CHANGE YOUR LIFE...WITH NLP

Think about the following question:
What stops you from having the things in life you want...or want more of?
Did you answer money?... time?... my boss, mother, father, partner?...
fate?... bad luck? What is interesting about these answers is that the
cause is external to you and outside of your direct control.

In order to understand how you can influence your external world, you need
to understand how your thinking affects your internal world. NLP (Neuro
Linguistic Programming) is the most useful approach we know for doing this.

THE CONSCIOUS MIND

Why should we bother to "think positively?" Based on much published
information, many people have benefited from positive thinking. And those
of us who have consciously tried it have found it to be worthwhile. But how
does it work--and how much of the success of positive thinking is a result
of the Conscious mind?

You may already know your conscious awareness has a restricted capacity for
retaining information. Research has shown we can hold 7 plus or minus 2
chunks of information in awareness at any one time. Techniques for helping
people with their memory often vary the size of the chunks, or find ways to
link small chunks into one larger chunk to allow more memory capacity. This
is why telephone numbers are broken into three and four digit sections.

THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND

So what else is happening behind the 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of
information in our conscious thinking? What organises our heartbeat, our
digestion, our response to outside temperature? What allows us to drive our
car without having to think about it? What receives literally billions of
pieces of external information, and processes them with no effort?

Psychologists refer to this part of the mind as the Unconscious, or more
accurately, the Other-Than-Conscious, because it is far from unconscious.
It is awake and active even when we are asleep. Doctors were surprised to
discover that, under hypnosis, patients who had been anaesthetised were
able to recall every word said in the operating theatre. One part of their
mind was obviously fully aware of what was going on!

The brain looks after thousands of functions in the body every moment, and
can handle astronomic amounts of information. What is most impressive is it
can do all of these things at the same time without any need for conscious
control. And fortunately, it never forgets how.

The Unconscious responds to every external stimuli, and every thought. Each
response sets off a chemical reaction which is sent to the rest of the
body. Therefore WHAT we think takes on a vital significance. The
Unconscious is like a good assistant, and basically it will do what you
tell it. But what exactly are you telling it to do?

You may say, "I deserve the very best," but if in your Unconscious the
message is being countered with,"You?...You'll never amount to anything,"
what is going to be the result?

Unless you stop and think about it, you will be unaware of the Unconscious
thought. All that you will probably be aware of is a slight sense of unease
or something not being quite right An internal conflict may result and this
will lead to incongruent behaviour. This explains why saying an
affirmation, or positive statement about yourself, sometimes does not work.

NLP has techniques and strategies to help you become fully congruent.
Congruence is when you align your mind and behaviour behind positive
thoughts so there is total commitment to achieving an outcome. This is
important because as Anthony Robbins says, "It is in your moments of
decision that your destiny is shaped." A good way to experience congruence
is to utilise past positive experiences and incorporate these into present
behaviour. The result is new and empowered ways of thinking.

We each have ten billion neurons (brain cells). And there are more
potential simultaneous connections between neurons than there are atoms in
the known universe. Yes, you may need to read that again! This means we
have an almost infinite capacity for creativity and problem solving. As
Einstein pointed out, the ONLY way we limit ourselves is by not fully
utilising this amazing gift. NLP is designed to help us access more
neurological pathways and thereby create more choice in our life.

by PENNY TOMPKINS AND JAMES LAWLEY
NLP Consultants to Business and Individuals