7 days to success

1

©MindSecretsExposed.com

2


Copyright © 2012 Success Vantage Pte Ltd All rights reserved. Published by Greg & Alvin No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, scanned, or otherwise, except as permitted under Canadian copyright law, without the prior written permission of the author. Notes to the Reader: While the author and publisher of this book have made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no liability with respect to losses or damages caused, or alleged to be caused, by any reliance on any information contained herein and disclaim any and all warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or reliability of said information. The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. It is the complete responsibility of the reader to ensure they are adhering to all local, regional and national laws. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering professional services. If legal, accounting, medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The words contained in this text which are believed to be trademarked, service marked, or to otherwise hold proprietary rights have been designated as such by the use of initial capitalization. Inclusion, exclusion, or definition of a word or term is not intended to affect, or to express judgment upon the validity of legal status of any proprietary right which may be claimed for a specific word or term. The fact that an organization or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the author or publisher endorses the information the organization or website may provide or the recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that the websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared, between the time this work was written and when it is read. Individual results may vary.

3


Table of Contents Welcome To 7 Days To Success! ..................................................................................... 4

Day One: Improve Your Health ....................................................................................... 8

Day Two: How To Persuade A Crowd ............................................................................ 12

Day Three: How To Sell To Anybody ............................................................................. 15

Day Three: How To Sell To Anybody ............................................................................. 15

Day Four: Gain Self Confidence ...................................................................................... 19

Day Four: Gain Self Confidence ...................................................................................... 19

Day Five: Create Fantastic Relationships ...................................................................... 21

Day Six: Manage Your Time Effectively ......................................................................... 23

Day Seven: Step Up To Success .................................................................................... 26

It’s Your Future .............................................................................................................. 29

4


WELCOME TO 7 DAYS TO SUCCESS!

In “7 days to Success: Change Your Life in 7 Days with NLP.” I’ve

broken down some of the basic NLP principles into seven days.

On each day you will learn a little about a basic NLP principle and

how you can use this to improve a specific area of your life.

To start your journey of discovery about Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) there

are a basic series of presuppositions which will be useful for you to learn. By

studying the basic foundational principles you will begin what will hopefully be a life

long journey of self discovery and improvement.

The first principle and perhaps the most important are: The map is not the territory.

This statement originated with a Polish count by the name of Korzybsk back in 1933.

When you experience the world via your senses you make an internal map of this in

your brain. Because this map is shaped by your own experiences this internal map

will never be the same as anyone else’s. For example if I’m viewing a chess match

my internal map will be much different to the one bobby Fischer forms if he

watches exactly the same match. We are seeing exactly the same things but his

breadth of knowledge, understanding of the game and personal experience will

mean that his map will probably be nothing like mine.

We are constantly having sensory data thrust at us. It would be impossible to

absorb all the data in a meaningful way so we have to filter this data. The process of

filtration is heavily influenced by our values and our beliefs. We in a sense only

receive the information that our experiences, social and cultural background are

attuned to letting us receive.

For example imagine you are visiting a third world country. You might be amazed at

the level of poverty. Because it is so different to your own expectations and

experiences you cannot help but be astonished by the level of deprivation. But

5


imagine instead that you were born into this environment, and had never lived

anywhere else. To you it would seem normal. You would probably not even notice

that there was so much lack or if you did you would just accept it as being a regular

part of life. If you want to communicate with someone it becomes much easier if

you understand their internal map. People respond to the world according to their

internal map. While their behaviour may seem strange to you, it may seem

completely irrational. It is based on their internal map.

Another presupposition you will want to take on board is that there is no failure

only feedback. Many people allow themselves to get weighed down with what they

perceive as past failures. But this is really only feedback. For example it is fact that

most successful business people fail in a business venture before finally succeeding.

What separates the successful business person from the unsuccessful one it to be

able to take a business failure as merely feedback as a strategy this does not work in

this context. By taking this information on board they are able to formulate a more

successful strategy

One of the most empowering principles that NLP offers is that Individuals have all

the resources they need to achieve their desired outcomes. By this it means that

while you may not currently have the internal resources that you need to achieve

your outcome. You do currently posses the internal resources to find the internal

and external resources you will require to achieve your outcome.

