Posts Tagged NLP
Use your brain
Posted by Volker in Marketing, cb consulting, gtd, train your brain on 17/06/2009
On the OPEN Forum I discovered an article about brain usage and the 10 tips on how to improve your brain.
I have written about “Train your brain” before and always encourage people to use their brain. Not only when parking their car at Tesco, going around a round about, going shopping or making a comment at a conference….and you will find more examples if you actively listen. No, you should train your brain any chance you get. Ever tried to go around the shopping aisles and memorising what you have in your trolley. Make up a story to better memorise things, e.g.:
When I picked the SALAD I also thought of APPLES and BANANAS that would then go together with the CHEESE sandwich and the HAM on top of it. However, the BBQ with the PRAWNS, the CHICKEN and the little cats, who were eating their CAT FOOD, ……
Ok, this is not rocket science. You memorise words, particularly ones that have nothing in common, much easier if you actually think of a story. It has been 2 years since I wrote the article about the brain training and I have written about brain draining in regards to GTD too. The weekly brain sweep as they call it.
The best part is still that things you do go from your unconscious incompetence to your unconscious competence. A simple way of learning new things. When I first started in SEO I had to memorise that Link Building was put together of directory submissions and link sourcing, e.g. approaching websites to link back. Nowadays you don’t need to tell me that and I added more to that knowledge. Anything you learn goes from not being aware of where it fits all in to it fitting in automatically when you worked with it.
Maybe this was not the best example but I found an old note last week with “what is link building” 
However, if you question things and look things up that are new, memorise them, write them down, revisit sites etc, then you get your brain working. That is what the article on the OPEN Forum suggests too.
I particularly like the idea of learning a new word everyday. My birthday’s word was “compedious“, meaning “Containing or stating briefly and concisely all the essentials; succinct.” Now, I will try to memorise that, revisit this blog post and then make sure I use that word when I can. If I manage to learn a new word every other day, then I add almost 200 words to my daily use – and this is for English only. That can make a difference to the way I can express myself, impress others and train my brain too. And, as you can see below, teaching others (which I did at university), gives you the extra benefit!
Also, I am a big fan of the 20 minute power nap they suggest. Not very practical in a day job. But when I was at uni, I used to study for 60 minutes, took a nap for 20 minutes to let things sink in, then had a cup of coffee and studied for another 60 minutes. That helped me a lot in getting a good degree.
Coping with stress, stress management and turning stress into success are key to being efficient and productive as well.
Also, as of my earlier posts on training your brain and the OPEN Forum, the idea of being open minded and turning your view 180 degrees around is very powerful. Imagine you had the best idea in the world. Now, try to change your point of view and think you are the person that has to work with that idea, or if it was a product idea, you are the person that would buy it. Be creative and find different angles of anything you do. NLP is very powerful, e.g. putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, and can help you a lot, with sensory acuity in the forum being another example.
So bottom line is that the OPEN Forum does a good job of summarising various techniques I introduced before plus some key points of personal development. Keep going, you are doing a great job!
Let me know if you have any questions and how cb consultingg could help you!
Turn your dreams into reality
Posted by Volker in NLP, cb consulting, coaching on 13/05/2009
If there is a dream, there is reality!
But let’s start at the beginning: Coaching is based on 3 supports.
1) Beliefs – challenge your limiting beliefs and reinforce supportive/positive ones!
2) Values – know your values and live them.
3) Goals – what do you want to achieve and how do you want to achieve it?
People say that goals are dreams with legs – they go somewhere. Or, you can put it differently, if you are dreaming to achieve something, then you can support this dream with actions and turn this dream into a reality, a goal. This goal becomes achievable when you are putting your efforts and beliefs behind it.
Coaching is based around goals. We all start in the here and now and have a reality check of our current life. What is our present state and what do we like or dislike about our current life. This could be the job, the love life, the amount of exercise we do etc. Check for the wheel of life to identify what you might want to change.
From there you define your goals and the desired state. This state is now your aim, your goal, something you need to put your mind to. As we say in NLP, now imagine you are already at your desired state and look back to your present state, how did you get there?
That might sound complicated, but if you want to cross a river, you can either think of building a bridge or you can imagine that you already crossed the river and look at the problem from the other side. You might discover a new way across, something you cannot see from your current perspective.
NLP uses that technique quite a lot. Put yourself in the corner of the room and watch yourself having this conversation or interview and evaluate yourself whilst doing so. Also, you can then watch the reaction of your opposite conversation partner and act / amend your conversation accordingly. This enables you to build stronger rapport and more effective conversations, communications and connections.
In regards to goal setting, always set positive goals. Move towards a positive goal rather than away from something negative. You don’t want to loose weight, as you focus on the weight. Focus on the healthy aspect and formulate your goal “I want to be fit and healthy”.
Also, be specific about your goals. That means it has to be measurable and reward yourself by achieving part of the goal. stepping stones are important. These stepping stones will provide you with the right feedback and you can see whether you are on track for your big goal.
