Priming for Daily Success

The Power of Priming

Priming is one of those things that we are constantly exposed to, it affects the decisions we make, what we pay attention to and believe it or not, what we remember.

"Priming is where the exposure to one stimulus, influences the response to another stimulus"

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Have you ever been in that situation where you buy a new gadget and you start to 'notice' that other people have the same gadget? I remember buying an iPhone 5 when it first came out and I could swear before I bought it, hardly anyone had one. Then, the first day, it was like everyone had one! To be fair that may have 'actually' been the case. The point is I was primed, my interest had been sparked off and I was unconsciously aware of this item. What if you could:

• Take 'control' of what you were primed for?
• Be aware of what you unconsciously pay attention to?
• Prime yourself for daily success?

Think about it.

• If you paid attention to the things you remember as opposed to all of the things you forget, how might you perceive your memory?
• If you gave your attention to all the things you were grateful for and not so much the things you didn't have how might this affect how good you felt?
• What if you were primed to focus on the actions that would move your business or career forward rather than reacting to the boundless email that shows up daily in your inbox?

How can priming help?

If you have ever experienced information overwhelm you will have had that feeling of having to react all of the time (responding to a never ending flow of email is a great example). Priming can help by raising your awareness of when you go into this reactive mode, firing a trigger for you to become consciously aware of what you are doing in that moment. You then have the choice of what you want to do next. 

• Continue with the email OR
• Go create that presentation, write the article, film the video, make the phone call or have the meeting that will actually move things forward for you

Priming for a great Mindset

Priming can help you take control of some key areas in your life in as little as 3 minutes per day, simply by setting up priming routines using specifically structured primer questions. This is one of my favourites:

 This question does a few key things:

• It is framed in the future (as if it has already happened), this creates a level of expectation and certainty in your mind that what you have experienced is real
• It uses primer words in the question that gently guides your attention to find ways that you would experience relaxation, focus and excitement
• It uses a 'why' question. Now, sometimes why questions can come across as negative (this is something you become acutely aware of as a coach), however when used in the right context they allow you to go deeper into the unconscious by pre-supposing that the question you are asking is a reality

These 3 things combined makes this an ideal primer question. Imagine if you were to spend no more than 30 seconds a day focusing on this question and answering it in your mind. What might happen?

If you engage with it in an open way you may notice that your brain comes back with all sorts of goodies

• you listened more to people (partner, kids, friends, work colleagues)
• you found ways to have fun
• when someone hacked you off, rather than react, you thought about what might be making them play out this way etc.

By asking these type of questions daily, the idea of them starts to show up in your day when you least expect it. In the same way, you notice that iPhone 5 everywhere, suddenly you start noticing when you are relaxed, focused or excited AND when you are not. This gives YOU back the choice of what you do next. Pretty cool right?

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