Excerpt form The Switch NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING
How we speak to ourselves makes all the difference to our mental health. There are so many ways we can switch the patterns of our internal voice to be more positive and productive, leading to a healthier happier you. The most famous is a technique called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s. Simply put, NLP is the practice of programming the brain’s language towards more strategic vocabulary for a more positive outcome. ‘Neuro’ refers to the brain and mind; ‘linguistic’ refers to language. The relationship between the two affects our behaviour, i.e. the ‘programming’. The mental strategies learned in NLP set those who practise it apart from the rest, helping them to learn faster and reach their fullest potential more quickly. You may have heard of some of the following NLP fans ... Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Tony Robbins, Russell Brand, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods and Robbie Williams. Now ask yourself this: what do all of these people have in common? The answer is, ‘success in their chosen field’. So you see, the way in which you speak to yourself, and also how you assimilate external influences into your own head, really makes a huge difference to your own behaviour.
Here are some tricks to talk yourself out of it when you hit a negative wall. 1. You want to go to the gym, but you feel a little out of shape. THE OLD NARRATIVE: ‘I am fat, what’s the point in going – I will look like a whale among all those beautiful women and everyone will laugh ... I might as well sit and watch daytime TV and eat those Cheesy Wotsits that have been screaming at me all week.’ THE NEW NARRATIVE: ‘OK, you hot ball of sexy stuff, let’s get this peachy butt to the gym, because you deserve to sweat, have fun, and kick some ass. Let’s go, Lara Croft in the making!’
www.thefrankmagazine.com