Written by: Vivien Roggero, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You might want to learn more about NLP if you are interested in communication skills and personal development. What if someone told you that controlling your language use is a means to attain your personal and professional goals? Some people think that's what neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) does. Let’s explore this meaningful approach more and how you can better understand yourself using it.
What is NLP?
Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, is a psychological approach asserting that one can modify the methods employed by successful people to achieve goals. This approach focuses on how you communicate with yourself and other people and how it impacts your behavior and behavior outcomes.
Elena Mosaner, an ICF coach, a Master NLP practitioner, and the CEO and creator of AlphaMind in La Jolla, California, states that "NLP is a paradigm that influences thoughts, feelings, and actions in both yourself and others. It requires practice as well as mental art."
It helps the person learn from their successes and failures which thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are beneficial and which impede them. Since every action is merely a step in the learning process, it is never wrong, even if it appears to fail.
History of Origins of NLP
At the University of California, Santa Cruz, the linguist Richard Bandler and the information scientist and mathematician John Grinder coined the term NLP in the 1970s. After observing that one of the key differences between "successful people" and others was how they used language to support themselves and others.
Grinder and Bandler's pioneering work on NLP, Structure of Magic: A Book about Language of Therapy, was published in 1975. In this book, they draw attention to specific communication styles that distinguish good communicators from others.
Along with David Gordon and Robert Dilts, other notable contributors to the field include Judith DeLozier, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, and others.
Grinder and Bandler's work developed the NLP meta model, a method they believed may discover language patterns that mirrored fundamental cognitive processes.
The late 1970s saw an increasing interest in NLP due to Bandler and Grinder's promotion of the methodology as a resource for people to understand how others succeed.
Counseling, the performing arts, sports, the military, law, business, and education are a few industries that use NLP today.
How does it work?
Key components of NLP include modeling, effective communication, and action. The idea is that if someone can comprehend how another person completes a task, they may copy that process and explain it to others so they, too, can complete the task.
NLP proponents propose that each person has a unique reality map. NLP practitioners examine their own and other points of view to develop a systematic overview of a situation. The NLP user learns through understanding a variety of viewpoints. Supporters of this approach think that the body and mind interact and that the senses are essential for processing information. NLP is an experimental approach.
NLP practitioners propose that learning, communication, and change follow natural hierarchies. The following are six logical levels of change:
Purpose and Spirituality: Involvement in something greater than oneself, such as religion, ethics, or another system, can signify purpose and spirituality. This is the most significant change.
Identity: Identity is the person you see yourself as, which also encompasses the duties and obligations you have in life.
Beliefs and values: These topics are important to you and your unique set of ideas.
Capabilities and Skills: These are your abilities and range of skills to do anything.
Behaviors: Your unique activities are known as your behaviors.
Environment: Your context or location, which includes any other individuals nearby, is known as your environment. This is the most fundamental change.
Each logical level functions to organize thoughts and direct the information below. Therefore, changing one level may result in changing another level.
On the other hand, NLP theory states that changing a higher level will likewise affect lower levels.
How can Neuro Linguistic Programming benefit you?
NLP guides you in reframing your present beliefs by giving new meaning to behaviors, life circumstances, and desired beliefs. It can drastically change how you perceive the world and approach challenges in life.
"NLP may teach you to think from a variety of perspectives and is a terrific approach to learn how to communicate more effectively," according to Mosaner.
She points out that mastering these abilities makes it simpler to perceive and comprehend the opinions of others. This is especially helpful when there are divergent viewpoints and growing conflicts between individuals or groups.
A 2015 assessment of the literature revealed that using some NLP techniques in a multifaceted therapy strategy can be beneficial in certain circumstances.
For instance, a 2010 assessment of the studies found that NLP techniques could be effective in treating phobias quickly.
Other areas, both personal and professional, where NLP is applied include:
Business
Education
Law
Medicine
Relationships
NLP practitioners contend that it enables you to take charge of your experiences rather than viewing them as things that happen to you. You may create your reality in this way.
Common Techniques in NLP
Some of the most common NLP techniques include the following:
1. Anchoring
Anchoring associates an action with a specific emotional state. It establishes a connection between a physical sensation and a feeling so you can repeat the physical sense to relieve the feeling the next time.
For instance, the practitioner might encourage a person to feel confident before asking them to repeat an action, such as pressing their forefinger and thumb together. The intention is for this behavior to trigger confidence later.
2. Rapport
The practitioner imitates some of the client's unintentional physical movements to quickly establish rapport and use empathy to lead the client toward their goals more effectively.
You can establish more natural connections with others by using rapport-building techniques. They primarily focus on aligning your communication style with the other person to build trust.
The main components of this NPL approach are as follows:
Pacing
Responding to facial expressions
Persuading
Reversing course
Stating your position clearly
Actively listening while remaining nonjudgmental
3. Swish Pattern
The client is helped to visualize their typical thoughts or behavior patterns and then modify them to produce the desired results. For instance, the client envisages a feeling like depression, giving it a size, shape, and color. Then, as it spirals in their general direction, they keep an eye on it. Once they have a clear picture of it, they try to spiral it in the opposite direction to have a better outcome and emotion.
4. Association
Some practitioners use the association technique opposite to the prior method. For instance, an NLP coach, Kathy Welter-Nichols, treats bulimia disorder by associating vomiting with repulsive feelings. She encourages them to have a strong adverse reaction to vomiting because bulimic clients typically don't have any issues with it.
Start your personal development journey with NLP.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is used extensively in personal development. You can start the journey of personal development using NLP. NLP is defined in various ways; some say it is the study of human perfection. It's a mindset and philosophy that has generated several approaches. It can assist you in letting go of the past and achieving your goals. Many personal development coaches use NLP because it may quickly effect change.
As an Executive and Life coach, I use NLP techniques to help people explore personal development and achieve their goals without losing focus. I’m committed to empowering people through one freedom framework and creating a real impact in everyone’s lives.
Want to learn more about NLP training? Looking to start your personal development journey and don’t know how to start? No worries. Reach out to me through a 60-min free discovery call and discover how a life coach can help you achieve your personal development to turn your dreams into reality and live a fully meaningful life.
Meet your Coach today, unlock your highest potential and become the best possible version of yourself!
Vivien Roggero, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Vivien Roggero is a certified Executive & Empowerment Coach and Entrepreneur. After 15 years of professional journey, expanding from Sales to IT Executive in some world-class startups’, losing his father to COVID, and going through a high-conflict divorce, he decided to dedicate his life to empowering people so they can live a fulfilling life. Those experiences also inspired him to create the One Freedom™ Framework, freedom and purpose-centric approach to life that helps his clients to accelerate their life design process and sculpt growth. His focus is to help clients who feel stuck in their professional or personal journeys or find struggles to re-navigate life after major life-changing events.
