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The Half Second Rule

“Your Master Key to Safe, Rapid & Effective Change.”

colin@nlptoolbox.com

©2006-2009 Colin G Smith – All Rights ReservedUnauthorized distribution, resell, or copying of this material is unlawful.

No portion of this book may be copied or resold without written permission.

Disclaimer

This eBook is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to be a substitute for professionalcounseling, therapy or medical treatment. Nothing in this eBook is intended to diagnose or treat anypathology or diseased condition of the mind or body. The author will not be held responsible for anyresults of reading or applying the information.

http://www.NLPToolBox.com

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Contents:

2 Contents

3 Change occurs quickly...

4 The Half-Second Rule

5 The Awesome Power of Your Unconscious Mind

7 Glisten Up! A Quick 3 Minute Brain Tickler!

9 "Hey, Change is Fun!"

10 Raising Your 'Baseline' State

11 The Resources for Change are Already Within You!

12 Accessing Resource States

13 The 1/2 Second Rule Techniques

19 "A 'swish' a day keeps the shrinks away!"

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Change occurs quickly. Think..... about..... it.....

How do you light a matchstick? That's right, you strike it quickly to get that flame to burst intobright light. If you strike a match slowly, the chemical process won't kick in.

And how about kick-starting a Motorbike? Have you ever seen someone trying to start his bikeslowly. It doesn't work does it. That kick-start pedal has to be pumped quickly to get the motorturning over so that he can accelerate off into a new adventure!

Now you may well know that for a long, long time, many people have been told a pack of lies abouthow to make profound personal changes in their lives. Lots of people have been sold the idea thatmaking changes requires going through pain, energy and their precious time.

NNNNNOOOOO! Enough is enough of this outdated horse crap!

What you're about to discover as you read on is how the process of change naturally occurs fast,very fast due to the way your incredible mind works...

AND...it is easy AND pleasant AND it can even be a lot of FUN! YES, that's right.

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The Half-Second Rule

The mind learns fast. A very powerful way to view life is to experience everything as a learningexperience. I think it was Dr. Richard Bandler (co-creator of NLP) who first made me realise thatPhobias are in fact a learned response. The mind of the Phobic has learned to associate a stimulus(eg a Wasp) to a response (eg Panic!)

The more you ponder this idea the more profound you will realise the implications.

And here's the deal. Does a person develop a phobia of wasps over time? You know, do they see awasp one day and then the next week they see another and decide they don't like them and get moreand more afraid of them?

No. Phobias are 'learned' very, very fast. Out of consciousness, in less than half a second!

They have an intense emotional response which becomes associated/anchored to the stimulus insuch a way that that state is AUTOMATICALLY triggered whenever they see/hear/feel/smell/tastethe stimulus again!

This is incredible! The persons mind will from then on automatically go into a very altered state,within half a second of experiencing the stimulus.

Now I think you'd agree, phobias aren't exactly useful, right?

But, what if you could use that same Stimulus/Response mechanism to create automatic states ofJoy, Ecstasy, Fun and Bliss.

Would that be useful to you in any area of your life? ;¬)

Now for sure they are many other ways of creating effective change. Some methods use differentconcepts and are slower to implement. With this material I wanted to introduce you to the half-second rule concepts because they are less well known than other "change-technologies" and theylend themselves well to generating more fun because they are playful by design.

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The Awesome Power of Your Unconscious Mind

You know damn well YOUR own mind is pretty amazing, right?!

Just think of all the incredibly complex tasks us humans are capable of achieving:

Driving a carFlying a planePlaying sportsCalculationsWritingCyclingEating

All of these tasks would be impossible without the capability of the unconscious mind. Imaginedriving a car with just the use of your CONSCIOUS MIND! It would be impossible.

Keeping a look out in front, checking the mirrors, steering, controlling the accelerator, changinggears, remembering to breath! Remembering to keep your heart beating!

The fact that you're reading this proves that you are using your unconscious mind. Imagine havingto consciously decipher every letter of every word to make sense of it!

Your unconscious mind takes very good care of you: It keeps your heart beating, your lungsbreathing, your digestion working and just imagine how messed up life would be if you weren'tprotected by unconscious reflex actions. Your eyes blink to protect your eyes from dust. You stepout onto the road and then stop due to a reflex action because you sensed something in youperipheral. Or someone throws a ball at you and you automatically hold your hands up.

