Introduction to NLP |
Introduction
The Neuro-Linguistic Programming course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to enhance the person you are and promote positive changes for yourself and your clients.
You will explore the history behind Neuro Linguistic Programming and by developing your mind, attain the skills required to achieve. The mind is a powerful, exciting tool that can be trained to open many doors, which in return will reward you in many ways. During the experience and rewards of NLP training, your clients, family members and work colleagues will be able to share in your new gained wealth.
You will explore the history behind Neuro Linguistic Programming and by developing your mind, attain the skills required to achieve. The mind is a powerful, exciting tool that can be trained to open many doors, which in return will reward you in many ways. During the experience and rewards of NLP training, your clients, family members and work colleagues will be able to share in your new gained wealth.
A Brief History of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Richard Bandler and John Grinder introduced NLP to the world in the mid 1970’s. John Grinder was a professor of Linguistics at the University of California in Santa Cruz and Richard Bandler was studying mathematics.
Together, and with a deep interest of human behaviour, they began to study the work of effective ‘change agents’ of the time in the world of therapy, psychology, hypnotherapy and linguistics.
Through their studies they began to realise that all human behaviour and experience has a ‘structure’ to it. We all posses our own unique ‘mental map’ of what is happening at any moment in time and this ‘mental map’ is subjective; it’s as unique as our finger print. Hence, Richard Bandler’s official definition of NLP: The study of subjective behaviour.
Other common definitions of NLP are:
‘A toolkit for personal and organisational change’ and ‘The study of what makes us ‘tick’
If we can understand our own ‘mental map’ and that of those that we work with, we are able to communicate more effectively, build rapport with those that we work with, break through habits and barriers to change and shift our mindset to improve attitude. Armed with the NLP toolkit, we can help to facilitate and coach improved performance in any area of life, including health, fitness and well being.
NLP Presuppositions
The NLP Encyclopaedia, (Robert Dilts 2007) refers to ‘NLP Presuppositions’, which are core concepts that guide us on a journey through life, just like ‘signposts’ that guide our direction when driving.
Presuppositions are ‘useful assumptions’ to make in order to create an attitude and mindset for coaching and for success. Some of these assumptions may already resonate with you and some may take a while for you to connect with. It really is worth while ‘trying on’ these assumptions and ‘acting as if’ they are true because they will give you greater flexibility and choice about how you perceive the world and the people in it.
THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY:
London is a territory and there are many kinds of maps of London (underground map, A to Z, GPS Map, tourist map, bus map etc.). In the same way, the world is the territory in which we all live, however people perceptions and ‘mental maps’ of the world differ. Our ‘map’ is our comfort zone, which holds all of our beliefs, values, experiences, memories and skills. All learning takes place at the edge of our map and what may sometimes feel uncomfortable is merely unfamiliar. No one map is right or wrong, they are just different.
WE ARE ALL PARTS OF A SYSTEM:
The mind and the body are all parts of an interconnected system. Whatever happens in one part will affect all other parts of the same system. For example, if we change the way we think then we are likely to change the way we feel.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE, ONLY FEEDBACK:
If what you are doing isn’t working, then do something different. From each mistake we make, we have an opportunity to learn something new.
WE ALREADY HAVE THE RESOURCES WE NEED, OR WE CAN CREATE THEM:
We may not always feel resourced with confidence or motivation but it is likely that we have, in some past context or other. This resource can be transferred into any situation because that confidence or motivation has a structure to it and it can be ‘modelled’ and replicated. We can also borrow resources from others by ‘acting as if’ we have them. Confidence and motivation are examples of resources.
ALL BEHAVIOUR HAS, OR ONCE DID HAVE, A POSITIVE INTENTION:
Everyone makes the best choices available to them at the time. Even though our behaviour might not always be the most appropriate, it will serve a positive intention, or at some time did. e.g. smoking helps some people RELAX.
