                              13.  SELF-MOTIVATION.
        
             In the 1970's, 80's, and 90's many different forms of self-
        motivation techniques emerged.  Bandler and Grinder (1979)
        studied the master therapists in the world and developed a new
        form of therapy called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).  Neuro
        was related to the nervous system; linguistic described the
        language people used to communicate; programming was the manner
        in which the nervous system and language combine to effect the
        total human being's interactions with the world.  Their work
        emphasized the ability of the individual to reprogram or create
        new "anchors" to replace those set into place over a lifetime. 
        They maintained their search was for the "ten minute cure."  What
        was new in NLP was the ability to systematically analyze
        exceptional people and experiences in such a way that they could
        become widely available to others through the use of NLP.  Using
        the principles of NLP, it is possible to describe any human
        activity in a detailed way that allows a person to make many deep
        and lasting changes quickly and easily.  The entire focus of NLP
        is much too complex to explain here.  What it did, however, was
        lay the foundation for an entire generation of new-age therapies.
        
             One of the most recent is an approach called The Trigger
        Technique, a special kind of conditioned reflex, sometimes
        called, an anchor (a la Bandler and Grinder).  By combining
        triggers with such mental self-help methods as visualization,
        relaxation, and mental rehearsal, exceptionally powerful mind
        programming systems are possible.  This is what makes the
        trigger's technique go much further than just any of the above
        three individually.  
        
             Mann's (1987) goal was to teach the individual to help him
        or her self.  He quoted an old folk saying to illustrate his
        mission.       Talking to a hungry man about food does not
                       satisfy his hunger, giving him food feeds him only
                       once, but if you teach him to raise his own crops,
                       you feed him for the rest of his life.
        
             This is the essence of self-help.  Once the individual
        realizes he can make changes in his life that last, he will be
        motivated to continue to maintain this new life style.  Mann
        extracted the best of NLP, Gestalt Therapy, Transactional
        Analysis, psychoanalysis, behavior modification, and sensitivity
        training to develop his own method of self-help, self-
        improvement, self-motivation.   
             
             Mann described how, by using the Trigger Technique (TT), an
        aspiring executive gained all the action-packed motivation she
        needed to change her career.  After three sessions, a war
        veteran, suffering from recurrent combat nightmares, was able to
        sleep peacefully again.  After two sessions, a salesman
        dramatically increased his confidence and soon became a star in
        his company.  In just twenty minutes, a timid woman was able to
        talk to anyone effectively, from an imposing judge to attractive
        men she wanted to meet.  He recounted how his previous work,
        using old techniques, sometime produced results, but over a
        period of months, and often, years.  He believed he found the
        simplest, most successful method for increasing self-motivation
        in individuals.
        
             In order to make triggers available to all his clients, he
        believed that the technical language and jargon needed to be
        removed so that the average person could easily understand how to
        improve his or her own life.  He said:
             Triggers does not just give you an intellectual
             understanding or insight.  Exact methods are given to make
             the specific changes you want.  Scientific jargon is
             stripped off and replaced with clear, everyday language.  I
             include easy to follow, step-by-step instructions and
             detailed examples of how others have used these techniques
             to immeasurably enrich their lives (p. 12).  
        
             Mann (1987) listed the following techniques as the
        foundation of his system for self-motivation.
             1.   Breakthrough Technique #1 - The Trigger - the powerful
                  mental reflex that is the foundation for all mental
                  programming.  
             2.   Breakthrough Technique #2 - The Mental Blueprint - the
                  technique to make mental blueprints of new skills you
                  want to master.
             3.   Breakthrough Technique #3 - Multichannel Thinking - the
                  mastering of all thinking "channels" and not just one
                  or two that most people get by with.
             4.   Breakthrough Technique #4 - The Mental Pentagon - the
                  directing of your own personal war against illness, and
                  along with a physician's treatment, to help yourself
                  get well more quickly.
             5.   Breakthrough Technique #5 - The Inner Power Generator -
                  the breaking of the root of every habit and in
                  particular the inner conflict, not the lack of
                  motivation or willpower.  
             6.   Breakthrough Technique #6 - the ability to hypnotize
                  yourself and program into yourself and into your
                  personality a new set of behaviors, and into your
                  entire nervous system to make the kinds of changes you
                  need to change and achieve success in all aspects of
                  your life (p. 14).
        
