What Is NLP?

Written by: Chris Howard

Revolutionising the way we learn, communicate, interact with others and approach our goals, NLP(Neuro Linguistic Programming) has been likened to a manual for the human brain. Bypassing the ineffective process of trial and error, NLP models the actions of those who are highly successful to unlock and replicate what it is that has lead to their success.

How was NLP developed?

NLP began in the early 1970s when two Americans, a mathematician called Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder, asked themselves a simple but fascinating question: "What is it that makes the difference between somebody who is merely competent at any given skill, and somebody who excels at the same skill?"

Building upon the extraordinary work of therapists Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls, and cognitive behavioural psychology, Bandler and Grinder developed formal linguistic and behavioural patterns that went on to become the cornerstone of NLP practices and techniques today.

How does NLP work?

Using specific language patterns to cut through established behavioural and learning patterns, NLP works to change, adopt, or eliminate behaviours as you desire. Updating or upgrading the “menta software” of the brain through directed questioning, reframing, visualisation and modelling, among the hundreds of NLP techniques.

What sets NLP apart from other therapy techniques is the speed at which the profound change occurs. NLP directly targets the way in which we ‘filter’, delete, and generalize the two million pieces of information we receive through our sensory channels each second. Out of the two million ‘bits’ of information we receive we only process seven (plus or minus two) chunks. This means that, out of everything that is happening, we only focus, and therefore only experience, a minute amount.

Think of your focus as being like a flashlight. If you were standing in a dark room with wealth in one corner and poverty in the other, your experience in life would be based upon where you’re pointing your flashlight at any given time. Do you have the flashlight of your focus on wealth, or on poverty?

Aside from providing the ‘wow’ transforming moments, it is NLP’s effectiveness lies in its simplicity and naturalness of concept. It uses the very way in which we make sense of environment - linguistic patterns (speech and self talk), as the method of changing a person ‘filters’ which in turn changes their whole focus.

No psycho babble, no showman techniques, just simple yet powerful techniques to shift your conscious and unconscious focus from the negative and limiting to achieving your true goals. Imparting the skills ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well being at any time, NLP overhauls your communication skills both internally and externally. This transforms your relationships and outcomes. With NLP, you learn to grow from every life experience, thus increasing your capacity to choose create a better quality of life.

Real Tangible Results

What makes Richard Branson or Warren Buffet (the second richest man in the world) so successful? Their focus and perspective. Warren views every dollar (right down to the 20¢ he finds on the ground) in terms of its potential investment potential with compounding interest. So while we may view it as only enough to buy a musk stick, all of his purchasing decisions are weighed against opportunities for investment. Model his investment strategies (and more importantly his focus) and you have a ‘recipe’ for his success. (of course you may not want to become wealthy in the same way he has, but that is your decision)

From drowning in debt to debt free and kicking career goals in 18 months, to understanding and repairing previously unsalvageable relationships, tripling a sales based income in thirty days, falling in love, losing 35 kilos, to achieving absolute clarity and finding ones life purpose, NLP techniques have produced resounding change among every aspect of human experience.

What does NLP Do?

• NLP helps you find out what you want and how you can get what you want.

• NLP teaches you to communicate more successfully and create the right climate for success.

• NLP increases your sensitivity towards others body language and signals and teaches you to maintain good relationships with those close and not so close to you.

• NLP opens doors to hidden resources, improves your ability to concentrate, your ability to learn and paves the way for new possibilities.

• NLP changes your behaviour positively so that you can handle negative experiences and eliminate phobias, stress, guilty feelings and depression.

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