How to Access Beliefs That Are Holding You Back

Create More Now Community TeleEvent Worksheet

Facilitated by Adele Michal
Business Coach for Conscious Entrepreneurs

“TENNIS UMPIRE” Technique to Access Hidden Beliefs

(Called “Perceptual Positions” in Neurolinguistic Programming)

There are 3 Positions in this Technique, just like in a tennis match – two players and an umpire. Your objective is to be able to move into each position clearly when you want to gain the advantage that each offers.

Position 1 = Self – this is the position on the tennis court where you are in your own body, looking out of your eyes, thinking your thoughts, and feeling your feelings.

“Self” is the position where you want to “live” most of the time in order to fully experience your life and emotions.

Position 2 = Other – this is the position on the tennis court where you imagine that you are in another person’s body, looking out of their eyes, thinking their thoughts, and feeling their feelings.

“Other” is the position you visit in order to understand another person’s experience and develop empathy for them.

Position 3 = Objective Observer or TENNIS UMPIRE. The tennis chair umpire sits above the tennis game, can see both players easily, and maintains an objective perspective about the game. The tennis umpire is not on the court, but makes the calls for ball out of bounds, net serves, and foot faults.

The “Tennis Umpire” position gives you the unique perspective of watching interactions with subdued emotion, observing each player, and discerning what is going on. This is the position to adopt when you want to gain more clarity about a situation, to step out of an emotional reaction, and to regain your sense of humor.

If someone gets stuck in the “Tennis Umpire” position and cannot access the other positions, s/he is experienced as aloof, uncaring, or unemotional.

Practicing the “Tennis Umpire” Technique

Imagine that you are having a conversation with someone else. You are standing on opposite sides of the tennis net, but you can easily hear each other.

1. Start off in your own body, looking at the other person out of your own eyes, hearing through your ears, thinking your thoughts, feeling your feelings. Notice what you are experiencing. This is the SELF position. This is where you spend most of your time - where you live.
2. Now imagine moving over into the other person’s body. Imagine looking out of her eyes back at yourself, hearing out of her ears, thinking her thoughts, feeling her feelings. Notice what you are experiencing. This is the OTHER position. You may notice that it is easy to gather information here, to imagine what another is thinking and feeling, and to develop empathy for the other person. This is a position to visit, not to live in, because you want to understand others, but live in your own experience.
3. Move back into your body, into SELF position. Notice what you experience.
4. Now move into the TENNIS UMPIRE position. You are above the conversation, but you can hear everything that is being said. You can easily and objectively observe what is going on. You make observations about each player. Your emotions are diminished. Notice what you experience in this position.
5. Move back into your body, into SELF position. Make note of your experience and the differences you notice.

Imagine that you are standing on a tennis court across the net from a “Business Situation” that you have been grappling with or are concerned about. This “Business Situation” could be cash flow, attracting more clients or customers, gaining more clarity about what you offer, or any other business issue you are facing.

Use your imagination to determine what this “Business Situation” would look or feel like to you. There is no “right way” to represent your “Business Situation”. Stretch a bit to imagine what it would look or feel like to you.

1. Step into SELF position, into your own body, and begin the conversation with your “Business Situation”. In your imagination (or on paper or out loud), say what is on your mind to the “Business Situation” across the tennis net from you. Look out of your eyes, hear through your ears, think your thoughts, and feel your feelings.
2. When you are finished, move over into OTHER position, into the representation of your “Business Situation”. From this position, imagine how your “Business Situation” would respond to what you just said. Look out of the “Business Situation’s” eyes, hear through its ears, think its thoughts, and feel its feelings. Note what you are experiencing as the “Business Situation”.
3. When you are finished, move back into your SELF position, into your own body.
4. Now move into the TENNIS UMPIRE’s position. Look out of his eyes, hear through his ears, think his thoughts, and feel his subdued feelings . What do you observe from this position? What do you imagine that the person in SELF position is believing in order to be having the reactions s/he is having to the “Business Situation”? Again, stretch your imagination. Make something up if you have to because sometimes this is it feels like to gain access to Subconscious information about your Business Beliefs.
5. When you have finished making your objective observations from the TENNIS UMPIRE’s position, move back into SELF position, into your own body. What did you learn? What Beliefs came up? How would you like to respond to those Beliefs now that you are aware of them?

This Technique may make you stretch your imagination a bit and feel like play. Nevertheless, it can be extraordinarily helpful to get you out of repetitive patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior so that you can gain a perspective on your Beliefs. With this perspective you have more choice about what you want to believe going forward. As you change your Beliefs, you will notice that your experience and results will shift as well.

Belief Downloads

With your permission, I will ask that the following Business Beliefs be downloaded from Source into your Subconscious Mind to support your success:

I easily realize what Beliefs need to change to enhance my business.
I have easy access to positive change of unwanted Beliefs.
I have support for positive change of unwanted Beliefs.
It is safe to change unwanted Beliefs.
It is safe to live with supportive Business Beliefs.
It is safe to operate with supportive Business Beliefs.
I know how to have supportive Business Beliefs now.
I know what it feels like to have supportive Business Beliefs now.

Thank you for attending this Create More Now Community TeleEvent. I appreciate your participation so much and encourage you to use this information to create more of what you want today!