Anyone have experience using NLP to be more successful, and if so any books you reccommend for it?

I'm aware of how it's used in selling and so forth, but I'm not too familiar with NLP from a standpoint of using it on yourself. I know it's done, but I don't have experience and haven't really looked into it. I need to do some research on it.

Can you please explain what NLP is? I've never heard of it.

NLP is Neuro-Linguistic Programming. In the arena of success training, Tony Robbins has probably done more in this area than any other. There are scores of websites to reference. Most notably: www.nlp.com

Borrowing from another website: "Neuro Linguistic Programming explores how we know what we know and how we do what we do. Neuro means brain, linguistics language and programming refers to coding (representation). It examines the relationships between thought, communication and behaviour.

NLP is an "epistemology" meaning the study of how we know what we know. You could think of it as a way of exploring the patterns of organisation and behaviour of human intuition (neuro-linguistic programmes).

NLP is also a "methodology" which allows us to unpack how we do what we do. By using NLP as a methodology we can explore how people organise their thinking processes, their beliefs and their behaviour so that we can replicate their skills and capabilities in particular areas. Those skills and capabilities can then be transferred to others.


As for me, NLP has always been a little bit too "new age" for my tastes.

Hope this helps.

I would say that it has helped me understand why I do some of the things I do, and as a result it makes it easier to get rid of bad habits and create new one.

But I prefer to think that we are incredibly powerful beings and we can change ourselves in an instant.

NLP is useful in some situations.

So it's basically a technique of bringing order to chaos in your mind and the world you surround yourself in?

I am not familiar enough with it so say that. I just know that what Anthony Robbins said in his CD course made sense to me and I found it useful at the time. Other than that, I really don't know much about it.

I've used NLP on myself (self-improvement), others (knowingly: coaching & unknowingly: empowering) and in business (knowingly: coaching, teambuilding & unknowingly: persuasion).

I don't see NLP as *a* technique - it's rather a toolbox of several techniques, methods and models.

I've seen NLP techniques that worked brilliantly, but I've also seen stuff that really didn't work "as advertised".

And as with any other tool there will be people (mis)using it for their own dark purposes without caring at all about the people they have affected.

Flensborg, are there any books you can recommend on NLP or is it pretty much something you need a teacher to learn?

Hi Tom,

Flensborg, are there any books you can recommend on NLP or is it pretty much something you need a teacher to learn?

I've got 4 ringbinders that I went through over the course of 42 days (2 certifications * 7 modules each * 3 days per module), but no "learning NLP from scratch" books.

I consider learning/training NLP in teams/groups with a teacher/coach the best way to learn NLP.

You can only learn so much from just reading. NLP - for me - is about understanding people and communicating with them in ways that empowers them - and these are skills that I learned best by interacting with my fellow NLP students.

To be continued... (I'm almost late for an appointment)

NLP is a very interesting subject, but so is the way the universe works.

Call me a cynic, but there is no possible way that a certain format can be presented to the masses and be suitable for all. I would suggest that people who have studied for years to obtain psychology/psychiatry degrees would contest the ringbinding philosophers answers to the world. There is nothing wrong with doing short term courses to improve your knowledge, but you are taking on the knowledge of interested persons. I've done a 3 day course (whoopee!) which was inspiring at the time, but when i stepped back from it to view what i had actually gained, i was suspect given the cost of the event. long term, it has had no bearing on my life.

having said that, it can short term focus you on things that may re-direct your energies, but so can other things that are not NLP.

NLP is a short term solution to long term problems.

NLP is a very interesting subject, but so is the way the universe works.

Call me a cynic, but there is no possible way that a certain format can be presented to the masses and be suitable for all. I would suggest that people who have studied for years to obtain psychology/psychiatry degrees would contest the ringbinding philosophers answers to the world. I can't comment on NLP, but I do think it is possible that there is something common to all people and that if properly presented, it could be presented to the masses and they would get it, or at least enough to know there is something there for them to dig deeper into.

And I am sure that people who have studied psychology and psychiatry would disagree. But then again, they don't have all the answers either and psychology/psychiatry theories have risen and fallen over time. Some being popular for awhile, and then disproven or replaced with a different theory that seems to explain better.

So, I would expect that a certain percentage of people who study psychology and psychiatry would disagree, since they also disagree with themselves often as a community. I also would expect some to think that NLP and other non psychology/psychiatry explainations are valid.

Personally I think that psychology/psychiatry is an incomplete description of how humans work, and because it is incomplete, it can potentially be more damaging than good in certain situations. For example, it makes it easy to blame a past event for something rather than making people aware that the past is the past, and no matter how painful or traumatic, it can be overcome and put in the past, leaving a new open future to create anything. I view it as something good at viewing and understanding the past, but it is not effective in creating a new future based on anything other than the past.

There are better technologies out there that are more effective in building a good future.

NLP is a short term solution to long term problems.

I respectfully disagree with that statement... You see after my Dad died, I started having major panic attacks. At first I thought "What is the matter with me?? I have always been able to run up 3 escalators to my dept." I was winded... I was also waking up in the middle of the night, having to breathe into a paper bag, so I wouldn't pass out.

