Source: Richard Bandler & John Grinder

Choose an unresourceful state.

Identify a positive direction.

Turn this direction into steps to the positive state. Anchor each step.

Chain the states.

Test.

Do not allow negative thoughts to bring you down. Instead, generate an automatic reaction that creates a resourceful and positive state instead. The illustration below shows the most common mental states we all experience on a regular basis. Notice your own range of emotions and mental states during a typical week, and experiment with the Chaining States pattern to bridge the gap between the un-resourceful states and the desired ones. Notice the stages one must go through in order to overcome grief or fear and reach desire, mastery, or even indifference. When you work with clients, show them this diagram and explain that even with all the power NLP has to offer, there are no magic pills. In order to achieve a true sense of peace, you must first pick your current mental state and apply the strategies to reach the next one and the next one until you reach your desired outcome. Jumping, in one instance, from depression to logic, for example (as many “positive thinking” gurus advise), is a surefire recipe for a major breakdown. Gradual chaining of states is safer and will bring to light any unconscious objection you need to deal with.

Step 1: Choose an unresourceful state. #

Select an unresourceful state for this pattern. Unless you are a beginner, select one that poses a challenge when you try to shift into a positive or resourceful state. It should also be one that tends to suck you into an increasingly negative state once you are in that state.

Step 2: Determine a positive course of action. #

Explore what would constitute a positive direction from this state, based on the ideal state that you would like to go to. For example, if the experience of failure tends to have too much of an effect on your self-esteem, pulling you down into self-recrimination and self-doubt, your ideal state might be one of total self-support and confidence. The direction that this implies can be something like “awareness of inner resources such as gifts, skills, talent, and positive self-talk” and “memories of past successes.”

Step 3: Turn this direction into steps toward a positive state. #

Based on your ideal state and the direction that you selected, create intermediate steps that bridge from your negative state to your positive one.

Step 4: Anchor each step. #

Experience each step as an increasingly positive state. Fully access each state and anchor each to a different knuckle that will serve as a trigger for the state.

Step 5: Chain the states. #

a. Fully access the first state by triggering its anchor. b. When fully in that state, fire the next anchor to access the next state while continuing to hold on to the first trigger for a few seconds. c. Release the first anchor. d. Repeat this procedure five times more. Perform steps a through c for each remaining step in the sequence from negative to positive. Do not rush this process. Aim to attain a full experience of each and every mental state.

Step 6: Test. #

In the coming days and weeks, notice what benefits you experience in this process. See if you have an easier time shifting out of the negative state you worked on during this pattern, or if you avoid entering it in the first place.