Create a State of Mind Reflex

Russian Nobel Prize winner Ivan Pavlov stumbled upon something amazing back in the early 1900s. He was working with dogs in his lab and noticed something peculiar. Every time the dogs were around the lab technician that fed them they started drooling. The dogs' brains were connecting the lab technician to the tasty food they were eating. Pavlov noticed this and tried an experiment by ringing a bell every time the dogs were presented with food. After some time, when the bell was rung without food the dogs still drooled! Its kind of like this episode of The Office:




The cool thing is that you can use this discovery to your advantage. Rather than drooling at the sound of a bell you can become any state of mind that you want. Have a difficult test coming up? Just ring a bell and go into a super focused state of mind before class. You can create a reflex for being focused, calm, alert, enthusiastic, or just about any state of mind you can think of. And best of all, its easy!

How To

1. First you need to decide what type of response you want. Do you want to be calm? Or maybe excited and energetic? Whatever state of mind you want, you can have. For an example, I want a calm state of mind.

2. Next you need to sit down, relax, and clear your mind. This may take a few minutes.

3. Now as your mind is clear and you are relaxed, recall the last time you felt the state of mind you want. So for example I think back to a time when I was very calm which would be in nature listening to a clear stream of water surrounded by the lush forest because I remember being very calm then.

4. Now you want to choose a stimulus. It can be a made up word, a hand gesture, a mental picture, or even a bell like Pavlov's dogs. I will choose to use a hand gesture by crossing my pinky and ring finger. Make sure you choose something that you never normally do or hear. I never cross my pinky and ring finger so it will be perfect.

5. Use the stimulus. At the height of your experience, when you feel the state of mind the strongest, ring the bell or whatever stimulus you chose. For me, once I feel the calmest, I will make my hand gesture. Then as soon as the feeling or state of mind starts to decrease, immediately stop using the stimulus. This technique will only work if you use the stimulus at the height of your experience.

6. Finally, repeat the process 5-10 times. Make sure that the next time you naturally experience the state of mind you desire, use the stimulus to further cement it into your reflexes. If you want to make it even stronger then repeat the process over the next few days.

Use it!

Now that you understand how to make a state of mind reflex, go and try it out! To use it is easy, all you need to do is use your stimulus. So when I want to use my calm reflex all I need to do is cross my pinky and ring finger for a couple seconds.