NLP Techniques - Gratitude Inventory

 Gratitude Inventory

1. In a notebook draw three vertical columns
Give each column a heading: 1) Assets, 2) Attributes and 3) Relationships.

2. Now begin to fill out each in some detail
Under Assets. These maybe material (for example "I own my house outright.") or physical (for example "I'm the fittest I've ever been".) Assets may refer to your experience, such as educational qualifications, work experience etc.
Under Attributes. These are practical abilities, such as being able to complete projects on time, as well as emotional capabilities such as patience, endurance, even temper etc.
Under Relationships. List all those people (friends and family) you are confident that you can rely on. Think: If I was in trouble in the middle of the night could I ring any of these people and know without a moments doubt know they will turn up to help me?

3. When you have at least 20 in each category (feel free to ask for suggestions) choose one from each.

4. on a separate page, one for each item, write a sentence beginning with:
"Today I'm grateful that / for...." and fill in the relevant word of phrase.

5. Each morning, take a few moments to immerse yourself in gratitude. This is how you do that.
Find one example of each asset, attribute and relationship. Imagine you are actually experiencing each in turn. Absorb yourself into what you see, hear and feel and let the physical sensation this triggers begin to flow through your body. Notice the direction in which it is moving, and link the end point to the beginning so that it begins to spin. Now speed up the spin, allowing the feeling to move muscle to muscle, cell to cell, atom to atom until you have a full body experience.

6. Next briefly image yourself moving into the day with that feeling permeating your whole being.
How would it change your experience? What would be different and better? Most important: Who are the people you would like to share this special kind of wealth? How will you do it?

NLP Technique - Getting Things Done

1. Choose a situation where you feel out of control - not because you don't have the knowledge or the skills, but because your emotions get the better of you. One example of this might be fear of success or fear of failure.


2. Understand at this point that this is simply an attitude that is stopping you from doing something that you know you should do, so decide as richly as possible what you will be doing when you are back in control. Choose a specific example of this behaviour, preferably one that is immediately testable.


3. Sit comfortably, then float out, imagining yourself sitting a little behind and up from your physical body. In your mind's eye, see the back of your head, the width of your shoulders. See what your clothes look like from this point of view. Make this picture as fully dimensional as possible.


4. Now, imagine that you see yourself starting to stand up, and, as that happens, actually stand, so you are in precisely the same position as your imagine image.


5. Repeat this thought and action several times, making it faster each time, until you feel yourself being pulled to your feet by the vividness of your image.


6. Imagine you are standing a little behind and up from an image of yourself about to start the activity you identified in Step 2. Ensure that it is in the same position and has the same quantities as the standing exercise.


7. Run the activity from start to finish several times. Do this faster and faster, stepping into the image each time, until you feel the same 'pull' as before.


8. Test by starting the activity and following it all the way through at least three times. Then sit down quietly for a few moments and imagine how your life will be different and better as this new skill generalizes out into other, equally useful and appropriate areas of your life.

NLP Techniques - Future Pacing

Mental Rehearsal Guidelines

1) While you are learning to hone your mental rehearsal skills, eliminate as many distractions as possible. Make your yourself comfortable and take your time. Before long, mental rehearsal will become a skill you can use at short notice, anywhere.
2) Decide whether you are rehearsing a new, ongoing behaviour, or a finite response or skill you want to lock into place.
3) Take a series of long, slow breaths, making sure the exhalation is slightly longer than the inhalation.
4) Relax, scanning your body and gently releasing all muscular tension.
5) Create a dissociated of yourself using the new behaviour
(If you're dissociated you can improve what you do, if you're associated you can improve how  you'll feel when you do the behaviour.)

Exercise | Raising the Bar

1) Start with a skill you already have and would like to improve
2) Create a movie of yourself (or someone particularly adept) carrying out the procedure.
3) When the movie is exactly as you want it, step
(associate) into the beginning.
4) Now introduce a dramatic handicap.
5) Repeat the exercise many times, especially late at night.
Don't skimp on the effort, and always hit your target regardless of how challenging the handicap might be. Keep increasing the handicap, and keep achieving your outcome with precision and satisfaction. Test your progress frequently and keep track of whatever you find different and better.

NLP Technique - Foolproof Planning

1. Step into a full sensory representation of the way you will be behaving, talking, thinking, and feeling when you are completely on track with your new and preferred direction. To intensify the experience, imagine going through an entire "ideal" day with your new resources already in place, spinning and building on your good feelings.

2. Ask yourself what needs to be done immediately before you could have your perfect day. Make a note of your answer.


3. When you have identified that, ask yourself the same question: what needs to be done immediately before you achieve that step Write down the answer.


4. Repeat until you have moved backward to your starting point. You should now have all the key steps needed to carry you from your present state to your desired state.


5. Carefully give each step a start and finish date, making sure that they all complete within your overall timescale.

Note : Complex tasks can be broken into separate components, each of which can be reverse-engineered as above, making sure that none of the start-finish dates clash.

NLP Technique - Fast Phobia Cure

The Fast Phobia cure can be used for any real big fear, if the fear can be tested there an then - i.e. purely imagining the situation brings observable manifestations of the fear - so much the better.

The technique contains a number of steps, for example, dissociation, playing an experience backwards, which can be useful in many contexts.

