From Wimp to Warrior in 20 Minutes or Less
If you have never heard of Neuro-linguistic programming or NLP, let me be the first to introduce you. I know neuro-linguistic programming sounds like something way over your head that psychologists and psychiatrists practice, but you would be wrong on both counts. Most head doctors do not practice NLP and it is not that difficult to understand. Let us break it down: Neuro = brain, linguistic = language, and programming. Brain language programming is what makes you feel the way feel. The best way I can explain it is music. Why do you always see athletes listening to their iPod before they compete? Why do love songs make you feel romantic? Music can put you into any emotional state. So odds are you have already used NLP on yourself unconsciously.
NLP is what Anthony Robbins used to jumpstart his career. He would call into talk radio shows and claim he could cure anyone's phobia right there on the spot. This eventually led to psychologists and psychiatrists calling in and challenging him. Robbins would cure phobias of people who were in counseling for most their lives in 20 minutes. And I am not talking about your run of the mill"I'm afraid of snakes" guy. No, I am talking about people whose phobias affected their everyday lives, the kind of people who are afraid to even leave their house.
One method I use for fear is the movie theatre trick. The next time you find yourself in a situation that you are absolutely terrified of, pretend you are the hero in a movie. Snakes, public speaking, heights, whatever the fear may be put yourself into a scene in your movie where you are saving the day. So far so good, right? Now, pretend you are in the theatre watching that hero on screen. This will force you to look the situation differently. Instead of focusing on what frightens you, you will focus on the climax of the movie and riding into the sunset victoriously. If you want to take it a step further, pretend you are in the projection booth watching yourself watch the movie starring you. Just remember that thousands of people with fears probably more severe than yours have used tricks like this to cure themselves. Now you can too.
I mentioned earlier how music influences our emotional state. One thing I recommend is to have a few go to songs that you can play on your iPod or MP3 player to put you in the right state of mind no matter what your current outside stimulus is. A break up, you get fired, fail a class, anytime you are feeling down you can play these songs to get you back to a peak state. While the song is playing ask yourself "Will this matter in five years? Five months? Five weeks? Five hours?" It probably won't. One of my favorite songs to listen to at these times is the SNL digital short I'm on a Boat. This song is not only has an upbeat tempo and positive sounding lyrics, but it also makes me laugh a little every time I listen, so it does a great job of evening me out.
If you want to learn more about NLP check out Anthony Robbins' book Awaken the Giant Within. If you want to go even further read NLP for Dummies. And if you really want to become a master of your domain get Creating Lasting Change by Anthony Robbins. All three are more than adequate to understand how NLP works and they can explain it a lot better than I can. I found the two books at a Publication1 library on campus too, so that might not be a bad place to check to save a few dollars.
About the Author
Chris Carlton is a blogger and a graduating student at University at Wisconsin - Whitewater taking up double major in Management and Marketing. Next spring, he will be in Buenos Aires to conduct independent research on what the vibrant city has to offer.
Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook.
NLP FOR DUMMIES
[simpleaffiliate source="amazon" results="10"]neuro linguistic programming for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="cj" results="10"]neuro linguistic programming for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="clickbank" results="10"]neuro linguistic programming for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]
No comments:
Post a Comment