David Molden & Pat Hutchinson have over 22 years combined experience of designing and running NLP based training courses. They developed the format for NLP training used on all Quadrant 1 NLP courses and are regular speakers at the London NLP conference. Quadrant 1 International promotes both their courses and books to over 30,000 opt-in newsletter members each month, and through active social networking.

Get Ready – How to use this book.

This book is equally useful to people wanting to improve their lives, achieve more at work, and those wishing to improve their NLP Practitioner and Coaching skills. This introduction will explain how to prepare yourself by choosing some specific aspects of your work, self or relationships to focus on as you progress through the book.

Chapter 1 – The origins of NLP

This chapter will outline the various areas which NLP draws from. Being an eclectic change technology the roots can be traced back to mathematics, linguistics, anthropology, neuro-science and systems thinking, taking in many existing ideas including Gestalt therapy, Provocative therapy, and research into human communication, learning and behavioural modelling. References will be given for each of the major sources and contributors to the field.

Chapter 2 – Create compelling outcomes

Whether making a telephone call or planning a 5 year strategy NLP promotes the idea that all activity should have a well-formed and compelling outcome, even if your aim is just to have fun!  This chapter explores the component parts of a well-formed outcome and includes exercises to work through one or more specific goals you want to achieve. Setting well-formed outcomes will feature throughout the book. The chapter is structured as follows:

1        Story, metaphor or quote to set the scene for learning in this chapter

2        An introduction to the topic

3        A description of the learning for the chapter

4        Worksheet templates to –

·        identify examples of the learning in relation to the self, other people and work/activities

·        identify areas for change

5        Define well formed and compelling outcomes

6        Real life examples

7        A number of exercises to make desired changes

8        An explanation of the theory and presuppositions behind the exercises, ie, what makes it work

9        Notes for the Explorer – how to make this exercise work. Tips on using the exercise with yourself

10   Notes for the Coach – how to make this exercise work. Tips on using these exercises with a client.

11   Quick-plays dispersed throughout the chapter

Chapter 3 - Think your way to success

An exploration of the impact metaprograms and values have on your success. This chapter includes a questionnaire to create your metaprogram profile, and will reveal some of the ways you limit yourself without even knowing it, and highlight areas of strength. It will relate your profile to your outcomes set in the earlier chapter and identify what to do to increase your potential to succeed.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 4 – Challenge your beliefs

Beliefs can either hold you back or propel you forward.  This chapter will explore how you create the difference with exercises to change the beliefs that hold you back and intensify those that propel you forward.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 5 – Think your way to feeling great

An exploration of how you arrange and represent your perception of reality, and how this creates the way you feel. Includes exercises to help you change some behaviors which may be causing you to feel stressed or unhappy so you can feel great more of the time. Includes an explanation of eye accessing cues, sensory representation systems and anchoring with a range of exercises to give you more control over your thinking. This chapter will also introduce and explain the Q1 Orange Circle Thinking technique.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 6 – Reassess your values

Your behaviour can be described and explained as consequences of different levels of thinking. A misalignment between levels can cause stress and frustration.  This chapter creates awareness of the various misalignments and includes exercises to re-align if desired. Includes an explanation of the neurological levels of learning, communication and change with a detailed insight into how personal values are formed as you grow and develop. This chapter also explains the link between values, metaprograms and beliefs and how these aspects of thinking influence capability and achievement.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 7 – Build rewarding relationships

What is rapport? Why is it important? What can be achieved when you are able to create it with real purpose? How do you create it? A fundamental pre-requisite is to have rapport with yourself, and the stronger this is the easier it will be to create rapport with others. The exercises will take you through all the ways you can create rapport with another person, or with a group including matching and mirroring techniques applied to specific relationships you want to build or improve.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 8 – Communicate with impact

The meaning of your communication is in the response you get. It really doesn’t matter what you say if the response is less than you expected.  This chapter explores how you talk to yourself and others and helps you to develop ways of adapting your verbal communication using NLP language patterns for positive results. Includes explanations and exercises to practice the meta model and Milton model language patterns.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 9 – Manage your time and emotions

How you perceive time can have a big impact on both your health and success. In this technological age of teleconferences and internet communications the demand for speed is becoming greater day by day. Problems occur as a result of speeding up and fragmenting your attention across too many things. Mistakes increase, stress builds and if allowed to escalate physical illness is a common consequence.

This chapter looks at the emotional connection you have with your work and activities, explores ways of creating positive emotional connections, and includes exercises to manage your time more effectively and enjoyably.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 10 – Debugging and designing personal strategies

You have strategies for everything you do from waking up in the morning to shopping, decision-making, making yourself feel good or bad, making and breaking friendships, etc.  Some strategies work well and some don’t.  Most work outside your awareness. Here you get to identify and change the strategies that are not working well for you using specific exercises. Includes an explanation of the NLP TOTE model and how to elicit and change a strategy which isn’t working in your best interests, and design new strategies to help you achieve your outcomes.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 11 – You, your rules and your map

This chapter gives you an opportunity to examine the rules you make for yourself, those you accept from others and how these might be limiting your capability, and constraining others. This chapter will build on the learning in chapter 5 and look at a wider range of values which make you the person you are. It explains how values become rules and shape your behaviour. The exercises here give you an opportunity to question the rules you make for yourself and extend self-imposed boundaries of personal expression.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 12 – Your life and NLP

NLP has some fundamental principles on which it is based.  This chapter offers an opportunity to explore what your life could be like if you were to abide by these principles, and the possibilities for not doing so. The exercises offer a range of alternative perspectives on how you react in various situations, with options for change. Includes a description of the key 14 presuppositions of NLP with examples and worksheets.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 13 – Modelling with NLP

Behavioural modeling is at the core of NLP and relates to a person’s unique model of the world. This chapter will show you how to model any skill you see in another person, including sales, learning, sports, coaching, running a company, public speaking, writing and many other skills. If you see someone demonstrating a skill and getting consistently great results you can model them and install the model for yourself. There are of course certain health warnings to this technique which will be fully explained to the reader.

Structure as described for Chapter 1

Chapter 14 – The next steps

Having completed the workbook, or sections within it, you may wish to explore some specific areas of NLP more closely, or seek a training course to support your continued development. There are also practice groups and conferences available, plus a growing selection of books and online resources. This chapter will describe a format for use within a practice group for those who may wish to start a group for themselves.