Different ways to anchor new habits and behaviors

Welcome back, everyone. This week’s newsletter will be on the topic of different ways to anchor new habits and behaviors. As you likely already know, if you are over the age of ten, changing habits is hard work. Most people have a hard time because they are just randomly trying something or because they have no clue how to get from point A to point B.

This newsletter is designed to break down in some detail how to use specific techniques to change habits and then maintain those new habits without any real setbacks. If you are in the midst of making changes in your life and would like some help getting from point A to point B, or if you are just curious to learn how you could be more effective when you face habit changes, then stick around as I take this next step toward becoming positively improved.

NLP Techniques

Now, for those of you who have been reading my newsletters regularly, I do a lot of talking on the topic of NLP. Although it can be time-consuming in some ways, this technique is hands down one of the most effective ways to create and maintain habit changes. 

The way Neuro-linguistic programming works is you start with an Idea of the change you want to make, you then come up with action steps that you can follow every day for, say, sixty days just as an example, and over the course of that sixty days with the repeated action you will change the way you think about the habit that is working to change and as you change the way you think about you will anchor your self to new actions that create a new natural habit that you will no longer have to give any natural effect to maintain.

As I said, it is very effective. Something to remember about habit changes is that you can change a habit over sixty days, but to truly anchor it to the point that you no longer have to be aware of this change consciously, it will take 365 days. When you reach the year mark, it will be a permanently anchored habit that will feel as natural as breathing.

EFT Techniques

 Now, I have never really discussed EFT in any of my topic discussions, but over the next year, you will see more on this particular topic as it is being slowly integrated into my life, and as it is, I will talk more about it. However, let me share that the EFT process is broken into three clearly defined stages: De-escalation, restructuring, and consolidation. These techniques guide the therapist’s approach to patients to provide a clear path toward healing.

The treatment is based on the principles and techniques of four approaches: emotion-focused therapy, behavioral family therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, and the New Maudsley family skills-based approach, which is a discussion for another time. What is important to understand about EFT is that it, more so than anything else, is an anchoring method and is just as effective in helping you change emotional and mental mindset habits as physical action. The biggest reason it has been included in this week’s newsletter is that it effectively alters the mind’s ways from outdated emotional and mental belief systems while anchoring you to new physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual actions. In other words, it is very effective in helping people change their habits no matter which of the four areas needs to see the change.

What is anchoring

 For those of you who still do not understand anchoring, it is small, core routines ingrained within us, like getting up each day or, for some, exercising. The most significant benefit of this anchoring process is that you only have to give concentrated effort to it for a limited period of time before the shift takes place, and things begin to feel more natural and normal to you, allowing you to create a permanent change.

If you are looking to change yourself in any way, and we both know that if you are here reading this, you seek some kind of change, anchoring is a skill that you are going to have to get well aquatinted with as it is going to help bring you the most remarkable achievements to that you will likely have, the ability to maintain the hard work and effort that you have put into healing and rebuilding you.

Other Therapies

Now, before I go into my final thoughts, I want to give you three other ways that you can help to anchor yourself into habit changes and heal old wounds. The first of the three is,

Aroma –

Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit. Aromatherapy has been used for centuries. When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and significantly impact the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center.

The aromatherapy technique helps to anchor by infusing a specific feeling or emotion into your body and energetic field.  This way, whenever you spell that particular smell, it invokes that same feeling or thought each and every time.

Sound –

 So, what is sound therapy? It is sound designed to aid an individual in the healing of the mind. Frequencies are used in the same way as breath in meditation: to influence shifts in our brainwaves. “Sound healing works by activating the parasympathetic nervous system – the opposite of the stress flight or fight response,

It anchors by slowing down our brain waves and putting our bodies in a very relaxed, dreamlike state. While in this state, we are more susceptible to suggestion. These sounds can be anchored to a word or words repeated through the session, or they can anchor you to a touch that could prove a certain action to be taken. It could be used a little like hypnotism, but you are fully conscious while using sound therapy. 

Color –

Color therapy is a non-invasive and holistic treatment that brings balance and health to your mind and body. The vibrations of the color in color therapy class improve your mood and overall health.

Chromotherapy (the technical term for color therapy) provides colors to the electromagnetic body or the aura (energy field) around the body, which transfers energy to the physical body.  Like the other therapies mentioned in this newsletter, this therapy is very effective in creating and anchoring habit changes.

Final Thoughts

 Now that we have ended yet another weekly newsletter allow me to close with this final thought.  When it comes to habit changes, regardless of whether the changes are mental, emotional, physical, or even spiritual, it is so much more effective when you use systems and techniques that have been tried and true through the test of time.

All of the techniques and methods discussed in this week’s newsletter have tons of research that can be examined to prove that they are most effective in helping you along your self-improvement journey; whether your journey is about healing or transformation, I would encourage you to give each of these methods and techniques a try and see how they work for you.

If you know anyone for whom this information could help, take the time to share this with them. If you want to discuss this topic further, please reach out in the comment section below. I hope that you got something out of this week’s newsletter.

Thank you for supporting my work and all those who keep coming back each week; I am most grateful for you as you are why I share this information each week. Until next week, namaste