"Test Drive NLP"
NLP Mind Training Webinar By
Steve Boyley
August
25th 2003
Webinar Notes by Craig Eubanks
These notes
are offered as is from the webinar with permission from Steve Boyley of the
Performance Institute of NLP. Minor editing and article formatting done by
Steve Boyley. Questions are in bold indicated with "Q:"
NLP Webinar with
Steve Boyley:
Test Drive NLP
Neuro Linguistic
Programming is itself an ambiguous statement. Programming has two
meanings, the content that is in there, and the process to create the
content.
The same is true of
NLP, there is what everybody has in their head that allows them to do what
they do. It is put in there along the way by parents, culture,
schools, etc. We end up with a collection of neuro-synaptic bursts
that are in fact marvelous. Some of it may allow you to get what you
want. For some people it does not allow them to get what they want.
It can be changed.
What are some words
that describe programming you have heard in the past?
Auto pilot, Trigger
response, Beliefs, Knee jerk reactions, Thinking patterns, Wetware, Social
programming, Cultural
programming.
Point:
whether we use the term Neuro Linguistic Programming or not, people are
aware that people do have programs they run in their mind.
The map is not
the territory. A persons idea of what reality is, is not actually
the reality but their understanding of it that allows them to navigate in a,
hopefully, useful way.
The territory is
the map. This refers to the territory a Neuro Linguistic
Programmer has to work with, the map in the other persons mind.
How do we get our
map of the territory? How do we get this stuff in our mind? What
people experience of reality can be affected by the context. 2 primary
types of programs come into play when people experience reality.
1) Filters
- how they determine what is relevant and what isn't
2) Sorting
- sort what gets past the filters
Example: If I
ask you to have a look around at all the blue items in the room that you are
in, take note of all those items in your visual range.
-
Do you have a
list of the blue things now? Keep looking at your screen.
-
Keep your
attention on the screen, now count up how many round items are in the room
without looking.
Point: you just
scanned the whole room so you should know what they are... right?
-
Once you have
that list of round items, check how many are actually in the room.
-
What is the
difference in numbers?
Amazing how many
you miss, even where you live or work. That was a demonstration
of how someone can create a filter and sorting program in your mind.
This provides a way
of understanding how people can look at the same event and come away with
very different accounts of it. Their filters and sorting are
different. This also shows how easily someone else can affect your
reality by setting a context to it such that you filter and sort in a
different way.
Note: an
investigator might go into a situation with no filtering mechanism in
play, to purposely notice everything.
So this is how it
is possible for one person with a filter to see everything bad around him,
is always in a bad mood. But a person maybe even in a worse situation,
can be very upbeat.
Point: by simply
changing a persons filter, what they notice and what they don't, can
change their outlook in life.
Q: seems like
internal state affects how we use any given sorting program?
It can. It
can work both ways. The sorting program can affect internal state, and
the state can affect the sorting.
Point of all
this: That these filters can be affected by context.
Now that you are
aware that these filters exist, that there is a choice, you can
examine reality with a different filter... you can change how you
respond to it.
Now understanding
that there are filters in play that affect how reality is perceived, and
that these can be affected by context.... You can stop and ask
yourself the question "hmm do I feel good about this result?" if not, you
can change the filter. If yes, then keep what you have as it is
working for you.
So you start out
with a filter program, the filter filters the reality, then the sort program
begins to sort it all out. There may be rules for the sort program.
What happens when you examine the filter you use right now with this
information. For example, how would you filter differently if you had
paid $1000 to be here?
You would filter
it much differently.
So again, one
little piece of information would make a big difference in how you
would filter. So you see how easily your filter program can be
changed? So in therapy... often times by changing the filter program
and sort program gets an immediate and appropriate change in behavior.
The rules for
the filters are the beliefs. These beliefs are often the result of
the way information is filtered.
A reaction is a
replay of the response they formed when they acted the first time on how
their filter program worked. The reaction is due to them being
content with the results from the first action, so now they do not have to
think.
This is how they
train marines. They condition them to react, to get the results they want.
