How does it work?

This is probably THE question that is asked most about NLP.

And I can understand WHY a person might ask that question when wondering whether to engage in personal development. One possible reason, as well as your own, is the 'fear of the unknown' element. And I can understand that. But what sometimes I can not understand is why some want to develop their 'hard skills' and sometimes ignore the need to develop softer skills like communication and behavioural performance. But hey, that's the privelage of having a choice.


An example

But just for a moment, think about it like this. To date, your mind has been a bit like the software package you're working with now. Since conception, users have uploaded data onto the system and processed information that means upgrade procedures are carried out to manage the information better and keep it performing to its optimum.I'll give you an example. I have a client, her name is obviously private, who had a behavioural pattern that prevented her from picking up the telephone and speaking to people, not just in business but other 'areas' too. The problem stemmed further as this disruption meant that her son was unable to attain a vital piece of health equipment that would enable his movement further. Using a technique appropriate for this change to be made, the lady has allowed herself to be able to overcome this personal challenge and is now reaping benefits. Changes in her levels of confidence have also meant that her public speaking skills have also increased with it. Her first networking pitch was an unbelieveable improvement on her previous missions and now looks a different story, completely.


A bit like being a property developer

How this happened was through the use of a tool that allows a person to identify how they think about themselves in the challenging context, not in terms of the actual content of her thoughts, so no need to have to come clean about all intricate thoughts and feelings during the process - unless you want to, but in basic terms, how the memory framework of that experience is structured. A builder might describe it being like 'houses come in different shapes, sizes and colours, some are in quiet areas, some are next to noisy places and some feel a certain way when you enter them.' Our sensory information that is contained in out memory is coded through the visual, auditory and kinesthetics (feelings) associated with what ever context you come into.

This ability means you are able to recognise new situations, that have certain characteristics like the same sights, sounds and feelings associated with them as you go from context to context recognising these patterns and becoming comfortable with them and accepting them. For example as, you travel from home to work, you feel more comfortable than you did the first time you did it. Now that's a basic example. But what about someone who feels uncomfortable doing something that they avoid, for whatever reason, yet if they did that task, they'd improve their personal circumstances even further towards the achievement of their goals.In a situation where a person 'responds' in a certain way in a situation that they find uncomfortable, the patterning of the memory is structured for that situation and can be changed to create a more appropriate pattern that moves the person forward towards the attainment of their preferred outcome or feeling. That feeling inside your body you get when you perform well or at the other end of the spectrum ‘not so well’ can be reset to a different area, using NLP techniques, so you feel different or enhance how you feel in your chosen context. If you imagine the range of feelings you can feel, as keys on a piano keyboard, then if you want to pick a key, then you can have that note played in that song.


It's all about how you can change how you choose to think

So. NLP works by thinking differently about experiences and having the opportunity (choice) to make changes to the patterns and processes contained within the experience to associate a different kinesthetic response (feeling) so a person can accelerate their learning of a new behaviour to allow them to perform to their optimum in a given context. You don't lose your mind, it isn't trickery and it does get people results.

Credit has to be given to John Grinder and Richard Bandler who developed NLP, as well as influential others who have massively contributed to the field. Two men who went on a journey to find out how to bridge the gap between average and excellent performers and in their work created a tool box that fast tracks behavioural learning that in turn, fast tracks personal performance.