Mastery of Thoughts

Step 1: Listen to the main explanation

system, neuro. Linguistic we've learned already, and you probably understand it super easily since it's a cognate in Spanish, right?

Linguistic means language. And programming, of course, is similar to programming a computer, telling it something, what to do. So what it talks aboutis how to program your brain with language and with thoughts and with pictures. That's neuro­ linguistic programming. lt was developed by several different people, one of the most famous people is Richard Bandler developed this system called NLP. And NLP is designed to help you kind of control your brain a little better. To decide the kind of images, decide the kind of thoughts you want to have in your brain. And by doing that, by changing your thoughts you will change your emotions and your actions.

One of the key techniques of NLP is to take images that you have in your brain and to modify them and change them. So a lot of times we have negative pictures in our head and we don't realize how powerful they are, how much they affect us, how they change the way we act, how they change the way we feel. And so what we want to do is look at the pictures that we make in our head and we want to choose them. We want to change them and choose better pictures.

Let me give you an example. Let's talk about English class, English class. Imagine in your head an English class. What do you see? What picture cornes into your head when I say English class? For example, do you see a room with a lot of students in it? Are they sitting at little desks in rows? Are they moving a lot or are they still? What about the teacher? Where is the teacher? Is the teacher at the front of the class standing above the students talking clown to them? Do the students look happy? Are they smiling or do they look bored? What about the quality of this picture in your head? Is it bright and happy and colorful? Oris it kind of dark, maybe black and white? Is it loud? Is there music or is it quiet? Oris it silent?

All of these qualities of the picture will change your emotional feeling. So, for example, if we take this picture and we imagine this class, this is the image I have in my head when I think English class, and you know, it's nota very positive one. It cornes from an experience I had in Mexico. It's kind of the typical Spanish class that I see in my head whenever I hear that word. It's kind of dark, there's no movement. It's nota happy picture.

So what do I want to do if I want to change my belief about English and English classes? One thing I can dois change the pictures I make in my head. So, for example, we can take that picture, we can change it. We can choose a better picture. Instead

I can see a circle of students. Let's imagine a circle of students. And then l'm going to add color. Everybody is wearing nice colorful clothes. And then I imagine everybody smiling, big smiles. And I imagine movement, I add movement to the picture.

So now people are up, they're jumping around, they're moving, they're talking. They're alive. I add sound. I add happy, talking, smiling, laughing, maybe a little music in the background. I take this happy, colorful picture and I make it bigger in my head. I bring it doser tome andbigger soit fills up everything in front of me. Now do that yourself. Imagine this happy picture of an English class and make it big and colorful, with sound, with laughter, with music. Does it change the way you feel about this

word...English class? It probably does.

So we can do this with anything, with any image. And what you dois you take first your negative image, so let's go back again to the negative, sad image of an English class. Maybe you can remember one from your past. What we're going to do now is look at that negative picture and we're going to change it and play around with it. So the first thing I want you to do is make it darker. So you have this picture in your head, it's a negative feeling, it's a negative memory...make it darker. Make the picture darker in your head. Next, push it away from you. Soif it's close to you, push it away so that it becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. Keep pushing it away until it disappears to nothing.

And now suddenly, think of the positive, happy picture. So replace it with the big, large, colorful, loud picture in your head of a happy, fun English class. See it in your head and let yourself feel how you would feel if you were in that picture. So put yourself now into the picture, step into it so now you are in that English class with all these smiling, happy people with all this color, with all this laughter, with ail the music. Does that change how you feel? lt should, it usually does.

So what you want to do now is program yourself to do this every time. So what you do, you do this same process again and again and again. Maybe 50 times, maybe 100 times. You doit quickly.

So, for example, you go back again. Go back to the negative

image. Okay, see that negative class, oh, boring, terrible, that old memory you have. And again, quickly, make it darker, make it smaller. Push it away, smaller, smaller, smaller, until it disappears.

And now suddenly, boom, see the big, happy, colorful picture again. This great, happy, wonderful English class, and step into the picture again. Feel yourself there with all these people who are laughing and having a great time. See the color. Make it big.

Okay, great.

Now back again to the negative one, the old memory. See it again, the old, negative, terrible English class. And again, make it

darker. Turn the light clown, darker, darker, and then now make it smaller and push it away, farther, farther, farther, until it disappears. Boom! See the big, happy, wonderful English class again, color, laughter, happiness. Step into that picture. Be part of it.

Now you can do this again and again and again. In fact, you could do this every day, maybe 10 times or 20 times. If you're really motivated you could doit 100times in a row at the same time, very fast. You take the negative picture, you shrink it, you make it darker, you push it away. It disappears suddenly, boom, a big, happy, positive, colorful picture. And then you go back to the negative, disappear, boom, a big, happy, colorful, positive picture, again and again and again.

So here's what happens. What's really interesting is when you do this again and again and again you are programming your brain like a computer. So after you do it enough times, in the future when you think English class, or someone says English class, automatically this process happens. Automatically, boom, you see in your head a big, happy, wonderful picture and you feel really good. You're teaching yourself to feel good about this phrase or this idea or this experience called English class. And in this way you can totally change your feelings about English or English class.