OK you get the picture, one of your unconscious minds main intentions is to protect you. It keepsyou safe.

And the more you think about this fact, the more you find yourself developing a sense of friendshipand faith in it as time goes by doesn't it.

You can only attend to a small amount of information at one time just using your conscious mind.So the techniques you are about to discover allow you to tap into and utilise your incredibly vastunconscious resources, making change work very powerful, safe and effective because you areembracing your trusty unconscious mind!

Towards Rapid Effective Change

If you want to make a change it means you lack choice, you're stuck. Milton Erickson was one ofthe most successful change workers and is commonly known as the father of modern hypnosis. Heused to say to his clients, something along the lines of, "You have tried in vain to solve yourproblems with your conscious mind. Now it is time to allow your vast unconscious resources tolearn new ways and open up to new possibilities."

The techniques in this book harness the power of your unconscious in a way that allows you to openup to more possibilities, capabilities, behavioural flexibility and ultimately more freedom! Anothervery interesting aspect of many of the techniques you will learn is that they are generative. What this

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means is that if, for example, you used a technique to get rid of a specific fear, you would findyourself becoming less fearful in some other aspects of your life. That's generative change.

Now if you can answer the following two questions you are well on your way to making someamazingly profound changes!

1. What colour is your front door?2. Which side is the handle on?

Easy right! See that's visualisation. ;¬) )

So if you were to imagine what your door would look like if it was the opposite colour of what it isnow? hmmmm, interesting.

We are going to be using colour in some of the half-second rule techniques because it can beincredibly useful for change work. So if you aren't seeing super vivid bright colours, don't worry,just pretend or "act as if" you can get a sense of the colours.

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Glisten Up! A Quick 3 Minute Brain Tickler!

In this brief chapter you are going to do some quick and easy exercises that will brighten your mindup and ease you into the changes you want to make, really soon...

So lets get straight to it!

Picture a coloured shape

Make it bigger

Bring it close

Move it further away

Move it to the left

and then the right

There you go! And if you had any difficulty, remember you can just pretend or "act as if" you aredoing it and allow your unconscious to help you.

What sounds/music make you laugh? Hear it now in your mind.

Notice where it is located. Does it come from the left? Right? In front? Or behind?

Now what happens if you increase the volume?

Move it to a different location and experience the difference.

Try changing the sound quality. eg) Muffled, tinny, like it's coming from inside a drainpipe etc.

Play around and notice how little tweaks change your experience.

That's right and you know you might find it easier if you close your eyes or perhaps not. Experimentand discover which works best for you.

Remember an experience that was really... aaahhhh... special and allow yourself to see what yousaw, hear what you heard, smell and taste and feel those wonderful feelings.

If you were to notice where those feelings are in your body where are they located?

And how does that energy flow? How and where do the feelings move?

If you've not done this kind of thing before, just get a sense of those feelings/energies.

Now you are getting really close to discovering the Master Keys to fast, effective change...

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So to round off this "Brain Tickler" chapter let's do this fun-gasm-tastic technique:

Remember something so pleasant you just felt hmmmmm, you know feelings of oooouuu,incredible increasing ecstasy!!!

And as you see what you saw and hear what you heard, noticing any smells and tastes you can beginto feel those beautiful feelings... Where do those feelings start in your body?

And notice where that energy moves...

As you keep looping that feeling allow a colour to come to mind that represents that wonderfulfeeling.

Go with the first colour that comes to mind because that is your unconscious helping you out. That'sright, your unconscious wants to help you feel increasing amounts of ecstasy doesn't it!

Now what would it be like if you find your self spreading that energy colour up and down yourbody, perhaps spinning it around and around as the feelings increase more and more.

And what if as you imagine those special feelings growing stronger and stronger as the coloursspread the feelings throughout your being, you were to become aware of a certain sound thatincreased those ecstatic feelings even more.

And notice what it's like to hear that sound in such a way that allows you to increase thosewonderful feeling even more!

Now you really shouldn't do that! ;)

OK, OK. Come back to the room!

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"Hey, Change is Fun!"

I've noticed that many people once they have discovered powerful tools for change, go straightahead and try to make huge changes. They try and 'fix' some of their biggest challenges.

