We all know that in order to produce an extraordinary result, we must work on our goals consistently almost every single day. However, the problem is that most people can’t find the motivation and the drive to persist for the long term.
If you are an actor, there will be days that you feel lousy and you just don’t want to act. If you are a writer, there will be times when you feel like you have nothing to write and are too tired to write. Regardless of what you do and who you are, we all simply just can’t have the motivation we need at every moment.
So how do highly successful people are able to stay consistent with their results? How did extraordinary people such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and other athletes condition themselves to perform at their best?
The answer is pretty simple. They use power moves. They leverage on power moves to get them into their peak state, and then they will just perform at their best.
Please understand that this does not only happen to athletes. It can happen to anyone across any industry. How do you think Tony Robbins, the most phenomenal success coach able to maintain his high energy level on stage every time? He uses a technique that he shares, called the power moves.
What Are Power Moves?
Some people may refer to power moves as anchoring. And anchoring was first discovered by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist who called it “conditioning”.
In Pavlov’s experiment, he got a bunch of dogs into an intense state of hunger by putting food in front of them. The dogs would salivate ferociously and at this moment, he would ring a bell. Pavlov repeated this process over and over and over again.
After some time, the sound of the bell became neurologically linked to the dogs’ hungry state. And this was what he called “conditioning”.
Pavlov would then ring the bell. Whenever the dogs heard the sound of the bell, they would salivate and showed hunger pangs even without the food putting in front of them.
And guess what, the process of anchoring and conditioning don’t just happen to animals. As human beings, we’re being conditioned to different states all the times.
Just like the Coca-Cola advertisement that you saw on TV. The advertiser tries to condition us to think that Coca-Cola is the drink that quenches our thirst with a great sensation.
And this is where power moves come in. We can leverage on some physical movement of our body to neurologically link to a state that we desire to have. And every time when we perform that power moves, we instantly feel good and get into that peak state.
As one of the best motivational speakers, Tony Robbins has the energy to keep the energy of 5,000 people high and keep them engaged for 50 hours over four days. He manages to do this because of his pre-speaking ritual that involves power moves.
Forbes revealed that Tony Robbins gets himself in the zone for about ten minutes prior to taking the stage. He will get his body “awake and alive”, get into peak state, and full of energy. “He jumps up and down, spins around, fist pumps, stands with his arms outstretched and even bounces on a trampoline,” wrote in the Forbes interview.
Other successful people use power moves too.
Michael Jordan is famously known for sticking out his tongue and Tiger Woods pumps his fist every time he makes a successful shot. And if you ever attended Tony Robbins’ seminars, you will see that he constantly uses hand claps and jumps to maintain his peak state.
How Mental Conditioning Has Affected Your Life
Have you ever wondered why Nike pays millions of dollars to sports stars just to wear clothes with their famous swish logo? For ordinary people, they may look at it as a marketing, branding, or sponsoring.
If you look at it from the psychological point of viewing, what Nike is doing is that the company is constantly conditioning you to feel good whenever you see that swish logo.
Take Michael Jordan as an example. Every time when people watch Jordan and feel incredible, they will see the Nike swish logo. And when this happens over and over again, just like Pavlov and his dogs, we will neurologically link that great feeling with seeing Nike’s logo.
And when you wear a Nike shirt or shoe, you feel great and somehow you feel like you’re Jordan. Of course, this will make you buy the Nike shoe and shirt.
Think about Apple. The same is happening with the Apple logo with a bite. When people see and use Apple’s products, they feel like they are in style and they owned a superior product.
The same goes for every other big brand such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Google, Amazon, Disney, Samsung, McDonald’s, Louis Vuitton, Budweiser, and more.
So don’t get manipulated like Pavlov’s dogs. And if advertisers are willing to spend millions and millions of dollars into constantly conditioning your states with their brands, don’t you think it is important for you to learn how to condition yourself to your peak state with power moves?
When you have developed your own power moves, you can get into your peak state in an instant.
Before you start writing an article, perform your power moves and get yourself into your peak state and you will write like a best-selling author.
If you are in sales, before you start to cold calling your potential prospects, execute your power moves and get yourself into your peak state. You will have the confidence of a top sale and your conversion rate will be much higher.