Fast Phobia Cure - What's important

Remember if it's a really big fear you can continue to dissociate further, for example float above yourself from the gallery and watch yourself from an air vent in the cinema, watching yourself, watching yourself watching the movie.

Sometimes in order to get the logistics right I'll layout the room so a screen or monitor is the cinema screen, a chair represents the front row and another chair represents a chair in the balcony.

Also remember to test thoroughly and to continue as many times as it needs to get an appropriate outcome. You're teaching your client some very useful mental processes.

Fast Phobia Cure - The Technique

1. Have the subject find their greatest fear in life.

2. Have them walk into an imaginary movie theatre of their mind and sit down in the center of the front row.

3. Have them float up out of their body and gently settle in a comfortable seat in the balcony, so they can watch themselves watching the screen.

4. Have them put the very beginning of their greatest fear on the screen in the form of a colored slide. Have them run the movie of their greatest fear all the way to end, as they remain in the balcony watching sitting in the front row watching themselves on the screen.

5. At the end of the movie, freeze the frame into a slide. Change the picture to black and white and then re-associate fully into the picture on the screen (walk into the movie). Run the associated movie backwards at triple speed or faster, with circus or cartoon music playing, and have them freeze - frame the image when they get to the beginning of the movie.

6. Have them walk out of the still picture and sit back down in the center of the front row of the theater, then have them white out the entire screen.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 as necessary. Test for the phobic response after each time through. All throughout the process use plenty of presuppositions and Milton model language patterns to reinforce your change work.

NLP Techniques - Empowering Questions

Asking good questions is important in many aspects of NLP. In this technique we're using good questions to  direct attention towards useful states, resources and actions.

1. Write out 10 empowering questions
Examples:
a) How am I going to enjoy improving what do?
b) How can I become more passionate about helping others to succeed?
c) What going to be the most fun and going to move me forward today?
d) What's the most effective way I can move forward?
e) Who can help me with this?
f) What can I do to help others succeed?
g) What am I going to stop doing today, that in stopping will help me succeed?
e) What's the most useful thing I can do right now?
Your examples:
a)
a)
c)
d)
e)
f)
h)
i)
j)
l)
2. Ask yourself these questions
Ask yourself these questions twice a day, leave a pause after each question to let the question resonate throughout your mind and body. First thing in the morning and last thing in the evening is a good time.
3. Revise and improve your questions
Every two weeks or so, revise and update your questions.

NLP Technique - Embedded Commands

So what are embedded commands?

Embedded Commands are commands which have been softened by embedding them in a particular sentence. This means that they are less likely to be noticed and it is more likely that the client will follow the command.

Be aware that if you lead people to do what's in their interest they are likely to thank you, if you lead people to do what is against their interest they are likely seek revenge!

Embedded commands are one aspect of hypnotic language.

Embedded Commands - What's important

Firstly choose a command that's clear and easy to understand. In this exercise we'll use:

"Feel good"

"Register for a package of 5 coaching sessions"

"Take me out for a coffee"

Secondly remember to deliver your command dropping your voice down at the end of the command. This ensures it comes over as a command and not a question.

Sometimes its easier simply to give a command without embedding it! only embed it if you need to.

You can embed the command in a appropriate sentence or phrase as below. You may want to use a sentence that 'paces your clients current experience.' Finally you may want to 'mark out' the command with an appropriate small but clear had gesture.

When you're both congruent and put all the above together you'll be very influential.

Embedded Commands - Some examples

You can feel good as you start this exercise.

You can register for a package of 5 coaching sessions and start getting the benefits earlier.

You can take me out for a coffee and I'll tell you about cold reading.

What's it's like when you feel good because you've finished before the deadline.

What's its like when you register for a package of 5 coaching sessions and know you've taken a key step in easily achieving your goals.

What's it like when you take me out for a coffee and you have a chance to tell me what's important to you about this.

You probably haven't thought to feel good just because you're alive. Until now anyway.

You probably haven't thought to register for a package of 5 coaching sessions but it's what I'd recommend.

You probably haven't thought to take me out to coffee but it's what I'd recommend if you would like to get this sorted now.

I won't ask you to feel good just because you've turned up. I will ask you to feel good because you've taken the first step.

I won't ask you to register for a package of 5 coaching sessions, but if its what you want you may consider it all the same.

I won't ask you to take me out for coffee but if you its what you want you may consider it all the same.

I'm wondering if you'll feel good after the massage.

I'm wondering if you register for a package of 5 coaching sessions you'll realise the how quickly you'll change.

I won't ask you to take me out to coffee but I this time I'll ask you to pay.

If you've feel good now you'll feel even better as we move to the next part.

If you register for a package of 5 coaching sessions, you'll have set yourself up to succeed.

If you take me out to coffee I've a secret to share.

You may or may not realise that you can feel good by surrendering to the moment.

You may or may not realise that you can register for a package of 5 coaching sessions for the investment of four.

As you practise embedded commands in this way you will find you can improve your skills to point where you've managed to improve your influencing skills so that people just do what you want. And you can enjoy the additional responsibility this gives you.

Examples of phrases to set up embedded commands

Luckily you can:

When you:

If you were to:

If I were to:

What's it like when you:

A person can:

It's not necessary to:

You really shouldn't:

You don't have to:

(Thanks to Ross Jeffries)



Have fun!