Their ambition is admirable, however it can be very de-motivating to a person if the first few goeswith the change tool doesn't work as they had hoped.

They had too much emotional investment in achieving an outcome for their big problem.

When you are learning and playing with something new the wisest choice is to start with a smallstep. When you learned to ride a bike did you get on for the first time and aim to do a wheelie up thestreet?!

So start with a simple, mundane change. Something like feeling, "not bored", at the bus stop. Iwonder what would happen if you were to use one of the Rapid Change Techniques to add-in, morefun, more humour and even inspiration at bus stops?!

By choosing to make changes with simple, "low-level" experiences you will find it easier to applythe tools and this will build faith in the techniques and allow you to gain more and more confidencein your incredible abilities, conscious and unconscious.

So I suggest you pick a few mundane tasks and experiment with the tools, adding in fun andhumour. The nice thing about adding in humour/fun is that it wires in, "Hey, Change is FUN!",which will enable you to make bigger changes much more easily as your experience with the toolsgrows.

Examples of experiences you could use:

Waiting in a bank queWaiting in trafficWashing upDealing with a certain person (just mildly annoying to start with!)WritingBook Keeping

What else could you make more fun?

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Raising Your 'Baseline' State

One of the really cool things you will discover as you begin to 'program in' more and more fun andhumour is that your overall general state of mind will get better.

You will find yourself laughing more and feeling an increased level of peace and happiness becauseit is a fact that laughter releases endormorphines, the happy chemical, in your brain. RichardBandler, the original co-creator of the field of NLP likes to call them "en-dolphins" so you canimagine happy little dolphins swimming around lighting up your neural pathways!

Also because you are programming in 'fun' into your future it sets up a direction for you mind,conscious and unconscious, to go in, creating a feeling of optimism.

So why not pick three mundane situations that occur regularly in your life and 'amp up your baselinestate' by applying one of the rapid change tools right now?!

Another really great bonus that you will discover as your baseline state improves is that you willbegin to feel increasing confidence in your ability to handle bigger issues.

Go on select 3 daily mundane tasks to 'funify' right now and write them down on an index card soyou can feel satisfied ticking them off one by one feeling more and more certain that your life isbecoming increasingly fun is it not!

Now I wouldn't suggest you use an index card every day because you might find yourself havingjust WAAAY to much fun :)

Examples:

Queuing at the bankSupermarket shoppingA bus/car/train journey

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The Resources for Change are Already Within You!

You know another amazing aspect of your mind is the fact that it remembers every experienceyou've ever had. If I were to ask you to recall a favourite holiday experience, I'm sure you couldremember a few, and if you then drifted into one of those pleasurable memories you wouldremember more and more aspects of it wouldn't you.

Now the interesting thing about memories is that if you allow yourself to access them fully so it's asif you are there in the experience again you feel those same feelings you felt originally.

The implications of this become apparent when you consider the truth that any experience, anyresourceful state you've ever been in can be re-accessed and utilised in you present and programmedinto your future(s).

Now one of the most amazing things you will realise as you become more familiar at accessingresources is that even if the resourceful experience you are accessing lasted only a few seconds, youcan still capture that state and use it in a way that will create incredible generative changes!

For example, have you ever had a 'peak experience?' One that comes to mind for me is when I wentskiing in Glenco, Scotland. At the top of a mountain I looked out and could see snow cappedmountains with blue sky dotted with wispy white clouds and as I looked at this amazing vista Icould smell the crisp clean air and for just a moment (a few seconds) I lost myself and felt anincredible peace and oneness with the universe. That is a peak experience.

So I can re-access that state, capture it and then program that into my future. I suppose I could makeit so that I felt this state when on bus journeys, but perhaps such a state would be more useful insituations such as creating music or painting and so on.

There are all kinds of resourceful states you can access, for the purpose of simplicity though we aregoing to concentrate on what I believe is the ultimate resource: Humour!

Why Humour is the Ultimate Resource

Because it opens up possibilities Because laughter is the best medicine Because it releasesendormorphines in the brain Because it opens the heart chakra. Because it places you directly in thepresent moment.

Now an important point is that because your mind is so amazingly flexible you can even accessresources by imagining them. For example if you wanted a feeling of motivation you could eitheraccess a time in your past when you were motivated or you could 'act as if' you were reallymotivated here in the present or future.