When you have no mood to workout in the gym or go for jogging, do your power moves to get you motivated and you’ll overcome your procrastination.
How to Develop Your Power Moves
Now that you have understood how power moves can get you into your peak state and how you can leverage it to stay motivated and accomplish your goals.
It is time to learn how you can create your own power moves. The steps are simple. There are only three steps you need to follow. And here they are:
1. Get into the intense and motivated state you desire
The first thing you need to do is to get into the peak state that you want to associate your power moves with. You have to first feel the peak state and the motivation before you can do the conditioning.
For instance, if you want to condition a motivated state, think of a time when you are totally motivated. Imagine that motivated state, feel it, stand the way you stand when you feel totally driven, do the same facial expression, and the same breathing pattern.
You must make sure that you are in the state with peak intensity to make this more effective. Once you are feeling absolutely motivated, proceed to the second step.
2. Execute your power moves
Choose and decide your power moves. What do you want to do, hear, or see to neurologically link to your peak state?
Maybe you can do a fist pump and shout “yes” out loud like how Tiger Woods did it? Or perhaps you want to clap your hands or snap your fingers?
There are plenty of power moves you can copy from successful athletes. You can model after their power moves. If you do so, make sure you mimic their physiology as much as possible.
3. Repeat and do it over and over again
The final step you need to take is to repeat the same process over and over again until it becomes like a ritual to you. Yes, your power moves can become your habits too.
Just make sure that whenever you are conditioning your power moves, you are at your most motivated state with the highest intensity. And make sure everything stays the same.
Your body movement, your breathing pattern, your facial expression, etc., must be in exactly the same order to successfully link your power moves with your desired state.
What you can do then is to simply test out your power moves.
When you get into a normal state and don’t feel anything, test your power moves. Are they working for you? Do you feel motivated after performing your power moves?
The best way to test if your power moves are working for you is to do it in a real situation. Whenever you are in a boring mode or feeling lack of motivation, fire off your power moves to see if you will feel motivated instantly.
The 4 Factors that Affect Your Power Moves
Many people can follow the 3 steps described above but are still unsuccessful in installing an anchor. If this is happening to you, there are a couple of reasons. Here are the 4 factors that will affect the effectiveness of your power moves.
1. Intensity
The first factor is intensity. Power moves can only be installed when the state or mood you are experiencing is extremely intense. In fact, your power move can work for you almost instantly if the state you are in is intense enough.
Most people fail to make their power moves “powerful” because they try to install it when they are not at their peak state. Intensity can also mean emotional. The moment you are most emotional, it is the moment that your power moves will work best for you.
2. Timing
The second factor is your timing. You have to make sure that when you perform your power moves, you must time it at your peak state. Just like training your dog, you will praise your dog or give her a treat right she did what you ask her to do. You will reward her at that instant and not later.
This is because you want to anchor your power moves to your peak state and not your normal state. Thus, you must fire off your power moves at your most motivated moment.
3. Uniqueness
The third factor is uniqueness. The power moves you choose must be special and unique. Plus, you must execute your power moves in exactly the same way to bring out its effect.
For instance, you can associate auditory with your power moves. When you pump your fist, you can shout “Yes” out loud. The best power moves are the combination of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, as in you can feel your moves with your senses.
4. Replication
The fourth key is replication. You must replicate the process a few times to anchor your power moves. Keep on practicing and repeating the process in the exact same manner to condition your power moves into your subconscious.
If you look at Tiger Woods who is famously known for his fist pump, he did that move every time when he makes a successful shot. This is when he is in the highest state; when he is emotionally charged, and then he repeats that move over, and over, and over again.
You have to do the same if you want to create your own powerful power moves.
Conclusion
Power moves are powerful because it can instantly change your state and switch your mood. Whenever you don’t feel motivated to do something, fire your power moves, experience the state change in an instant, and then you will instantly feel motivated.
In the sports world, power moves are very common. Some athletes shout and some do a fist pump. You can apply the same mental conditioning to every area of your life, not just in sports.
So use this technique in your business, work, career, relationship, and every other area of your life. Anchor the peak state that you want with your power moves. And whenever you want to command for peak state, unleash it with your power moves.
References
Comments 2