You can do this with any negative memory or negative image you have in your head. If you've had several bad experiences with English, take those pictures, take those memories, do this same process. Look at them carefully. Then make them darker, then smaller. Then push them away, and then suddenly, boom, replace them with a big, positive, happy, colorful picture and then join the picture. And back again and again and again and again, you know, probably you need a total of 100 to 200 times, so you can

do it very, very fast. It just takes a few seconds, so in 5 minutes or

10 minutes, you could do this 100 times or 150 times. And you're programming your brain just like a computer to think in a more positive way. So you can totally change the way you feel about English learning. You can totally change your old, negative memories, beliefs and feelings about English.

What will this do for you? It will give you so much more energy when you learn English. It will totally change your feelings about learning English that will help your motivation and that will cause you to learn faster. All of the things we're learning in this

program and these lessons are about getting you to learn faster. It's not just about feeling happy about English, it's about learning more quickly, more efficiently. And it just so happens that having more positive emotions and more energy and more motivation will cause you to learn English much, much faster.

l've seen this myself in my experience as a coach with many of my students. And there's also a lot of academic research about this same topic. And it all says the same thing. That when you're happy, when you're motivated, when you have strong, positive feelings and thoughts about the language you're learning, in this case English, you learn much faster. That the psychology and the emotion is more important than the method. Good methods are important, of course. You want to use the best methods, but without the psychology, without the emotion, no method will work successfully. You absolutely must take care of this part of the learning process. You must manage your thoughts, your emotions, your motivation, if you truly want to speak excellent English.

So, your homework is go through this process. Take some of your negative feelings and memories about English. And then using the same process, see the picture. Make it darker, smaller, push it away, and then suddenly replace it with a big, strong, positive image, picture. And I want you to do this again and again and again. I want you to doit 100times in a row, very quickly. I think you'll find that it will make big changes to the way you feel about English and will really boost up and strengthen your motivation.

Okay, that is all for this lesson.

Step 2: Listen to the mini-story

Welcome to the mini-story for "Mastery ofThoughts."

Are you feeling good? Are you moving your body? Breathing deeply. Smiling big! Good posture? I hope so. Let's get started.

*****

There was an incredible woman named Pernilla. Pernilla was a linguist and she wanted to study Swedish.

What was Pernilla?

W ell, she was a linguist.

What is a linguist?

A linguist is a person who studies languages. Aha.

So what did Pernilla study?

Languages, Pernilla studied languages. She was a linguist.

Was Pernilla a truck driver?

No, she wasn't a truck driver. Pernilla was a linguist.

Who was a linguist?

Pernilla, Pernilla was a linguist.

How many languages did Pernilla speak? Three?

No, not three.

Sl.X.

No, not six.

She spoke 247 languages.

How many languages did she speak?

247, Pernilla was an amazing linguist. She spoke 247 languages.

ln fact, she had total mastery in 247 languages.

Wow. Did she have total mastery or was she pretty good?

Total mastery, she had total mastery in 247 languages.

But, she needed another language. She wanted to study Swedish.

Where do people speak Swedish?

Sweden, in Sweden.

People speak Swedish in Sweden, of course.

Did Pernilla want to speak Swedish or did she want to speak Japanese?

Well, she already spoke Japanese perfectly, so she wanted a new language. She was bored, time for a new language. She wanted to speak Swedish.

She wanted to speak 248 languages perfectly.

What was Pernilla?

A linguist, she was a linguist. Not just a normal linguist, she was a super incredible linguist.

So she wanted to learn Swedish. First she tried a visual method.

Did she try to learn with her eyes or her ears?

With her eyes, a visual method. Visual means with the eyes, connected to the eyes, related to seeing, visual. Visual. She tried a visual method first.

What kind of method did she try to learn Swedish with?

A visual method, she tried a visual method for learning Swedish.

She read textbooks and grammar rules.

Did she listen to them or did she read them?

W ell, she read them, right? It was a visual method, she used her eyes. She read textbooks. She read grammar rules.

What language was she studying?

Swedish, she was studying Swedish with a visual method.

She studied Swedish with a visual method for two years. Every day she read textbooks. Every day she read grammar books.

After two years what happened?

Nothing.

After two years Pernilla was frustrated. She still could not speak Swedish.

Was the visual method successful for Pernilla?

No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't successful for Pernilla. She failed with the visual method.

For how long did she study with the visual method?

For two years, right? She studied with a visual method for two years.

Which language did she study for two years?

Swedish, right? She studied Swedish with a visual method for two years.

Who studied Swedish with a visual method for two years?

Pernilla, Pernilla studied Swedish with a visual method for two years.

Was she successful after two years?

No, she failed. She was not successful after two years. She still couldn' t speak Swedish.

So, she modified her approach.

Did she change her approach or did she keep the same approach?

Well, she changed it. She modified her approach.

What did she modify?

