Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, was developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler during the 1970s. Bandler and Grinder originally set out to study what set highly effective psychotherapists apart from the others in their field. What they ended up with was a methodology for self-improvement all its own.
It's different from traditional self-improvement, therapies, and positive thinking methods because it relies largely on a method called modeling and focuses on what works. It works off of certain presuppositions, and sometimes, it even disregards the truth.
NLP is very much about context, one of the things that it presupposes is that failure does not exist. NLP also assumes that if you want to make a change in your life, that you have all the resources that you need to be able to do that.
It doesn't matter whether or not the presupposition is true as long as it is useful. For example, have you ever used a hammer? Is a hammer true? Well it doesn't really matter if a hammer is true or false in order for it to work.
Another presupposition in NLP is that people work perfectly. In other words, even a drug addict who is on the way to killing himself is working perfectly (at killing themselves).
Some therapies seem to turn people into victims by reinforcing a belief that they're in some way damaged or broken. In a sense, this gives people an excuse to make mistakes in the future and repeat negative behavior.
As an example, think about a negative belief you have about yourself and how it might be holding you back. Many of our negative beliefs are reinforced by years of listening to others. Take the case of someone who has been told all of their life that they're a poor learner. They become a victim of their own self-limiting belief and spend their time on trying to fix their perceived learning problems instead of accomplishing their goals.
With neuro-linguistic programming, you would simply accept that whatever your results with learning have been in the past, it has been perfect. Remember also that another presupposition of NLP is that you have all the resources at your disposal to make a change. In other words, you can learn anything you want to learn right now, regardless of past results.
Professionals in the life coaching field utilize a similar concept that says that the present is perfect. This allows you to accept that things are as they should be and gives you the power to make changes in your life.
Another premise of success used in NLP is the fact that if someone can achieve success at something, then it can be modeled and achieved by someone else as well. Since NLP is based on what works, and not just a theory, it also uses the idea that if what you're doing isn't working, then adapt and change what you're doing.
One of the most famous students of neuro-linguistic programming is Tony Robbins. Tony became very well known for showing people how to achieve quick turn-arounds in their lives, and developed his own brand of self-improvement in part, based on NLP techniques.
A fair amount of information on NLP is available online if you want to learn the basic techniques. There are also many practitioners you can work with to enhance your skills and understanding. If you're looking for an effective and practical approach to life change, then this may do the trick.
