
Welcome Guest	Home \| Submit Article \| Contact \| Search

ArticleSubject.com » Personal-development » About Neuro Linguistic Programming

About Neuro Linguistic Programming

by: KurtSchmitt
Total views: 6
Word Count: 582

Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s. What started out as a study of why some very successful psychotherapists were so effective turned into its own method for self-improvement.

It's different from traditional self-improvement, therapies, and positive thinking methods because it relies largely on a method called modeling and focuses on what works. It works off of certain presuppositions, and sometimes, it even disregards the truth.

For example, it presupposes that if you want to make a change in your life, that you have all the resources that you need. Other presuppositions include things like there is no such thing as failure. As Tony Robbins tells us, you're either getting the results you want or you're not, but failure doesn't really exist.

It doesn't matter whether or not the presupposition is true as long as it is useful. For example, have you ever used a hammer? Is a hammer true? Well it doesn't really matter if a hammer is true or false in order for it to work.

Another presupposition in NLP is that people work perfectly. Even if someone is consistently getting results that they don't want, they are not broken.

Some therapies seem to operate on the premise that there is something wrong with people and they need to be repaired in some way. This can be disempowering and tends to turn people into victims by reinforcing a belief that they're in some way damaged or broken. This, in turn, gives people an excuse to repeat negative behavior in the future.

For example, let's say you believe the following... I'm a poor learner, so I have trouble learning. Until I fix my problem with learning, I won't be able to learn. You're now a victim of your self proclaimed limitation. So you spend all your time on trying to fix your learning problems and not on actually learning anything. Often, people who have these self-imposed limitations absorbed them from other people, and they are not at all real.

Instead of looking into why someone is a bad learner, neuro-linguistic programming would instead have them focus on modeling the behaviors and beliefs of people who are good at learning. Remember also that another presupposition of NLP is that you have all the resources at your disposal to make a change.

As Talane Miedaner writes in her book, "Coach Yourself to Success" there's a similar principle used in life coaching that the "present is perfect." It essentially forces you to start from where you are and empowers you to make changes, rather than turning you into a victim.

Another premise of success used in NLP is the fact that if someone can achieve success at something, then it can be modeled and achieved by someone else as well. Since NLP is based on what works, and not just a theory, it also uses the idea that if what you're doing isn't working, then adapt and change what you're doing.

Neuro-linguistic programming was adapted and put into practice by one of its most well known students, Tony Robbins. Tony made himself famous using his own brand of NLP-based self-improvement to show people how to cure phobias and turn their lives around in a very short time frame.

If you're looking for a practical, positive approach to life change, then NLP may just be for you. There are a number of free resources online where you can learn the basic techniques and principles, and many practitioners you can work with to take things to the next level.