Stories we tell ourselves
A friend of mine has just completed his NLP Practioner Course. He loved it and his big realisation is that he tells himself stories, stories about things that have not yet happened.
He realised that he kept painting a picture of the future, when in fact, he had no idea what the future holds. On realising that he does paint a picture of the future in his head (and I guess quite a few of us do), he asked himself what would happen if he changed the story to be have a much more positive outcome?
This is something I do a hell of a lot. I build stories around events that haven’t happened, and sometimes never will. I would say that 9 times out of ten, my story will be wrong.
It’s a learning for me here. I once did future timeline, and found it very powerful. I have to ask why I don’t do it more often, even on a smaller scale.
I am doing a best man’s speech in September and I am currently battling with the story I am telling myself. On one hand, I am confident, and I am prepared, but then this voice comes in (ah, bless that voice) that starts questioning stuff and creating scenarios that will probably never play out.
Acknowledging this, I am fighting hard, and the positivity is winning. My positive story is too compelling and I know I have the confidence to pull it off. In fact, I would go as far as to say I think I will storm it. I’m nervous, but that’s good for me - I’ve done quite a bit of public speaking - but I have also put it into perspective - it’s only 8 minutes of my life after all
Anyway, those stories. If you are one of those people that tells themselves a story in their head and the outcome is never good, why not try changing the ending? Better still, change the story completely.
Tags: General NLP talk, timeline