​Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is an epistemology, a model of how we know what we know. Co-founded by a Professor of Linguistics, Dr. John Grinder and a computer scientist, Richard Bandler in the late 70’s, NLP was discovered through observing high performers in the field of psychotherapy.
 
Consisting of more than a hundred processes, each geared towards a specific type of problem, NLP began to gain traction from people in other industries. Today it is used in corporates to resolve conflict, deepen rapport, manage states of mind and more. 

At an organisation level, NLP is used to align cultures, heighten motivation and build high performing teams. As the CEO of an organisation, wouldn’t you like to spike the performance of your teams? 

This could only happen if you understood behaviour. As Aubrey Daniels (the man who coined the term Performance Management) so rightly said, “Business is behaviour and behaviour is business.” In order to get the most out of your people, you need to know what makes them tick. 

The gold nugget in all this is that you don’t need to become a psychotherapist to do this. NLP provides a series of models that are based on how human beings use the five senses to experience life. 

Designed with process in mind, engineers, IT programmers and other process-oriented industries would take to this like a duck to water. As Grinder & Bandler observed how three psychotherapists were ahead of their counterparts, they coded and structured their findings in a simple-to-use model called NLP.

Today, learning NLP is merely signing up for a course to attain these processes. Conducted in a fun but intense seven days, these international certification courses can be found globally. 

In following blogs I will detail some applications that are most useful to individuals and organisations. 

The holy grail for every organization seems to be a chase to increase productivity in the workplace. It isn’t rocket science that creating effective people is directly correlated to the level of happiness an individual may feel about their job. 

“Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are but we are responsible for who we become” – Barbara Geraci
 
This quote signifies my motto in life. Since reinventing myself from a career banker to an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Trainer, I have taken charge of my life by learning about my unconscious mind and making it work for me.
 
Tapping into my unconscious mind was not a deliberate strategy on my part. Life just took me towards a path of personal growth. I first joined courses that were based on conscious mind strategies. Important to get the ball rolling and then go beyond to the more powerful mind.
 
The unconscious mind influences our behaviors, decisions and abilities but most often since people are unaware of this way of being, operate below what they could achieve.
 
My unconscious mind which helped me access hidden thoughts, feelings, and motivations was a new world. I embarked on meditation practices initially through guided imagery, learning about the visuals I was creating in my mind. 
 
Then went on to 10 day Vipassana meditation retreats to understand myself better. While accessing deeper realms of my mind, I began to become aware of my dreams, many of which were messages about my future Life’s Path.
 
One thing led to another. I was drawn to dance and art, expressions of my creative brain, exploring and harnessing the potential of my unconscious mind. I loved every moment of these new parts of ME.
 
Yoga became part of my weekly practice and out of curiosity, I attended classes on Tarot Reading, Astrology, Palmistry and more. I felt a calling to learn and eventually my Path settled on NLP.
 
Having found my calling, I soared to high performance without trying. I loved what I did. I had become a facilitator of change, pulling all of my vast experience together from my beginnings in corporate.
 
My heart sang in doing this work even though it was long hours of consulting, working with clients to get the desired outcomes.
 
Today, I urge everyone to attend whatever makes your heart sing. Become the person you want to be by upskilling your talents and moving towards your strengths. Allow yourself this bandwidth to find meaning in your life. 
 
High performance will just follow! 

“Don’t think of a pink elephant!” was my instruction to the audience in front of me, as I began teaching the language segment of my class. They burst out laughing. I knew they had done just the opposite. Most of them had a visual of pink elephants in their head. I had captured their attention.
 
Carrying on, I explained that the unconscious mind could not process negatives. Words like don’t, can’t, won’t and so on, were deleted internally because the unconscious mind processes through the five senses. What we see, hear, feel, taste and smell in our daily experience is stored this way.
 
Having trained people from all walks of life to understand how they operate, I am super alert to language used around me. Let me share a recent example that occurred a few weeks ago.
 
I lawn bowl in my free time. As the National tournaments commenced I was pitched against an 11 year old in one of my matches. She was a first timer so I knew the pressure of bowling in a competition of adults, would be mounting within her though she was adamant she would be ok.
 
Halfway through our match she burst into tears sobbing at the edge of the Green. I waited patiently while her mum and coach began to get her out of this negative state.
 
I heard negative language like “stop crying” which made me cringe. They were focusing her on crying and so obviously, she carried on. I couldn’t intervene (as with most times when I observe people using negative language) since I was her opponent.
 
I hear parents speak to their children so much in this way not knowing they are installing exactly what they do not want. It’s more effective to say it the way you want it;
 
- “focus on the game”
- “you have already won the first set”
- “the game can turn from one second to another”
 
A simple awakening to a small aspect of language has the potential to change your life. Responses will begin to emerge as positive and you are far closer to the outcome that you desire.
 
Try it and observe. These are simple processes in the Neuro Linguistic Programming toolbox that can change your life around immediately.