Next you should understand that every behaviour have a positive intent. Even if the

behaviour is non-productive, it still has a positive intent behind it. This positive

intent is called secondary gain. Take for example, a gang member who commits a

drive by shooting. This would seem to have no positive intent. But there is

secondary gain in that he will gain acclaim and recognition amongst his peer. By

identifying the person’s positive intent we can find more productive or beneficial

ways of satisfying that intention.

6


“Seven Days to NLP Success” will look at how you can use NLP to improve your

health. The core principle behind this is the mind and body are interlinked and affect

each other. This is really a pretty simple idea. A healthy mind and body work

together and treat each other.

Finally you will also learn later in the book how to use NLP to improve yourself and

your social position in life. NLP offers a great tool to speed up your success with the

principle Modelling successful performance leads to excellence. If you want to be

great in a particular field and you have you can model someone else who is

successful in that field and achieve the same outcomes they have.

NLP can assist you in all areas of your life. In particular it can help you to

Motivate yourself and others

Communicate effectively

Think positively

Achieve the outcomes that you desire

NLP has been described as the study of human excellence and I think that this is a

pretty fitting description. NLP has its origins in the 1970’s when a group of

psychologists began to study successful people to see what it was about their

behaviour that lead to their success. The psychologists in this group were John

Grinder a linguist, Gregory Bateson an anthropologist and Richard Bandler a

psychologists. Between them they were the fathers of the discipline we know as

Neurolinguist Programming or NLP for short.

NLP is not a static science however and has evolved significantly since then. We

know have a much better understanding of human behaviour and thought

processes and this has been incorporated into NLP. One of the important things to

7


understand is that we communicate with ourselves as well as communicating with

other people. By using NLP we are able to more effectively communicate with and

persuade other people. As well as this we also learn how to better communicate

with ourselves so that we achieve our desired outcomes.

In Seven Days to NLP Success I have provided you with seven different areas of your

life that you can use NLP to improve. Before beginning to use NLP it is important

that you set out your intention. Your intentions are the outcome that you want to

achieve. Without a clear idea of where we are going it is unlikely that you will reach

your desired destination. If you want to go to the grocery store then before you

leave your house it’s a good idea to know where it is or at least that you want to

actually visit the grocery store. If you just leave your house and start wandering

around you might reach the grocery store but it is not likely.

So the first question you need to answer is what area of your life is that you would

like to improve? Would you like to be a more effective public speaker? Would you

like to lose weight? Would you like to make money or increase your sales?

The key is to knowing your outcome. NLP has the tools to get you there but you

must know what it is that you want to use it for. Some of you may wish to improve

in all seven areas of your life covered in this book. That is perfectly acceptable

provided that you set this intention from the start.

If this is your first introduction to the world of NLP then you are in for a special

treat. Understanding that there are actual tools that you can use to change any

aspect of your life can be incredibly liberating. Remember the tools are there for

you to use but it is up to you to put them to work.

8


DAY ONE: IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

Many health problems have their root cause in one thing: stress. NLP recognises

that there is a mind / body connection which means that the two are inextricably

linked. Unfortunately these day’s people are more stressed out than ever before.

Thanks to modern communications and the internet we are accessible at all times

and the expectations placed on us can feel insurmountable. We also seem to have

an ever increasing amount of responsibilities to deal with and only a fixed amount

of hours in the day to get things done. Chronic fatigue and stress can have serious

effects on your health. Fatigue can weaken your body’s immunity system and leave

you susceptible to disease and illness.

NLP provides a variety of tools to help you reduce or remove stress and any fears

you may have of becoming ill. Y use NLP to condition a new set of healthier

behaviours to overcome any unhealthy patterns you may have had in the past. Here

is an exercise you can use next time that you are feeling stressed. You can do this

exercise standing, lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair.

9


Step One: First start to relax your muscles. While you are doing this smile, even if you don’t

feel like smiling, just smile. Hold the smile for at least twenty seconds. It is

important to remember that your physiology is connected to your internal mood. By

mimicking a happy unstressed physical state we can help put ourselves into that

state.

Step Two: Now imagine a place where you feel happy, or perhaps a place you have felt happy

in the past. Possibly it will be somewhere that you vacation. Or maybe it is the

favourite room of your house. Remember that place vividly now in your mind. See

the colors of that place. If you are at the beach, hear the sound of the water gently

lapping on the beach. Try and picture this place as vividly as possible.

