72 Known and Unknown Benefits of NLP - Is NLP Practical?

There are lots of questions regarding NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming. Is NLP a cult? Is NLP a scam? Is NLP useful? Is NLP a shady pseudo-science? …Such NLP related questions abound…I had such questions and doubts…I was very skeptic about the whole thing. The only way I could find answers to those questions was by embarking on an unassuming journey. Yes, I did have my questions but I was ready to take an objective stand based on my own personal experiences that I derived during this journey. No amount of reading and research were sufficient to gain the level of clarity that I needed. I am glad that I endeavored to commence that journey. I have this statement to make – NLP is 100% practical and I have listed 72 benefits of NLP both known and unknown to the general public and there are many more but I was aching to make this post and to append more benefits as and when I compile the next set of list. I do not expect anyone reading this to take my word for it and I have been in your shoes before, so go through this list, assess for yourself whether any of these statements will hold good for you by venturing into your own journey of NLP. Not many realize that NLP is not just a phobia cure but it has given me many lifetime insights. Explore to register, cogitate and question the list below.  

1. Learn to respect the other person’s views, opinions, value system – each person’s map is unique.
2. Learn to live amicably with differences.
3. Learn to respect your own decisions of the past – you have made the best choice that was available to you at that time.
4. Stop living in guilt for the decisions of the past that did not work out too well.
5. Learn to identify the positive intent behind every behavior of yours, both good and bad.
6. Learn to replace the bad behavior with good ones by achieving the respective positive intent.
7. Learn to assess the effectiveness of your communication and continually calibrate it to achieve the best outcomes.
8. Never again feel inadequate but learn to achieve adequacy.
9. Develop flexibility in thinking and action.
10. Learn to work with your mind to get better cooperation from your body.
11. Identify the mental filters that you are predominantly using and change them if and when they are not useful.
12. Learn to ask the right questions and find answers that will change your own life.
13. Figure out for yourself what makes you tick! Find out what is your life’s purpose.
14. Learn more about yourself and the self-identity that you have.
15. Explore deep into your own underlying beliefs that make you behave the way that you do.
16. Find out what is really important to you in life.
17. Become sure of what you are good at. Learn to take stock of your own skills and capabilities.
18. Build rapport with people you meet.
19. Influence people in a positive way by breaking their resistance in subtle ways.
20. Operate from the level of excellence.
21. Emulate success in everything you do.
22. Deal with personal conflicts effectively and resolve them.
23. Deal with interpersonal conflicts effectively and resolve them.
24. Overcome phobia/fear effectively.
25. Help others overcome fear/phobia effectively.
26. Better relationships.
27. Build confidence.
28. Improve interpersonal relationships.
29. Improve verbal communications with others.
30. Achieve financial goals faster.
31. Achieve professional goals faster.
32. Give up bad habits.
33. Build good habits.
34. Operate from a highly motivated level.
35. Create a life that you want.
36. Help others achieve their goals through coaching.
37. Learn things faster.
38. Identify excellence around you.
39. Learn to model excellence in others in every possible realm of life. Model any quality you like in others and make it your own.
40. Learn to give feedback.
41. Learn to take feedback.
42. Learn to say no.
43. Be sure of your own actions.
44. Do away with your own doubts when they are not useful.
45. Build healthy image about yourself.
46. Become a good team player.
47. Lead others effectively.
48. Improve cooperation within your team.
49. Sell effectively.
50. Learn to shift to any mental state of your choice at will.
51. Get better at clearly knowing your own outcomes at any point of time.
52. Learn to create well-formed outcomes for yourself.
53. Understand your own value systems better. Understand from which logical level you are operating.
54. Change your experience that you create for yourself of the past unpleasant event.
55. Save yourself from being influenced when you don’t want to be.
56. Challenge your own limiting beliefs.
57. Build empowering beliefs.
58. Lead a more self-fulfilled life.
59. Learn to make better decisions in life.
60. Learn to tap into the resources within yourself.
61. Learn to take responsibility of your own life.
62. Learn how to stop blaming others for your pitfalls in life.
63. Understand your own time structure better.
64. Get breakthroughs in areas of your life that you were finding it difficult to get breakthroughs.
65. Develop sensory acuity.
66. Gain more control of your own life.
67. Learn to motivate people.
68. Helps you become a better teacher by learning to appeal to the primary or predominant modality of people.
69. Learn to deal with difficult people with ease.
70. Learn to orchestrate your success and do not leave anything to chances.
71. Learn to anchor positive emotions.
72. Learn to be yourself!

