Does NLP work?
If you have ever asked yourself that question and struggled to find the answer, here’s why.
It’s the wrong question to ask.
It’s the wrong question because the question presupposes (suggests) that NLP is a thing that either works or doesn’t work, like a pen or flashlight. When actually, NLP is more like nature as it’s all about our natural way of processing life.
You wouldn’t ask the question, does nature work, would you? No, you would ask questions like, what is nature, and how does nature work?
Therefore, rather than asking, if NLP works, you should be asking what is NLP and how does it work?
OK, So What Is NLP?
As a Certified NLP Trainer, teaching NLP for over 20 years, this is always the most challenging question to answer. Because NLP is very personal or subjective.
NLP is an in-depth study of the human mind. Studying human nature and all the strategies and processes humans use to be excellent at what they do.
The co-founders of NLP, Bandler, and Grinder, studied only the most successful people in their fields. They deciphered the strategies and processes being used and called the collection neuro linguistic programming or NLP.
One of the earliest understandings that I personally experienced and use comes from Plato. A life-changing knowledge that is still unknown, or if known, then not fully understood by most people today.
NLP is a collection of knowledge, techniques, and processes that people use to accomplish the simple to the extreme changes in their lives.
So, Does NLP Work?
Again, asking whether NLP works or not, is like asking, does nature work, and that doesn’t make any sense now, does it?
But it helps me understand where a person’s thought process is. Because whenever I hear the question, “does NLP work,” I know that the person asking does not understand what NLP really is yet.
And that’s often because many people “sell” NLP as a tool you use as a pen or flashlight. They make it appear that it’s all about techniques that you turn on or off.
People we teach are using NLP effectively to change their lives, often with massive life changes.
In most cases, you will need to know more than just the technique for the process to be effective. You will find that NLP techniques “work” consistently every time if you use the methods correctly.
So rather than ask, “does NLP work,” try asking these questions:
What are the benefits of NLP?