THE MEANING OF OUR COMMUNICATION IS THE RESPONSE WE GET:
Resistance in another person is a sign of a lack of rapport. There is no such thing as a resistant person; their resistance is merely feedback about how we can alter our own communication with them. Our communication is our responsibility. If it’s not working, we need to change it.
IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE WANT, WE END UP SOMEWHERE ELSE:
If we don’t set outcomes and goals then, chances are, we will end up somewhere that doesn’t serve us or fulfil us.
THOSE WHO ARE FLEXIBLE HAVE MOST INFLUENCE:
We cannot control others or the situation but we can control our response and reaction to them or it.
OUR REALITY IS ONLY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE TRUE:
When we realise that the world is made up of what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell, then we are free to create the world that we want.
THE WORLD IS AN ABUNDANT PLACE:
To think otherwise is to make it so.
You are invited to use these NLP Presuppositions to ‘sign post’ your way through any coaching session with your clients. You may connect more with some presuppositions than others, however, they have been offered up by past generations of NLP on the basis that they will serve you well.
Presuppositions are ‘useful assumptions’ to make in order to create an attitude and mindset for coaching and for success. Some of these assumptions may already resonate with you and some may take a while for you to connect with. It really is worth while ‘trying on’ these assumptions and ‘acting as if’ they are true because they will give you greater flexibility and choice about how you perceive the world and the people in it.
THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY:
London is a territory and there are many kinds of maps of London (underground map, A to Z, GPS Map, tourist map, bus map etc.). In the same way, the world is the territory in which we all live, however people perceptions and ‘mental maps’ of the world differ. Our ‘map’ is our comfort zone, which holds all of our beliefs, values, experiences, memories and skills. All learning takes place at the edge of our map and what may sometimes feel uncomfortable is merely unfamiliar. No one map is right or wrong, they are just different.
WE ARE ALL PARTS OF A SYSTEM:
The mind and the body are all parts of an interconnected system. Whatever happens in one part will affect all other parts of the same system. For example, if we change the way we think then we are likely to change the way we feel.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE, ONLY FEEDBACK:
If what you are doing isn’t working, then do something different. From each mistake we make, we have an opportunity to learn something new.
WE ALREADY HAVE THE RESOURCES WE NEED, OR WE CAN CREATE THEM:
We may not always feel resourced with confidence or motivation but it is likely that we have, in some past context or other. This resource can be transferred into any situation because that confidence or motivation has a structure to it and it can be ‘modelled’ and replicated. We can also borrow resources from others by ‘acting as if’ we have them. Confidence and motivation are examples of resources.
ALL BEHAVIOUR HAS, OR ONCE DID HAVE, A POSITIVE INTENTION:
Everyone makes the best choices available to them at the time. Even though our behaviour might not always be the most appropriate, it will serve a positive intention, or at some time did. e.g. smoking helps some people RELAX.
THE MEANING OF OUR COMMUNICATION IS THE RESPONSE WE GET:
Resistance in another person is a sign of a lack of rapport. There is no such thing as a resistant person; their resistance is merely feedback about how we can alter our own communication with them. Our communication is our responsibility. If it’s not working, we need to change it.
IF WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE WANT, WE END UP SOMEWHERE ELSE:
If we don’t set outcomes and goals then, chances are, we will end up somewhere that doesn’t serve us or fulfil us.
THOSE WHO ARE FLEXIBLE HAVE MOST INFLUENCE:
We cannot control others or the situation but we can control our response and reaction to them or it.
OUR REALITY IS ONLY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE TRUE:
When we realise that the world is made up of what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell, then we are free to create the world that we want.
THE WORLD IS AN ABUNDANT PLACE:
To think otherwise is to make it so.
You are invited to use these NLP Presuppositions to ‘sign post’ your way through any coaching session with your clients. You may connect more with some presuppositions than others, however, they have been offered up by past generations of NLP on the basis that they will serve you well.
The Four Pillars of NLP
The Four Pillars of NLP are four essential factors for effective NLP Coaching and we will return to them again and again throughout this course. The Four Pillars are:
RAPPORT
The effectiveness of communication between yourself and others and the degree of bonding and relationship. Some might say, the level of influence.
