Achieve Your Goals

The ladder is your way into trance. You picture it, climb to the top, breathe in, and climb down, and each round takes you deeper. You do this four times, and the rungs get harder and your limbs more tired as you go. At the end you climb it again, three more times, to come back out, with your eyes opening at the bottom.

First you recall how you feel about a goal you doubt, then a time you were sure you couldn't fail, like cooking, swimming or passing an exam. For each, you notice your posture, what you tell yourself, how bright the images are, how near or far, whether they're still or moving, and what sound or music comes with them. The differences between the two are what the exercise works with.

The certainty memory sits on the right and the doubtful one on the left. You slide the doubtful images across the centre line and let them take on the qualities of the certain ones: the same brightness, closeness and soundtrack. If it gets hard, you're asked to check your posture, since you may have slipped back into the body language of doubt.

The session says wishes like "I want to be successful" or "I want to be rich" aren't goals, because they can't be measured. A goal should be measurable, give a sense of fulfilment, and be possible. It must also be yours: the example is wanting to sing opera rather than becoming a doctor because your father said so.

The session's idea is that everyone is driven by these two forces, and that the reasons you give for not reaching a goal may really be ways to avoid pain, such as disappointment or ridicule. It suggests that shifting your focus and your state tips the balance back towards the pleasure of success. The picture exercise is how you practise that shift.

The session says emotions are energy in motion, so changing your physiology is the fastest way to change your state. Its example is that dancing makes you feel better than slumping in a chair. That's why you notice your posture in both memories, and why you adjust it if the images won't slide across.