Posted by Davijai at 4:25pm Apr 26 '10Association, as defined by Dictionary.com, in the context we are going to discuss, is:
- connection or combination.
- the connection or relation of ideas, feelings, sensations, etc.; correlation of elements of perception, reasoning, or the like.
- an idea, image, feeling, etc., suggested by or connected with something other than itself; an accompanying thought, emotion, or the like; an overtone or connotation: My associations with that painting are of springlike days.
Associations are a very powerful tool that we use in our conscious and subconscious thoughts.
If I were too give you a list of words and tell you to name the thing the words are associated with, you would get it right. Here are the words: sink, soap, towell, shower, toilet. You should be thinking of bathroom.
In this same way, we can program ourselves to remember things, ideas, feelings, people, places, etc by asociation.
Now I understand that association is basic pychology. But with the use of NLP, associations can become very powerful because we are using our subconscious with our conscious mind.
Here is a demonstration. Rememeber this list of words:
Bowling Ball
Shoe
Tree
Key
Envelope
Bucket
Flower
Moon
Dirt
River
Now these ten words would probably be forgotten after, say, ten days. (Unless of course you have a great or photographic memory) But if we associate these together, it would be easier:
Bowling Ball and Shoes - Bowling Ball Shoes (An Obvous one)
or
Moon and Dirt - Moon Dirt
But to remember them all, everytime, even for years to come, we can use our subconcious to help us out. We think with our subconcious by way of imagination - which is why this will work. I'll explain a bit about that power in a few moments....
Now, if we imagine a Bowlig Ball laughing, we will remember the Bowling Ball.
Now, imagine the following:
A Bowling Ball wearing shoes. Then a tree wearing shoes. Then the tree with keys for leaves. Then the envelope that has a thousand keys in it. A bucket with one giant envelope. A flower growing out of a bucket. A flower growing on the moon. A dirty brown moon. And finally, a river of dirt.
Now, if in ten minutes, you wanted to remember any part of that list, you would only have to remember one. You could go up or down the list with ease. (Icidentally, I learned that very list (minus the bowling balls and shoes) in 2006 from a memory book.
The question is, why does that work?
Well, our subconcious is very powerful indeed. The imagination is more powerfull than will!! Want an examle? Of ourse you do!
Imagine this:
You have some cake in your fridge and you want to save it till the weekend. If you forget about it, he cake will be there that weekend. However, if you began imagining the smell, the taste, the enjoyment and richness of the flavor. Imagine the moistness of the choclatey cake.
Imagine removing the cake and cutting a slice and putting it on your plate. If you were to actually do this, that cake would not remain intact till the weekend...
I truly believe that we could use associations to break habits, to become better people - giving people - caring people, more enjoyable to be around.
Even more powerful, we can use NLP and Reframming (Our
next topic) to accomplish these thngs on a permanent basis. Eventually, we can help others do the same.
Lastly, I'll bet your memory will never be the same! Try your own list and let your subconscious work for you.
Until next time, please share your questions, comments, input, and the like. Thank you for reading!
- connection or combination.
- the connection or relation of ideas, feelings, sensations, etc.; correlation of elements of perception, reasoning, or the like.
- an idea, image, feeling, etc., suggested by or connected with something other than itself; an accompanying thought, emotion, or the like; an overtone or connotation: My associations with that painting are of springlike days.
Associations are a very powerful tool that we use in our conscious and subconscious thoughts.
If I were too give you a list of words and tell you to name the thing the words are associated with, you would get it right. Here are the words: sink, soap, towell, shower, toilet. You should be thinking of bathroom.
In this same way, we can program ourselves to remember things, ideas, feelings, people, places, etc by asociation.
Now I understand that association is basic pychology. But with the use of NLP, associations can become very powerful because we are using our subconscious with our conscious mind.
Here is a demonstration. Rememeber this list of words:
Bowling Ball
Shoe
Tree
Key
Envelope
Bucket
Flower
Moon
Dirt
River
Now these ten words would probably be forgotten after, say, ten days. (Unless of course you have a great or photographic memory) But if we associate these together, it would be easier:
Bowling Ball and Shoes - Bowling Ball Shoes (An Obvous one)
or
Moon and Dirt - Moon Dirt
But to remember them all, everytime, even for years to come, we can use our subconcious to help us out. We think with our subconcious by way of imagination - which is why this will work. I'll explain a bit about that power in a few moments....
Now, if we imagine a Bowlig Ball laughing, we will remember the Bowling Ball.
Now, imagine the following:
A Bowling Ball wearing shoes. Then a tree wearing shoes. Then the tree with keys for leaves. Then the envelope that has a thousand keys in it. A bucket with one giant envelope. A flower growing out of a bucket. A flower growing on the moon. A dirty brown moon. And finally, a river of dirt.
Now, if in ten minutes, you wanted to remember any part of that list, you would only have to remember one. You could go up or down the list with ease. (Icidentally, I learned that very list (minus the bowling balls and shoes) in 2006 from a memory book.
The question is, why does that work?
Well, our subconcious is very powerful indeed. The imagination is more powerfull than will!! Want an examle? Of ourse you do!
Imagine this:
You have some cake in your fridge and you want to save it till the weekend. If you forget about it, he cake will be there that weekend. However, if you began imagining the smell, the taste, the enjoyment and richness of the flavor. Imagine the moistness of the choclatey cake.
Imagine removing the cake and cutting a slice and putting it on your plate. If you were to actually do this, that cake would not remain intact till the weekend...
I truly believe that we could use associations to break habits, to become better people - giving people - caring people, more enjoyable to be around.
Even more powerful, we can use NLP and Reframming (Our
next topic) to accomplish these thngs on a permanent basis. Eventually, we can help others do the same.
Lastly, I'll bet your memory will never be the same! Try your own list and let your subconscious work for you.
Until next time, please share your questions, comments, input, and the like. Thank you for reading!
NLP and Speaking to the Unconscious Mind - 1 - Davijai