Mental
Edge
Article
3: 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.~*
