INSPEDITION: To notice/research with an inward focus 'what works' (ie what is going on within you, e.g. beliefs, feelings, thoughts, expectations)

Turn you attention inside and begin discovering!

It is absolutely clear that what goes on on the inside affects how we behave and communicate on the outside. It affects results and outcomes. It can hold us back or help us to really soar!

Sports people know how important it is to get the 'inner' processes right in order to win. It applies to so many other areas of life though. It applies to performance in business. It applies to how a person copes with life events. It applies to education. It applies to any area of life where you want to achieve something - where you want to 'do' the inner stuff better to get better outcomes.

Yes we actually 'do' beliefs, feelings, thoughts and expectations!

I used to think I was simply a passive 'victim' of these inner processes and structures. The truth is that many of our inner processes seem to 'just happen' because we are well-practised at 'doing them'. Just like sometimes when I drive my car on a journey it is as if I 'just got there' because I was operating at an unconscious level - such is the familiarity and the level of practise that I have had at driving on particular journeys. It is exactly the same for our 'inner' processes.

Now if our well-practised processes that we engage in 'inside' are working well for us then we do not need to change them. However, there are likely to be some variations in our 'inner world' according to whether we are performing at our best or at our worst in a particular activity or situation. If we can go on an inspedition and discover exactly what these variations are we can choose to 'do' more of 'what works'.

As an example: A business client says that he experiences anxiety when presenting to a group of strangers and yet he is confident when presenting to a group of people that he already knows (even people who are very senior to him in the corporate hierarchy).

The client does some inspedition by imagining himself in those two different situations and discovers that he is doing different 'inner' stuff in each situation. He was well practised at it. So much so that unless he had taken the time to go on an inspedition he probably never would have realised he was 'doing' anything at all.

He discovers that he does confidence on the inside in the following way:

• He focuses on and notices friendly expressions.
• He fixes his attention on individuals rather than the 'whole' group
• He breathes slowly and low down in the body (belly breathing)
• He thinks in a confident sounding voice (loud, firm, friendly, assured, steady)
• He scales himself up in his perception of height in relation to others in the room
• He makes a sensation in his tummy that he can liken to an escalator rising slowly inside non-stop
• He operates to a belief that everyone is interested in what he has to say and values his contribution (he 'does' this belief through self-talk saying things like 'here we go' 'I can see they are ready' 'They are looking forward to this' 'I'm the man of the moment' and other phrases)

There were more details that he noticed and there is enough there for you to get the idea of what he does when he is doing confidence.

Contrast this to how he does anxiety:

• He focuses on and notices the most expressionless faces
• He makes guesses at what these people are thinking and speculates that they are thinking he 'is no good' or 'an idiot'.
• He looks out for any sign that could possibly be interpreted as disapproval from anyone and ignores any other possible interpretations
• He scales himself down in his perception of height so that he seems smaller than the other people in the room
• He breathes high and fast
• He thinks in a voice that is very rapid, high pitched and tense
• He makes a sensation in his tummy that is like a rapidly spinning ball bouncing around inside.
• He operates to a belief that people have no interest in what he has to say and thinks he has nothing of value to offer (he 'does' this belief by saying phrases in his head like 'what am I doing here?' 'Why me?' 'what can I tell them?' 'they are bored already' 'they don't want to hear from me' and so on

Now the way that this person 'does' confidence and anxiety is a very personal thing. Different people will 'do' their inner stuff differently (just as different people will drive in different ways to some extent). There may be some overlap between people. You may have spotted things that this person does that you are becoming aware that you do too.

So why is this useful? Well quite naturally when you discover what you are doing that 'isn't working' you will want to stop doing it and find a useful replacement set of things to do. It may be that you 'play' with what is not working and experiment with it until you find it works better (eg playing around with the tone of thinking voice).

It may be that you 'find' suitable replacement inner stuff to 'do' through 'inspedition' ie finding out what you are doing already that 'works' and transferring this over to situations where you want to do things better. You may also discover how other people 'do' inner stuff more usefully (this is part of what is referred to as 'expedition' in my eBook 'Oops I dropped a vowel!') and then apply some of their active inner processes to yourself. You may of course combine what you learn through playing / experimenting, 'inspedition' and 'expedition' to get better outcomes.

So how can you discover what you are doing inside?

Well think of a situation where you would like to get better outcomes (eg a situation where you are 'doing' fear or stress or anxiety or anger). Then you may wish to contrast this with a situation where you are 'on top form' and achieving superb results that you would love to transfer to other situations (eg a situation where you are 'doing' confidence, calm, or happy). Then allow yourself to notice what you notice about the inner processes you are 'doing'.

Here are some possible things to attend to:

• How loud is my thinking voice?
• What direction does my thinking voice come from and does it seem close or far away?
• What tone is my thinking voice?
• How fast is my thinking voice?
• What pictures come to mind when I think of that situation?
• Can I see me in the pictures?
• Are they in colour or black and white?
• Are they sharp and clear or blurred?
• Are they moving or still?
• Where am I breathing? What speed and what depth of breathing?
• What beliefs am I operating to - what do I believe about this situation?
• What am I saying to myself?
• What can I smell or taste?
• What sensations am I creating inside my body and where? What do I imagine these sensations would look like if they had a shape, colour, size etc?
• What am I focusing on in this situation?
• What am I ignoring in this situation?
• What interpretations am I making (out of a range of possible interpretations) about what I am focusing on?

Of course, discovering 'what works' inside is not enough to change outcomes. You would also need to apply what you learn to make a difference (='onwards'). Click here) to see more.

Also, inner discovery is not the only way to find out 'what works'. Discovery beyond your inner self (external focus) can provide lots of important information about 'what works'.

Remember, self-discovery and self improvement should be FUN! Play with this stuff and experiment and explore and you'll have a whale of a time as you take control of creating better and better outcomes!

Learn more about the 'Vowel Success Structure' when you read 'Oops I dropped a vowel!' Download your FREE sample here: http://www.bookshaker.com/

(c) Copyright 2004 Tony Burgess. All Rights Reserved.