NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a powerful system focused on communication with yourself and with others. By mastering the basics of this technology you can use it to your advantage in both your personal and professional life.

Here is a quick introduction to NLP that covers its main areas, modeling, submodalities, and techniques. There is so much more to this great system than these, but hopefully this brief introduction to NLP will make you want to learn more.

One of the main cores of NLP is modeling. The founders Bandler and Grinder, thought that by modeling how successful people perform tasks, like Milton Erikson, normal people could more quickly excel at a certain activity.

Submodalities is another main area of NLP. All of our senses can be broken down into submodalities. For example if you visualize a picture in your head, is it in color or black and white? Does it appear close for far away? By changing the submodalities you can change how an image affects you. For example to increase an image’s intensity you could make sure your picture is in color and appears very close to you.

The third basic I’ll talk about are techniques. There are hundreds of techniques, many of which are easy to master and that you can use right away. Some of these techniques are anchoring, rapport, and reframing.

Anchoring for example involves anchoring a certain emotion to either a physical touch or auditory sound. For example you anchor a feeling of confidence to touching your thumb and middle finger together. The point of this is to be able to easily trigger feelings of confidence whenever you need it.

Anchoring could be used in all sorts of situations and you and install anchors in other people without them even knowing it.

Rappart is one of the more powerful techniques that NLP has to offer. Rapport for example involves mirroring other people’s posture and voice tone to build a closer level of confidence and trust with the person you are talking to.

I urge you to explore this technology further. Don’t let this introduction to NLP be the end, but only the beginning of your journey.

There are lots of resources out there for you to learn more about this technology. There are dozens of books written by master practitioners that you can read at your local library.

Also I urge you to check out live training classes in your area. There are many adult continuing education schools that offer basic classes in NLP.

One of the best sources for free NLP information is the Internet. There are hundreds of great websites out there that provide a wealth of information.

Be careful though about which sites you frequent. Some sites do not completely understand NLP and do not do a great job of clearly explaining the basics for beginners.

Beginners should find websites that focus only the basics and slowly you can build up your skills from there. You never know, maybe you’ll want to become an NLP master.

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Today we’re going to talk about NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Do any of you already know anything about Neuro-Linguistic Programming? You’ve probably read books, taken courses or maybe seen my video courses. In some way you’ve formed an idea of what NLP is and that’s why you’re here.Above all, we’ll find out what concrete things NLP can offer you. It is said that NLP is the science of human excellence; something which aims to take us towards excellence. So the goal is extremely high, but so are the rewards. Today we’re down here, but our goal is to arrive up there. I want to achieve excellence by using the strategies of the highest achievers in the world in every field, through communication, motivation, self-esteem and leadership.

Contrary to what many people believe, (the famous ’sceptics’ of NLP), NLP actually works. Not because there’s a great deal of study behind it, or because it’s an exact science – in fact it’s not a science – but because it’s practical. It works by definition, because NLP is something that works. What you’re going to see today is how Richard Bandler and John Grinder, (I’ve written their names down so you can remember them, even if that’s not essential, it’s just so you have the exact information), founded NLP back in the 1970s.

Richard Bandler and John Grinder were young men in their 20s or 30s, who saw and discovered new things. By observing and spending time with outstanding practitioners in the world of therapy, they discovered that they had become excellent therapists themselves, just by being in contact with them. In the same way that children learn to walk and talk, by observing other children and their parents and by being in contact with them. They learn what they need to know: to grow up and become human beings, adults.

When Bandler was a university student, he was given the job of transcribing the therapy sessions of Fritz Perls – one of the top therapists of the 1970s. Through repeatedly transcribing these sessions and being in contact with this great man, he learnt his strategies. So he didn’t learn by rationalising, or by writing, but by being in direct contact with him. Doing something which we call ‘modelling’ (modellamento), where the therapist is the model and in some way is able to transmit his beliefs and way of speaking and communicating; his mode of therapy. So by being in contact with Perls, Bandler also became an excellent therapist after a while.

John Grinder was a professor of linguistics at the university where Bandler was studying; he specialised in language and the meaning of words; the way that combinations of words were structured to give meaning to a phrase. Bandler told him that he had learnt this skill and asked for his help in understanding what he was actually doing with this knowledge by rationalising the details. He didn’t want it to be a theoretical strategy, but wanted to understand how he had become such a good therapist. He had never studied psychology and knew nothing about this form of therapy but had learnt just by being in contact with the therapist. He had even been able to achieve similar results. So he asked Grinder to help him. Because Grinder was a language expert, he was able to study Bandler’s exact linguistic form and turn this into a series of ‘models’, which in turn gave birth to NLP.

