The Benefits of Future Pacing

In anybody's beginning hypnosis training course, one of the topics that will come up is the use of hypnotic triggers. Related to NLP anchoring, hypnotic triggers allow you to access your hypnotic effects and outcomes by using a simple action such as touching your elbow or squeezing your thumb. This action is "anchored" to your trance state, or if you're using classical hypnosis language, it "triggers" your posthypnotic suggestions into effect.

But the problem is, what if you forget to use your triggers when you need them?  Do you need a trigger for remembering your triggers?

This is where the concept of future pacing comes in. Future pacing is essentially the process of rehearsing the use of your new behaviors at some future time, while you're still in trance. By doing this rehearsal, you can become comfortable with the new behaviors and at the same time, you're effectively anchoring the situation itself as the trigger for the desired behavior.  This eliminates the need to consciously fire off triggers on yourself or on others and allows you to move through life with your enhanced behaviors effortlessly.

Don't forget to remember to build a good 4-tuple, using all of the senses, when you future pace. See what you'll see, hear what you'll hear, feel what you'll feel, and smell/taste what you will when you're performing so well that you surprise and amaze yourself!