Neuro Linguistic Programming: An Intro to NLP

By Kurt Schmitt

Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s. What started out as a study of why some very successful psychotherapists were so effective turned into its own method for self-improvement.

NLP is different from traditional self-growth methods, positive thinking, and psychotherapies in that it focuses on what work, and relies on a method called modeling to copy and teach success. It sometimes disregards what we might believe to be true or false, and works off of certain presuppositions.

For example, NLP presupposes that you have all the resources that you need in order to effect positive change. An additional assumption is that failure does not exist. In other words, no matter what you are successfully producing results, even if those results are unwanted.

As long as it is useful, it doesn’t matter whether or not the presupposition is actually true. For example, you don’t ask whether or not a tool is true before you use it. You simply pick up a hammer and a nail and use it.

Another presupposition in NLP is that people work perfectly. Even if someone is consistently getting results that they don’t want, they are not broken.

Often, many people assume that they need therapy because they are broken and need fixing. Some therapies seem to reinforce this idea. This has a tendency to turn people into victims and excuse their negative behavior in the future by imposing an inherent limitation. In a sense, these methods predict failure.

Take, for example, the case of someone who has a self-limiting belief that they’re a bad learner. They’ve been told all of their life that they have bad study habits or can’t learn a particular subject (I’m bad at math). They become a victim of a limitation that they’ve set for themselves and avoid learning new things in this area.

With neuro-linguistic programming, you would simply accept that whatever your results with learning have been in the past, it has been perfect. Remember also that another presupposition of NLP is that you have all the resources at your disposal to make a change. In other words, you can learn anything you want to learn right now, regardless of past results.

Professionals in the life coaching field utilize a similar concept that says that the present is perfect. This allows you to accept that things are as they should be and gives you the power to make changes in your life.

Another principle of success used in NLP is the belief that if someone can achieve a certain result, then you can too by modeling their process. It’s also flexible enough to embrace the concept that if what you’ve been doing isn’t working for you, then you should change your methods until you get the desired results.

Neuro-linguistic programming was adapted and put into practice by one of its most well known students, Tony Robbins. Tony made himself famous using his own brand of NLP-based self-improvement to show people how to cure phobias and turn their lives around in a very short time frame.

There are a number of resources online where you can learn the basic techniques and principles, and many life coaches and NLP practitioners you can work with to take things to the next level. If you’re looking for a practical and effective approach to life change, then NLP may just be for you.

Kurt Schmitt writes for a website that includes success quotes and a number of articles on how to learn neuro-linguistic programming

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