Hi Niketa,
Good to see your reply.
I am happy to see your response to my question and that you plan to become a "life coach".
Being a Life Coach carries a great deal of everything in it. Meaning anything you pickup along the way
will be useful.
For now park those 50grands in your piggy bank.In sometime we'll discuss how to spend them.
This is a long post. Grab something to drink to keep you at it.
From within the frame of Being a Life Coach, let's work back how NLP can help you.
I have been around those that get certified and practice NLP and I have seen two kinds of people emerge.
One those who get into NLP thinking it to be a magic box of everything and therefore they will Now
control others. That's one category.
The other type are those who are looking forward to take their own life skills to another level
and genuinely help others after realizing how NLP had changed their life.
So NLP does offer you a set of tools and techniques to be able to do the above in both categories.
Primarily NLP gives you linguistic models which helps you gather information in a conversation
at two levels. Verbal and Non verbal. Similarly it gives you filters to arrange the information
you receive from a client (you are treating for a challenge they need help with) and change
a few things about their internal experience (based on what they say to you) and
you ultimately give them a choice about how they want to be able to respond to that challenge.
In many ways NLP is a quantum leap because compared to traditional psychology
in NLP you don't assume that people are messed up in the head and something needs to be fixed about them.
You also don't corrupt a client's model of the world by proposing your way as the best way
of going about dealing with that challenge. Ever have someone tell you that their way is the best way?
NLP stays clear of such self advocating idealism's about life. You are rather, working with a client
at the level of process and structure of their subjective experience.
Now just how does one ever do that?
That's where I am going to throw in my sales pitch , right? :-) heck no!
I have been too long around NLP that I outgrew the certification market. They weren't around that time.
So here is what I would say. Get into knowing how NLP works the way it works
and there is only way it works and that is pretty much how it came into being.
That is Modeling Human Excellence. Period.
So You still have a budget of 50grands right. Let me suggest how to spend it.
Start with the following books:
0. NLP the new technology of achievement -
Is a simple way to understand what NLP is, what does it really really do,
how to go about first trying out NLP tools on your self. Feel the difference.
See if that stays around. See if you feel resourceful in life with these new changes.
Trust me to be able to get good results as a Life coach with human beings
you are going to need to know what do you do with your own head first.
How do you code your experience? What is your model of the world?
What if you come across someone who's natural skills are something you want
to be able to learn?
The books that install NLP in you. oh yeah!
The below books are actual verbatim seminar transcripts put together in parts by people who
knew what was being taught. Read any of these and you will have actually been to a seminar
learning from the creators of NLP. Just like it was meant to be.
There is nothing like this in the market even till date, that can forever alter your experience
of how you will be using your own brain to experience life each day.
This is not motivational or inspirational stuff. These are tools - weapons of choice!
It puts you in control. You will be doing things you never knew you could do before.
Most of what you did was intuition to you. NLP will help open the black box.
Even after 15 years today when I open these books I realize I am still into
that seminar learning what they were talking about and there is something new that I previously
didn't see it quite that way, and yet, it taught me well at whatever level of understanding I approached it
from whatever level of evolution I was at that point in time.
It's something we now know as Multi-level communication. The books are stacked with all the NLP
language patterns and tools which simultaneously run with other patterns of NLP that assist in
unconscious learning's. (The premise of Ericksonian hypnosis)
Yep - Linear, non-linear seemingly harmless stories, nested with deeper metaphors delivered with
powerful language patterns.
OMG! Am I even making sense to you anymore! You tell me when you finish one of these books.
Truthfully, as you grow in your NLP knowledge and its real life application to self and in helping others
you will realize from that perspective how this book actually works with your mind at multiple levels.
Even as NLP is being described and taught about, you will realize its being parallely (within the same time)
demonstrated by Bandler and Grinder. Killer eh! You bet!
Here are the books:
1. Frogs into Princes - You will mainly learn about Representational Systems and
Verbal and Nonverbal patterns of Rapport, Anchoring behaviors and change and
Reframing. They are useful when you do a session as a life coach with people.
Imagine first being able to learn how your clients "experience" the external world.
Here they show you how to use the Meta Model of information gathering.
