314 Part V: Integrating Your Learning
To do all this, we pull together NLP tools and techniques from the rest of the
book to illustrate how you can apply NLP to the changes that happen in your
everyday life, be they relatively small or life-changing and whether they are
created by you or other people. For example, think about the presupposition,
‘if what you’re doing isn’t working, do something different’ (Chapter 2 covers
NLP presuppositions in more detail). Change is all about doing something
different when what you’re already doing isn’t working.
The premise in writing this chapter is that whatever the change, you can
handle it humanely and compassionately – for example, when dealing with
redundancies in a corporation. This chapter is also about enabling you to
make change easier for yourself by understanding what you experience.
Instead of beating yourself up, if you think you could have done better at
something, you can show yourself some kindness and focus on what you’ve
done well.
Keep a notebook to hand, and as you read through this chapter note what
you’re going through or how you’re anticipating change, and think about how
the change can be made easier by applying specific NLP techniques.
Finding Clarity and Direction
Knowing where you want to go is crucial, because without clear direction you
can end up expending a lot of energy chasing what you don’t want and waste
a lot of time achieving nothing.
For maximum results, you need to be sure about exactly what outcome you
want from the change you choose to create. For example:
✓ I want to weigh 57 kilograms (126 pounds) by 30 September 2010.
✓ Our attrition rate is 27 per cent and we want to reduce that to 15 per cent.
✓ We want to outsource our services.
✓ I want my wedding day to be perfect.
Chapter 4 takes you through the process of getting clarity about your goals
and uncovering hidden fears. The examples we use in Chapter 4 are aimed,
primarily, at people wanting to create goals in their personal life using the
NLP well-formed outcome approach. This useful process is also great,
however, for change involving a team or a work department.
