What is Neuro Linguistic Programming?

You may have heard of the term Neuro Linguistic Programming, or ‘NLP’ but do you know what it is?

Neuro Linguistic Programming is a simple yet powerful tool that ‘reprograms’ the subconscious area of the brain.  This is something you may wish use to overcome issues such as phobias, bad habits, addictions or lack of motivation.

I have studied NLP for a number of years, mostly related to motivation and business, this technique is now very common for sales people, it’s a way of harvesting motivation and positive energy which helps you to meet your goals and objectives regardless of the obstacles in your path.

Unfortunately as humans we are mostly pessimistic.  This is because during our childhood when we are learning the most we are constantly told ‘Don’t do that’ or ‘You can’t have that’ more so than positive reinforcements.  This means it’s often easier to think that we can’t do something.

So how do I get started?

There is a lot of medical research relating to NLP but I’m not a doctor, I won’t try to explain the detail of what’s happening in the brain.  It is similar in many ways to hypnosis but this technique should be done on your own, a few minutes at a time and you never lose consciousness or any of your senses.  NLP is completely safe.

To start NLP you need a goal in the form of a simple clear and concise statement.  There are a few rules with the statements;

1. It must be positive (I WILL do this)

2. It must not use any negative terms or keywords (I WILL NOT do this, or I WILL STOP doing this)

3. It must be physically achievable for you. 

For example

‘I will eat healthily’ is a good statement, ‘I will stop eating junk food’ is not.  Since we are trying to reprogram the brain words like ‘not’ get ignored, we’ve heard them too many times before, then the junk food part will stimulate a response of thinking about junk food and you will never be able to reprogram it.

You could also set a specific goal, if you are an amateur athlete you may say ‘I will run 100m in under 14 seconds’, if your PB is 15 seconds this may be an achievable target.  As you are setting a goal it must be achievable before setting the next one.  Saying ‘I will run faster than Usain Bolt’ is a bad statement except for maybe 2-3 of the worlds top athletes!

If you have your statement, it’s positive and achievable is that all?

No, whilst positive thinking is a good start NLP targets the subconscious and for that we need some emotion.  With a positive statement produce an image in your head, an image of what you will look like or be doing when you have achieved your goal.

Now the important part, find a quiet place, close your eyes, picture yourself in that position or situation and feel the emotions.  Look at your face, your posture, your smile and think those thoughts, live that moment for a few seconds, feel how good it is.  See yourself first, then step into yourself to experience the emotion.  At this point you should be feeling great, with a huge smile on your face.  You can hold these thoughts for 30 seconds to 2 minutes then relax again keeping your eyes closed, relax and take a few slow deep breaths.

Well done, you’ve just experienced your first step into NLP!

You should repeat this process a few times a day, every day, whenever you get a few minutes.  What you are doing is programming the brain to subconsciously have those thoughts so you have the inner belief to succeed.  This can be summed up with a simple formula:

Positive Image + Emotion = Results

This is such a simple technique yet the results can be remarkable.