             Mann (1987) described self-motivation as an inner idea or
        emotion that prompts the individual to take action.  It is a
        vital ingredient of success.  To achieve goals, the individual
        must work actively toward achieving them.  They can't be wished
        for.  They must be produced.  Many goals flounder in the
        attitude, "I'll do it tomorrow."  Mann blunted stated that people
        who are not motivated to do what is needed are "losers."  Losers
        put off what needs to be done.  The dream of dreamers can lead to
        great achievements.  However, the world is not divided between
        dreamers who only dream and doers, but between dreamers who only
        dream, and dreamers who also do (p. 3).    
        
             In describing the method Mann used to motivate himself to
        write, he listed the primary triggering mechanisms necessary to
        effect motivational change in himself.  
             1.   Decide what outcome you want and then decide you can do
                  this if you decide that it is something you could enjoy
                  this more than anything. 
             2.   Think of something you already enjoy doing.
             3.   Imagine yourself doing what you want to do and doing it
                  well.  Think about it intensely, seeing, hearing, and
                  feeling yourself actively engaged in the activity.  
             4.   At the moment of peak intensity, push down on one part
                  of your body, like your left knee.  This creates the
                  trigger, or a one-trial conditioned reflex that can
                  call up these same sensations whenever you press your
                  knee in the same way again.  
             5.   Imagine yourself doing the activity that you really
                  enjoy doing.  See, hear, and feel yourself intensely
                  involved in the activity.  At the peak moment of
                  feeling, push down on your left knee.  This creates the
                  second trigger.
             6.   The next step is to fire off both triggers at one time. 
                  This is called, "double-triggering" and produces both
                  sensations simultaneously.  After some momentary
                  confusion, the two opposing feelings merged.  
             7.   Finally, imagine yourself doing the activity you wanted
                  to do in the first place but were having difficulty
                  doing.  It is done.
             8.   The joy of doing what you originally enjoyed doing
                  erases the old reluctance to doing what you have
                  avoided, just like a new song, when recording on a used
                  tape, erases the old song already recorded on it.  
             9.   Negative feelings are replaced by positive ones.  These
                  positive ones are called, reservoirs.  The new behavior
                  is called the target (p. 5).  
        
             A trigger is anything that elicits a memory or emotional
        feeling.  There are five kinds of triggers: visual, auditory,
        sensory, gustatory, and olfactory.  
        
             A marriage album is an example of a visual trigger.  Couples
        with a special song have an auditory trigger that arouses
        emotions and evokes all the other senses in that set of memories. 
        To use a sensory trigger, Mann suggested the individual first
        recall a memory from his reservoir.  When the memory is clear
        enough for to see, hear, feel, touch, or even taste it in his
        mind, he merely has to apply pressure to himself.  Mann suggested
        using a knee, squeezing a thumb, making a fist, bringing a hand
        to your forehead, or blinking the eyes.  To awaken these
        memories, or reservoirs, he just needs to touch himself in the
        same way again, and those memories will come back instantly. 
        Mann labeled this, "firing the trigger" (p. 7).
        
             If a person does not have a single memory in his reservoir,
        Mann suggested he can build one by combining a series of
        memories.  Or he can use fantasies.  A memory, Mann contended, is
        only a fantasy that has been defined as "real."  
        
             Mann (1987) believed simplicity made the process unique.  He
        attempted to make them as simple as possible so that any person
        could follow them and achieve a significant change in his or her
        life.  This was in itself a radical change in the way therapy was
        delivered to those who sought it.  Mann outlined the steps
        necessary to increase self-motivation.  They are listed below.
        