What is NLP - Is NLP Psychology - Is NLP Modelling

What is NLP? Or should we ask what exactly is NLP?

I am sure by now you would have already learnt the abbreviation of NLP which stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. For a common man, this abbreviation does not really tell anything and it is not possible to derive complete understanding of NLP from its abbreviation. I would rather prefer to define NLP from a utilitarian perspective from what it does rather than from a "what it is" perspective. You are likely to find numerous definitions and interpretations of NLP and what I am presenting here is the way I understand and the way I would love to teach NLP…here teach becomes a very shallow word but I am using it just for want of a better word.

You will find complicated diagrams and pictorial representations that try to explain ‘what is NLP’. I am not against any of those approaches but this is how I would prefer to define and explain NLP because this is how I made sense out of NLP. NLP is an art and science of attaining personal excellence. A framework that helps one explore unexplored frontiers with the intention of becoming the best self that one actually is. If you are going to ask me whether it is science as in “empirical and verifiable”?  Then, I would say ‘yes’ and go on to explain further, verifiable from the personal experiences of people that use the framework to achieve breakthroughs that were not possible through traditional counselling, psychotherapy and psychiatry. The personal experience of the individuals who benefit from the NLP strategies, processes and techniques or in general the NLP framework of coaching has the final word on the definition.

Is NLP Psychology?

It is hard to evade this question while trying to understand whether “NLP is Psychology or not.” Don’t tell me I have not warned you…be ready for a long, complicated sentence: If this post happens to be pulled up by Google, which doesn’t necessarily understand the semantic difference between a question and a statement (or does it?), for the search term “NLP is psychology” because I have used that construction in my previous sentence and again in this sentence, and if it happens frequent enough in the Google search results, then there are people ready to take that as proof for “NLP is Psychology”. Enough of semantic games… the answer to the above question will depend on how you define psychology. If Psychology is defined as the ‘study of human behavior’ then NLP too is Psychology because we closely study human behavior in NLP not so much to define one’s personality like what traditional psychology tries to do but to build rapport, which is one of the pillars of NLP. Both Psychology and NLP study human behavior but it is interesting to see what both do with the learning obtained. Former tries to define personality and understand the “why?” part of the problems within one’s head and the latter tires to build rapport and thereby lead to solutions. We are treading on thin ice here. NLP does not try to ask “Why there is problem or where is the problem?” it is more result oriented and plunges directly into the solution. That is why ‘content’ has little bearing in NLP and that is why with NLP breakthroughs happen in just minutes.

How is modelling related to NLP?

Our discussion on what is NLP cannot be complete without a discussion on modelling. Some say NLP is modelling… but in my perspective there is more to NLP than just modelling. However, NLP was born out of modelling. We will have a more detailed discussion on modelling in one of the upcoming posts. To briefly explain what is modelling, it is the process of extracting the structure of excellence from one through the use of NLP framework and recreate that excellence in the other. NLP Modelling certainly deserves a more elaborate treatment and I will certainly do justice to the topic in one of the future posts, keep watching this space.

What are the different levels in NLP?

If you are asking this question, “What are the different levels in NLP?”  it is very likely that you are looking for an NLP course in India and for an NLP trainer in India to help you venture into your NLP journey. As someone who is new to NLP, you are likely to be confused with all the information that you come across online. One of the first and the best ways to clear these doubts is by understanding the NLP framework. So, what are the different levels in NLP?

The globally/internationally accepted NLP training/certifying levels are:

• NLP Practitioner
• NLP Master Practitioner
• NLP Trainer and
• NLP Master Trainer

Besides the above, you are also likely to come across NLP Foundation Course, Introduction to NLP. Some people call this as Diploma in NLP.

