Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a psychological tool that comes from modeling successful people, and it offers effective techniques to reach our goals. We can not only live a more fulfilling life but reach our aims more easily. Mental health professionals either use NLP alone to treat their patients, combined with psychoanalysis, or talk therapy to treat depression, anxiety, panic attacks, or phobias. Many coaches use NLP to help their clients.
The main objective of NLP is to observe our thoughts, feelings, and emotions that make us stuck in one place, and reframe them so we can move forward. Depending on where we place our attention, we can change the way we think, feel, and behave. Our energy goes to what we focus on. If we can maintain it long-term, we can achieve permanent results. In business, NLP techniques can be used to strengthen public speaking, negotiation, sales, leadership, and team-building skills.
NLP techniques focus on the how as opposed to the why in traditional therapy. Coming from an action-oriented viewpoint, the focus is on how you can change your mindset so life happens for you, not to you! NLP also teaches that consequently to our experiences, the meaning we assign to them is crucial. By believing that our failures are merely feedback, can we understand our lessons, and learn from them going on in life. Thus, our failures can help build us up.
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Swish Pattern
A very popular, powerful, but simple NLP technique. If you want to change a habit you don’t like about yourself, such as procrastinating, not exercising, eating unhealthy foods, smoking, not socializing, etc. Why is it so hard to break your vicious cycle? Because you do these out of your subconscious programming. They make you do things you don’t even want to do. When you do something you don’t truly want to, you are acting from a place of memory…
You project yourself into the experience rather than living the real experience. This is why you act in a certain way that seems hard to change. The same happens in trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When you recall the experience by reliving it, you shut down and feel as if you were in the experience. Your body reacts by fear, panic, sadness, or anything you may have felt earlier when you were triggered.
The same applies to your detrimental habits. The swish pattern shows you who you could be on the other side of your problem, rather than just stating, this is your problem. So if you have a problem quitting drinking alcohol, this technique gives you a vision of how not to focus on drinking, instead of seeing yourself free from it. You shouldn’t force imagining yourself in any scenario, just envisioning the ideal you shall work!
Anchoring
Anchoring is a physical technique you could use on yourself to be in resourceful states. For instance, before giving a public speech, you could touch your anchor point, like your chest, or arm, and use this to empower you throughout your speech. This can also be used when you are trying to persuade people to buy something from you. There are many smart ways to do this, pulling your eyebrows, giving certain facial expressions repeatedly to anchor someone into a state.
Have you realized how you are already applying anchoring in your life? Do you sometimes stop in your home and go into another room, you didn’t plan to? That’s a kind of spatial anchoring, and we do it all the time. Or a family member is smiling at you in a particular way. It can be useful to notice how you have been anchored in your life, and how you may have anchored others.
People say anchoring is similar to the famous conditioning of Pavlov’s dog. You can anchor with various things, by touching, facial expressions, sounds, smells, and tastes. Such as smelling certain foods or things that can bring back vivid memories, or the same happens when you taste something. Tasting a delicious cake could make you remember your grandma’s wonderful cake.
Mental Rehearsal (Imagery Training)
A classic visualizing NLP technique that is very good for beginners. Imagine yourself performing something you would like to achieve, successfully. The key is to see it and feel it as detailed as you possibly can! It could be anything, getting a salary raise, or a promotion, improving your relationship with a difficult person in your life, giving a successful presentation in front of a large audience, or going for a job interview where you rock!
Feel confident and at ease, as if you have already got this! Feel the energy all around you that others can also feel, and fill the entire room with it. Know that your determination can tremendously help others. Such NLP techniques can provide you with an unshakable self-confidence and if you share it with others, they can also experience its benefits!
Mirroring
The 7-38-55 rule is about how we communicate our emotions: 7% of your message is through your words, 38% is how you use your tone of voice and intonation, however, you communicate your message 55% with your body language! Thus, if you drop your guard, with genuinely open body language toward someone, you could make instant connections, and build rapport with people easily.
Without overdoing it, if you are interested in what someone has to say, you could naturally mirror the person’s posture, and mimics. You can also read about this in various self-help books, if you want to make someone feel more comfortable in your presence, you should mirror their movements, as it creates trust and likability. You should always match others’ energy: excited with energetic, calm with relaxed. You could adjust your vocabulary or speech patterns to match theirs.
Modeling
As human beings, one way we learn is by copying or modeling one another. This technique gained popularity among accomplished entrepreneurs and sportsmen because it is so effective. Because where you put your attention your life flows there, if you want to achieve the best results, you need to surround yourself with people you think highly of and could be good role models for you.
By spending time with them, you can model the way they think, and behave. You could find mentors by going the extra mile and looking around in your social groups, they could be a family member, a relative, a teacher, a friend, someone in a business, or a specialized social group, like Toastmasters. You could even model your boss, a business partner, or even your favorite actor or actress. You have greater chances for growth if you can have more role models.
Incantations
You could tackle your limiting beliefs by using incantations, which are a strong form of affirmations. If you repeatedly tell yourself something positive you are capable of achieving you affirm yourself. Incantations use physiology as well for more intensive results. If you use all your energy to tell yourself repeatedly it is possible, watch what may happen! Remember, we can be and do what we meant to! With enough practice, these techniques can become as unconscious as our former negative patterns!!