                     Eight Steps to Increase Your Motivation
        
             1.   Decide what your target and reservoir will be.
             2.   Imagine your reservoir vividly (fishing, dancing,
                  reading, making love, or anything you enjoy doing). 
                  Create a trigger by pressing your right knee.
             3.   Imagine your target, and, when it is clear in your
                  mind, create another trigger by pressing your left
                  knee.
             4.   Using your intention, be sure your reservoir is
                  definitely stronger than your target.
             5.   If necessary, build your reservoir's trigger until it
                  is stronger.
             6.   Fire off both triggers at the same time by pressing
                  both knees or whatever you chose as anchors,
                  remembering both your reservoir and your target.
             7.   Allow a minute or two for these to combine.
             8.   Imagine yourself in the future, performing your target
                  with your newly acquired eagerness.  Adjust this image
                  so it feels real.  Imagine the rewards of performing
                  your target successfully (p. 9).
        
             In Reframing, Bandler and Grinder (1982) described the same
        process only using different terms.  Instead of triggers, they
        described the pressing of the body as anchoring new experience in
        a different part.  When the two anchors are "collapsed" at the
        same time, the two merge, just like Mann described, and the
        negative and positive forces merge and what is left is a new,
        more powerful anchor (trigger).  Imagining performing the process
        in the future, is called, future pacing.  The processes are the
        same; only the terminology is different.
        
             Motivating yourself using this system can transform life,
        Mann contended, because inside each human being is a vast
        reservoir of strengths and abilities to draw upon.  Reservoirs
        are internal human resources like enjoyment, trust, caring,
        enthusiasm, creativity, and courage.  Resources come from human
        experience when the individual is determined, persistent,
        courageous, and confident that he can transform his life. 
        Possessing such qualities is what is meant as having "character,"
        "grit," or "the right stuff."  
             Mann (1987) suggested that if an individual experiences
        difficulty in making the triggering method work, the following
        strategies might help.
             1.   Begin with an easy target.  Try something easy until
                  you gain more skill and success.  This permits the
                  mastery of skills.
             2.   Use strong reservoirs.  Remember to use a positive
                  reservoir that is stronger than your target.
             3.   Use three or more channels.  Seeing, hearing, feeling,
                  touching, tasting, are all channels of communication to
                  the inner person.  (Bandler and Grinder, 1982) refer to
                  these as the VAK, or visual, auditory, and kinaestheic
                  channels).
             4.   Mentally rehearse.  Imagine yourself enjoying your
                  target behavior in the future so that it feels
                  believable to you.  Include images of enjoying the
                  rewards of performing your target behavior (p. 17).  
        
             Mann (1987) believed the double-triggering method was more
        sophisticated than merely invoking willpower because it channeled
        messages to the entire being via the neurotransmitters present in
        the body (NLP purports the same notion). 
        
             Phobias sometimes immobilize individuals to pursue their
        goals.  Mann believed that the double-triggering method along
        with systematic desensitization, a technique developed by Wolpe
        and Lazarus (1966) could quickly and easily erase even the
        deepest ones.  He called this "Fast and Easy Triggers" method for
        erasing, not just eliminating, phobias.  He outlined nine steps
        for erasing individual phobias.
             1.   Prepare two cards.  Label one "Reservoir."  On it, list
                  two or three experiences that have the positive
                  feelings you want.  These are you assets.
             2.   On another card, list five incidents during which you
                  suffered fear, starting with the most recent incident
                  and going back in time until you end with the first
                  phobic reaction you can remember.  These are your sub-
                  targets.
             3.   Create a trigger for an asset from your reservoir by
                  pressing your right knee.
             4.   Create another trigger for your first sub-target by
                  pressing your left knee.
             5.   Compare your asset to your sub-target.  If the asset is
                  stronger, go to number 6.  If it is not, build up your
                  trigger with the rest of your reservoir.  
             6.   Double-trigger by pressing both knees at the same time
                  to evoke your reservoir and your first sub-target
                  together.  
             7.   Create a trigger for your second target.  Double
                  trigger your reservoir with your second sub-target. 
                  Wait until you feel settled.
             8.   Continue this with all of your sub-targets.
             9.   See and hear yourself performing your target with the
                  new feelings you have just acquired from your reservoir
                  (p. 29).
        