There are certain prerequisites for each level:

NLP Foundation Course / Introduction to NLP / Diploma in NLP – This is the first step for many people who start their journey in NLP. However, you need not have to complete NLP Foundation Course to move to the next level, which is NLP Practitioner Certification.

NLP Practitioner Certification in India – Many people start directly with NLP Practitioner certification. Here you just need to be open to this new framework and show interest in exploring the unexplored territory and allow self-search. There is no qualifying requirement for signing up for an NLP Practitioner Certification course in India or elsewhere. Just about anyone with interest in NLP could signup for the NLP Practitioner Course. An NLP Master Practitioner cannot certify you as a NLP Practitioner. Only a certified NLP trainer can  run the NLP practitioner certification course and certify you. A master practitioner may assist a trainer during the program but an NLP Master Practitioner cannot certify you. Certification given by an NLP Master practitioner cannot be a valid certificate. It is always best to understand the hierarchy and the certifying structure in the industry before you signup for your NLP Practitioner Certification program in India.

NLP Master Practitioner Certification in India – To reach this level, one should have successfully completed NLP Practitioner course delivered and certified by a certified NLP Trainer. The qualifying criteria here is valid completion of NLP Practitioner Level Certification. The same applies to NLP Master Practitioner course and certification. An NLP Master Practitioner cannot certify another Master Practitioner. An NLP Master Practitioner cannot certify you as a NLP Master Practitioner. Only a certified NLP trainer can  run the NLP Master practitioner certification course and certify you. A master practitioner may assist a trainer during the program but an NLP Master Practitioner cannot certify you. Certification given by an NLP Master practitioner cannot be a valid certificate. It is always best to understand the hierarchy and the certifying structure in the industry before you signup for your NLP Master Practitioner course in India.

NLP Trainer Training Certification in India – The qualifying condition here is successful completion of NLP Master Practitioner course. NLP Trainer Training program and certification should be done by an NLP Master Trainer. An NLP Trainer cannot certify another NLP Trainer. Only an NLP Master Trainer can validly certify an NLP Trainer. When you are signing up for your NLP Trainer Training certification program in India, you should pay attention to these details for you to be a legitimately valid trainer.

NLP Master Trainer Certification in India – To become an NLP Master Trainer one should have successfully completed NLP Trainer Training certification course. Two NLP Master Trainers are required to certify another Master Trainer. Just a single master trainer cannot certify another master trainer. The Master Trainer level is achieved not just by attending a course but also by contributing to the field of NLP along with the certification by two NLP Master Trainers.

Few factors to remember:

• Initially, it may look as if there is no structure and the NLP industry will appear to be a very unregulated industry. In fact it is not…there is lot of structure and it is very much regulated if you are patient enough to dig deeper. I was in the same place where you are now and I allowed myself the journey and found these structures.

• Some people will try to play it on the experience and say that these structures are not required and say an NLP Master Practitioner can certify an NLP Practitioner or another Master Practitioner and so on. This will only pave way to further chaos. If you are really passionate about NLP and want to reach higher levels, then it is best to stick to the above structure because adhering to the above structure of certification is the safest approach and cannot possibly do any damage to you.

• Of course there is a ‘premiumness’ to the NLP courses in India and the related NLP certification programs in India. When you are putting out your hard earned money, you certainly want your certification to be valid. Could you possibly lose anything by sticking to the above hierarchy? No! Nothing at all! Could there be any damage or risk in not following the above certification structure? Yes! There could be! At one stage if you want to pursue your NLP Journey further, you should not find yourself repeating your NLP Practitioner or NLP Master Practitioner or NLP Trainer program to get a valid certification to move to the next level.

• Having said all these, I would like to emphasize here that what kind of an NLP Practitioner/ Master Practitioner/ Trainer/ Master Trainer you are and you will be is certainly not decided by a piece of paper but by the quality of the experience you give people. Therefore it is important to take a holistic approach. Both valid certification and strong value system are important. Go for it! NLP can change your world…it did change mine and the people that I am coming into contact with…