By asking yourself questions such as, "If I were to feel really motivated what would that feel likenow?" and allowing your imagination to flow you will generate that state in your mind/body.

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Accessing Resource States

From you personal history:

Remember a time you were having a lot of fun. Go back to that time and remember what you saw,what you heard, notice any smells, tastes and become aware of where those fun feelings are in yourbody.

Imagining it:

Keep asking yourself the following kinds of questions to generate the fun state:

"What would a state of fun feel like if I was feeling fun now?"

"If I were to feel fun what does that feel like?"

"What future experience would allow me to feel fun?"

Capturing the Fun State

Once you are feeling that state of fun you would want to amplify it before capturing wouldn't you?!

So increase the colour and brightness, make the image bigger in full 3D and increase the volume ofthe sounds to get the feelings even stronger.

And when you've got that fun feeling in your body notice what colour comes to mind that representsthat fun state best and now spread that energy colour up and down and throughout your body.

I often find I imagine a bubbly orange energy colour for a state of fun and I like to spiral it inside mybody because the Universes energy works with spirals.

Experiment and discover what works best for you. Usually the first colour that comes to mind is thebest for you.

Now when those fun feelings are strong capture them by clicking your fingers a few times. Thisassociates or anchors that feeling to the clicking. (Note: If you can't click your fingers, simply pressyour finger and thumb together.) From now on we will refer to this association as your resourceanchor.

TOP TIP: When you are accessing the feelings pay attention to where the sensations are in yourbody and energy field.

TOP TIP: Why not capture any fun state you ever find yourself in? Whenever you are having fun orlaughing simply click your fingers to capture that state so you can then access it quickly with a snapof you fingers!

To test your resource anchor think of some mundane activity so that you go into a more neutralstate. Try doing some complicated multiplications time tables in your head. And then fire yourresource anchor (click your fingers) and you should start feeling the fun state again! If you don't youneed to 're-program' the resource anchor again.

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The 1/2 Second Rule Techniques

In this chapter you will find all of the actual 1/2 Second Rule Techniques. Meaning the mostimportant aspect of the technique is the speed in which you do it. Remember in an earlier chapterwhere I talked about striking a match? You have to do it fast to generate a chemical reaction.

Be sure to read through the steps of each technique before you apply it because this will make theprocess smoother for you.

IMPORTANT: Before you make an actual change be sure to do a quick 'ecology check.'Simply ask yourself, “Would this change (eg adding more fun to an experience) serve me well?”,“Would it enable me to be more resourceful, effective, and productive?” or “Would it empower meas a person?”If the answer is no to the above questions then you need to ask yourself, “What do I need to doinstead.” eg) If adding in 'fun' was inappropriate you may discover that compassion was moreecological.

The Magic Iris Automatic Fun Inducer!

(This is a fun technique to start off with and it makes use of 'resource colours.' The applications forthis technique are almost limitless. Use it for, creating motivation, enhancing creativity, increasingconfidence, programming in automatic compassion, having more fun or amplifying curiosity - thecure to boredom.)

1. Select a mundane task/situation you want to 'funify.'

2. Access your fun resource anchor by clicking your fingers. When you have a nice strong fun stateallow yourself to give that feeling a colour. TOP TIP: Go with the first colour that comes to mind.

3. Make a picture out in front of you, say 3 feet, and SEE YOURSELF in the picture in the situation.So it's a bit like watching yourself on TV. You can imagine it is a TV, or put a border around thepicture, if it helps you.

4. Now make a small hole in the center of the picture.

5. And allow the Fun State Colour to open up through the hole enough so you feel drawn to it.Shrink it back down. Repeat this zooming in and out a few times (try 8) very fast (less than half asecond).

6. The idea is to associate the Fun State feeling to the 'mundane task' picture.

Now switch state by doing timetables in your head or think about what you had for breakfast andthen think about the 'mundane task' you selected in step 1. Your experience of it should be muchbetter now!

TOP TIP: You could 'program in' several states to create a powerful mix. Select your desired states:

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eg) Humour, relaxation, compassion. Access and 'Colourize' each resource state separately. Andthen Magic Iris one state at a time into your 'mundane task' picture!

