Hold That Thought
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“The mind precedes all things, the mind dominates all things, the mind creates all things.” - Buddha

According to Wikipedia, NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a set of techniques, skills and beliefs that adherents use primarily as an approach to personal development. A student of mathematics, named Richard Bandler; his professor of linguistics, John Grinder; and a social scientist named Gregory Bateson developed the ideas of NLP in the mid 1970s. The three came up with a set of models and principles to explore the mind (neuro), language patterns (linguistics) and human perception, and cognitive processes into systemic patterns (programming).

NLP is based on language patterns and body language, and focuses on areas such as how subjective reality forms our beliefs, how we look at the world around us, and how our behavior can change how we believe and how we deal with traumas in our lives. What it boils down to is that NLP helps people change by teaching them to program their brains.

The developers used the unconscious mind, along with the methods that Freud used to interpret dreams, and added hypnotherapy as expounded by Milton Erikson. Any of us can use the communication and persuasion skills, and add self-hypnosis to motivate us to change our behavior and reactions.

While some are studying and trying to apply NLP to various fields, others in the scientific community have criticized the practice as unproven or pseudoscientific. There have even been disputes among the developers and advocates concerning what it is and what it is not.

The proponents do agree that those who learn NLP seem to be more effective at work and better at relationships. They insist that NLP provides the means and opportunity to develop a rich connection and bring about healing, change, and growth.

The tools and applications made available to everyone in NLP can be used in education, business, management and training programs. You may even have used the principles involved without realizing that it came from the NLP programs.

There are seminars available now to teach advanced communication skills for those in counseling, therapy, as well as other professionals in the health care community. Any professionals who work in marketing, sales, both online and offline, would benefit from this training. Those involved in business, management, and consulting, or those in the law profession, are in need of good communication skills. It would be an essential skill for those in the education field.

Learning good communication skills and using them positively and effectively can affect your self-confidence. They can have a definite impact on your social skills and leadership abilities, as well as your listening, managing, parenting, and public speaking skills. Being able to communicate effectively can mean the difference between getting good grades or bad, getting that great job or losing out, functioning socially or being a wallflower. Possession of these necessary skills can raise your self-esteem and even help you get rid of certain phobias that may have been plaguing you, such as fear of flying or fear of public speaking. These fears can cause dangerous levels of stress and anxiety, so learning how to function in today’s society can alleviate much of your stress and reduce anxious emotions. Focus and concentration depend on you feeling strong about yourself. As with babies and small children, adults learn better and faster when they are feeling confident and comfortable.

It’s important to develop meta-cognition, that is simply knowing about knowing, having a skill, whatever that happens to be, and being willing to teach others how you do it and how they can do it too.

Presuppositions

Presuppositions are the beliefs people use when applying NLP. These help them create the changes necessary to affect their world, their relationships, and themselves. There are adherents to these presuppositions as well as critics, so it’s up to each individual to decide whether these beliefs will work for them or not.

1. The first presupposition is that communication is much more than what you are saying. Body language plays a huge part in the overall communication in your everyday life, both personal and professional. It’s a good idea to study this language and make sure you know precisely what you’re telling others.

2. No one is wrong or broken. They are accomplishing what they’re accomplishing; whether it’s good or bad is beside the point.

3. We all have the resources we need to change what we need to change. The problem is that they’re not always at our fingertips at the right time. It’s up to us to find those resources and make the best possible use of them as we can.

4. Despite how people behave, their intentions are positive. It doesn’t always appear that way and their methods are not always the best choices.

5. Every behavior, whether it’s good or bad, is useful in one way or another, in some context or other.

6. The meaning of a particular communication, in your day to day life, is the response you get.

7. If you aren’t getting the response you wanted, perhaps you should try something else, or try doing it a different way. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing in the same way, but expecting a different outcome or response.

8. There is no such thing as failure; there is only feedback. Just because the outcome wasn’t your intention doesn’t mean you failed, as long as you learn from that mistake and apply it to your next attempt.

9. Having any choice is better than having no choice at all. You may think your choices are limited, but at least you do have the luxury of making a choice. It’s up to you whether you make a good one or a bad one.

10. In whatever system you use, the element with the most flexibility exerts the most influence. Try not to be too rigid in your beliefs; be as flexible as you can and you will exert more influence.

11. The map is not the territory. This means that while we cannot contain every single bit of information that we acquire in life, we can create a map of our territory, to use as a referral in our quest for information about our world.

12. If someone can do something, anyone can learn it. This particular presupposition has many critics who feel that it’s over simplistic, that it’s not always possible. It is possible that this presupposition was included to give people more hope; that they can do anything they put their minds to. A person who feels anything is possible is more likely to change their life for the better. They feel no limitations.

13. You cannot fail to communicate. It may not be a positive communication every time, but you are communicating. The trick is to learn how to make that communication positive and affirming, even uplifting. This will change your life and the lives of those around you too.

As mentioned before, NLP has its proponents and its critics, but it falls to each individual to determine whether or not they are useful. NLP was developed to help each person become the best they can be, to enhance relationships, both personal and professional.