It’s one of life’s little ironies that I left my last job, as a consultant, and set up my own business partly so that I could manage my own diary. I was really tired of not being able to say no to long-distance travel back-to-back with demanding assignments and couldn’t commit to evening social events more than a day or two in advance unless I took some of my annual leave.

So here I am, 15 years down the line and I’m no longer running my own diary. My assistant, Sharon, has taken over booking all my appointments, travel, client meetings and delivery days. How did that happen!!?

I think it’s a sign of progress in my own thinking that I’m now able to delegate that vital task. The difference, of course is that I make the rules and Sharon is just as keen as I am to make sure that I don’t over-commit my time and end up with no energy for the important things.

Similarly, Sharon deals with a lot of my email. She can filter out the ‘stuff’ that is important for me to see, deal with some of it herself and delete the (inevitable) spam.

In fact, it’s just like the ‘good old days’ when I had a corporate job and a full-time PA.

Many organisations have reduced their number of admin staff, cut down on PAs and now expect quite senior managers to handle all of their own admin. Yes, of course they can answer their own email. Yes, they can type their own reports. Yes, they can book their own travel. But does it really make sense for someone to be paid in excess of £200 per hour to type reports and book travel?

If managers are criticised for not having a sufficiently ‘strategic’ view of the business, maybe a good starting place to remedy that would be to relieve them of the responsibility for day-to-day typing and travel bookings and let them focus on the bigger picture.

I can certainly see how my ability to think ahead has improved since I’ve had a team to deal with some of the day-to-day activities and the areas I’m not so enthusiastic about.

Now my to-do list is mostly about talking to clients, designing learning processes and writing articles. Oh, and sharing my thoughts with you!

 

You’ve probably seen that statement 'the technology of the 21st Century is the technology of the mind' on the Brilliant Minds website or at the bottom of some of my emails. Have you ever wondered what I mean by it?

When we talk about technology we usually mean computers – Information Technology. IT is set of tools that enable us to do thousands of tasks at the press of a button or two. Because we have technology I’m able to write this and publish on the Web so that you can read it. Because we have technology I can share my thoughts with hundreds, thousands of people simultaneously.
Because we have technology we have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and countless other ‘social networking’ sites.

I’ve only recently joined Twitter and Facebook. I really couldn’t see the point. My friend Pete Bennett describes Twitter as ‘the ticker-tape of human consciousness’ and, to be honest, looking at most of what’s on that ticker-tape, it doesn’t give a very impressive view of human consciousness!
So maybe that’s just a first step. Having the means to communicate is a great asset. The next step is to consider what to communicate.

What is actually worth communicating? What effect does it have? Why are we doing it?
These questions cannot be answered by the technology. They can only be answered using your human judgement. In other words, your mind.

In just the same way, many people discover NLP and realise that, with a little effort, the ability to achieve whatever they want is available to them. Using the technology of the mind, it’s possible to re-pattern old thinking and create new possibilities. Released from old patterns of fear, doubt and cynicism they rush around making things happen and enjoying seeing their plans coming to fruition.
After a time, realising that ANYTHING is possible, they stop. Because if anything is possible you need to know what is worth having, what is worth doing and what is worth being.

Again these questions can only be answered using your mind, your judgement, your imagination. NLP patterns can’t answer these questions, they can only help you to implement your answers.
In the busy world we live in, there is so much ‘noise’ of all kinds that it can be hard to focus on anything beyond the demands of the moment. Still harder, sometimes, to hear the voice of our own philosophy and principles. We need ‘time out’ to reconnect with ourselves and our goals. By doing that, we can be more conscious of our choices, we can take action ‘on purpose’ to achieve particular results. We can cultivate a mindset that serves our purposes rather than doubts them.

I believe that our thoughts are creative. The simple fact of thinking something gives it energy to occur. The thing is, most of us are thinking such a random, disconnected, pointless train of contradictory thoughts (like Twitter!) that nothing actually gets created.

The consistent clarity of thought, commitment to an idea and belief in the value of your purpose is what creates the desired results. To achieve that, we have to steer our thinking away from the distractions, the doubts and the doubters and maintain the mindset for success.

The technology of the mind is available to all of us. Learning how to use it effectively is the challenge of our times.

 

One of the things I've noticed about practicing NLP in daily life, is that it tends to make it easier for me to maintain a 'live and let live' attitude to other people's behaviour and opinions.

But every now and again something happens that gets me really annoyed. It's usually something that's important to me, something that matters, and someone has got such an opposite point of view that I can't help myself!

Here's an example:
At a conference, I was talking to the Head of Learning and Development in a fairly large organisation. She'd asked about my business and I told her how we train people in NLP to create better business results. She told me, "We don't need any NLP training in our organisation. One of our trainers researched it, using the Internet and several books and she told everyone else about it".

Why did that annoy me so much? (No, not because she wasn't going to become a customer!)

It really annoyed me because NLP is a set of practical skills and tools. Knowing about them might be interesting (or not) but the important thing is to be able to USE them. NLP is of little use to anyone, if they can't actually DO any of it.

Let me ask you a question:

If you wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, what would you do? Would you buy a book about the instrument and read it? Would you research the instrument on the Internet? Or would you sign up for lessons from someone who could play the instrument and teach you how to play it too? If you wanted to learn a new sport, would you buy a book about it? Would you research it on the Internet?

Or would you join a club where they played that sport and join in?

So, if you want to learn to use NLP to get better results in your work and your life, what do you think is the best approach? Here's another example:
A person who attended one of my NLP courses in-house with their company, told me, "NLP doesn't work. I read a book about it and tried out one of the techniques and it didn't work. So I know
that NLP is nonsense."

That's a bit like saying, "This tennis ball is rubbish. I keep hitting it with a racquet but it never goes over the net."

There is skill in using NLP in the same way as there is skill in playing a musical instrument or a sport. To develop that skill takes practice. And the safest way to practice and acquire that skill is probably NOT to practice in important business situations, but to find an environment where it's ok to experiment. And ok to make mistakes. Definitely not at work.

So, I don't know how much NLP you already KNOW or how much NLP you can already DO.

If you're serious about bringing the power of NLP to your workplace then here's what I recommend:

1. Rather than just reading about NLP, find opportunities to experience it in action.
2. Watching videos or listening to audio programmes will help to bring NLP to life, but if you can join in with a group and work with NLP 'first-hand' that's going to be a more powerful learning
experience.
3. Practice what you've learned until you can do it without thinking. It's only when you get to that level of 'unconscious competence' that NLP skills become really useful.

Well, I feel better for having got that off my chest.

If you'd like to experience NLP applied to your own current situation, for achieving target and goals, problem-solving and dealing with mental blocks, then why not come to our 1-day event?

'Using NLP for Better Business Results' is a great way to see NLP applied to business, to discuss your own priorities and walk away with a clear plan of action.

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