Step Three: Next you will concentrate on your breathing. Take a deep breath, bring the air all

the way down, and then hold for a count of five seconds. One of the best ways to

release tension is to concentrate on your breathing.

Step Four: Now say the words “I feel incredibly relaxed and I feel fantastic” Keep thinking

about the place that makes you happy.

Step Five: Now breathe out and let the stress flow from your body. While you do this tap a

certain part of your body. This could be your hip for example. Each time you repeat

this process tap the same body part. This technique is known as anchoring. Now

10


whenever you are feeling stressed. Just simply tap your hip and you will be returned

to the relaxed state that you feel now.

Step Six: Repeat the process above for about five repetitions or until you are no longer

feeling stressed. Neuro Linguistic Programming is really about creating new

patterns, and you can achieve this through repetition.

One of the key tenets of NLP is that we have the ability to choose between our

internal states. While we have no control over what happens to us in the external

world. For example you cannot help being hit by another car. You can choose the

mental state that is associated with that external event. If you want to live a life

that is less stressed and is healthier then you need to learn how to deal with your

stressors. Much of the stress that we experience is essentially self generated. We

tell ourselves that we are unable to cope with a particular situation, or we are

unable to achieve a certain target. More often than not we are the reason for our

increased level of stresses. You are in a sense hypnotising yourself into a stressful

state. While this may sound overwhelmingly negative it is important to understand

that is in fact quite empowering. You have complete control over your own mental

states and you can decide how you feel.

NLP can be combined with the power

of hypnosis to open up your mind to

the possibilities of a stress free life.

Once you are in a relaxed state of mind

it will be possible to make positive

suggestions in order to reframe your

current mind set. You are the creator

of your current stressed out mindset.

But this can be replaced with a more empowering set of thoughts and behaviours.

11


You will find that you can create a sense of appreciation where you are grateful for

the things that you have and the opportunities that are available to you. You will

also be able to find greater pleasure in the more simple aspects of your day to day

life. Overall by combining NLP with the power of hypnosis you can live a healthier

and more fulfilling life.

If you are suffering from high stress levels the best treatment is often hypnotherapy

combined with the principles of NLP. When you are in hypnotic trance you will be

able to be treated with regression or recall strategies. These can help to identify and

treat subconscious and pervasive reasons for your stress. The principles of

hypnotherapy are derived from Milton Erikson. Erickson’s teachings are some of the

foundational principles of NLP. He was an American Psychiatrist why was known for

his ability to cure psychological and behavioural problems using unconventional

psychotherapy techniques. This is now known as Erickson Hypnosis.

Erikson identified a series of conversational techniques which could induce a

hypnotic trance in the patient while conducting a normal conversation. This is a very

light state of hypnotic induction; however it is adequate to reframe the mind so that

the person is not stressed by the same external triggers.

Remember that the overall health of your body is inextricably linked to the way that

you think. By using NLP techniques such as hypnosis, reframing and anchoring it is

possible to install a new set of more positive mental frames. This will allow you to

live a healthier and stress free life.

12


DAY TWO: HOW TO PERSUADE A CROWD

Being an effective public speaker can make

a huge impact on your life. People who are

able to reach out and influence crowds of

people have real power to affect positive

change. While being an effective

communicator one on one is a great skill to

have, being able to reach many people at

the same time whether that is a few dozen,

hundreds or even thousands will multiple

the impact that you can have.

Unfortunately many if not most people are

terrified of speaking in public. It

consistently ranks as one of the most

common fears that people have. That’s sad,

not just because it limits these people ability to have an impact, but it also means

they can’t partake it what can be a really fun activity. Luckily NLP has the tools to

help you become an effective public even if you are deathly afraid of public

speaking at the moment. Even if you are confident in your public speaking at the

moment, NLP will show you how you can improve your skills so that you are better

able to influence your audience.

Probably the first thing I would say about public speaking is that, like most things it

comes down to practice. If you look at the effective public speakers they usually

have one thing in common and that is that they speak a lot. If you want to be a

better public speaker you really just need to start making more speeches. Very few

people start out as great speakers, but almost anyone can become one if they are

willing to practice.

