The Structure of Subjective Experience
Remember in The Matrix when Neo downloads Kung Fu into his brain? Wouldn’t it be great if life was really like that? What if I told you that there is a technology that allows you to “download” skills with amazing speed?
The technology I’m talking about exists. It’s call Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Long ago, during the peak of the Human Potential Movement, this so-called mind technology was created by some very colorful and controversial characters in California.
The eccentric Richard Bandler (known for his unconventional and provocative therapy) and the former military Captain John Grinder (who specialized in the transformational grammar of Noam Chomsky) first developed NLP. Through “word of mouth”, NLP grew to the point where coaches like Tony Robbins were charging between $5,000 and $20,000 for a single weekend of coaching.
As a result of reading Tony’s books and listening to his audio programs, I became an NLP Master Practitioner — a massive 28-day affair in Winter Park Colorado, complete with major NLP developers (Steve Andreas, author of “Transforming Your Self“, finished the event)… NLP coaches (from all over the world–even as far as Iraq!)… and a jaw-dropping stable of the best NLP trainers.
NLP showed me how experience has structure. Skills as diverse as being able to effectively negotiate, tell a joke, manage a large group, write a book, promptly pay bills, plan the future, learn from the past, or compose music, all have a structure. Every human being is a vault of abilities in which they are an expert, or in NLP modeling terms, an “exemplar.” All you need to open the vault is the correct combination.
But… that’s just the beginning. Because if an experience or behavior is possible for one person, it is possible for anyone.
I went cRaZy when I thought about that. But I went absolutely NUTS when I actually experienced it! What a hair-raising thrill it is to hack into your own mind and give it a serious tune-up.
NLP is the study and mastery of the structure of subjective experience. A major NLP belief, or presupposition, is that people think and act based on their internal representations of the world and not on the world itself. Once we understand specifically how we create and maintain our inner thoughts and feelings, it is a very simple matter for us to change them.
Often described as “software for your brain,” NLP allows you to automatically tap into the kinds of experiences you want to have. We’ll be using many NLP techniques to hack your self-concept.
You can create your own future, and you can have choices about your experience, especially when it matters most. A state-of-the art technology for modeling skills and capabilities, NLP creates an environment for profound personal change.