners translate NLP concepts into actions to achieve and elicit personal excellence. I conduct NLP Lifestyle Coaching Certification programs for individuals, corporate and celebrity clients. In the next article, you will learn how to enhance the impact and intensity of your state even further by directing your internal representation at the same time. And after that you will come to know in subsequent articles, how you can utilize concepts of NLP+ in all walks of your life to replicate the success blueprint of a winner mindset to win through life. So, stay tuned every Monday & Saturday and fasten your seat belt to ‘Enhance Your Lifestyle With NLP+’)
Shantanu Das Sharma, Creator of the concept NLP Lifestyle Coaching with NLP+, Founder of Neuromind Leadership Academy is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author, NLP Lifestyle Master Trainer & Coach, Clean Language Facilitator & Strategic Interventionist.
