NLP: What is it?
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) began in the early 1970s when a mathematician called Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder asked themselves a basic but intriguing question: “What is it that makes the difference between somebody who is competent at any given skill and somebody who excels at the same skill?”
This simple question kick-started a quest to understand how we as humans perceive the world and how we organise our thinking, our feeling and our behaviour. NLP is essentially a model of excellence and achievement or ‘what works’. It is a set of guiding principles, attitudes, techniques, tools and knowledge. A young movement it’s constantly innovating and developing and is being embraced by all kind of people and professions.
Think about people you know who excel at certain things – playing tennis, making money, losing weight, keeping their cool, driving a car. How do they manage it? What would it be like if you could do it too? NLP offers the tools to make excellence more attainable because if somebody is achieving excellence in any field it can be modelled, replicated or taught to others.
NLP is also well known for its change techniques – helping you to set clear and achievable goals and learning to identify and overcome any fears that may be standing in your way.
We’re often told that our brain is the most amazing piece of technology on the planet, but unlike PC’s, i-Pods and DVD’s we’re not given an instruction manual on how to use it. NLP strives to help you amass that information, allowing you to take more control over your thoughts, feelings and actions.
Finally NLP can also offer many people an introduction to something far deeper. Once you know more about how you, as a human being work, you can use NLP to answer some truly meaningful questions, to help you get curious about your purpose in life and to find some of the answers to true happiness and fulfilment.
That’s a very general and very brief overview of NLP! There’s a wealth of information out there about this subject, including books, tapes and online.
NLP practitioners love questions and so true to form, here are a few for you to ponder on over the next few weeks – their aim is to start you off on the process of getting to know yourself (no need for answers on a postcard!).
- What do you want from your life?
- What makes you happy?
- What one new skill/achievement would make your life more fulfilled?
Kate Jenkins lives and works in Oxford, where she runs her own business, March Friday. She’s a Life Coach and Master Practitioner of NLP and works with people to help them create a life they love. Prior to that she worked in public relations and marketing for over seven years. Please visit www.marchfriday.com and click on life for more information.
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