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You are more likely to act
yourself into feelings, than feel yourself into action.
Dr. Jerome Brunner
 Modeling creates outer circumstances by acting as if they are
already real. We can be happy by acting as if we are happy. While the principle
may seem to be based on superficial reasoning, it does have validity when it is
used in accordance with the dynamics of designs.
All three methods of design-work are based upon
modeling. These are not
separate phenomena. They are part of our overall experience within a design that
encompasses our thoughts, images, energy tones, and actions. We generate
particular energy tones, as if they are our natural, spontaneous emotions and
feelings.
 | In modeling, we commit particular actions, as if they are our natural,
spontaneous behaviors. |
| In affirmations, we generate particular thoughts, as if they are our
natural, spontaneous thoughts. |
| In directed imagination, we generate particular images, as if they are
the natural, spontaneous images of our imagination. |
When we use modeling we implant new elements into our designs. When we
are modeling we are not merely going through the motions, we are being creative
in all aspects of the design, generating not only the physical motions, but also
the thoughts, images, and energy tones that correspond to that physical action.
These elements are implanted into the design, so that the mind can use them as a
reference when the design situation occurs again and the mind asks itself,
"How do I tend to respond in this type of situation?". If we act as if
we are confident in a design challenging situation, the thoughts, images, energy
tones, and physical habits of confidence will be available as the mind's
reference points when we are in another challenging situation. In that example
of confidence, the elements can include:
|  Thoughts that "I do my best in every situation", "I am
capable of handling challenges", "life supplies me with the
resources to prevail because I am doing what life's intuition is guiding me to
do", "I enjoy the stimulation when I am in challenging
situations" and "I am successful because I allow life to
direct me and empower me." |
| An energy tone of courage and expansiveness rather than fear. |
| Visual images of ourselves standing brave and dignified. These images can
derive from:
 | Our directed imagination. We visualized a fictitious scenario in which we
were brave. |
| Actual sensory data that we recorded as memories during the occasions
when we were courageous. |
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We create physical effects. While we are
modeling, we are literally
creating the environment of the person whom we are pretending to be. If we are
acting as if we are a responsible person, we are paying our bills, flossing our
teeth, and fulfilling our other obligations. In the physical realm of life, we
truly are the responsible person who is depicted in these observable behaviors.
Beneath the observable behaviors, we can have many contrary thoughts, emotions,
images, and other psychological forces. In this sense, modeling transcends
methodology. Instead of using techniques and therapies as intermediary steps to
change us into a particular type of person, we simply proceed to be that type of
person immediately.
We create psychological effects. Our psychological processes cause our
behaviors. We act a particular way because we are thinking particular thoughts,
or because we are experiencing a particular emotion. To some extent, the reverse
is also true. If we commit a particular action, the physiology tends to generate
corresponding thoughts, imagery, and energy tones. This occurs because our
thoughts and our outer conditions are all part of the same design in which the
elements resonate with one another. In the book Unlimited Power, Tony Robbins
says, "If you change your physiology, that is, your posture, breathing
patterns, muscle tension, facial expressions, gestures, movements, words, vocal
tonality you instantly change your internal representations and your
state."
For example:
| We are happy, and so we smile. However, the reverse also occurs, we smile,
and so we are happy. |
| We are alert, and so we have good posture. If we are not alert, and we
assume good posture, we tend to become more alert. |
| In experiments, psychologists discovered that emotions are associated with
particular body positions. In these experiments, the psychologists asked
people to generate an emotion such as fear and to move into a position that
depicted fear, perhaps with a protective cringe. When the people were asked to
stay in the fear position while generating other moods such as happiness or
love, they had difficulty in creating those moods from that position. |
| Physical disciplines are used in some religious paths to generate
particular states of consciousness. Those paths include hatha yoga, Tantra,
and others. In many religions, we kneel to express and invoke humility when we
pray. |
| In the musical play, The King and I, we note that the character whistles a
happy tune when she is afraid, and then she discovers that she is no longer
afraid. |
We create physiological effects. As stated previously, there are
physiological effects when we smile, and when we have good posture. The
effects reciprocate in a cycle with the psychological effects. Depending upon
the type of actions that we commit when we model, we also affect our heart
rate, breathing rate, metabolism, muscle tension, and other factors. If we act
as if we are relaxed, our muscles tend to relax.
We can use modeling in many ways.
| We can perform the new behaviors. We commit the physical actions of the
character whom we want to be while we generate the corresponding thoughts,
images, and energy tones. |
| We can change our physical appearance. To create an outer image that more
accurately expresses our true self, we can alter such things as our clothing, jewelry, or hairstyle. |
| We can change our lifestyle. We can change such things as our hobbies,
our recreation, our choice of food, our career, or our selection of friends. |
| We can change our personal physical environment.
Modeling encompasses
more than just our behaviors. We also create the environment of this new
person. This environment can include our home decor or our neighborhood. We
select these objects as though we are an actor selecting props for a play. |
| We can select different environments when we leave our personal physical
environment. When we go out for entertainment and recreation, we can buy theatre
tickets instead of football tickets, if the environment of a theatre suits our
new identity. |
| We can change our speech. We adopt the speech patterns that express our
new self. These patterns include our vocabulary, particularly our jargon and
slang, our accent such that we could discard the home town drawl that is not
appropriate for our new image, our speech rhythms that can be faster or slower,
the pitch of our voice that can be higher or lower, our non-verbal speech as
expressed in our body language and our hand gestures, and other factors in our
communication. |
| We can acquire the skills that are required in the portrayal of our new
character:
| Personality traits. When we act as if we are a confident person, we can
register for a public speaking training to practice our as if behaviors. |
| Social skills. If we want to act as if we are in a particular group of
people, we learn that group's etiquette, jargon, and social rituals. |
| Technical skills. To act as if we are a member of a group, we may need to
learn how to play golf, or how to ride a horse. |
| Specialized knowledge. The group could expect us to be knowledgeable
regarding classical music and fine wines. |
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| We can do some role playing. These scenarios can be enacted in various
forms:
| Real life situations. We can spend an afternoon in an environment where
no one knows us, and no one will correct us with "Why are you behaving
that way?", "That's
not you.". As we play the role of
our new self, our actions are not an autonomous, solo performance in some type
of vacuum. We need to participate fully in this new character, responding to
people and situations as if we truly are the person whom we are portraying. |
| Cooperative situations with friends. We can tell our friends that we
are changing ourselves, so they will not be surprised or confused by our new
behavior. We can ask them to support us by responding to us as if we are
the person who is represented by the role that we are enacting. |
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| Social activities. We can explore other roles at various social events:
| Costume parties. This includes events such as Halloween parties or
Mardi Gras. |
| Computer environments. In computer games we can be a military hero or
a villainous monster. |
| Children's games. In a structured game or in spontaneous play, kids
pretend to be Superman, or a cowboy, or another type of person. |
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Next topic: Results
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