60 Part I: Introducing NLP
Help is at hand in the form of the outcome-frame process, which we
introduce in the following section, and the well-formed outcome process
(described in the later section ‘Becoming smarter than SMART: Creating well-
formed outcomes’).
Shifting into the outcome frame
The outcome-frame approach is a smart, constructive process that suggests
a different way of thinking about your problems and issues, a process that
helps you to identify and then focus your mind on what you positively want.
When you add in an efficient goal-setting process and monitor each step
along the way, you can correct any deviation from your plan to attain the
desired results easily and promptly.
Often, you can find yourself experiencing the same sorts of problems time
and again. In our experience, this cycle usually indicates that you have some-
thing to take on-board.
Keep asking yourself, ‘What’s the lesson that I need to learn so that this prob-
lem is no longer an issue?’
One day, after asking this question for a while – or perhaps even instantly – the
answer comes to you. Strangely, after you fully experience that ‘Aha’ moment
of realisation, you can find that you no longer notice the problem recurring.
Perhaps the change comes about because you stop investing emotional
energy in the problem or because you move on to tackling another set of les-
sons. Whatever the reason, the process worked!
The Path to Excellence
Your brain is a learning machine that needs to be kept occupied. If it isn’t, it
can start to dwell on the negative and get you into all kinds of trouble. As a
human being, you need to use all your ingenuity to direct your brain towards
helping you to achieve your goals. If you can create a compelling, irresist-
ible future, your brain helps to align your behaviour in a way that moves you
towards your desired outcome quickly and easily. The first step is working
out what you want.
