Preconceived Notions – Boning up on NLP
Your Preconceived notions should definitely be challenged. NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming) is one of those things that I must admit I’ve shied away from for many years. Whenever I’ve met NLP practitioners I’ve had the idea in the back of my mind that some kind of technique is being used on me. I’ve always assumed – wrongly as it turns out – that there is something not quite right about people who analyse everything they say or do. From some recent reading I’ve found that my these preconceived notions are just plain wrong.
I remember doing a project years ago for a company that did psychometric testing and I’ve got the two confused ever since. Anyway in my mission to address some of my lingering misconceptions and assumptions I decided to brush up on what NLP actually is.
Taking advantage of modern technology once again I logged into my Overdrive/Glasgow libraries account and borrowed an ebook on the subject. So now I’m working my way through “Introducing Neurolinguistic Programming by Neil Shah.
As with all preconceived notions that are based on a lack of knowledge, this has already de-bunked what I though I knew about NLP. Turns out its actually a fancy phrase to describe a fairly simple concept. A concept that actually runs through a lot of reading I’ve done in the past. The simple fact that by understanding how our thought processes influence our behaviour, we can actually start to take control of them. It’s actually about tackling preconceived notions or in fact replacing them.
Most Preconceived Notions Are based On lack of Knowledge
The main differences between this and traditional psychotherapy are that A. It’s results driven and B. It’s quicker. It’s effectively a set of tools that to help people get the results they desire. One of the features I’m particularly drawn to about NLP is that it does not agree that categorizing people into personality type is helpful. Neither do I.
The introductory chapters of Neil’s book remind me of another book I’m working through – “How to get Lots of Money for anything fast” by Stuart Lichtman. Although maybe the cheesiest title ever for a book, (one that’s bound to create some preconceived notions) the basic premise seems similar to NLP. In that book the author concentrates on the idea of meta stories.
These are a way of deliberately making your subconscious focus on remembered positive experiences. You choose a “story” from your past where you had some success and rewrite it to remove any of the negative parts that were present in the story. That way when you take on something new your subconscious is remembering a successful outcome from previous experience. It then drives your conscious mind from that perspective – Much better.
From my reading so far then I’m liking NLP. It’s not what I thought. And that’s really my point today. Rather than dismissing things out of hand as I did with NLP, ask yourself if you actually do know anything about it. Maybe you owe it to yourself to expand your knowledge . You never know – it could be a life-changing discovery.
Another example might be preconceived notions you may have about what starting an online business would be like. Do you actually have any idea what that’s all about or are you working on someone else’s opinion. If so what do they know? Why not sign up for a free webcast and learn more about how that could change your outlook and possibly your life. The link is below.
Preconceived Notions – They have to Go !
By Dave Menzies