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NLP Case Study - 4

NLP techniques can change your life – I already knew this from my own previous experiences. My greatest internal revelation back then had been that, "I have a choice of how to behave to any given situation." Rather than just react to issues and hide behind comments like: "But that's just how I am," or "You can't change someone's personality", I realised that I had full control over my 'personality' and I could change anything I wanted to change.

But changing at such fundamental levels takes practise, determination and self awareness, so when the NLP course came along this year, I wanted to get involved - not only to learn more about NLP and practise the techniques but also to give me the opportunity to help others in the same way I had been helped in the beginning.

By the end of the course, all of the attendees had changed their behaviours, and for myself there are three main areas of improvement that I would like to share.

Sensory Acuity is a posh phrase for being observant. It makes you more aware of everything around you from the words people use, to their eye movements and the changes in their skin tone. All this additional information lets you change how you communicate with people yourself, allows you to make yourself understood first time, and if you're not understood, you are aware of that and can try again.

I've started drawing diagrams for people who draw them for me; I've started voicing my opinions with different language when talking to someone who interprets the world through their auditory senses; and I've been able to observe the affect of my own behaviour on others.

This means I can tell (more often) when I need to change my own behaviour because my increased observation skills mean I can see when people don't understand me. If I'm giving someone too much information when they only want a summary, then I can note their behaviour and change mine to give them what they need. I may not be perfect at it yet, but I'm a lot more skilled at it than I was before the course.

Another improvement I've made is managing my workload.

Ever felt that a certain task is just too daunting? We all have moments in our life when we feel like this, in and out of work.

NLP teaches a range of techniques that are very useful in these kinds of circumstances. Where before it would take me some time to start something very difficult, I find now that I can plan and prepare a way forward more easily. I can analyse the job at a high level overview and drill down to pick out the individual tasks that need to be done.

I can identify all the resources I need to hand (be they designers, testers, plumbers or plasterers). And for the tasks where I need to do something crucial, I can rehearse my actions in advance so that whether I'm presenting a solution or giving an after-dinner speech in front of 300 people, I can do it to the best of my abilities.

Talking in front of that many people was quite stressful but that's another area where NLP has improved my life. Using my newly improved observational skills, I have started to identify the times when I begin to stress out.

Within NLP, we learn about different emotional states that a person can be in. Some of these states are pleasant – like being motivated or having fun - and some are not so pleasant – like being angry or feeling tired.

As I've  already said, we are all in control of our own behaviour and we can change a negative state into a positive state if we really want to do so. Now, when I recognise I'm getting stressed out, I find ways to break that state by going for a walk around Radbroke or getting in the gym to work out. Not only does that improve my frame of mind and my overall productivity, but it has some great side effects for my health too.

My NLP journey will clearly be continuing after the course. I'm sure I'll be re-listening to the course CDs over the upcoming months, because as I get more skilled at using the techniques, there will be more I can get out of the course work, further depth to discover. Practise will be essential and I'm taking every opportunity to get it at work and at home.
 
NLP has improved many areas of my life already and more will follow, I'm sure. I've suddenly found that I have a toolkit bristling with useful techniques to help move forward and I can look towards to the future with confidence that I can cope with whatever comes my way.

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