34 Part I: Introducing NLP
In this chapter you get to meet your unconscious mind and discover how to
use your brain to focus on and help you achieve your goals more easily and
quickly. You find out about the psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and phobias, and discover how you can overcome them. Most impor-
tantly, you learn about your values – the buttons that motivate you. When
you find out that your beliefs have a structure and that you can change that
structure, you’re well on your way to taking charge of your emotions, your
memories, and the way you choose to respond to people and events in your
life, without the baggage of the past weighing you down.
Grasping How Your Fears Can Drive You in the Wrong Direction
Your unconscious mind not only controls the running of your body, but also
has a tremendous impact on the results you get in your life. Have you ever
wanted to do something consciously but ended up doing something totally
different?
You can decide consciously that you want to achieve a goal, but if your
unconscious mind isn’t on-board it may ‘assist’ you by fulfilling its own
agenda – which may be contrary to what you consciously think you want.
Imagine what you can achieve when you’re in rapport with your unconscious
mind and able to go in the direction that gets you to your goals quickly.
Roger started his own company. Despite setting goals and having exceptional
ability in his chosen field, he wasn’t getting his business off the ground and
was in a complete panic as he watched his savings dwindling away. Romilla
helped him identify a very closely held belief that ‘I can’t sing the blues in an
air-conditioned room’. The writer of this song discovered that he was able to
sing the blues only in poverty and that success and wealth cramped his musi-
cal style. Similarly, Roger was afraid that success would stop him experiencing
life and extinguish his creativity. When he realised that he was able to choose
to experience life as a millionaire or a tramp, his behaviour changed and his
business improved dramatically.
The key to bringing your unconscious mind into alignment with your con-
scious desires and goals is understanding the strengths of each part and how
they work. The following sections tell you what you need to know.
