Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success

But, to my own shock, when I tried to set an anchor, it didn’t take. No anchor was set. So I tried again, and again, and again.

Nothing. No result.

So I tried focusing on different memories—older memories, newer memories, recent memories, memories where I was selling, memories where I was training salespeople, memories when I was speaking onstage—but no matter how powerful the memories were, and no matter how many times I tried to use the five sensory modalities to get to the absolute pinnacle of the state, in my heart of hearts I knew I hadn’t gotten there.

The necessity of having to be at the absolute peak of a state in order to successfully set an anchor makes this strategy extraordinarily tough to execute. Whether you have someone guiding you through the process or not, to actually manufacture an artificial state of absolute certainty—I mean, to truly-truly do this, with no bullshit or exaggeration—is a major long shot, and most importantly, it’s also prone to massive self-delusion, where people try to talk themselves into having succeeded because they desperately want the benefit.

In fact, when it comes to setting an anchor with NLP, I’ve seen more of that well-meaning self-delusion than anything, especially at live events, where people feel compelled to go along with the crowd, so they jump up and down and cheer and clap their hands and scream the word “yes” like wild banshees, and then high-five each other over the “successful” anchor they’ve just set.

The stark reality, however, is that the numerous benefits they’re getting from being in an elevated state—they’ll learn faster, they’ll remember more, they’ll have an experience that they’ll never forget (and that they’ll buy tickets for again!)—are only temporary.

So where am I going with all this?

Well, in the end, what I eventually came to realize was that the only surefire way for me to be truly at that ultra-intense level of absolute certainty that’s required to set a legitimate anchor was to wait until I was actually in that state organically and set my anchor then.

In other words, why try to manufacture an ultrapeak state of absolute certainty through a series of powerful yet entirely subjective NLP techniques and never really know if I ever got there? All I had to do was wait until I closed a really big sale, in the real world, which caused me to pop me into a peak state of absolute certainty organically, and then, right then—and I mean right then, in that very instant—when I was basking in the afterglow of closing an awesome sale, and I knew in every cell of my body that I truly was in an organic state of absolute certainty, as opposed to an artificially manufactured imitation, I would bring out my BoomBoom and take a giant whiff up each nostril —boom! boom!—and just like that, I’d have set myself one powerful anchor.

Anchor

So to sum it all up: with zero preparation, beyond simply choosing what state you want to anchor, all you have to do is wait for that awesome moment when you close a really big sale (or any situation that causes you to organically pop into a state of absolute certainty, or absolute anything, for that matter), and then, right then, in that very instant, when that moment hits, you whip out your tube of BoomBoom, unscrew the cap, take a deep, prodigious blast up each nostril so you can literally feel the rush of the mint and citrus bathing your olfactory nerves, giving you that pleasant, invigorating burn. Then ball your hands into a pair of fists and start squeezing tightly, with your fingernails digging into your palms so you can really feel it, and belt out the word “yes” in a forceful yet controlled manner, so the bulk of the volume and power is directed inward, right to your solar plexus, where it resonates with your heart and soul and liver and loins and your very gizzard itself. And that’s it. You’ve just set yourself an extremely powerful anchor that you can use the next time you’re about to enter a sales encounter.

Here’s how it looks, laid out in steps:

Step #1: Choose a state

Like before, let’s choose a state of absolute certainty.

Step #2: Set your anchor

You wait for a very specific moment, and then take out your BoomBoom, unscrew the top, and follow the steps above—take a massive blast up each nostril and then ball your hands up into fists and dig your fingernails into your palms, and belt out the word “yes” in a powerful yet controlled manner.

Then, ten seconds later, with the scent of BoomBoom still lingering but the initial rush gone, repeat the process again.

And that, as they say, is that.

You’ve anchored in a state of absolute certainty.