The NLP Half-Second Rule
The mind is a very powerful thing and can learn very fast. A very good way to approach life is to view all your experiences as learning experiences. Just about every habit, decisions and even phobias that we have are as a result of learned behaviours in the past. A person who has a phobia for example has learned to associate a stimulus (such as seeing blood) to a response (fainting). When you think about this idea for a while you will begin to realise the amazing implications it has. But does a person develop a phobia over time or is it developed quickly? For example a person who faints when they see blood, do they see blood one day and then the following week see blood again and each time they see blood become more reactive and begin to faint from the sight? No, they don’t build phobias over time. Phobias are learned and they are learned very fast. They are learned in our subconscious and are learned usually in about half a second. A person will have an intense emotional response which then becomes associated or anchored to the stimulus (in this case the sight of blood) in such a way that the response (fainting) is automatically triggered every time they see/hear/feel/smell/taste the stimulus again. It is quite incredible really how the mind works that will make a person automatically go into an altered state, within half a second, of experiencing a stimulus. So I guess you’re probably thinking what my point is. Phobias aren’t at all useful and in fact can be very inconvenient not to mention embarrassing. So who cares how you obtained the phobia, you are probably only interested in if you can relieve that phobia, right? Well what if you could use that same stimulus/response mechanism to create automatic states of joy, fun or bliss. How useful would that be in your life? By using Neuro Linguistic Programming you can learn to retrain your mind to have a different response to particular stimulus. Here is one technique known as ‘Merging Metaphors’ that can help to alleviate the problem of phobias. 1. Select a problem state or stimulus that you react negatively to. 2. As you think about your problem state what visual image comes to mind? Notice where it is located in space. 3. Break your current state: eg) Remember you phone number backwards or pretend to be staring at a blank white screen. Now think about the desired resource state that you would like instead. Notice how you represent this as a visual image. Pay attention to where it is located in space. 4. Now go back to the first image (problem state) and allow your mind to turn the image into a metaphorical symbol or icon. Keep it in the same location in space. (This visual metaphor could be quite complex or it may be as simple as a colour. Just trust your unconscious.) TOP TIP: It can be useful to ask yourself, "What is this problem state like?" This often allows a metaphorical representation to arise. 5. Do the same thing with the desired resource state you selected in step 3, making sure to place the new metaphor symbol in the same location in space as the original image. 6. Now see the two metaphor symbols at the same time noticing their locations in space. Next slowly rotate them around each other. Keep rotating them around each other and do so faster and faster. Do this spinning for about 10 seconds allowing the rotation to be so fast that you can no longer track the images and you may even feel a little confused. 7. Now allow the images to merge together, that's right. And push this merged image out in front of you where you can view it easily. Describe the new image briefly, quickly moving to step 8. 8. Immediately begin telling WHATEVER story comes to mind. Just allow yourself to start telling a story. It doesn't matter what it is. It could be a real memory, a story or just simply made up ramblings. The point being is that this process taps into your vast unconscious resources. 9. Now ask yourself, "How is this story relevant to my problem/challenge?" or "How can this story help resolve my problem?" (This step can help to give you conscious insight into how the previous steps have made some useful changes). This is an amazing technique and although if you are just reading it through and not actually trying it, it may seem a little strange. You will only realise the difference that this technique can make by actually giving it a go. The mind is a very powerful thing and having control over it can make an amazing difference in your life. By learning Neuro Linguistic Programming you can learn many techniques that can change your life amazingly for the better.
This article was written by Shezz P who has successfully changed her life using self taught NLP techniques.
You too can change your life and create personal and professional success by using NLP techniques learned through the The NLP Toolbox!’