13


One of the principles that NLP teaches is to start with the outcome in mind. This is

also true of public speaking. Thinking about what the purpose of your speech is.

What do you want your audience to take away from the speech? How do you want

them to respond at the speech? What is the message that you are trying to get

across?

The next step is working on the content of your

speech. Remember people all have different

dominant senses. These are Visual, Auditory or

Kinaesthetic. When you are trying to reach you

audience there will be people with different

dominant sense. It is important that you reach all

these people. Of course there is no way of

knowing what dominant senses a crowd of

strangers has. That’s why you want to mix up your presentation. You want to

include visual imagery such as pictures and slide shows to reach the visual

orientated people. You should vary your pitch for the auditory oriented listeners

and have some element of touch for the kinaesthetic people.

Before you give your speech you will want to put yourself in the correct state. This is

where Anchors can be very useful. Think about the way you want to come across on

stage. For some speeches a more humorous approach will be best. At others you

will want to be more serious and dignified. Think about the state that most matches

your speech. In order to put yourself in this state before you go onstage to speak

you will need to think about a time in your past when you were in that state.

Think carefully about that time, visualising it carefully, hold your body now as you

did then, and think about your breathing, how did you breathe? If you want to

appear confident and energetic, were you standing up right? How you were head

tilted? Visualise exactly what it was like to be in this state. If you haven’t been in that

14


state, look at someone else, on TV who is in the state you want to be, and then

replicate that state.

Now you want to be able to recall that state just before you need it. In order to do

this you will want to drop an anchor. When you are in the peak of the state, do

something with your hands. Squeeze them into a fist. Or make a ring with the

thumb and first finger. Now relax. See if you can recall the state by doing the same

hand motion. See if it puts you back in that state. If not repeat the exercise until it is

firmly imbedded. Remember with speaking as in all things practice makes perfect.

15


DAY THREE: HOW TO SELL TO ANYBODY

The NLP practitioner has a certain approach when it comes to making sales. In

essence the approach is about building a relationship first and then making a sale.

You should ask yourself, what is more profitable? Making one sale through hard

selling techniques, burning your client out, and never selling to that person again,

Or is a better approach to develop a relationship with that person. Finding out what

they want and what their problems are, and then providing a solution to their

problems. By building a relationship with your client you will be able to sell them

your product and service multiple times. Overall developing relationships and

addressing the actual needs of your customers is both more profitable and straight

out less work.

The techniques that NLP can teach you will help you to instantly create rapport with

the person that you are talking to. We buy things from people that we like or that

we feel are like us. As a salesperson you will often encounter people who are quite

different to you. The fact is that not everybody thinks the same way you do. You

don’t even have to like the person you are talking with to create rapport if you use

NLP. You also may only have a very small window to sell something to that client.

This is where being able to create rapport quickly is so important for sales. Once you

16


are in rapport with someone, then you will have the opportunity to cultivate a

relationship with them. But the first step to sales is always to create rapport.

Rapport is essentially about creating a two

way connection with somebody. It is about

establishing a genuine level of trust and

respect between two people. One of the

best techniques to create rapport is known

as matching and mirroring. This NLP

technique involves copying someone’s

behaviour and values in order to form

rapport with that person. You have

probably seen plenty of examples when people are not in rapport. Watch for

example a panel discussion where one person holds conservative political views and

the other liberal. You will see that they are certainly not in rapport with each other.

The way they talk will be different, the pitch of their voice, their body language and

of course their values couldn’t be more different. Then watch a couple who are in

love, and the way that they relate to each other. There is effortlessness to people

who are in love in the way that they move in sync with each other. When they go to

hold the other persons hand it is right there waiting for them. They talk easily and

comfortably with the other person, and nothing seems force. The whole point of

rapport building with NLP is that you don’t have to be in love with the other person

in order to comfortably engage with them. You only have to match and mirror their

behaviour.

One of the best ways to match and mirror someone is to first mirror their body

language without being obvious about this. If the other person notices you

mimicking them, then rapport will definitely be broken. You can push this further

than you might imagine. People don’t think much about their own body language.

So if you observe them, and then start to subtly copy them it is very unlikely that the

17


other person will notice. Remember the matching and mirroring technique always

begins with observation.