Contingencies are tested. By the time the mission takes place, the
players have gone through the scenarios and changes in the scenario
so that it is not a response that takes place but a reaction. This speeds
the process up.
So what is the
thing that gets a persons attention? Interrupt the pattern. Change
the filter, change the sort, change the rules of the sort. Ask them
what other responses could you build in to react in the future.
Think of this:
If a person has a difficultly they would like to overcome, and you use
language that moves it to the past (since they are working with you), then
use language to give them the tools to handle the situation, and then......
problem - past
resource - present
solution - future
So if you think of
any problem you had, and think of those aspects of your personality that you
know can handle this, and you think out into the future can you imagine how
you will be able to respond appropriately?
That was a problem
wasn't it? If you think of all the aspects of your personality right
now that can handle this, and you see yourself now doing those things
effectively, can you imagine how easily you will handle this the next time
you encounter it?
This is why they
call them interventions, it intervenes into the pattern they were using
and launches them into a new pattern of doing things. If there is
stuff left out, how did they filter it out? Sometimes you need to change the
filter so they can let more information in.
Most of the time
the problem people think they are having isn't occurring right then
and what they are, is afraid of it happening again. So it is
easy to put the problem in the past, plug in the resources in the present
moment and project that into the future.
Look at some of
the ways this affects people
Example: News
reporter in Iraq. They are there 24 hours a day, and only file a 5
minute report. Who set the filters for them while they are there?
What is missing? What are they not seeing due to their filters and
sorting programs? Then that info is edited down by the network back
home. Whose filters are running there?
Think of all the of
events that happen in the world in a day, and that all gets condensed down
into a half hour or 1 hour "world news" show. So how much of the
reality are you getting from that broadcast?
Reality
Tunnels. Idea that people are in a tunnel so sturdy and secure
they can't get out of them. But instead Steve thinks the Reality
Distortion Field provides a better model.
Reality
Distortion Field (RDF): Each person emits a reality distortion field
when they communicate with others. The very people who are creating
the reality distortion field often get caught up in it.
A persons RDF
develops as they grow, the parents field will affect them, the peer group,
the education system. The media. All of these various influences
are reality distortion fields. None of them exactly knows what reality
is, since they all involve filtering and sorting.
A metaphor
of human being affected by reality distortion fields by others, is like the
effect of gravity from the planets on a comet. Most people go through
life like this, being affected by the RDF of those around them. Neuro
linguistic programmers are like giving the comet thrusters to move in and
out of the planetary bodies.
A large part of the
filtering is known as "meta programs." also: values, beliefs, memories, time
line. NLP itself becomes a filter for the type of information, and
gives us a filter to sort for the type of info that makes up a persons map
of reality.
Here is how the
TOTE goes for eating pie:
test - are you
eating pie yet?
operate - close eyes and wish a slice of pie on the table.
test - is it there? are you eating pie yet?
(bad strategy)
operate - (do something till you eat pie)
find pie, go get it, etc.
test - are you eating pie? if yes
exit.
Overall strategy is
to eat pie. sub-strategies are to find, prepare, heat, slice, serve, then
eat.
Information goes
into the 5 senses, and into the programming box where it encounters the
filters, then sorted in some particular way in our mind. By realizing
that this is the way we do things, we can change this.
Example:
What would Einstein think of this, what would my neighbor say? A way
to try out different filter programs and sort programs, experience reality
in a different way.
Realize the reality
distortion fields around you, and make sure you react in an appropriate way
to distorted and filtered presentations of reality. Start out at the
sensory level, and point out how you can use the filters you have to sort
information and experience reality.
To link that
through to the realization that the way others filter/sort creates reality
distortion fields that guide your existence if you allow them to. The
trick is to strengthen your own RDF so that it affects your reality and
becomes a reality of your own creation.
Remember:
If thoughts are the cause of what you are experiencing now, what you think
now creates your future.
Craig Eubanks is an Author,
Trainer, and Communication Skills Specialist
Affordable NLP Training
