NLP Resources

I am often asked where you can find good resources on all things NLP. Well there are many sites out there with lots to offer. However my favourite place to find up-to-date information, stimulating discussions, brand new techniques and news of the best events and training is NLP Connections.

Meanwhile, in this blog, I continue to share many of the insights and techniques I have gathered over the years of studying, and as a result of practising as an Advanced NLP Therapeutic Specialist (licensed by the Society of NLP). In fact there a no more than 50 people with this most advanced certification in the whole of the UK. And one of the things I have discovered is, as my knowledge has become more advanced and deeper, the amazing power of language and the remarkable changes that can occur. Even by reading something creates a major shift in thinking better.

It can very curious reading articles by advanced NLP therapists, such as myself, because sometimes it seems like there is a grammatical error and yet it is this artfully vague and sometimes seemingly ambiguous use of language that can lead you to the most amazing realisations especially when you let the learnings reach deep into the unconscious triggering a kind of freedom from old patterns as a new pathway seems to open up before you creating all kinds of opportunities just because you allow yourself to think more flexibly now.

Meanwhile if you would like to learn how you can immediately adopt some very effective changes in the way you think to yourself now, you can visit my website for information on one to one coaching to help you use NLP to change your mind for the better or to quote Richard Bandler's book title "to use your brain for a change".

Andy Lucas - Advanced NLP Brighton

NLP - Anchoring

I wonder what situations you would like to see yourself being more focused or feeling more relaxed and calm. Perhaps you like the sound of being a confident speaker or meeting new people with self assurance. And I guess there are many other situations where it would be great to be able to switch on a resourceful state of mind at will even before you've thought about it because it's just happened automatically. Maybe you have always wondered how you can quickly achieve and sustain these kind of improvements.

I enjoy using NLP to help my clients make instant and lasting progress in their ability to get into a good state. And one of the first things I do is teach you how to use "anchors".

I have often been asked to explain exactly what we mean in NLP when we talk about anchors. I guess the easiest way to understand it is to think about it literally. You know how an anchor keeps a ship in port. It is small yet very strong and solid and it can be found sitting very deep under the surface. A rope attaches the small anchor to the big ship holding it safely in position on the surface.

Now I don't like to explain everything, because I know your unconscious mind learns better when it works stuff out for itself. So I'd rather suggest you consider how the analogy of the anchor and the ship would help your ability to be in a useful state for some situation such as public speaking, sitting exams, socialising or something else.

And maybe you could be aware of how there really is nothing new about anchors at all. They exist anyway. So you can reflect on your ability to sometimes stay in a very useful state of mind already. You might remind yourself of such situations now as you ponder. Yet you might also find something exciting about the prospect of being able to use this natural ability more often by actually creating some of your own anchors and practising using them at chosen times.

So I could explain to you some very easy to learn techniques for developing anchors and yet I can't help thinking you can work this out for yourself and start teaching your unconscious mind to do the things it does well more often and in more situations now, wouldn't you.

Andy Lucas - NLP Coach Brighton

NLP - Habit Change

I often receive enquiries about whether NLP and/or hypnotherapy can help with giving up an unwanted habit e.g. biting nails, thumb sucking, picking the face, smoking.

There's Giving Up

I don't know about you, but I have never liked "giving up" anything. It just sounds like sacrificing something good.

I guess this is a reminder of how NLP has you take care about the words you use, pay attention to what you hear yourself saying or just watch out for those sneaky phrases.

When you truly decide to stop doing something, you have already decided it no longer serves you, haven't you. So I don't suppose it's really a sacrifice at all, is it. Can you imagine our ancestors making sacrifices of something unwanted to the gods? So that phrase "giving up" seems a bit redundant, doesn't it.

And if you are still in two minds about whether you want to stop this habit or not, the phrase "giving up" is not going to make that decision any easier, is it. You can carry on using that mantra if you like - "giving up, giving up, giving up". It's a wonderful piece of self-hypnosis for having you continue the old habit. Or you can take control of the things you say to yourself and others to make the change you want to happen more easily now.

And There's Giving Up

There's another meaning to the phrase "giving up". Sometimes it means "quitting"...... Oops.

I must admit I have a bit of pride. I really don't like quitting things at all. It just sounds like something I might do if I didn't think I could succeed, like quitting an exam, quitting a challenge, quitting a competition.

It's all about language again, isn't it. After all, there are times in life when it is a good thing to "stop" something. It can be decisive, prudent, wise or even courageous, certainly not the action of a quitter. And there are times when it's best not to quit, when you need to be determined, persistent, motivated. It's funny how people who talk about "quitting smoking" seem to prefer "stopping quitting" and end up feeling like a quitter anyway. It's not their fault. Nobody ever told them about the power of language. I'm glad somebody told me.

I wonder

I wonder what you notice first about how much easier it is to change a habit when you finish quitting and start changing, or you cease giving up and start stopping instead. You might want to read that again or you might like to let it sink into your unconscious where it can begin to make a difference for the better now.

I think that's all I have to say about the subject right now. I could give up typing anything else in this particular posting, however I don't really like giving up, so I'll just stop instead.

Author: Andy Lucas, Advanced NLP Therapeutic Specialist