I was recently watching a video on YouTube about how to spot a liar and toward the end of the movie, the guy mentioned something interesting. He has physical cues for himself which he uses to trigger certain states. Touching his pointer finger to his thumb recalls the state of meditation for him which helps him suppress micro-expressions when he’s negotiating. He also will raise his right big toe when he needs to remind himself to be patient with people that he doesn’t care for.

Hearing this set me to wondering: could I train myself to recall or trigger certain mental states by linking them in my mind with a physical action? I have heard of athletes doing similar things to get themselves into the zone for a play or a game, so I see no reason why it wouldn’t work.

My first cue to try is to remember not to display submissive/defensive body language. My main problem on this is when I’m tired, I will make bad eye contact and avoid confrontational situations or display generally defensive posture.

So far this seems to be working, I’m not sure if it’s actually that the physical cue is actually helping, but it does aid in reminding myself to be aware of my actions. So perhaps that alone is worth the effort.