Easy does it with NLP

Many of the limitations we experience in life are not created by our circumstances, but by the stories we tell ourselves about what is possible. Whether we view change as difficult or exciting, achievable or impossible, it often comes down to perspective. 

Once, when I barely knew what NLP was, I told my coach that I was finding it quite difficult to get in touch with my unconscious mind. And he simply said, “Good! You can make it as difficult or as easy as you like!”

Well, this was a bit of a revelation for me! I decided that if it was up to me, as he clearly seemed to suggest, I would make it easy then! It was a huge relief, realising that I could... Since then, whenever I am tempted to label things as hard or difficult, I always remind myself that I can choose to think differently.

Choosing a different perspective

I truly believe that everything is easy and that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. By easy, I don’t mean devoid of any engagement or commitment. Or discipline. Or total and absolute focus and dedication. But you can indeed make your life painless, smooth and uncomplicated. If you really want to, obviously.

Seeing change as an adventure

It’s the same for change. You can choose to view change as scary, difficult and something to fear… Or you can choose to view change as an adventure and an opportunity: to just roll with it and enjoy the ride! Because in order to really make the most of life, we need to be able to fully surrender to the process of living it. Let’s face it, life is full of uncertainty, surprises, and heart-stopping cliff-hanger moments!

The resources you already have

Sometimes, we may feel a little bit more secure knowing that we are supported in life. A bit like in those online role-playing games: quite often, in those, before you set off on your journey, you can go and choose from a treasure trove of resources. These might be called superpowers or magic attributes in the gaming world.

In NLP, we go a little beyond this idea that we need something external to us to be happy, successful, loved, etc., etc. Because we know that we all have all the resources we need for the journey, somewhere deep inside ourselves. We already have it all! We just don’t know that we do. We think we need the car, the house, the partner, the pills, the job, the approval, the [fill in the blank], before we allow ourselves to actually become everything that we can be, and already are! But what if all we really needed to learn how to do in life was to let go?

Releasing the bolts that hold you back

As human beings, we are more or less permanently like the equivalent of the space shuttle, sitting on the ground at T-minus six seconds, with its three main engines blasting on maximum power! Do you know how they release the bolts that keep the shuttle in place at T-minus 0 seconds? Explosively! Yes indeed! The solid rocket boosters are ignited, and the bolts that have secured the shuttle to the ground in the last six seconds of the countdown are explosively released, allowing the orbiter to rocket into the sky. Once this happens, we have lift-off! Even though a space shuttle main engine weighs one-seventh as much as a locomotive engine, it delivers as much horsepower as 28 locomotives. And we are just as powerful! We are infinite potential and boundless energy just waiting to be enabled! All we need to do is release the bolts that keep us tethered.

What are the bolts?

In NLP, we know these bolts are:

• Negative emotions we cling to
• Limiting decisions, we continue to believe
• Disempowering beliefs we repeat to ourselves

And it’s kind of easy too.

Every day, people settle for less than they deserve. They are only partially living or, at best, living a partial life. Every human being has the potential for greatness – Bo Bennett