Words Trigger Experience - Grasshopper

What’s the powerful aspect of a gun? Is it the hammer, the barrel, the trigger or the bullet?

I submit it’s the bullet.

 

We often hear that words (the trigger) are powerful. They’re only powerful if they trigger experience (the bullet).

 

Reminds me of a story . . . my hypnosis teacher Dr. Dave Dobson told the story of addressing a group and noticing that one of the participants broke into a wide smile when he said the word “gumdrop.” He stopped his lecture and asked the woman why she had smiled when he said “gumdrop.”

 

She said it reminded her of when she was a little girl and her father would take her into the candy store and buy her gumdrops - a very pleasant experience for her.

 

Dave’s words triggered her bullet. The good news is that it triggered a pleasant memory. Many words trigger an opposite effect.

 

So you can tell people to be careful of their words but that results in an everlasting search for the ones not to use. Better to caution people that they’re being manipulated by words (triggers).

 

Advertising is filled with triggering words, as are scams. Advertising isn’t going to go away anytime soon, and a new scam is always right around the corner. It’s better to begin to notice the words that trigger the bullets in you.

 

Back to something I learned from Dr. Dave. He called it the “Subjective Reversal.” Simply stated, you condition yourself to have a different response to the trigger word. It’s a very common suggestion offered by hypnotists. It goes something like this: “Anytime you see or hear (X) it will immediately trigger feelings of being calm and collected, and when you’re calm and collected, you can make a more productive choice.”

 

You do have a choice to respond differently to trigger words; you just may not be aware that you have that option.

 

Outgrowing your response to your trigger words takes some practice but the worthwhile result is this: When someone goes shooting their mouth off, it will only trigger gumdrops in you.

 

All the best,

John