NLP & Its Changes Over The Years

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) was discovered and coded into a structure for all to use in the late 70’s. Applied mostly to hypnosis sales training and psychotherapy, it evolved over the years to efficiency coaching. Corporates focused on NLP’s cutting edge impact to make fast and good decisions from accessing intuition. 

As I evolved and reinvented myself from a commercial banker to an NLP Trainer my company VIA Frontiers NLP program was steeped towards corporate applications. I conducted NLP sales training for a major client base that formed organically, focused on NLP insurance sales.

With a fully direct application of sales, it was easy to hit bottom line results fast. Performance catapulted from salespeople who learnt how to redirect their internal focus via their unconscious mind. This was how high performers blitzed results, attracting the attention of senior management who experienced this first hand.   

Then Covid-19 hit. Trainers globally had to quick smart turn their businesses to the online space. Offline NLP beginner courses were re-invented and as if that was modus operandi for years before, this became second nature for trainer and trainee. 

I taught coaches and managers how to become an NLP Practitioner and also conducted NLP master class sessions for those who needed to hit the ground running with their already existent businesses. As an NLP master coach I was trained to identify patterns of behaviour and some new ones were certainly emerging.  

I received numerous calls from individuals seeking help. They were stuck and didn’t have a clue how to move forward. Their future looked bleak. Feeling dismal they reached out for expertise to reinvent themselves amidst newspaper reports to do so. 

And so NLP evolved to transforming personal lives. New generations presenting younger minds were more open and candid to say things were not working for them, as opposed to older generations who felt uneasy hiring a coach. There were so many benefits of NLP in business that they could choose to do, once they moved out of their present state of mind and opened their minds to a new future. 

And so I taught people how to start with NLP to transform personal lives. Being a very practical methodology it was easily applied immediately to any context of life. It focuse on the ‘how’ of a problem rather than the ‘why’. Very process driven, it never questioned “why”. 

Solution focused NLP solved problems quickly and efficiently. Clients took control of what went on in their heads and soon became self-aware. They found answers within themselves which felt very empowering.

Most were shocked at how unhelpful beliefs installed unknowingly when young influenced their present decision making. Authority figures from the past were still behind the scenes. Surprise! Shock! NLP coaching helped flush these beliefs out to give the client freedom to be who they wanted to be. Especially in a Pandemic when present day decisions had to be taken considering the very unusual context, many old beliefs ha to be disbanded with. 

Many clients reported their ease and comfort in the sessions as private content did not need to be shared. It was contrary to most coaching modalities. This was a great relief as some experiences that clients had been through were not exactly easy to share. This was the basic premise why NLP coaching was fast, propelling change in the client. Most wanted to learn NLP after they had experienced one-on-one sessions as they too felt a desire to help others. 

And so clients became practitioners and today there are more NLP coaches out there in the world that you can imagine. Becoming a way of life, NLP business intelligence is now at the forefront where people like me, Sylvia Fernandes are matching NLP models to future landscapes. 

Learning communication between the conscious and unconscious minds, helped clients sharpen their mental processes and in turn improve problem-solving skills. At the end of the road was the prospect of finding one’s true identity which led to a purpose-driven life.