Leading with NLP

On the Road 95

If they have not, what can you do to influence them

so that you can make this change safely now?

You can also use this technique when you have a diffi-

cult decision to make. Imagine your future self as a

guide who has made the change successfully. What ad-

vice would they give you?

the dark side of change

Change is risky, so you need to do some downside planning.
Downside planning means covering yourself in case of disas-
ter – a process that makes insurance companies very rich
indeed. But when you have possible disaster covered and you
know that even if the worst comes to the worst, you will be al-
right, it is much easier to go ahead.
As you look ahead to your proposed changes, what are the
dangers? What could go wrong? Just because something is
worth doing, there is no guarantee it will be successful. Mo-
tivational tapes and literature exhort you to ‘Be positive!’,
but optimism and faith alone are no substitute for careful
planning. Put the three together, however, and you have a
good chance of success.
When my daughter was 11, she enrolled at a local youth
centre for a canoeing course on the Thames. She could swim,
but the Thames is wide, fast flowing, brown and uninviting.
She came back from her first lesson quite indignant. ‘I
thought canoeing was about staying out of the water,’ she
said. ‘They taught us how to capsize for half this lesson!’
I was veryglad. This coach didn’t say, ‘Capsize? Don’t even
think about it! Think positive!’
Once you know how to deal with disaster, you don’t need
to think about it. This is why riders are taught how to fall off
horses and racing-car drivers are taught what to do in a crash
as part of their basic training. If you have no plan to deal
with disaster, the thought of it may haunt you, and with good
reason.