Meta model is something you may learn from a certification course but its freely available
to learn on the net. But First Read this book then go out and explore.
Again Meta Model is not the stiff of beginners. Only get to it when the time is right.
You will know when it is so.
2. Trance-formations - Is a book about using the Milton Model who was a hypnotherapist
one of his kind. He was radical for his time and trust me only 5% of the population is
able to do what he did 23 years back!
The above post by TTS on the experience with the newbie "I am a NLP hypnotist"
was what I call a type/category one, kind of person. I know NLP and I will control you.
You do bump into such clowns once in a while. I figured it's fun to use the Meta model on them.
Like asking them "how do you know that I am not in a trance right now?" and leading from there.
You can join me in that joke six months from now.
Frankly Hypnosis doesn't work that way. Every communication offers an opportunity
of deepening the trance. Question is what do you want to learn in that state?
That clown missed out a basic little something that is a pre-requiste for trance but hey
I am not here to sell anyone a course or teach NLP right? Let's get back to the books.
I'd suggest pick this 6 months after you finish FIP. Yeah it's going to take sometime
to comprehend your new reality. but will you notice the time that's passed by?
This is a book about going into trance yourself first and then putting others in trance.
Well what does one do in a trance anyway.
Trance state allows you to slow down or speed up a regular waking state experience such that
being in trance you are able to creatively approach the challenge. You can release traumas,
deal with limiting beliefs, create new representations, build and overall attitude towards life.
It's endless.
This is precisely the reason why NLP is different than any other form of behavioral science approach.
When someone who is really good at a particular skill comes to you and says..I know I am good..
but I want to be better. You can use NLP tools, techniques and patterns to give them a way of
taking control of elements of their own experience and enhance it. Is that even possible?
Whoa! didn't I mention Modeling Human Excellence...you will figure.
3. Reframing - This is quite an advanced book and it demonstrates first and explains later.
Imagine being able to change limiting beliefs about things linguistically. This book teaches you how.
Anyone thinking that hey I want to change X YZ 's belief about me. You are welcome to try
only that don't end up loosing your own reference structure while you are too busy figuring out how
to change someone else's. Oops! did I give away too much. Ah! You will have to red the book to figure that :-)
In summary:
Being a Life Coach is like a Life purpose in its own. And NLP will really really help you a long way in it.
Frankly, if you start right here you can never go wrong. You will never need a NLP certification.
And while you spend your 50grands and some of it wisely on other "recognized" qualifications
which are "accepted" by the industry and when those continuously fail to assist you with their limited ways then
it is only what you will have learnt through NLP that will you a choice to go about it freely and do something that works!
Boy! I just ruffled too many feathers there but let's risk it anyways, don't I always do that?
It takes all types to run this world. Let's settle at that.
Besides I think I am more focused towards giving you a lot to think about.
Throughout this post I have shared an overview of NLP. When you take it up yourself
you will have your own view too. It will be pleasant and positive. This is a no brainer.
One thing I must reiterate, there are two types of people who learn NLP.
One that become the i-am-the-showman-of-the-trained-elephant-act, and the others
which are the healers.
If you find in your heart that your very purpose in becoming a Life Coach is to be able
to assist people at whatever level they are, then start with NLP slowly. Take it in, in small measures.
There is no race, there is no competition, you are uniquely destined to become who you think you
really are. Eventually You will be and when you do, it wont be necessary to have certifications
or licenses to establish your value to those who lives you have been able to change.
Rather, what will be more important is, the satisfaction in the realization that the great pearl of
wisdom you have been looking for was always deep within the ocean of your heart.
Niketa, whatever that means to you, it is uniquely yours to know and build upon.
In parting, here's a quick tip to begin with:
Learn the NLP Presuppositions as they summarize well what NLP is all about.
In the end I'll quote Richard Bandler where he says
"NLP is an attitude and methodology that leaves behind a trail of tools and techniques"
Learn what the attitude is. Manifest that.
You can begin that now.
Have fun
And other queries you have, send me a Personal Message.
I wont be writing such a loooooooooooooong post again!
So 'loooong then.
Have Fun and Be the coach you want to be.
Best Wishes
Erstine
PS: Please pardon the typos if any.