Once you have started to mirror their physical behaviour. Notice the tone of voice

and speed that they speak. This is very important because if you are a person who

talks very loudly and your customer talks very quietly it is easy to upset them. It is

up to you as the NLP salesperson to adjust your behaviour to theirs. If this bothers

you, remember that there is real power in this approach. Would you rather be

effective and successful? Or act the way you always do and be unsuccessful? I would

say that a successful salesperson will choose the former every time. So alter first the

volume you are speaking to match the other person. Then either speed up or slow

down your speech so that you are speaking at the same speed as the other person.

Once you have established the same body language and speech patterns as the

customer. Next you want to mirror their breathing. There is something very

important about breathing that reaches us at a very primitive level. If you are

breathing in time with someone you are almost certainly in rapport with them.

Along with this you want to match the other persons overall energy levels. If the

other person is highly energetic then you may need to up your own energy levels.

Generally with sales people it’s the other way around. You are a bundle of energy

and the customer is more reserved. Slow yourself down and operate at the

customer’s energy level.

The great thing is once you have created rapport with someone. Then you can start

to lead the other person. You have to make sure that you have actually established

rapport before you begin leading, but once you have that rapport then you can start

to control the flow of the conversation. Experiment with leading by altering your

body movements and see if the other person follows you. If not you may have to

build further rapport before you can lead.

18


Creating rapport with someone is an excellent way to establish a relationship with

them. Matching and mirroring is a powerful technique you can use to speed up the

process. Remember however that there are other ways of creating rapport too.

Observe any keywords and phrases that the other person uses and try and build

these into the conversation. Also it is important to take a genuine interest in what

the other person is saying. Try and understand things from their point of view. It is

vital that you understand the client before they understand you. You also need to

be respectful of your client’s time, their relationships and their money.

Using rapport can help you to establish a relationship with anyone. This will greatly

increase your chances of establishing working relationships with many different

people and as a result increase your overall sales. Remember to create a

relationship first, and then sell. The impact on your sales can be massive.

19


DAY FOUR: GAIN SELF CONFIDENCE One of the most effective ways to improve your self confidence is through

affirmations.

Affirmations are a way for you to

change any belief that may be

holding you back. A well written

affirmation can help you to

achieve the outcome in life that

you desire. Whether we like it or

not, we self talk to ourselves all

day. However if you don’t take

control of this self talk it can easily become negative. These are negative

affirmations such as “I’m not a confident person.” Or “I’m going to fail.” You will

need to replace the negative affirmations with positive affirmations.

Make Sure You Are Addressing The Core Issue. When we write our affirmation we

have to make sure that we are addressing the real issue. What you see as the

problem you want to remedy may only be a symptom of a more underlying

problem. For example you may say you want a raise of $50 a week. But perhaps the

real issue is one of self confidence or motivation.

Next you want to write your affirmations in the present tense. For example “I now

weigh 70 kilograms.” Is in the present tense where as “I am going to weigh 70

kilograms” Is not. The difference is important because your mind doesn't know

exactly when this is going to take place, so you may be waiting a while.

Affirmations have to be about YOU. You cannot write affirmations about other

people. For example “My employees are a hard working, diligent and always on

time.” Instead an affirmation would be more along the lines of “I lead people to

20


accomplish all that they can with passion and excitement.” Remember NLP is

concerned with SELF Improvement. Change yourself first and the world will follow.

Use energy in your affirmations. Use words such as passionate, excited, and

delighted. You want your affirmations to have force. Find the words that are right

for you and drive you one. Also remember that your affirmation should be positive.

Never write what you don’t want only what you do want. However if you are having

trouble identifying exactly what it is that you do want. First write down what it is

that you don’t want. For example “I don’t want to be thin.” The opposite is that you

want to be thin and healthy, this is your affirmation.

Keep your affirmation short and specific, so that they

have a greater impact. If appropriate you could include

numbers or who you will be with.

Next when you say your affirmation use visualisation. In

your mind act as if that state has already come to pass.

Your mind cannot differentiate between what is in your

mind and what is real. If you visualise with regularity and

intensity then eventually your mind has no choice but to close the gap between

external reality and your current situation...

21


DAY FIVE: CREATE FANTASTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Many people would like to improve the quality of their

relationships. Whether it is with a family member or

your partner having well functioning relationships is

essential to living a healthy life. It is also important to

have well functioning relationships in business as well.