The linguistic part is extremely important because language influences neuro-association, that is our way of rationalising; how our responses are related to our impulses. Often we are programmed and our behaviour is habitual – for example, if someone treats me badly I might get irritated or answer in an aggressive way – we all have these patterns inside us. The term ‘programming’ is not ideal because it gives the impression that we can use NLP to programme the brain, which is not the case.

The term ‘programming’ came about because Bandler was fascinated by technology and so used the programming metaphor, likening the brain to a computer in order to explain the mechanisms. If our behaviour were a programme, we would be able to work on it and modify it, so this metaphor helps to explain how our brains work.

Others describe NLP as an instruction manual for the brain because it allows us to make changes, to motivate ourselves and feel more secure and understand a little about how our minds work. In fact through the study of this therapy and other models, such as those of the great neuropath Milton Erickson and Virginia Satir, the family therapist, they discovered a series of unconscious mechanisms.

These therapists didn’t realise how they were successful – they knew they were experts but didn’t know how they were able to achieve such results. John Grinder and Richard Bandler wrote a series of books, one of which was called ‘Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton Erickson’, with a preface by Milton Erickson himself, who wrote: “Thank you to John Grinder and Richard Bandler for having explained to me what I do and what methods I use, because I didn’t know.” Let’s think of ourselves, we know how to do many things. There are things that you’re particularly good at, at school, in university, at work – in whatever field.

But do you know in which way you’re good at them? Could you explain to someone how he could achieve the same results as you in that particular area? Not always. For example, when I discovered NLP, I realised that I was good at many things; NLP gives you the ability to be able to recognise your strong points. Thanks to NLP I was also able to understand how and in what way I was good at what I was doing.

For example, whilst writing the book ‘Seduzione’, I interrogated myself and referred to my own experiences, such as how to approach a girl for example. I had never been aware of my own strategies, but NLP helped me to understand these strategies and transmit them to others. One of the questions that the founders of NLP asked themselves was “How come Milton Erickson, who is one of the best in his field, is not such a good teacher?” He teaches everything he knows, but his pupils are not able to achieve the same results. The answer was that he taught only the things he knew, not the skills he was unaware of using. He didn’t transmit his most intimate strategies or the fact that his beliefs about a client were instrumental in achieving a result, because he was unaware that he was using these tools.

I’ve seen videos of Milton Erickson and one of these featured a woman of 40 who was depressed. He cured her just by talking to her. I watched how she listened to him; she was completely immersed in the conversation. It’s true he used particular linguistic models, which are encompassed in the ‘Milton Model’ – if you’ve read NLP books on this model, you’ll have discovered that there are hidden commands, suggestions, evocative questions and so on. If you watch this video, you’ll see the Milton Model, but his attitude when he speaks to another person is completely different – perhaps it’s this, which makes the difference, not his behaviour or the language he uses. It’s the fact that at that moment, his client is the most important person in the world. Whatever they’re saying at that moment is the only thing that matters to him, nothing else exists. There’s no hypnosis, NLP or other people; just his client and what he’s saying. He’s genuinely interested and I believe it’s this attitude that makes the difference.

Bandler still teaches NLP today and says that NLP is not a collection of techniques, as the majority of people believe and the majority of trainers worldwide choose to teach. NLP is not technique, it’s attitude – an attitude of curiosity, being open to the world and to others, trust and understanding. It’s not about using technique. When I teach, I use the Milton Model and other linguistic models in order to obtain results but I always say if you’re selling a product using these models, knowing that your product isn’t suitable for the person in front of you, these models won’t work. You transmit your beliefs about the product in some way; that the product is not right for that client and so you are unable to sell it to them. Even if you are particularly talented and manage to sell it, what happens? After a while, that client realises they’ve been cheated and doesn’t come back to you. They speak badly about you, making the whole experience pointless. So attitude is extremely important.

Has it ever occurred to you that, just by changing the LANGUAGE on your website and adverts, you could double your online sales? Smart website marketers convert most visitors into clients. As websites and mailing lists are purely written / visual marketing tools, your choice of language is essential.

Business NLP, modelling, accelerated learning are all subjects that are banded about in some business circles. But exactly how can these things help to really create business success? This article explains some of the overall benefits of studying these subjects for business.

