Metaphors And Motivation

Hearing hidden metaphors is a fantastically useful skill: it can help you understand people and what drives them at a whole new level.

But when it comes to the person you want to understand – and influence – most of all, it seems that there’s a problem. Because hearing your own metaphors is more difficult than hearing other people’s.

I’d love to be able to pick up on the six metaphors a minute that I’m sure I’m using in everyday language. I’d love to have all those clues to how I’m getting myself stuck and turning my life into a struggle, so I could do something different. But I’m resigned to doing without at least some of this info.

However, just because I can’t hear all my own metaphors doesn’t mean I can’t use metaphor to influence myself at an unconscious level. In fact, I use it every day.

Here are a couple of examples:

• I make sure I have a high-protein, low-carb breakfast with 30 minutes of waking. The idea is that the body takes this as a metaphor for “there’s plenty of nutritious food here” and therefore feels safe to reduce its reserves of fat. Whether the theory’s true or not, the practice seems to be working.

• When I’m feeling challenged in my work, I get outdoors for a challenging hill run in the sunshine. research has shown that looking up, and being high up, make people feel “up”; physical activity is great for resolving a low mood. And my experience has been that once my body has experienced overcoming a challenge, my mind is happy to have another go at the challenge that’s on my desk.

How do you use metaphor to influence your mind and body?