Her approach, her method, her technique. She changed her technique. She changed her way of learning. She modified her approach.

She modified her approach to what?

T o learning Swedish, she modified her approach to learning Swedish. She changed her technique for learning Swedish.

What kind of approach did she try next? Was it a visual approach again?

No, it wasn't. She modified her approach. She changed that.

It was a kinesthetic approach, a kinesthetic method.

Ooh, a new word, kinesthetic. Kinesthetic means related to movement, feeling, physical feeling, and the body.

She learned Swedish with her body, with movement and feelings in her body.

Sounds interesting. What kind of method did she try next?

Kinesthetic, she tried a kinesthetic method.

Who tried a kinesthetic method?

Pernilla, Pernilla tried a kinesthetic method.

Forwhat?

For learning Swedish, she tried a kinesthetic method for learning Swedish.

Did she try to learn with her body or with her ears?

With her body, she tried to learn Swedish with her body. She tried a kinesthetic method.

What was the kinesthetic method?

W ell, it was called TPR.

She had to jump and move while learning. The teacher said "Jump" in Swedish, of course, and Pernilla would jump. The teacher said "Sit" in Swedish. And Pernilla would sit. She did this every day. Every day she jumped and sat and moved and walked and wrote and read, as the teacher told her to in Swedish. It was a kinesthetic method, right? She had to move her body. She was learning with movement.

Kinesthetic.

Did this boost her learning?

Oh yes, it did.

It boosted her learning. It improved her learning. It increased her learning. She began to learn Swedish. She began to understand Swedish. She began to speak Swedish.

Did the kinesthetic method improve or slow clown her learning?

It improved her learning. It increased her learning.

What boosted Pernilla's learning of Swedish?

The kinesthetic method, the kinesthetic method boosted her learning of Swedish.

Did it boost her learning a little or a lot?

Of course, a lot, it boosted, it improved her learning a lot.

She began to learn much, much faster.

Which was faster, the visual method or the kinesthetic method?

W ell, the kinesthetic method obviously. The kinesthetic method was much faster.

It boosted her learning a lot more.

What did it boost?

It boosted her learning. It boosted her learning speed.

Of what?

Of Swedish, it boosted her learning speed of Swedish.

What boosted her learning speed of Swedish?

The method. The kinesthetic method.

So she used the kinesthetic method for one year. lt boosted her learning. She learned faster and faster and better and better. But, but she didn't achieve mastery. She didn't master Swedish. She was good, but not a master.

Did Pernilla master Swedish by using the kinesthetic method?

No, she didn't. She did not become a master. She became good but she didn't become a master by using the kinesthetic method.

And so she modified her approach again.

Did she change her approach again, a little bit?

Yes, she did. She changed it again. She modified it again.

What did she modify?

She modified her approach. She modified her way of doing something. She modified her way of learning Swedish.

What did she do next?

Well, she added something this time. She continued to learn with the kinesthetic method but she added something more.

What did she add? What kind of method did she add next?

She added an auditory method.

Auditory, another new word, auditory. Auditory means related to hearing or listening, related to the ears. It shares the same root as

audio, right? Audio meaning sound. Auditory means related to sound, related to listening, related to hearing, auditory. So a listening method is what she changed to or added. She added a listening method.

What kind of method did she add?

Auditory, she added an auditory method.

Who added an auditory method?

Pernilla, of course. Pernilla added an auditory method.

Why?

Because she wanted to totally master Swedish.

Which language did she want to totally master?

She wanted to totally master Swedish, of course. The best language in the world! Hehe...

So what did she add to her learning method?

She added an auditory method, an auditory approach.

What did she add an auditory approach to? What did she add it to?

She added it to the kinesthetic method. She was already using the kinesthetic method, then she added the auditory method toit.

Sheadded them together, doing both.

Did she delete an auditory method?

No, she didn't delete it, she added it. She added an auditory method, right?

And she added a visual method?

No, no, no, no, no, she did not add the visual method. She deleted the visual method. She eliminated the visual method. She stopped using the visual method forever.

So what did she add?

An auditory method, she added an auditory method.

She began to listen to Swedish every day, listening more and more and more.

Every day listening to Swedish, tons of listening, 3 hours, then 4 hours, then 10 hours, then 23.5 hours of listening every day.

How many hours did she listen to Sweden every day?

23.5.

So for how many hours did she sleep every day?

For half hour, only 30 minutes. She decided to only sleep 30 minutes each day and she listened to Swedish 23.5 hours every day.

W as she successful?

Yes she was.

Pernilla became a total master of Swedish in only one year. After one year of listening to Swedish 23.5 hours a day she became a total master of Swedish. Now she speaks 248 languages perfectly.

Pernilla is the best linguist in the world.

*****

Okay, that is the end of the mini-story for "Thought Mastery." As always, listen toit again and again and again. ln fact, listen to this mini-story 23.5 hours every day. If you listen to the Narnia lessons 23.5 hours every day you will too become a master of English. But if you want to, 1 or 2 hours is probably enough.