Mental Edge

Anticipate Excellence:  Having That Mental Edge Will Bring Results

Believe and achieve.  In George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, a snobby Englishman claims he can transform a working-class girl into a "lady."  He teaches her to think, talk and behave as if she were upper-class, and as a result, she becomes upper-class.  The moral of the play is that if you believe you are a certain way, and act as if you are that way, that's the way you'll be.

Not long ago, education specialists decided to test this theory in the classroom.  They discovered that when teachers believed certain students would do better in school--regardless of the pupil's abilities--the students believed in themselves as well and achieved more than their peers.  The educators dubbed this process "the Pygmalion effect."

Ok, so what does this have to do with growing taller?

The idea that what you believe is what you'll become can be a powerful training tool.  If you know that the results you expect will influence the results you'll get, then it's time to start changing your expectations.  Anticipate excellence, and you're likely to experience it.  Anticipate mediocrity, and you'll manage to find some.

If you want to be taller you need to fine tune your thought processing patterns into believing that you are taller.  Your body will do its best to make that belief a reality.

"Our research shows that people who believe they're growing are likely to become taller."   In one study, researchers put people who saw themselves as short individuals on a 14-week workout program designed to change their "height identity." "By the end, they had developed a self-image in which they saw themselves as taller ."   Not only did they want to keep working out, but they kept at it despite minor  illnesses or time constraints that might have caused less-dedicated people to drop out.  "If you a have a basic belief that you're growing and you encounter an obstacle, you'll do what it takes to get by that obstacle." 

The longer you keep at this, the more effective it will be.  In fact, researchers have found that people who have been improving their height for at least five months obtain the best results simply because they believe in themselves.

But while pushing yourself can be a confidence booster, it's vital that you don't set goals that are unrealistic.  Aiming too high can lead to mistakes and injuries, or cause you to give up when your progress isn't what you expected.

Whatever your goals are, you can keep them in focus by entering them in a logbook or a computer and tracking your progress.  This will allow you to readjust your expectations when necessary, and congratulate yourself on a job well done.~*