Jul
10
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
May
31
So, I have come to the conclusion, as I get in my late thirties… that I am fat. I always played the ‘chubby’ card, that I am big-boned, but, alas, it is definitely fat. In fact, for the last couple of years, I have become lazier as well which has seen me head in the wrong direction.
To be honest, it’s a constant battle I’ve had since an early teenage and I very rarely don’t put up a good fight, if at all. I know (I just know, right) through timeline work that the weight will come off and I will end up being quite a healthy person, and I also think I am very nearly there ready for action.
In fact, I may have started already this week. Not by consciously attacking the bad foods I eat, but by understanding that I eat usually because I am bored. It has nothing to do with hunger.
I have been busy, developing new habits (or patterns) that work on the boredom, rather than the eating itself. It’s a bummer right now, as I have a bad back and want to exercise, but I can foresee a time in the VERY near future that I will be changing habits even more in the direction of a healthy lifestyle.
A little bit of history
When I first did timeline back on my NLP Practitioner Course in 2004, something came out of nowhere for me to do with being scared of death and my father, who died at the age of 49 of a heart attack, a month before my 18th birthday.
What surfaced from my unconscious mind during this experience was that I was always getting told how much like my dad I am. My mind was reading this as a “well, I better hurry up and ruin my body for an early death then” - it was a powerful experience as you may imagine.
The future
Of course, when these things surface, you can work on them (you gotta love timeline therapy), and I have, in so many ways. I also believe it’s down to me now to get healthy and the time is nigh to work it out.
I always found a lot of NLP techniques a bit shallow for this quest though, like changing a ‘like to a dislike’ or strategies - perhaps I just haven’t done them that well in the past? I do think it’s more than that though, understanding a higher level of NLP so that you can just ‘work on yourself’ surreptitiously in the background.
So, my confidence is high and my boredom is being quashed with new habits. This includes one that may sound rather mundane - pottering round the house and garden doing little things that need doing - double whammy that one. And partly the reason for my bad back I fear that has to carry my weight and more when I am lifting.
Losing weight, or in fact Living a Health Lifestyle, always interests me and a way for me to find the perfect balance, so please feel free to share your thoughts with me.
Tags: General NLP talk, timeline
May
03
I spoke a few days ago about timelines. Possibly one of the richest experiences I have encountered with NLP dating back to my very first NLP Practitioner Course in July 2004. And this is why…
I still remember my Prac course and 15 of us bumbling our way through a whole bunch of techniques. I remember that some people seemed better than others and I remember feeling very uncomfortable on the day of my introduction to Timeline Therapy.
Very briefly, we were to go through the Anger, Sadness, Fear and Guilt routine. I sat down with my partner and chose a nice fluffy problem to deal with about work. (I have since learned that NLP techniques don’t work like that and they somehow get down to more of a root cause, as did my fluffy little problem.) My issue ended up with the realization that I was worrying about death and how my dad had died young and I was next in line, so to speak, which affected the way I was living my life at the time (something I still haven’t quite conquered if I’m honest). (more…)
Tags: timeline
Apr
30
Time line therapy (from Tad James) is one of my favourite models of NLP and I am looking forward later in the year to trying some new code NLP technique developments I have recently experienced.
Anyway, I digress. Meetings and time keeping. I am through-time. I work to a clock. If someone says 1 o’clock for a meeting, hey, I assume that meeting will start at 1 o’clock.
In-time people are different. Time is not so rigid.
Therein, for me, lies a problem.
So how does that work in business. I have had five meetings this week. One person was half an hour late and not one of them started on time.
I don’t mind being flexible, and yes, I do appreciate that 99 times out of a hundred it’s not life threatening. But is it too much to ask in a professional environment?
Right, rant over.
Tags: NLP at Work, timeline
