As promised, I will be focusing on How you can deal with ‘Precursors of Failure’ patterns in this post. Some simple strategies.
1) Threshold blow-out
What I mean by threshold blow-out is to exaggerate your pattern to the extent that it becomes ridiculous. You will know you have done it when you find yourself laughing at what you are doing, behaving like an idiot or when someone comes up to you and ask “What are you doing?!” (For those who knows NLP, yes, this is a pattern interrupt)
Let’s take Alvin’s case as an example:
Go buy lots of Vanilla Coke and place them at your workplace, bedroom and basically at every places you can see them. Buy not just a dozen cans but by the cartons! Maybe stack up a few cartons as footrest under your computer desk. Yes! This is what I mean by ridiculous! I bet now Vanilla Coke kicks in as a motivator to work instead.
I used this quite often in my coaching and it has broken many limiting patterns with much success.
2) Practise what you are going to do instead
Part of re-conditioning is to practise. Practise in your mind what you want to happen instead when a ‘Precursors of Failure’ pattern occurs. You can use simple visualizations or even the Swish pattern for those who know. Another way is to get your friend to practise with you what you say you will do instead (that’s why I say share)
Of course, the above 2 strategies may not resolve every single ‘Precursors of Failure’ pattern. So go ahead and leave a comment on what has worked for you and what has not or even share some of your successful strategies. I’m eager to learn too. What else is possible?
November 7th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
Nothing new to add but that the threshold blowout is a very useful tool that I’ve used in successfully coaching others as well.
Humour is a very good thing to bring along when you use the threshold blowout and playfully (and artfully) take the logical conclusion of someone’s negative pattern and take it to its most ridiculous extreme.
November 7th, 2005 at 11:30 pm
Oh, and thanks for the suggestion :] Coca Cola is phasing out Vanilla Coke though, so I guess they’ve curing it for me ;P
November 8th, 2005 at 12:05 am
Richard Bandler’s Mantra #1 and Pete’s Mantra #2. Check out my post on NEGATIVITY INTERRUPTUS right here on LCB. Nipping those nagging voice in the butt first definitely put me in a more useful space.
Like Alvin, threshold blowout is something I utilze in many occasion during coaching. Humour is not just a softener, it’s a necessary conduit in many case.
Word of caution on using threshold blowout. You must have excellent rapport with whoever you are working with…yes even a good rapport with yourself, meaning you have to be properly aligned.
February 23rd, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Hi Yezhong,
I have a student in university. I am in my thrid year and my grades are very bad. this is the second semester and if i do not pull up my grades i will be not be able to do my honours year. And for me to achieve the GPA of honours, i must get straight As this semester. Uptil now i have not had a single A in any subject for my 21/2 years in university but i seriously beleive that i can still do it.
One of my precursors of failure is that i listen to lot of songs while studing. Songs is an escape from the reality of books and concepts that i run away from. Because i have a strong imagination power, and combined with songs i can escape from my real world into imaginary one where everything is perfect till my result comes and i realize i again got all Bs. Can you tell me how i can break my pattern by “pattern interupt” because the more i listen to songs the more happier i am and i never get bored from it. and hence listening to lot of songs is not helpful. can you give me any suggestions?
I would be very grateful. there are stil 2 months to go for my final exam and i still believe i can do it!!
February 26th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Hi Fatima,
Great to hear that you have a strong desire to achieve your grades and self-confidence, because these are the first few things you need to have to overcome your issue.
Well, precursors of failure are like warning signals. That is, listening to songs is a warning sign to you that you might just stop your revision. Listening to songs is not wrong or what, but what you did after listening is the culprit.
I would not suggest you totally stop listening to your songs, but rather work with the pattern. You could
1)limit your number of songs in your playlist, like maybe to a half an hour playlist.
2)choose specific songs in this playlist that will motivate you to study. You can choose to have a few of your favorites too. Be happy rite?
The next time when you want to study and feel the need to listen to some songs, play this playlist, knowing that at the end of this playlist, you have to go and do your work.
another trick is to make use of your imagination. Use it to your advantage. Listen to this playlist, feel happy, perfect and imagine how you are studying with these emotions. Bet this can put you in a better state to study.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I am a student in University.i use to study but not often.My problem is that something if i study i don’t understand what i study (i easly forget what i study).Please i need your guide.help and solution to this issue.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I am a student in University.i use to study but not often.My problem is that sometimes if i study i don’t understand what i study (i easly forget what i study).Please i need your guide.help and solution to this issue.