Anchor Your Insights in Four Steps for Sustained Positive Change

Many of us have already had good insights about what we need to do to change repeating patterns that result in stress, damaged relationships or other unwanted outcomes.



We feel the need for change and we’re motivated, but when that challenging situation arises, we go through the same mechanical responses. Or we may try acting on an insight for a bit and then slip back. Whether the problem is in our standard reactions to others or in our personal health and work habits, things keep going the way they have been, but you can change them through Anchoring.

You actually can "anchor" a good insight you’ve had so you can increase your ability to act on it, rather than allow it to fade away. Here are the four steps for anchoring an insight:

• Step 1. Appreciate the insight. Appreciate this new perspective, intelligence or common sense that you now can bring to bear on a situation or issue.
• Step 2. Appreciate any positive feelings associated with the insight. Appreciation of these feelings, perhaps hope and peace, gives the insight more significance in your feeling world, making it easier to recall.
• Step 3. rite down the insight and revisit it daily, with appreciation. This helps you continue investing it with feeling and keeps hope for inspiration and change alive.
• Step 4. Go for it. Go beyond "I know I should" and make the change – because you see the intelligence of it.

You can increase your momentum for change by looking for opportunities to act on your insight, and asking your heart to prompt you to do so when those situations arise. View these situations as opportunities to solidify your new way of responding.

If you slip back into old habits, appreciate yourself for noticing that you did, because that’s a more efficient use of your energy than feeling bad. Then make genuine attempts to recall and appreciate the original insight and renew your efforts.

Every time you act on your insight, appreciate that you have done so and anchor the reference point. 

Research shows that generating positive emotions can help you reinforce your success. The more you act on your insight, the more your intelligence will reveal how to handle a situation more skillfully.