Tony Robbins starts each day with the same routine– he calls it priming. It’s a cool mixture of breathing exercises, meditation, and relaxation that gets you primed for your day. It reminds me very much of the self-fulfilling prophecy, or the “Pygmalion Effect,” which basically states that whatever you believe will happen, will.
Mr, Robbins really knows how to drive people to be motivated. Including me. I buy into priming just like I buy into the self fulfilling prophecy.
Let me explain the self fulfilling prophecy before we get back to priming. The prophecy, for example, is when you go to bed, stressed, bitching, and moaning about how difficult life is and what a horrible day you will have tomorrow. Sure enough, tomorrow comes and you’re in a bad mood, stressed, and bitching and moaning. It also goes the other way though– you go to bed thinking tomorrow is going to be great, and then the next day– you feel great.
As I teach to my students, the self fulfilling prophecy applies to management as well. If a manager in their heart of hearts believes his or her workers are lazy, misguided, or simply incompetent, then your natural communications and action with the employees sets this tone, and eventually the employees behave as if they are lazy, misguided, and/or incompetent. The prophecy comes true.
To me, self fulfillment is at the heart of Tony Robbins priming routine. It’s pure positivity through breathing and thought. You are priming yourself to be positive and productive for the day.
The act of positive priming is self fulfilling for yourself– after you do the priming you feel positive, robust, thankful, and energized. These attributes surely will lead you to be more productive each and every day.
I especially am fond of two certain parts of Tony’s priming routine:
First, the simple touch of your chest and your heart beating with your breathing is strangely calming and exhilarating simultaneously. There is a hybrid mix in my head when I do this part, as I get a little freaked out listening and feeling my heart beat, but at the same time there is a feeling of calmness knowing I am alive, breathing, and beating.
Another aspect of priming that’s appealing to me is the thankful thoughts of three things. Tony recommends at least one of these three to be a simple thankfulness, such as a smiling child. This is where I tend to think of family and being grateful to be a teacher. It creates warmth for me. The gratitude that flows out is sincere and deep. You are only sharing this with yourself, to contemplate and rejuvenate. There is no b.s. involved. It’s sincere because you are only addressing yourself.
I highly recommend priming and urge you to read more about it, maybe watch a demo, and give it a try.