Motivating Employees: Understanding Mind Management Part 5 of 6.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 in Blog, Uncategorized | 0 comments

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Your mind cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary.



You’ll need a friend or spouse to help you with this exercise.


Make sure you are sitting relaxed in a comfortable chair. Place your hands on the arms rests, sit back, close your eyes and relax. While you are in this position, ask your partner to read the following script out loud. Ask them to read it with feeling and emotion, in a calm, comforting voice. All you need to do is listen to the comforting voice of your companion.


“You have had a long and tiring day. It’s been hot, rushed and uncomfortable. You arrive home, dump your bag at the front door, and head for the kitchen. You’re really thirsty. You walk into the kitchen and over to the fridge. With your right hand, you reach out and open the fridge. You feel the cool air from inside the fridge on your face, and you feel the glare of the fridge light on your eyes. Looking into the fridge, you see three bright green, ripe lemons on the middle shelf. Take one of the lemons, close the fridge door and walk over to the counter. Put the lemon down on the counter. Now slowly open the cutlery drawer, hearing the metal rattle and the rollers stick as you open it. Reach in and take out the sharpest knife you have. Holding the lemon on the counter, slice through it and see the two halves falling away from each other. Pick up one half of the lemon, bring it up to your lips and squeeze ice-cold lemon juice into your mouth.”


So what happened to you physically at the end of this exercise? If you were even remotely focused on the words, thoughts and ideas of the voice speaking to you, your body would have reacted in the same it does when you are REALLY putting lemon juice in your mouth. Your body responded as it does when you are exposed to REAL lemon juice. Yet there isn’t a lemon near you. Why is this? Why is it that sportsmen and “normal” people can be manipulated by the thoughts and ideas of others?


The reason is that your mind cannot distinguish between what is real, and what it imagines. The imagination is so powerful that it can – and does – affect physiology. This can of course only happen if you have previous experience of the emotion / event / feeling that you are trying to elicit. I can have you imagine all day that you are at -20 degrees Celcius while traversing the Antarctic, but if you do not know what -20 degrees feels like, you can’t replicate the physiology. It’s all relative though. We may have eaten sour lemons, or hot chillies, and that would be enough to elicit the response. Remember that all your experiences are filed in your sub-conscious. They’re there, ready to be drawn upon. But only if you know where you “filed” them.


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