April 21, 2013
Modeling Excellence Series #12
A basic premise in NLP is that within (or behind, or above) every experience has a structure. Further, when you work with or change the structure, you are working with the very processes of the experience (or behavior) rather than dealing with the content or symptoms. To put it another way, there is a how to involved in every experience and when you discover the how to, you discover the heart. To make this really practice, this means that there is a how to for-
- Getting depressed when you have sufficient money and loved ones.
- Becoming anxious in the face of speaking before an audience.
- Put off doing something that you fully know would improve the quality of your life.
- Eat the wrong foods and too much of them when you have other choices.
In these and a thousand other human experiences, you have to have the know how for pulling them off. Lots of people cannot. Lots of people could never figure out how to depress themselves when they have a job, sufficient money, and loving relationships. It would be beyond them. Others could never in a thousand years feel anxious when speaking before an audience. They couldn’t if they tried really, really hard feel anxiety in that context. Others would never put off exercising, reading, going to bed on time, etc. when they know it makes a difference in the quality of their life.
For them to be able to do such unhealthy things, they would have to learn some strategy and practice it. Of course, why would they?
The structure that’s within these and every other experience is not a static structure like the bones within our bodies. The structure is made up of processes of how a person thinks, believes, gives meanings, feels, speaks, and then acts. It is a strategy of how the person uses his or her nervous-system and brain (neurology and mind) to generate the experience. It is more like a formula. In NLP, we call these formulas “patterns” and run the pattern as a step-by-step process for generating a given experience.
There’s a living structure or process for creating stuttering as I mentioned in an earlier article in this series. There’s a living structure or process for coaching effectively, presenting with clarity and force, creating healthy energy and vitality, leading an organization, and so on. Modeling is the process of discovering these living structures and detailing the processes. By modeling, we map out how the experience works, that is, what a person has to do in order to have the experience. Now this doing is primarily and mostly the internal things that a person does in thinking, defining, framing, picturing, recalling words, etc. In NLP, we call that internal set of steps a strategy. And so over the years we have developed a whole set of strategies- strategies for making decisions, buying, selling, negotiating, eating healthily, etc.
What NLP has been deficient in-and even anemic in-are strategies for long-term experiences. For the experiences that can be “triggered” on and stepped into in a moment of time – deciding, feeling motivated, selling, etc., these are easy with NLP. For strategies that are long-term experience, that transpire over months and even years- the old classical NLP models including the so-called “New Code” are inadequate.
Why are they inadequate? Because they do not describe how an expert creates and holds a frame of mind over a decade. For the strategies that would enable us to replicate effective leadership, responsible management, resilience, a healthy lifestyle, etc., we cannot just “trigger” it on, step into the corresponding state, and Presto! we are able to replicate that experience.
It would be nice to access an anchor for “healthy and fit” with the proper body weight and cardio-vascular and skeleton strength, step into that state and suddenly experience it! But sadly, it does not work that way. If you want to be healthy and fit with the proper body weight for your height and bone size along with the cardio-vascular and skeleton muscular strength, there are lots and lots of things that you’re going to have to do over months and years. The strategy does not occur in a moment- it endures over years.
This is where Neuro-Semantics comes to the rescue! (Cue here for Roman Horns!) That’s because the Meta-States Model enables us to detect in an expert the long-term frames of reference that the expert holds in mind over the time period required to get the results that we want. This is where also the Matrix Model enables us to sort out a whole belief system rather than just one or two empowering beliefs. It enables us to set up a set of beliefs that will enable a person to negotiate the steps and stages of an experience and to align those beliefs so that the person is fully congruent with the experience.
It is in detecting the whole systemic network of frames (as an integrated meta-state system) that allows us to then refine, streamline, and install for those who want to replicate an expert’s experience. And the test of this takes us back to experience. Does it work? Can others take on the matrix of frames and then over a period of time begin to replicate the experience in oneself? This was the test that I made with every one of my 17 modeling projects. Can I do it? Can I be resilient in the face of set-backs? Can I sell with integrity? Can I maintain a healthy body-weight and energy? Can I create wealth and become financially independent?
Neuro-Semantic News
- May in Rio — The Self-Actualization Psychology Training and Diploma.
- June in Kuala Lumpur – the Second International Neuro-Semantic Conference — on Coaching, Coaching Excellence.
- July in Johannesburg – the Self-Actualization Psychology Training and Diploma.
- April in Oslo Norway — Coaching Mastery for ACMC Credentials.
- May in Hong Kong — Coaching Mastery for ACMC Credentials.
For Contact details go to www.neurosemantics.com click Training — Dr. Hall’s Schedule.
L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.