And, whilst pursuing any dream, any goal, any stepping stone, think of the 3 coaching supports. Be true to your beliefs and values. Be cautious what some actions might mean to you and your environment. What costs are involved, what time etc.
By making an action plan and making sure that you have a can-do approach, you eventually will achieve your goals. If you need help defining them or setting stepping stones to reach your goals and turn your dreams into reality, please give Coach Volker a call.
career coaching….continued
Posted by Volker in cb consulting, coaching on 16/02/2009
Hello,
This last week was quite busy so I thought I pick up the topic of career coaching again. Found this interesting blog, Grow Rich Me?! It’s all about following your dreams and making the most of your life. Which in all fairness is good.
But, looking at coaching, you structure your dreams. You need to really. If you search for Career Coaching you find all sorts of sites. But what would it mean for me or cb consulting?
I have written a lot about coaching in this blog and for me it means to really give yourself some focus.
Starting with a good hour of sitting down and writing up what you want to do? What you like to do? What are you good in? What are you not good in? That gives you a good basis for defining your goals.
Goals: where do you want to be? What drives you? What gets you up in the morning? Where do you see yourself in 3, 5, 10 years time – or 20 even?
From there we work backwards. NLP does that quite often. Imagine you were already in a situation you want to be in, how did you get there?
And work it out. Step by step. Baby-steps. And, we will help you planning steps out. Where to look for a new job, how to tune your CV and cover letter, how to prepare for the interview.
That is what we do. And, in a recession that becomes more and more important.
On the one hand you want to stay put and do not move, on the other hand you want to see where is the recession going. Be ready when you get made redundant or if you think your company is going down. Be the first to hit the road running. Maybe just to be prepared to do nothing as you might have more influence once you get out of the recession with your current job.
What ever motivates you, contact us today and we sort something out!
new website live
Posted by Volker in HR, Marketing, NLP, SEM, cb consulting, change management, customer service, motivation, perception, performance, spirituality and business, time management on 29/12/2008
Hello All,
My slightly revamped cb consulting website is live. What do you think?
Volker
Good Reading – Motivational Reading
Posted by Volker in NLP, cb consulting, change management, job, motivation, personal on 20/11/2008
As mentioned in a post a while back, I was reading Christopher Howard, Turning Passions into Profits. This book is a must read for anyone who likes to know what you can do with NLP.
This book is not for a novice to NLP who think that one could read this book and all your motivation comes true and you know NLP. However, for the experienced practitioner/master practitioner, this book gives a good example of case studies and how to use NLP in a “world context”. Almost too basic for the Master Practitioner it still gives a good overview and idea, or reminds you of topics you should reread, such as sensory acuity.
Me personally, I liked the book. Gives it great examples of sales and negotiation techniques based on NLP and other tools/techniques. The “wow” factor was there, the “I need to revisit that chapter” factor was there, so overall, a very good book to read.
I am sure you will find his websites useful too:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPzXIBGSA0]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhAHcciWXB0]
sensory acuity
Posted by Volker in NLP, cb consulting, memory, motivation, personal on 17/11/2008
Inspired by the book I am reading Turning Passions into Profit – 3 Steps to Wealth and Power and my NLP Master Practitioner with Sensory Systems in Glasgow, I revisited the term of “sensory acuity” today.
Christopher Howard writes about the importance of sensory acuity as people with outstanding communication skills are able to notice things in their sensory awareness that others do not. Being able to notice on all levels of senses gives you an advantage and the ability to notice things that most people don’t even realise exist. It will unlock your potential to create the results you desire in your interpersonal communication.
Which senses are we speaking about:
* sight – visual sense
* sound – auditory sense
* feelings – kinesthetic sense
* smell – olfactory sense
* taste – gustatory sense
And, what impressed me with Howard is that he differentiates, as a true NLP professional, between the inner and the outer world. Depending on our models we perceive the world differently. Being aware of the different senses and being able to read (and write) them, will make us better communicators.
NLP has the model of input (senses) that then “relate and compute” (pattern/map) into output (behaviour). We also add the “feed-forward”, a prediction what will happen in the world. And, all of that is put back into a feedback loop to how we perceive the world and being “sensory acute” about it.
Our internal voice is referred to as “audio digital” input rather than the audio sense, analog, of the external world.
How is that useful?
We can use those senses for goal setting by visualising an outcome and then put that picture in our head. And, it will feel good and you might want to imagine a certain smell, taste or music with it. You can talk to yourself as well and really get a goal into your head. A vision! This vision can be turned into a nice state of mind and something to look forward to. It will sink into your unconscious and your actions will be working towards that goal and objective.
Also, another example, would be if you remember a certain situation. Your last holiday on the beach? You remember the sound of the waves, the smell of the sea and the image….. Don’t you remember the good old time when you turn the radio on and they play a song that you have not heard for ages and it reminds you of your “wild days”?
Sweet memories
books to read this autumn (or not to read) – and NLP ;-)
Posted by Volker in NLP, cb consulting, personal on 02/11/2008
You remember I was writing about this NLP book I got at the train station.