OUTCOME THINKING
Knowing what is wanted in any situation and guiding thinking towards this outcome, consistently.
SENSORY ACUITY
Having the ability to pay attention to our own and someone else’s experience. Fine tuning our senses to notice detail about what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell and gathering enough evidence to know how to transport them towards their outcomes.
FLEXIBILITY
Knowing that we always have a choice about how we respond in any situation. If what we are doing isn’t working, do something different. Helping clients to be flexible, in their thinking, is key to success in coaching.
RAPPORT
The effectiveness of communication between yourself and others and the degree of bonding and relationship. Some might say, the level of influence.
OUTCOME THINKING
Knowing what is wanted in any situation and guiding thinking towards this outcome, consistently.
SENSORY ACUITY
Having the ability to pay attention to our own and someone else’s experience. Fine tuning our senses to notice detail about what they see, hear, feel, taste and smell and gathering enough evidence to know how to transport them towards their outcomes.
FLEXIBILITY
Knowing that we always have a choice about how we respond in any situation. If what we are doing isn’t working, do something different. Helping clients to be flexible, in their thinking, is key to success in coaching.
NLP and Modelling
How is it that some people can be highly motivated to exercise and eat a healthy diet and some people, despite their best intentions, seem to fall at the first hurdle? What’s the difference that makes the difference?
Behavioral modeling in NLP is the study of how people become successful or achieve outstanding results in their lives – and how people get less than welcome results as well.
NLP Modeling helps us to explore and discover what accounts for the results that people achieve. In other words what are their thoughts, behaviours, skills, beliefs, values and other attitudinal qualities that they use to do what they do and get the results that they get.
Behavioral modeling in NLP is the study of how people become successful or achieve outstanding results in their lives – and how people get less than welcome results as well.
NLP Modeling helps us to explore and discover what accounts for the results that people achieve. In other words what are their thoughts, behaviours, skills, beliefs, values and other attitudinal qualities that they use to do what they do and get the results that they get.
Attitude & Mindset
You might have heard people say “It’s all about attitude” or "It's all about your mindset". But what are they exactly? Attitude and mindset dictate:
We have certain thoughts about any situation we are in. We also have a certain emotional response to it and behave in a certain way as a result of this. If we want to change our attitude, we either need to change our thinking, the way we act or the way we feel. Changing the way we think and act will result in a change of the way we feel.
Many people try to change their emotions through less than healthy ‘vehicles’ such as alcohol, overeating, overspending and gambling. If we feel sad, angry, lonely, or disappointed, for instance. We might even use these same vehicles to ‘amplify’ positive feelings in order to celebrate our successes in life. Either way, we are using the ‘vehicles’ to either amplify or rid ourselves of an emotion.
The problem is that we can’t take a feeling and force it to change. Feelings are powerful but intangible. If we want to change the way we feel then we need to change our thinking, what we are doing, or a combination of both. All three are interlinked and, when we change one of them, this will have a knock effect on the others.
If we change what we think and change what we do, our emotions will change and we will be able to perform at our best in any situation. If we want to help our clients to exercise more, eat more healthy foods and challenge their fitness levels, then we can use NLP, within our training sessions, to change the thinking and feelings that lead to outstanding performance.
- What we think
- What we do
- How we feel
We have certain thoughts about any situation we are in. We also have a certain emotional response to it and behave in a certain way as a result of this. If we want to change our attitude, we either need to change our thinking, the way we act or the way we feel. Changing the way we think and act will result in a change of the way we feel.
Many people try to change their emotions through less than healthy ‘vehicles’ such as alcohol, overeating, overspending and gambling. If we feel sad, angry, lonely, or disappointed, for instance. We might even use these same vehicles to ‘amplify’ positive feelings in order to celebrate our successes in life. Either way, we are using the ‘vehicles’ to either amplify or rid ourselves of an emotion.