The key aim of NLP is to model the excellence of others. Generally when people are good at something they are not consciously aware of what they are doing that makes them good.

Most of the time people take for granted the things that they do well. For example I assume most of you are good at walking…but when was the last time you looked at your legs and praised your walking ability, or analysed what it is that allows you to walk with the unconscious fluency that you use.

Modelling NLP is about discovering what makes the difference between good and great results. An NLP model takes into account both what your model does physically and also what goes on inside their head. Some of these elements would be absolutely vital and others might be just idiosyncratic and only apply to that particular person.

If we were to model a very persuasive person as an example, the external model would be what they say. The internal model would be their beliefs and values about what they are doing. In a Modelling NLP study you would gather all the information by observation and interview and then start using it. Once the NLP Modeller is comfortable with the model they would start to leave bits out and test until they have just the core elements that make up success.

The same approach can be used for modelling organisations. Any company exhibits a collective behaviour and this is based on the collective thoughts, values and beliefs of the individuals within.

NLP modelling won’t make you Einstein, Bill Gates or a large corporate multinational company. What it will give you is a way of analysing, recording and transferring the key elements of success in any skill or endeavour. It is simply a way of breaking out of your own limitations and boundaries to become even better at the things you want to achieve, by systematically learning from those that are already proving successful.

Consider for a moment the value of being able to see inside the head of Bill Gates or Richard Branson and then being able to analyse their behaviour and personality for the answers to these questions and others I am sure you can think of:

? What motivates you to create your success?
? What keeps you going when it isn’t going the way you want?
? What do you believe about yourself and the world around you to be able to create this success?
? What specific behaviours do you exhibit to create this success?

Now imagine being able to do the same thing but with a successful organisation.

You might already notice that only one of the questions above is about behaviour…actually what they do. The other questions are all about what is happening inside their heads. This is because, in most circumstances, behaviour follows thought. Let us consider a simple example, take these two beliefs:

? I could never be a millionaire
? My destiny is to be a millionaire; I just need to make it happen

The person with the first belief is not likely to make the effort or take the actions to go down this route but the second is likely to be always looking for the opportunity to move in this direction. An over simple example, but I hope it makes the point that internal thought proceeds external behaviour and consequently is far more powerful.

How does all this help create a successful business?

Firstly let’s talk about individuals. Have you experienced or met people that have this experience? They know what to do to create success, or get things right or get rid of the problem, but they are continually repeating the same behaviour and making the same mistakes. This is still because what happens inside your head is the most powerful aspect of your behaviour. So if you can get this aligned with creating success then your external behaviour can be more easily modified to get the results.

By knowing what makes a successful sales person, trainer, business manager in your company or industry gives you several advantages. Firstly you can look for and recruit specifically for the right values and beliefs as well as skills and experience. Secondly, individuals can through a variety of NLP techniques and related exercises modify their own values and beliefs to give themselves more successful in their endeavours.

Secondly, by modelling successful business you can gain an insight into the collective beliefs and values that the company has to hold to be successful. Then through organisational development, corporate communications and key business statements you can align your organisation with these values and beliefs.

As you can imagine the skill of Modelling in NLP is a highly useful thing. On any good certified NLP training course you will be shown how to model both individuals and organisations. But on the best NLP Practitioner Courses you will be given a range of highly successful models to start with. For example you should leave the course with:

? How to create and use specific ways of thinking for specific situations. For example a driving mindset, a negotiating mindset, a delivering presentations mindset.

? Massively accelerated learning ability, for example reading speed. You should leave the course being able to read at around 1000 words per minute, with better retention and comprehension that usual. As well as a strategy that, with practice will double this speed easily.

? Hypnotic persuasion and influencing skills. Not just random language patterns, but the process, strategy and mindset that allows you to really capture and lead the imagination.

The question is not about how NLP Training helps create business success but, if you are serious about creating a successful business how can you not train in NLP.

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Are you contemplating putting lots of stuff into self storage because of an impending move or because you are overrun with lots of “stuff”? Do you need to make more space available in your garage or basement? If this sounds like you, you may be wondering if making use of a local self storage facility is a good idea. Since you will be storing your items on a third party’s property, you want to be sure that your belongings will be secure and not accessible to anybody but you and may one or two other authorized family members or friends. This article will give you some pointers about self storage and will certainly give you some things to think about.