The Heist

The other night I watched another Derren Brown program, this one called The Heist. In it he offers a motivational seminar to middle managers. The true purpose of the seminar is to lay the groundwork for turning these normal people into criminals. His use of language and color is brilliant. Instead of saying "What I want you to get out of this experience.. " he says "What I want you to take away from this," or even "steal from this." Green is all over the place, and clearly is the color of money. Derren Brown is a genius. Everything I've read about NLP on paper seemed too good to be true, or just totally sterile. In his hands it seems possible to do anything.

I'm very excited to start using these tools myself. I've created three anchors, one for clearing my head, one for motivation, and one for calming myself. I hope to develop these and possibly introduce musical attachments to them. An anchor is essentially a physical movement which you connect to an experience you have had. If for example, you wished to create an anchor for calmness, you would have to first remember a time when you felt completely calm and re-experience that time, imagining the colors, sounds, and smells you were surrounded by and as you feel completely calm, touch your thumb to your index finger and thereby create an anchor.

Now when you use this initially you will need to think of the experience, but as it is used more often it will become tied to the physical motion itself.

Back to the Heist. After 3 weeks, from a pool of 16 people, Derren selects four, and then has them meet him at a location in London which has been cordoned off by the police where the four people will each individually walk to meet him and pass by a security guard who is carrying two cases of 50,000 pounds each. Three of the four people rob him. Three weeks is always cited as the time it takes to build a habit, or break one, so I do not think this is a coincidence. If people can be manipulated in such a way, it is important to beware of the anchors surrounding us. Advertising uses anchoring prolifically. Instead of being manipulated to feel insecure, or unhappy, manipulate yourself to accomplish your goals.

I am currently reading Introducing NLP by Joseph O'Connor. It is well-written and easy to understand.