The problem is that we can’t take a feeling and force it to change. Feelings are powerful but intangible. If we want to change the way we feel then we need to change our thinking, what we are doing, or a combination of both. All three are interlinked and, when we change one of them, this will have a knock effect on the others.
If we change what we think and change what we do, our emotions will change and we will be able to perform at our best in any situation. If we want to help our clients to exercise more, eat more healthy foods and challenge their fitness levels, then we can use NLP, within our training sessions, to change the thinking and feelings that lead to outstanding performance.
Present State Versus Desired State
NLP provides a toolkit that will support the process of helping someone to move from their present situation (state) to their desired situation (state).
‘State’ refers to the overall emotional, physiological and psychological condition of an individual. It involves the beliefs, values, skills and behaviour within a context at a particular time. The concept of ‘state’ can also be applied to a family, organisation or any social or cultural system.
‘State’ refers to the overall emotional, physiological and psychological condition of an individual. It involves the beliefs, values, skills and behaviour within a context at a particular time. The concept of ‘state’ can also be applied to a family, organisation or any social or cultural system.
Coaching with an NLP toolkit is like transporting someone from where they are to where they want to be.
Checking for Ecology
A key step in any NLP intervention is an ecology check. An ecology check is assessing the impact that any change in behaviour will have on a persons life, work, family, friends etc.
If someone wants to spend more time working out in the gym, for example, the time spent doing exercise impacts on their time spent at work or with their family. As a result they may well disregard all of their good intentions by spending their time at work and/or at home watching TV at the expense of their fitness.
An ecology check also considers the positive intention that may be hidden behind a behaviour. It may be that overeating or smoking helps someone to relax when they might otherwise be stressed. The by-product of overeating and smoking is therefore, relaxation. If this person has no other ‘vehicles’ to relax in their life then they will keep using overeating and smoking in order to relax. Relaxation is the positive intention behind that behaviour.
Unless we coach the individual to find other way to relax their attempts at change are likely to be thwarted.
If someone wants to spend more time working out in the gym, for example, the time spent doing exercise impacts on their time spent at work or with their family. As a result they may well disregard all of their good intentions by spending their time at work and/or at home watching TV at the expense of their fitness.
An ecology check also considers the positive intention that may be hidden behind a behaviour. It may be that overeating or smoking helps someone to relax when they might otherwise be stressed. The by-product of overeating and smoking is therefore, relaxation. If this person has no other ‘vehicles’ to relax in their life then they will keep using overeating and smoking in order to relax. Relaxation is the positive intention behind that behaviour.
Unless we coach the individual to find other way to relax their attempts at change are likely to be thwarted.
Future Pacing
Future pacing enables us to perform some mental rehearsal of what it would be like to have achieved our outcome. Mental rehearsal is a very powerful tool for performance enhancement as it stimulates areas of the brain that are involved in ‘real’ physical performance. Some would say that the brain doesn’t know the difference between what is ‘real’ and what is ‘imagined’.
Setting Well Informed Outcomes
Sometimes people climb a ladder in life only to discover that it’s propped up against the wrong wall. They set goals and take action towards those goals and yet feel unfulfilled or dissatisfied, even when they are getting results. It’s only when we set ‘well formed outcomes’ that we discover what it is that we REALLY want in our lives and, very importantly, what it is that we don’t want. Both are equally important.
OUTCOME |
VALUES OF OUTCOME |
What do you want? What would you like to have happen? |
What is important about that? How will it benefit you? |
EVIDENCE OF OUTCOME |
RESPONSIBILITY & BARRIERS? |
How will you know when you’ve got it? How will others know? What will you and others see, hear and feel that is different? |
What has stopped you so far? What will you have to do differently? |
ECOLOGY CHECK & POSITIVE INTENTION |
FUTURE PACE |
What impact will this outcome have on your life, work and others? Are you sure you want it? Are there any positive by-products of staying as you are? |
Float off 5 years into the future. Looking back from then, what were the first steps you took towards your outcome? |
Understanding these core concepts of NLP will help us to navigate the following lessons to truly understand how we can shape our minds and the minds of our clients.