How Can You Begin Learning Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

There are a number of ways to learn about neuro-linguistic programming and develop skills and abilities in the field. I often use the analogy that learning nlp is like learning to drive. You could read some books about driving and gain some understanding of the concepts, how the controls work and what is involved in driving a car but, I wouldn't fancy being a passenger with someone whose only experience of driving was from a book. Live training is the recommended path to take.

NLP is highly practical, it is about an attitude, and a way of doing things and is not about learning information or absorbing facts. It is something that is best learned by seeing it and experiencing it in action.

NLP can be used for personal growth and self improvement and, Richard Bandler NLP Co-creator says, "It's important to emphasize that NLP is an educational tool, not a form of therapy. We don't do therapy. We teach people some things about how their brains function and they use this information in order to change". These are the kind of things that you can read ABOUT in books but actually having the experience is what gives you the real learning.

Many people often associate nlp with things such as emotional intelligence and body language and as an NLP Practitioner a person would have many skills and abilities in these areas, but NLP is much more than information about a subject. NLP is about the structure of experience, how do people do the things they do and is a way of modelling human experience regardless of what that experience is about.

So, for example, when nlp is used to understand how someone makes a decision, we aren't interested in what the decision is about, we are interested in the subjective process that occurs for them to reach it. Things like reframing and persuasion are skills that can be applied in numerous areas whether in sales, coaching, teaching, managing, leading, therapy or any other area of life - indeed anywhere that involves interactions with people.

What does the 'programming' bit of neuro linguistic programming mean?

NLP programming is not a term that everyone feels comfortable with - a more useful description might be patterning. As you are reading this you might like to think of something you are good at doing or skilled at e.g. driving a car or riding a bike.

What is it like for you to do this activity - natural - automatic - easy?

What was it like when you first started learning it? hard? too much to pay attention to or think about?

If you've been driving a car for some time then you can probably do it automatically, i.e. you don't need to concentrate on bringing the clutch up to the right point when you change gear, you can just do it. So, we could say that you have a 'car driving' program. This program is something you can run automatically and which allows you greater flexibility and freedom during that time - you can have a conversation with someone else, listen to music or think about other things.

So, we could describe a program as something that has become automatic or unconscious and, in situations where we're doing something well this really helps because it allows us to do something easily and effortlessly. In fact, excellence would usually be synonymous with unconscious competence i.e. a person doesn't have to consciously think about what they're doing in order to do it.

The NLP coaching that we offer is designed to take you into unconscious competence so that you begin to develop new automatic responses and abilities that you can integrate into your life, basically leave no stone unturned and disregard questions such as '"What is NLP?' so that you are completely on track.  We want you to be able to use neuro linguistic programming to make a difference to you and the people you meet. View the NLP Creations nlp workshops, nlp courses and our weekend nlp seminar  for more information.