Rewind Crappy Feelings into Oblivion!

(This simple little tool is useful for quickly getting rid of crappy feelings. Lets say, for example,someone pissed you off at work by saying something you didn't like. This would be a good time touse this technique.)

1. Notice the feeling you want to shift. Simply notice where it is in your body. NOT, "Why am Ifeeling this blah blah."

2. Out in front of you see yourself before the incident that made you feel crap. And then watchyourself, like a movie, going through the incident to the end to a point where you were feelingbetter. Pause the movie here.

3. Now step into that paused image so you are seeing what you saw, hearing what you can hear.

4. Next imagine that you are going backwards in that movie. So you are moving backwards and thesounds are backwards, all the way to the start you selected in step 2.

5. Do this 'rewind' from step 3 really fast until you can... that's right!.. imagine doing it in less than1/2 second.

TOP TIP: If it's appropriate some people find it useful to actually physically act out moving inreverse. You know pretend to walk backwards. It can help your mind run that reverse movie.

The Anxiety Removal Machine (The Fast Phobia Cure)

(This technique uses the same mechanism as the technique above, with some added aspects and it'sreally designed for more severe feelings like phobias. It's a very effective procedure to cure phobicresponses and getting rid of past traumas and fears. You can also use it for future events that aremaking you feel any kind of negative emotions.)

1. Fearful Situation: Take a moment and think of a situation that makes you feel the phobic orfearful response. Just enough so that you get access to that part of you that creates the fear.

2. Movie Theater: First, imagine a big theater, you're sitting in a seat near the middle, and on thescreen is a still, black & white photo in which you can see yourself in a situation just before you hadthe phobic response.

3. Leave Body: Next, imagine you are floating out of your body in the movie theater, and up into theprojection booth. From here in the projection booth, you can see the screen, and you can seeyourself sitting down there in the seat in the middle of the theater.

4. Watch Movie: Now, turn that still snapshot up on the screen into a black & white movie, andwatch it from the beginning, to just beyond the end of that unpleasant experience. When you get tothe end, turn the movie into a still picture of yourself after the trauma was over with.

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5. Run Movie Backwards: Now leave the projection booth and jump inside the still picture and runthe movie backwards. You will see everything happening in reverse: people will walk backwards,the sounds will be backwards, just like rewinding a movie, except you will be inside the movie. Runthe movie in reverse in color, fast. You may need to do step 5 from the beginning until you can zipit backwards in, yes, yes, less than 1/2 a second. Just pretend you can do it in less than 1/2 a secondand so it is!

6. Test: Now think of the experience again and notice your response. In your mind rate the fear on alevel of one to ten, with ten being the worst. If it's more than two repeat the entire procedure again.

TOP TIP: Using this technique on social phobias/social anxiety can be useful. Pick 3 situationswhere you felt the anxiety and then run them through the Fast Phobia Cure. This can often beenough to generalise the effect.

Random Irritation Destroyer!

(You ever have those moments in your day to day activities when for some mysterious reasonsomething pops up in your mind and makes you feel irritated or just, mmmmm, you know. Maybeit's an internal voice or an image or just annoying energy effecting you. Here is a quick way to shiftit!)

1. Notice where the irritation is in your energy field. If you were to point to it where would it be?(Don't worry about whether it is a voice, image or just a feeling if you don't know, simply pretend tonotice which direction it comes from.)

2. Now imagine spinning it around and around yourself, down into the ground in a spiraling motion.Keep doing it faster and faster until you are doing it in less than 1/2 a second. (Allow yourimagination to do this in whatever way it wants. Personally I imagine vaguely seeing it as an energycolour and feel it spinning down into the ground.)

Automatically Swish Yourself into New Behaviour

(This is a very powerful process that enables you to get rid of bad feelings and unwanted behaviourthat results from the bad feeling. It's useful for all kinds of things because it 're-directionalises' yourmind. It re-programs your mind to go away from the unwanted and head towards a moreresourceful, possibility filled future!

1. Identify Context: Pick a situation that induces undesirable feelings inside of you? Where or whenwould you like to behave differently than you do now? (Examples: An interview, asking someoneout, driving onto a freeway etc.)