To make a long story short... I ended up going to NLP therapist. He did what I guess is known as a "SWISH" pattern on me... it is about dis-associating one from the painful memory keeping someone stuck. He basically had me review the whole death of my dad in the hospital in my mind like a movie.. then he had me do it again, except this time he told me not only am I watching this movie, I am IN the movie, I am IN the theatre watching the movie, and I am also running the movie projector... then he had me play it one more time, at faster speed, then BACKWARDS.

I had been HAUNTED by seeing my dad dead on the hospital bed, eyes staring into space, and also the sight of them wheeling him away with a sheet over his body on the way to the morgue. I was only 22 when he died. I had never seen anyone die before that. If I closed my eyes, that is what I saw... if I was in bed and the sheets came too close to my face, I was freaking out!

AFTER I had gone to this NLP therapist, and he had done this dis-associating exercise on me... he asked me "Tell me what you see now when you try to recall that memory.." I initally saw my dad, then it was as if someone grabs a paint roller with white paint and paints all over the bad memory. Now, all I see is the white paint roller.... that was 19 years ago. I would say NLP has quite the lasting effect. Also, my brother is a Master Practioner = equal to Tony Robbins, and my mom is a Time Line Therapist. I know first hand how well NLP works, and have been around it for many many years. So that is why I respectfully disagree with your statement.

I'd say that a GOOD NLP practitioner is essential for NLP to become instilled. But it's also up to the person to really put the emotion in. Perhaps thats where a lot of people "fail" because they not associate the Emotion with the Action.

F inding
A bundance
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L ife

Thats what i perfer about TRs NAC .... NeuroAssociative Conditioning .... Similar, but more to the Heart of the Issue. But even He sez, after years of professing "Physiology First" in an NLP session that a more effecive way to the root of the issue is thru the Beliefs a Person Holds. Beliefs are linked Directly to the Identity, and thats a reason they are soooooooo hard to alter ..... it takes a pretty substantial shift to move THAT puppy! It also takes LOTS of peeling those layers back to get TO the REAL issue(s) then it's a matter of dealing with each as they appear. Soon, It's down the Rabbit hole to the only one left.

NLP CAN help with the root cause, but Ya Gotta have that Emotional Intensity for it to really be effective long term.

It sounds like Dianetics, actually.

Don't know Diane at all! (kidding!)

i never did look at Scientology stuff. Too many REAL negative things up in Portland. Ultra-Cultish "You can't leave" and things like that .....

but I do know L Ron did study with some of the same sources the NLP guys got their inspirations from, about the same time.

Don't know Diane at all! (kidding!)

i never did look at Scientology stuff. Too many REAL negative things up in Portland. Ultra-Cultish "You can't leave" and things like that .....

Oh, I know, they are vultures. My father is a scientologist...and he is ultra creepy.

but I do know L Ron did study with some of the same sources the NLP guys got their inspirations from, about the same time.

He borrowed a lot from other practices. The only thing I appreciated from his ideas, was the anti-hypnosis one. It made a lot of sense to me.

Oh, I know, they are vultures. My father is a scientologist...and he is ultra creepy. an UltaCreepy Jewish Scientologist ..... BINGO! I think I know my Halloween costume! :biglaugh:



He borrowed a lot from other practices. The only thing I appreciated from his ideas, was the anti-hypnosis one. It made a lot of sense to me.
like i said, i don't know. what is this? sounds intriguing

an UltaCreepy Jewish Scientologist ..... BINGO! I think I know my Halloween costume! :biglaugh:
like i said, i don't know. what is this? sounds intriguing

LMAO...he is also a member of ISKCON, so now your costume is complete.

Dianetics is about negative gain. Hypnosis puts reactive thoughts there; Dianetics takes them away. It cleans up the reactive mind.

I think it is different strokes for different folks. I think it is all good, and like I said previously, you take what you need and leave the rest. Even with ISKCON, I appreciate their pillars. It works for the people who need it.

Well, I know one thing... my brother tried to NULP me against my will, and I was able to stop what he was doing. But that is beause I knew the lil tricks he was using and was strong enough mentally to over ride the NLP commands...

Well, I know one thing... my brother tried to NULP me against my will, and I was able to stop what he was doing. But that is beause I knew the lil tricks he was using and was strong enough mentally to over ride the NLP commands...


that sounds like my father with his bull baiting...yeah, creepy.

that sounds like my father with his bull baiting...yeah, creepy.

I hope that you aren't turned off all NLP because of your father.. I have never heard of it being tied in with cybernetics.... but I suppose it could be dangerous in the wrong hands to be sure! For example... NLP therapists are supposed to help the client "for the highest intent of the client" to get rid of any phobia's, fear, limiting beliefs, etc... and that is done with the client's permission!

Now you take someone like Jim Jones who BRAINWASHED his masses, yes that is down right scary and wrong!! The difference though, is he USED all those people for his INTENTIONS , not for the highest intention of his followers. He was a very sick man, not unlike Hitler. So yes it can be used for good and bad... but the majority of people use it for GOOD.... but there always has to be someone to ruin it by using it for the bad intentions they have.... Just like any other thing that can be abused for bad intentions. Take math for example... just because there are some who would embezzle doesn't mean that all people who use math are bad.... Same with NLP. It can be very helpful, if applied properly.... but there will always be those who get very good at it, and feel justified in abusing it. Wrong is wrong... doesn't mean that NLP or math is bad... only the people abusing the applied methods.

I agree. That is true with Dianetics also.

Yeah, I suppose it is true of anything really, isn't it CJS?? :(