             Mann wrote that this entire process should take about 20-40
        minutes from start to finish.  If a person began to feel any
        return of the phobia later, all he or she would have to do is
        touch his right knee, or whatever was used for a positive
        trigger, in the same way done during the session.  This will
        assist in evoking the positive reservoir to help erase the fear. 
        He maintained this was seldom needed because the process works.  
        
             Living in the age of "the information explosion" makes it
        imperative that we learn and retain new information. Although
        common sense and wisdom are necessary for the minimal amount of
        success, individuals need to keep well-informed in order to be
        able to speak effectively and engage in well-rounded
        conversations.  There are small, but no less important, social
        benefits from being able to learn and recall certain details. 
        For many people, their jobs are constantly being upgraded with
        new information.  Younger people enter the work world with new
        knowledge, and new technologies are regularly introduced.  
        
             Mann (1987) developed a "learning trigger" that could
        motivate the individual to learn and recall new information.  
             Learning is complete only when an individual can recall
             information when needed.  It is a two-phase process:
             acquisition and retrieval.  To achieve this, the learning
             trigger (LN) is constructed in two phases.  First, the
             reservoir is created.  This is usually some powerful emotion
             that the individual anchors in his body.  Then, the target
             is created, and like in the other double triggering process,
             they are fired simultaneously, and the learning mood is
             altered, and the individual places himself into an
             especially attentive mood motivated to concentrate and learn
             just as intensely as when he was in the reservoir state of
             being (p. 69).  
        
             An interesting strategy Mann suggested for becoming a
        phenomenal speller involved creating a repulsive trigger.  When
        an individual sees a misspelled word, he should associate some
        unpleasant feeling with it like rotten eggs.  Then, whenever a
        word causes an unpleasant feeling, he will think the word is
        spelled wrong.  
        
             Mann (1987) summarized the seven steps for the learning
        trigger system:
             1.   Create a trigger for a time you were enjoyably
                  engrossed in some learning activity.  Make this trigger
                  stronger than any negative feelings you may have about
                  studying.
             2.   Fire this learning trigger before each study session.
             3.   During each study session, fire the trigger and
                  practice visually recalling your material.
             4.   Similarly, during each study session, fire your trigger
                  and practice recalling your material with your hearing
                  channel.
             5.   Indulge in fun fantasies about the material you are
                  learning.  Use as many channels as you can.  
             6.   Fire your trigger and practice recalling your material
                  with oral and written quizzes.
             7.   Whenever you need to recall the information studied,
                  fire your trigger (p. 48).  
        
             Paying close attention to learning triggers and reviewing
        material is a small effort to make compared to the real effort it
        takes took to originally learn the material.  A good schedule is
        to review something right after learning it.  After that, to
        remember something forever, the individual need only review it
        every year or two.  Studies show, according to Mann,  that much
        of what is learned is not lost if not used within three years.  
        
             Mann (1987) listed four steps that would enhance an
        individual's creativity and motivate him to use his mind more
        powerfully.  
             1.   Prepare by gathering information and images.  This is
                  the conscious process.  Focus on a goal: the problem to
                  be solved or the outcome wanted.  Then collect all the
                  relevant data.  
        
             2.   Begin the incubation process.  Release conscious hold
                  of the problem.  Allow the answer simply to happen. 
                  Don't judge the process and free yourself from habitual
                  thoughts and ideas.  Daydreams, night dreams,
                  relaxation, self-hypnosis, and bridging exercises are
                  conducive to permitting the unconscious to work out a
                  solution.  
             3.   Wait for illumination.  Suddenly, seemingly from
                  nowhere, a solution presents itself.  With all five
                  channels now strengthened their contributions will be
                  greater.  
             4.   Finally, verification takes place.  In your
                  imagination, test out whether the solution works and
                  take out any kinks needed to make the idea workable. 
                  Again, with five strong channels, the kinks will be
                  more obvious, and ways to take them out more readily
                  forthcoming (p. 68).
        