2. Identify Cue Image: What do you see in the above situation just before you start doing thebehaviour you don't like? Imagine actually being in the situation, seeing through your own eyes. Tohelp get the cue image it can be useful to physically do what you do just before the unwantedbehaviour. (NOTE: The cue image can be an internal image inside your mind or an external, real-world image.)

3. Create Outcome Picture: See yourself over there as you would look if you had alreadyaccomplished the desired change. Make this image really compelling. How would you stand? Whatwould your facial expression look like? If you had made this change how would you see yourselfdifferently?

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4. Swish: Start by seeing the cue image, big and bright. Next put a small dark image of the outcomepicture in the lower right corner. The small dark image will grow big and bright and cover the cueimage, which will get dim and shrink away. It can be useful to say, 'Swissssshhhh' at the same time!(NOTE: It is very important to do the actual swish very fast for it to be effective: LESS THAN ONESECOND! You can repeat the process, steps 4 - 6 and go faster each time until you have done it inless than 1/2 a second.)

5. Blank Out Screen or open your eyes.

6. Repeat from step 4 again five times.

7. Test: Now try and picture the cue image again. If the swish has been effective it will be hard to doas the outcome picture will appear automatically!

TOP TIPS: The desired self-image in step 3 doesn't need to be perfect. The question is, do you likeit better?

Examples of things to 'swish':

Swish away from fears (the boss etc.)

Stop smoking

Stop nail biting

Motivation (getting out of bed. Use your clock as the trigger?)

'Re-directionalise anger response to partner/boss/colleague

Re-program self-consciousness feelings. Note: You may discover an internal symbolic cue image(step 2) and it's fine to use this.

Create more choice/possibility in any situation

Goal setting: For the outcome picture in step 3 you could see yourself feeling good about havingachieved a goal. Example: Outcome picture = You see yourself feeling good because you'vecompleted a task. The cue image could be a an item that you use to do the task. eg) a pen & pad.

Trip Wires are Fun!

(I adapted this technique from an idea a colleague of mine, Dr. Phil Callaghan created. It's a greatway to 'program in' a state into a situation so it occurs automatically.)

1. Think of a situation where you want to feel better and have more behavioural choice.

2. What resource(s) would help you achieve that? Would fun/humour help? ;)

3. Imagine what you look like when you are feeling the resource state such as fun. Notice what yourposture is like, how do you breath and what is your facial expression like? Associate into thisimage, noticing what it feels like. Repeat Step 3 until it is a good fun state!

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4. Now take that image and push it off into the distance, so it just small dot.

5. Imagine there is a trip wire on the floor. (I find it best to imagine one of those laser trip wires likeyou see in action films.) Now as you trigger the trip wire by walking through it, have that imageswwwwwishhhh right up into you face so you become associated into that fun state.

6. Now break your current state: eg) Remember you phone number backwards or Look up andnotice the patterns on the ceiling.

7. Do Step 5 again. And then check that the 'trip wire' works. Simply imagine the trip wire on thefloor somewhere and then walk into it and you should automatically feel the fun state return.

8. Now simply allow yourself to imagine placing these trip wires in various situations where it isappropriate to do so. How about in the bank que? At the bus stop? Near the coffee machine atwork?

9. Pretend that your unconscious has placed these trip wires in locations that will surprise you andlook forward to a more fun-filled future!

Voice Recorder Rewind Button

(This is quick little tool you can use pretty much anywhere to change those damn irritating internalvoices we all suffer from sometimes!)

1. Select one of those annoying internal voices one last time.

2. Now hear it play backwards like the rewind on a cassette.

3. Try it fast and try it slow. And then hear it backwards, really fast, in less than 1/2 a second. Do itthree times.

4. Now replace that backwards voice with a new positive message with a nice, sexy, 'bed roomvoice' tonality.

Merging Metaphors

(This is a really interesting technique that makes full use of your unconscious resources. You canuse it to help you resolve 'stuck states.' Adapted from a technique called 'Spinning Icons' developedby Joe Munshaw and Nelson Zink.)

1. Select a problem state.

2. As you think about your problem state what visual image comes to mind? Notice where it islocated in space.

3. Break your current state: eg) Remember you phone number backwards or look up and notice thepatterns on the ceiling. Now think about the desired resource state (or outcome, or goal) you wouldlike instead. Notice how you represent this as a visual image. Pay attention to where it is located inspace.