Being able to relate with your colleagues, boss or

employees is vital for the success of your career. One of

NLP’s greatest strengths is in improving the quality of

relationships and communication between people.

One of the first things that you need to understand is that you are responsible for

one hundred percent of the communication that takes place between you and

another person. An important principle in NLP is that the meaning of

communication is the response it elicits It doesn’t matter what you intend when

you communicate with someone. It only matters how it is received. The response

that you receive from your communication is its meaning.

As the communicator the responsibility of relaying your message is on you not the

receiver. For example you maybe a very physical person and you wish to express

your love to someone else, to do so you give them a hug. To a person who doesn’t

like physical contact this may not communicate a sense of love but perhaps a sense

of uncomfortableness or impropriety. You cannot just say that it is their problem;

that they have issues and should be more open to physical contact. The

responsibility is on you to communicate your love in a way that they are open too

How do you know the right way to communicate? First think about your outcome.

What is it that you want to achieve? From this starting position, work out a plan to

effectively relay your message so that this outcome is achieved.

22


Next if what you are doing isn’t

working do something different. This

may seem obvious but so many people

aren’t successful in their approach.

They realise that it is not working but

they keep on doing it. Look at many

people’s relationships. Couples will

argue constantly. They are obviously not getting the results that they would like, in

this case a happy relationship. But they still continue to communicate the same way

towards their partner. Realise this; it is a lot easier to change your own behaviour

than it is to change someone else’s. If your first attempt at communication is

unsuccessful then try a different way of communicating. How many times should

you change your approach? As much times as it takes for you to achieve your

outcome.

Another key to using NLP to improve your relationships is to understand that you

cannot communicate. Even if you said nothing, you are still communicating. If you

are angry with someone but you refrain from shouting your body language will still

give you away. The way you hold yourself, your posture, and the tone of your voice

tells people a lot more than the actual words that you use. Verbal communication is

as little as 7% of the message that you convey.

23


DAY SIX: MANAGE YOUR TIME EFFECTIVELY

Perhaps the most precious resource that we have

is time. Although we may sometimes think that

money is more important than the time we spend

on acquiring it this is not in fact true. Money is

abundant and there is an almost infinite supply of

it. Whereas time is something that each of us has

in a very limited supply. In order to accomplish

what we would like to achieve we must manage

our time effectively. Being able to manage your

time will allow you to get more done, feel less stressed and free up more spare time

for other things that you like to do.

NLP makes a distinction between two types of time –

In time – Where you are in the moment

Through time – Where you step out of time to look at the past, present and future

When you are taking action you want to be in time. But when you want to plan your

time it is better to be in through time. It is important to understand that the idea of

counting time, through the use of a clock, is an abstraction. It originated in the

industrial revolution when it became necessary to keep workers to a strict

timetable. NLP can teach you to manipulate time so that you can move from in time

to through time. While time manipulation is too large a topic to cover in this eBook I

have provided you with some techniques to help you manage your time more

effectively.

Firstly you need to plan and prioritise your work. It really is as simple as working out

what the most important things are that you need to do. What will move your

24


overall goals forward? And then do those things first. If something is not moving

you towards either your short or long term goals then it is not vital that you do it.

Next up, if you want to get things done you need to be enthusiastic about doing

them. The way to achieve this is change your attitude. NLP offers a range of

different tools to help change your attitude. If you want a quick way to get yourself

in a more resourceful state where you can get more done, check out the section on

personal development in this book. There you will find a technique to put yourself in

a resourceful state so that you can get more done.

You need to focus on the task at hand. Work on only one task at a time. Do not

allow yourself to get distracted. If necessary turn off your cell phone and make sure

other people do not disturb you. Start working on the first task on your list. Work

until you complete this task and then move on to the next task. The secret is to only

do one thing at a time and not to think about whatever else may need to be done.

You also need time to recharge. Make sure that you are taking consistent small

breaks throughout the day. There is no point in sitting in front a keyboard and

monitor for hours on end if you are achieving nothing. Give your mind some time to

recharge. Every half an hour get up, make a cup of tea, walk around for five minutes

25


and then return to work. Also make sure that you establish a good work/ life

balance.

