PRINCIPLES OF NLP

Principles of NLP There are four underlying principles of NLP. 1. First, know what you want. In any situation, it is crucial to have a clear well-formed outcome of what you want to a c h i e v e .T o oma n yp e o p l es e t g o a l s a s o u t c o me s to aim for but fail to ask themselves t h e s ow h a t ? q u e s t i o n . B ya s k i n g a n dw h a t w i l l t h a t g i v eme ? i t f o r c e s y o ut oma k et h el i n kb e t w e e n achieving your intended outcome and acquiring the impact or benefit of it. For example, consider someone whow a n t s t ol o s ew e i g h t .O f t e n , t h e i r g o a l w i l l b es o me t h i n gl i k e I w a n t t ol o s eas t o n e ( w h i c hi s an e g a t i v eo u t c o mea n di s t h e r e f o r en o t a p p r o p r i a t et o s t a r t w i t h ) o r I w a n t t ob e1 0s t o n e w h i c hi s as p e c i f i c g o a l t oa i mf o r .H o w e v e r , t h e real questi o nf o r t h e mt oa s ki s : Wh a t w i l l b e i n g1 0s t o n ed of o r me ? a n dt h ea n s w e r will determine whether or not this is really the outcome they want and/or need to achieve. 2. Be aware and alert. Have sufficient sensory awareness of yourself and others to know when you are moving towards or away from your outcome. Basically, this is about learning to recognise subtle shifts in what is happening around you by using all your senses what do you see / hear / smell / taste / feel? If you think of moving along a t r a c kw h e r eo n ed i r e c t i o ni s t o w a r d s t h eo u t c o mey o uw a n t a n dt h e o t h e r i s a w a yf r o m t h ei mp l i c a t i o no f n o t a c h i e v i n gi t c a ny o us e n s et h es ma l l s t e p s you make on your journey of change and development? 3. Have sufficient flexibility to be able to keep changing your behaviour until you get your outcome. The Law of Requisite Variety states that the person who shows most flexibility in their behaviour is the person most likely to succeed. In other words, being able to adapt and change direction will increase your chances of reaching your intended outcome, albeit maybe by a different route than you first originally planned. 4. Take action now. I t d o e s n t ma t t e r h o w mu c ha n a l y s i s , s e l f -reflection, navel-gazing or planning you do. Until you take that first critical step nothing is going to change! T h e r ea r eb o u n dt ob es o mep e o p l ey o uk n o ww h oa r ea l w a y s t a l k i n g a b o u t t h e i r g o a l s b u t n e v e r s e e mt oa c h i e v et h e mn o wy o uk n o ww h y .

Lesley Hunter (2008)

Practical NLP Factsheet Series

Our map of reality T h e r ei s af a mo u s s a y i n gi nt h eN L Pf i e l d

The map is not the territory that it describes!

It is impossible for us to take everything in at any g i v e nt i me .Wet h e r e f o r e f i l t e r f r o mo u r s e n s e s . These filters are individual and are based on our unique experiences, culture, upbringing, values, beliefs and assumptions. As we explore reality, our perception comes from the inside. We may think that we are perceiving reality, but we are actually creating our own personal reality which may be very different from that of other people. Y e s y o ua r et h ec e n t re of your own little universe!

event
filters

behaviour
internal state

C o mp a r et h i s p r o c e s s w i t hma pma k i n g t h e r ei s at e r r i t o r ya n dt h ema ph e l p s u s ma k e sense of it. However, maps are selective and the type of information in them varies according to their purpose. We control our personal map making by changing our filters. Narrow, impoverished beliefs will lead to dull, limited maps. The very same world can become rich and exciting if we change the filters through which we perceive it. Different people will have very different maps of reality. For instance, what does the word b e a u t y o r t h ew o r d e f f e c t i v e me a nt oy o u ? We use our maps to describe our experiences to ourselves and others. To be able to c o mmu n i c a t ee f f e c t i v e l yw en e e dt ou n d e r s t a n da n da p p r e c i a t eo t h e r p e o p l e s ma p s o f the world.

Further information: Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet Factsheet #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 Introduction to NLP Principles of NLP and our map of reality Developing sensory acuity and rapport (mirroring and matching) Representational systems Eye accessing cues Language patterns sensory language and submodalities Language patterns - Milton model Language patterns Meta model Setting well formed outcomes What makes people tick? Motivational strategies

Lesley Hunter (2008)

Practical NLP Factsheet Series