NLP Article

Welcome to this free NLP Ezine

Hi everybody, and welcome to "NLP: The Secret Science of Self- Empowerment." This Ezine is designed to bring to you techniques, theories and exercises from the fascinating field of Neurolinguistic Programming.

NLP offers concepts that can help you develop better relationships with others and yourself - and focuses on bringing forth the unlimited powers of genius that lie withing each one of us.

About This Issue

In the last two issues of this Ezine we discussed eye movements and how they are connected to thought processes. As we have learned, when we are thinking about something our eyes move in various directions in accordance with the representational system (visual, audio, kinesthetic, short VAK) in which we are thinking. To refresh your memory of what eye movements are, read the last two issues here (1,2). In this issue, I want to introduce the concept of "strategies" and how they are related to eye movements.

This Issues Article:

Strategies

First, let us look at what a strategy is. A strategy is a systematic sequence of action steps that helps you achieve a desired goal. For example, every time you drink a glass of water, you use your drinking strategy: Take glass in hand - move glass to lips - open mouth slightly - change angle on glass to make water flow into mouth - swallow. That is a strategy. The whole world uses it every day. Can you even begin to imagine how many strategies you have developed in your life? Hundreds? Thousands? Hundred Thousands?

When I moved from Germany to America I noticed that people in America don't turn their heads to look through the back window of their car when parallel parking. They just use their review mirrors. I was baffled. In Germany everybody turns their head when parallel parking. After some heavy thinking, I finally came up with an explanation for this phenomenon. What I realized is that most parking spots in America (California) are bigger than in Germany, so the necessity of accuracy is not as great as it is in Europe. When the spot you are trying to park in is barely a meter longer than your car's length, turning your head for more accuracy is your only chance.

In the drinking water strategy I mentioned earlier I have described a simple sequence of action steps. Coming from an NLP angle, we are interested in more than mere actions steps, however. We want to know the mental processes that go with our strategies. And the representational systems (visual, audio, kinesthetic) that go with the mental processes of each step of the strategy.

To give you an example of how to do this kind of a NLP strategy analysis, let's look at my strategy for typing on a computer.

Christoph's Typing Strategy

Step 1: I position my fingers on the keyboard and feel the keys' gentle touch. (Ve and Ke)
Step 2: I hear the words I want to write internally. (Aid)
Step 3: I start typing while looking at the screen. (Ke, Kr and Ve)
Step 4: I type and check for correct spelling at the same time. (Comparing Ve to Vr)

Simple, right? But what are those abbreviations in the brackets? That's where the NLP part comes in. They are NLP terminology we use to describe the representational system aspect of each step in a strategy. Why do we record the rep system of each step? Because rep systems and the sequence in which you access them are the key building stones of strategies. NLP is about constructing, reconstructing, optimizing, even copying strategies, so understanding the building blocks of strategies is important.

To understand the abbreviations used in the above example better, consider this chart:

Representational System	Superscript	Subscripts
V = visual A = auditory K = kinesthetic O/G = olfactory/gustatory	r = remembered c = constructed i = internal e = external + = positive - = negative	d = digital/dialogue t = tonal/tempo

So, let's revisit my typing strategy again and look at the nlp notation I left unexplained.

In step 1 of my typing strategy I am using mental processes on the level of Ve, or visual external (seeing the keyboard for positioning my fingers) and Ke, or kinesthetic external (feeling the keys on my fingertips).

In step 2 I use Ai, or auditory internal dialogue (talking to myself, hearing the words I want to write).

In step 3 I use Ke, or kinesthetic external (typing), Kr, or kinesthetic remembered (knowing where to move my fingers for each key without looking) and Ve, or visual external (looking at the screen).

In step 4 I use both Ve, or visual external and Vr, or visual remembered (comparing the spelling of the word I see on the screen to the way I visually remember the spelling of the word).

Is that a good strategy? Well, it works well for me, but you might have a different one that works even better for you. I can definitely say, however, that my strategy beats the one I used to have before I taught myself to type with 10 fingers.

My old strategy for typing:

In step 1: I hear the words I wants to write. (Aid)

In step 2: I look at the keyboard while typing the letters, hovering my hands over the keyboard and searching for the keys I need before striking down on them with my two extended index fingers. (Comparing Ve to Vr, then Ke)

In step 3: I look at the screen after every three letters I type to check for spelling. (Comparing Ve to Vr)

In step 4: I takes a break to read the entire sentence after completion. (Ve and Aid)

The problem with my old strategy was step 2: I had to search for every key I wanted to press. Even if I had searched and found the letter A on the keyboard, I would have to look all over for it again the next time I needed it. In my new typing strategy I have remembered the position of each key (Kr, kinesthetic remembered) and rest my fingers in a specific starting position, from which I can type without having to look at the keyboard. Another problem I had with my old strategy was that I lost track of my thoughts, because I was moving at such a slow pace. My brain was a lot faster than my fingers, and eventually lost track of its thoughts, because they could not be written down fast enough. My new typing strategy allows me to be very creative and produce lots of volume in little time.

So, I guess you could call my new strategy a successful one, and my old strategy a tedious one. I was sick of my old strategy, so I changed it. How did I do that? I just practiced typing with all my fingers while not looking at the keyboard, keeping my eyes on the screen. It took a while, but not that long, really. And it was a great investment of my time.

Have you ever thought about the way you are doing things? What strategies have you developed in your life? For example, how do you brush your teeth? Do you put the toothpaste on the brush and then hold it under the running tap? Or first the water, then the paste? How do you get yourself motivated to get out of bed in the morning? By thinking about a hot cup of coffee? By worrying about being late for work? By going to bed early and being well rested in the morning? How do you decide which clothes you like? Do you look at them in magazines? Do you try them on? Do you go mainly by colors? Fabric? Price? Brand?

Strategies are everywhere. And they all are encoded in representational systems (VAK). Deciphering your strategies is a great way to understand why they do or do not work. And once you see the structure of your strategy, you can make changes to it. Yes, you will have to retrain yourself. Effort is part of the deal. But re-crafting your strategies gives you greater control over your life. And even better, you can analyze the successful strategies of the people around you and make them your own. In the next issue we will continue to look at strategies and how to use them for empowering yourself.

References:

Roots of NLP, Dilts, R., 1983.

NLP Vol I., Dilts, R., Grinder, J., Bandler, R. and DeLozier, J., 1980.

All the best,

Christoph Schertler
NLP Trainer/Coach - Founder PEC, LLC