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4. Now allow your mind to turn the first picture (problem state) into a metaphorical symbol or icon.Keep it in the same location in space. (This visual metaphor could be quite complex or it may be assimple as a colour. Just trust your unconscious.)

TOP TIP: It can be useful to ask yourself, "What is this problem state like?" This often allows ametaphorical representation to arise.

5. Do the same thing with the desired resource state you selected in step 3, making sure to place thenew metaphor symbol in the same location in space as the original image.

6. Now see the two metaphor symbols at the same time noticing their locations in space. Nextslowly rotate them around each other. Keep rotating them around each other and do so faster andfaster. Do this spinning for about 10 seconds allowing the rotation to be so fast that you can nolonger track the images and you may even feel a little confused.

7. Now allow the images to merge together, that's right. And push this merged image out in front ofyou where you can view it easily. Describe the new image briefly, quickly moving to step 8.

8. Immediately begin telling WHATEVER story comes to mind. Just allow yourself to start telling astory. It doesn't matter what it is. It could be a real memory, a story or just simply made upramblings. The point being is that this process taps into your vast unconscious resources.

9. Now ask yourself, "How is this story relevant to my problem/challenge?" or "How can this storyhelp resolve my problem?" (This step can help to give you conscious insight into how the previoussteps have made some useful changes.)

Compulsion Blowout

(This is a tool you can use to get rid of compulsive behaviour like over-eating snack food. You canalso use it to transform obsessive thoughts that keep appearing in your mind.)

1. Select the thing you have a compulsion for. What do you obsess about mentally, emotionally andbehaviourally? (eg chocolate, nail biting, certain thoughts.)

2. Notice where the image is located. What are the cinematic qualities of this image? Example: It isin colour, seeing through my own eyes, 3 dimensional, close to my face.

3. Discover which cinematic quality has the most impact. Simply notice how your experiencechanges when you change one quality at a time. Which has the most impact? Is it distance? Is itbrightness? Is it size?

4. Now amplify the cinematic quality you just discovered in Step 3 over threshold. For example letssay the quality was brightness: Now see the image again like you did in Step 1 & 2 and amplify thebrightness all the way to the extent that it 'whites out', like a TV brightness control would.)

TOP TIP: It can be useful to actually pretend to have a dial that you rotate with your hand to changethe quality!

You do this 'amplifying over threshold' very fast in less than half a second.

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TOP TIP: Some people find it helpful to build up to the full 'blow-out.' Get used to turning thequality up and down and get quicker and quicker with it until you can do a full half second blow-out.

5. Break your current state: eg) Remember you phone number backwards or Look up and notice thepatterns on the ceiling. Think of your old compulsion and notice how it has changed.

"A 'swish' a day keeps the shrinks away!"

Now that you've had a read through and played with a few of the 1/2 second rule techniques I justwant to make a quick suggestion to enable you to get the most benefit from this information.

Remember in an earlier chapter when I talked about raising your baseline state. You know, yourbasic emotional state in general day to day life. Well one of the fastest ways to raise it is to laughmore and have more fun on a daily basis.

So I suggest you get some index cards and write Mon, Tue, Wed, etc. for everyday of the week. Andeach day just do one Rapid Change Technique.

If you are going shopping on Monday, do a Magic Iris Automatic Fun Inducer and tick it off on yourindex card.

You'll be amazed how much happier you become and ticking the index card helps you keep onkeeping on!

20

So there was the man who found himself in a cave...

And he reached into his pocket and took out some matches...

And as he struck a match, parts of the cavern were illuminated and he could see beautiful crystals,shining with amazing colour...

While he placed the lit match onto one of the crystal structures, he marveled at the way in whichthat certain colour shone and sparkled and he became curious at the way in which that colour spreadout in front of him...

So as he struck other matches, illuminating other dark corners, he discovered to his delight yet moremagical, sparkling crystalline structures...

And as he placed the shining matches down onto these wondrous gems with their iridescent glows...

He delighted in the array of colours as they mixed and merged and flowed their energy up in front ofhim... lighting up the path that layout before him....And while he took joy in all the dazzling colour and light...

He became aware that the crystals were now feeding light and energy to each other in a stream ofcolour that flowed forward...

More and more into time... into the future...

Into de-light!

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