Overview
The article discusses Tony Robbins' mental technique for breaking bad habits by training the mind to associate negative feelings with the habit, demonstrated through a step-by-step audience exercise involving pizza.
The Mental Tool Explained
- Tony Robbins teaches that mental conditioning can help eliminate unhealthy habits and addictions.
- The core technique is to trigger disgust or negative reactions toward the habit in question.
- Robbins demonstrates this process during his seminars using an incremental mental association exercise.
The Pizza Exercise Example
- Robbins asked an audience member to rate his love for pizza and then gradually guided him to imagine increasingly negative qualities about it.
- Through visualizing the pizza as less appetizing (e.g., not hot, missing toppings), the participant's rating of enjoyment decreased.
- Intensifying the imagery (e.g., stale, rancid cheese) led the participant to a state of aversion.
- At the end, the participant found the pizza repulsive, illustrating the mental shift.
Application of the Method
- The technique involves keeping the addictive item present and rating one’s desire for it from -10 to 10.
- One should actively visualize repulsive details about the item, repeatedly lowering the desire rating.
- This approach can be self-applied to any undesirable habit or addiction.
Key Takeaways
- The mind can be trained to react negatively to previously desired habits through conscious visualization techniques.
- Consistent mental association of negativity can help in overcoming urges and developing lasting aversion to a bad habit.
Recommendations / Advice
- Identify a personal habit or item you wish to change.
- Use a rating scale to assess your current level of attachment.
- Engage in deliberate mental exercises to associate disgust or negative feelings, and lower your desire progressively.