I now finished it. The author is: Lindsey Agness, Change your LIfe with NLP. Why am I happy to reveal the book now? Because I want to warn anyone to read it.
Sorry, Lindsey, I don’t wanna say you did not have good intentions to write this book. But, this book talks about how NLP helped you through relationships and how it helped your kids to anchor nice situations and being less afraid. My personal opinion is that you should have written a book about “how NLP helped me” and then recommended some really good books on NLP.
Anyone who asks me about a nice introduction to NLP I recommend this NLP book by O’Connor and Seymour.
Of course, maybe I am not the target audience having a Master Practitioner in NLP for over 5 years. And yes, Lindsey’s book was a nice recap of some techniques, but sorry, it was not a good introduction to NLP. Maybe it was not intended to be one and just a marketing tool to attract people to your courses?
What really annoys me about books like this and many others (and I know there are millions of them out there) is that people read it and think “wow I can change my life and all I have to do is to learn NLP”.
YOU DON’T!!!
Learn NLP because you are interested on how you can change your life and that of others but do not learn NLP because you have some problems. If you have some problems go and see a doctor or psychiatrist. That is what you need and not something that was an add-on to psycho therapy in the 70ies. NLP does not heal you from cancer or makes you a better person. However, some NLP techniques are helpful for motivational purposes and for getting on with life.
Enough of a rand about those NLP books that just try to tell you that NLP is good for anything. Saw another one at WH Smith the other day. Don’t buy it!!!
Further on my reading list is a book I bought about 1 year ago. I admit, it is another “guru” book but comes highly recommended by a friend. I let you know how I get along. The title is:
NLP revisited – going back to basics?!
Posted by Volker in NLP, cb consulting, motivation, personal on 21/10/2008
Good day,
I have written a lot about NLP before. And, as most people know, I did my Master Practitioner in NLP in 2003, which is now unbelievable 5 years ago.
Often, I wonder how much I have incorporated NLP in my daily life, my daily thinking and how much it has affected my work and life. I come to the conclusion that it probably has but I that I have not had this “wow effect” which changed my life and made me that “super hero”. I don’t even think NLP does that. My changes and my help from NLP were suttle. They came slowly and they last.
Now, a few weeks ago, I was waiting for a train and didn’t have a magazine or book with me. So I went into WHSmith to see what was available. I bought a book about NLP, “change your life with NLP”.
To be honest, I am very very curious of reading this book. Deliberately I am not naming the author because it seems to be one of those books that have been written on the back of really good NLP books. This one made it to the shelf for the masses and will tell you that “if you put your mind to it, you can achieve what you are set out to achieve”. Believe in your abilities and things come through.
And, they will. We know it. I know it. You know it, everyone knows it. The DOING is the problem. Taking the baby steps, setting the goal and bringing in the persistance. Having the personal coach (oneself) or A personal coach (someone else) to kick your @#* and make you take the baby steps. Or, the belief in yourself….
It has been 10 years since I gave up chain smoking. 10 years since I stopped sucking on at least 60 fags a day. NLP? Willpower? Honest answer: you set your mind to it and focus on your health. End of story. I have been smoking since. A month here, a month there, a few cigars. But never had that many again.
I let you know how I like the book and will name the author if I do like it. I am presumptious of saying “I don’t like it” – honestly, I believe it will be great to read because it will refresh my mind of what I am – and you are – capable of.
Enjoy.
I hope you have a fantastic day!
Volker
new week, new clients – new decisions
Posted by Volker in NLP, change management on 14/04/2008
I do not believe it is another week. Besides a very busy day at work, I met with a “client” for Career Coaching tonight.
The goal setting process combined with a good NLP technique and the Buddhist view in combination with gut feeling – how do you do that?
You start analytically and write down the pros and cons of the existing and the new job. Purely to find out what your clients likes, dislikes, what scares her/him. S/he gives so much away by talking about it and by using certain terms.
Then you start the goal setting process, stepping stones and the approach of “if you had already achieved what you aim to achieve in this lifetime, how would you have got there“? By internally going where you would like to be in order to look back as if you had lived through your decision already, helps you to get a different perspective on it. Try going backwards on the different timeline, going via stepping stones you set before? Ever tried?
You then have the choice of deepen the “what did you achieve” question with some “how did you achieve it” and “why did you achieve it”. Get some more NLP in there by using different aspects of the decision making process, e.g. use similar terms and digg deep on the reasoning on how someone would have achieved something.
I like to bring in some Buddhist thoughts. The path does not matter as it all has been defined before……but that is an entry in itself I believe!
Then break up with the exercise, take a deep breath and go back to your analytics pros and cons sheet in order to start analytics, a decision matrix, and evaluate the whole situation. Mix it a bit with gut feeling and you will hopefully either see a result or a strong tendency on what the client really would like to do. S/he will see it her/himself, no doubt….
Job done.
Sounds like a recipe, not as easy to follow without experience but surely something for everyone to pick up on.
Leave your comments on how you last made up your mind about a difficult decision!
Hopefully speak soon,
Yours Volker Ballueder
LinkedIn
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