             Mann believed individual motivation related to physical
        skills is one of the most difficult to maintain consistently. 
        The mind is often willing to learn but the flesh is weak.  He
        suggested nine steps for improving physical skills learning.
             1.   Decide what skill you want to practice.  Then, use
                  three channels in your imagination.
             2.   Study your models.
             3.   From a distance, see and hear yourself performing the
                  desired sport or physical skill.
             4.   Step into the picture and repeat the scene.
             5.   If it doesn't feel right, step outside the scene and
                  adjust your actions.
             6.   Go into the picture again and repeat it.
             7.   If it feels right, then create a trigger.  Discard
                  those behaviors that you cannot make feel right.
             8.   Imagine yourself in future scenes, firing your trigger
                  and engaging in your new skills.
             9.   When really playing, concentrate on using your weaker
                  channel (p. 76).
        
             Finally, Mann (1987) described "Gold Medal Winning" trigger
        methods for self-motivation to improve the quality of an
        individual's life.  He maintained that these mental blueprints
        can make the difference between living a normal and an
        extraordinary life.
             Step 1.   Decide what new behavior you want to learn. Then,
                       using three channels in your imagination, and...
             Step 2.   Study your models.
             Step 3.   From a distance, see and hear yourself performing
                       the desired behavior.
             Step 4.   Step into the picture and repeat the scene.
             Step 5.   If it doesn't feel right, step outside the scene
                       and adjust your actions.
             Step 6.   Go into the picture again and repeat it.
             Step 7.   When it feels right, create a trigger (p. 90).
             Step 8.   Imagine yourself in future scenes, firing your
                       trigger and engaging in your new responses.     
        
             Though Mann's triggers techniques are simple to follow and
        certainly unique, he did not indicate in any way his indebtedness
        to Bandler and Grinder and NLP as the foundation of his work.  He
        called his techniques, "firing triggers" and Bandler and Grinder
        labeled theirs "collapsing anchors."  The processes are both the
        same.  Both used VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) sensory
        acuity to change the way the individual experiences and interacts
        with the world.  What is exciting about NLP and Triggers is that
        both methods provide the individual with methods to change
        behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, phobias, physical limitations,
        mental physical, and emotional disabilities.  What they purport
        is that the individual is responsible for changing his or her own
        life.  There is no need for professional assistance unless there
        are some true medical needs involved.  Ideally, the individual,
        if he practices NLP or the trigger techniques, will be able to
        change those things which are impeding personal motivation.  
        
             Robbins (1991) echoed the same strategies in his book,
        "Personal Power," and in his videos, audio tapes, and
        infomercials playing on late night television.  He denounced the
        notion that only through intense counseling with a therapist can
        an individual attain health and well being.  Avant-garde
        psychologists and sociologists, using the dynamic theories
        created by Bandler and Grinder, are demonstrating in their work
        that simple and effective ways for individuals to change their
        lives.  
        
             These are but a few of the self-motivation methods available
        in America today.  A comprehensive study of all of them would
        take more time and space than is available in this text.  What is
        exciting about the possibilities of these new methods for self-
        motivation is that they remove the hocus-pocus from instituting
        individual change.  They are erasing the idea that change takes
        years and that there must be some pain involved in effecting it. 
        Rather than continuing to schedule patients for counseling
        sessions, they expound the adage from the ancient Greeks,
        "Patient, heal thyself."  
        
             With a minimal amount of interpolation, the phrase can be
        rewritten to, "Human being, motivate thyself."  
        
             The possibilities are unlimited and the next decade may see
        some truly unique technologies and techniques emerge which
        provide the individual with all the tools he or she needs to
        dramatically improve the quality of his or her life. 
