NLP for Beginners: Learn the Basics of NLP Here (how-tos, exercises, etc)

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Beginning NLP

NLP Isn’t Just for Coaches: How to Use It at Home, at Work, and When Life Gets Messy

Let’s bust a myth real quick. You don’t need to be a coach, therapist, or hypnotist to use NLP.You don’t need a certification.You don’t need to change careers.And no—you definitely don’t need to “fix” anyone. Because NLP isn’t just for the stage or the Zoom room. It’s for the dinner table.The boardroom.The moment you’re staring at your to-do list and can’t find the will to move. That’s when NLP really shines. NLP Is Mental Gear

Tracy Hoobyar May 2, 2025

Exercising outdoors, three women friends high-fiving celebrating fitness achievements

Beginning NLP

Elements of Your Goals to Consider

Atomic Habits or Big Life-Affirming Goals? Why not both? A couple of different approaches have proven effective in achieving goals, and motivation is essential to all of them. One approach is the Tiny Little Habits approach, popularized in the “Atomic Habits” book. This method involves adding one little tiny habit at a time. Over time, you will achieve some pretty substantial differences in your life. The other way is to choose a significant goal

Tom Dotz April 30, 2024

Group of business workers working together. Partners stressing one of them at the office

Beginning NLP

Six-Step Reframing – An NLP Process

Negotiating and Resolving Conflicts, Internal and External: Framing, Reframing, and the Six-Step Process You’ve heard of “framing” in the context of politics, marketing, and areas where influencing people is a primary concern. In any context, the party setting the frame has preempted the permissible dialogue. For instance, in the area of politics, the Republican party has very successfully framed gun ownership as an issue of personal freedom. That consistently imposed framing has allowed them to

Tom Dotz April 25, 2023

Beginning NLP

The Next Step in Perceptual Positions

Have you ever felt like, even though you understand and have practiced perceptual positions, sometimes they don’t make changes by themselves? Like sometimes you need something else, another bucket than the three standard positions? Perceptual positions are a core distinction in NLP, one that is used in multiple processes and techniques. Our perceptual positions guide our experiences. It is through this key distinction that we form memories, experiences, and reactions. But what if our perceptual

Tracy Hoobyar August 30, 2022

Miss Information Educates Tom

“It ain’t what you don’t know. It’s what you know that ain’t so.” -Yogi Berra A foundational principle in NLP is the importance of information gathering. Frequently simply getting accurate information is enough to cause a behavior change. In NLP one precise approach is called a “Double description”. Double description means exactly what it sounds like. It means getting a thorough and detailed description from 2 different points of view, ideally from two different perspectives

Tom Dotz August 18, 2022

How to Benefit from Procrastination

I wondered about that NLP Presupposition for a long time. Finally, I thought of one place where it is really useful. That place is behaviors you wish to simply stop, without replacing. Procrastinating is a very powerful way to stop those habits, behaviors, or addictions that you’re already really tired of. After all, isn’t the definition of procrastinating not doing? For instance, I drank alcohol pretty consistently for most of my adult life. Last year

Tom Dotz August 1, 2022

The Magic of Metaphor

Magical Metaphors Stories for Change Metaphors are one of the coolest and most flexible ways to use NLP. An NLP metaphor is simple a story with embedded NLP processes of suggestions for change. Metaphors or stories (like some of those you’ve read here) are a simple way to use NLP with others, in groups, and with your self. Stores that are seemingly simple can include profound suggestions for change. Embedding the process in a story

Tom Dotz July 19, 2022

There’s Always An Alternative

When NLP started practitioners usually only got to work with friends, college students, and really tough situations. Friends because they’re around, and tough challenges because the established practitioners, whatever the field, will usually only give up the ones they’ve given up on. Oh, and college students because they’re available, work cheap, and will follow almost any instructions if you say “it’s a scientific study.” Ever wonder to what extent our understanding of humans has been

Tom Dotz July 19, 2022

Beginning NLP

You can’t make ‘em change

It’s happened to all of us. We have someone in our lives and we want to help them change. Maybe they want to quit smoking, make more money or improve an important relationship in their life. Whatever it is, the story is the same. They tell us they want to change, they have tried to change, and they have never successfully changed. So, what is that about? Can you help them change, and more importantly,

Tracy Hoobyar June 7, 2022

Your Brain on Leadership? Assess Yourself!

I just read a great article “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership” from the September 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review. It details fascinating new research by Daniel Goleman of “emotional intelligence” (EQ) fame. The emerging field of social neuroscience — the study of what happens in the brain while people interact — will be familiar to any of you with NLP training. It’s the scientific proof of what we’ve been doing in this field

Tom Dotz May 17, 2022