You need to learn how to delegate. There is simply not enough time to do

everything yourself. Think about the tasks that you have to do in a day. Which of

these tasks can only be done by you and nobody else? These are the tasks that you

should do. If there are other tasks that somebody else could do then get them to do

it. Don’t worry about the fact that you could do the task faster than someone else.

What is important is whether that task can only be done by you.

Make sure that the work that you are doing is aligned with your values. It is

important that you are doing work that is important to you. Getting a lot done will

be a lot easier if you are committed to the work.

Think back to times in the past when

you have managed your time very

effectively. You are the best judge of

how to manage your own time. Think

about what you did at those times

which is different to what you

normally do. How was it that you

managed to get so much done in such a short space of time?

One of the most important things to understand about time management is the fact

that the many of the things we do on a daily basis aren’t that important to moving

us towards the place we want to be. Creating an inspiring future and thinking about

what exactly you need to achieve to reach it, will help you to prioritise your tasks.

26


DAY SEVEN: STEP UP TO SUCCESS

One of the major reasons that people become

interested in NLP is for personal development.

Almost all of us feel that we are not quite at the

level that we could be performing at. Not only is

this a feeling natural, it is a good one too. The

desire to develop oneself is what drives us

forward to a higher plane of greatness. NLP can

provide you with the tools that you need to

develop yourself into the person you know you

can be.

One of the major difficulties we face is to move forward even when things are going

very badly for us. It is easy to move forward when the world seems to be going in

our favour. But when we face adversity we often feel resource less and unable to

summon motivation. One of the great things about NLP is that you can use the

technique known as anchoring to quickly bring yourself back into a state of

resourcefulness and confidence. Once you are in this state you will be ready to

tackle whatever challenges you face.

An anchor can be defined as an external stimulus which sets off an internal state.

We already have anchors in place. It’s just that we are usually unaware of them. The

smell of fried chicken is a classic example of an anchor, which stimulates a certain

reaction. For most people this is an internal state of hunger and desire. The

interesting thing to realise is that NLP offers you the tools to change what this

anchor means for you. Imagine if you were trying to lose weight and you could

change the anchor of the smell of fried food to one of disgust rather than hunger.

Wouldn’t this be a useful thing to be able to do?

27


One of the things most people want from personal development is to discover a

way to put ourselves into a resourceful state. Here is a simple way for you to be able

to create a resourceful state on cue.

Firstly get clear exactly about what kind of

state you want to be in. One of the keys to NLP

is to be clear about your intentions. How do you

want to feel in your resourceful state? Do you

want to be energetic? Do you want to be calm?

Do you want to be confident? You need to

know exactly what resourceful means to you.

Next think back to a time when you were in that resourceful state. You need to find

a time when you felt resourceful, however it does not need to be similar to the

situation you are in now.

Finally you want to relive that time now in your mind. Whenever you are visualising

something in your mind with NLP it is important to be very clear about what it looks

like. You need to recall exactly the sight, sounds, smells and feelings of what that

time was like. Give yourself enough time to vividly recall what it was like. Your

image should be like you would see in a movie, full of colours and sound.

Once you have achieved your peak resourceful state it is time to set your anchor.

Generally a hand movement makes a good anchor. Typical hand movements are

clenching the fist or making a circle with the thumb and first finger.

Now in the future whenever you need to get back to that resourceful state simply

fire the anchor. Just do the same hand motion that you did at that time in order to

trigger the state. Repetition is the key here. You may need to reinforce the anchor

over a period of time for it to stick in your mind.

28


Another very useful NLP tool when it comes to NLP is modelling. Modelling is one of

the fastest ways for you to achieve success. At its essence it say that if you do the

same things as someone who is already having success in the area that you want to

achieve in, then you can replicate that success. There are many ways for you to

learn new skills. For example you could go to class or read a book. Bur the fastest

way to accelerate the process is through modelling.

In modelling you are looking for an exemplar. This

is someone who is particularly competent in the

area in which you wish to succeed. This person

becomes a model of how a person can succeed in

this area. When you are modelling someone you

want to look for underlying patterns in the way

that they behave. You want to examine not just

their physical actions but also their beliefs s and

values. It is important that you get to the root of these if you want to achieve the

same level of success as they have.

To be a successful modeller you have to be questioning and an excellent observer.

Mastering the skill of modelling can have a massive impact on your success however

so it is well worth learning. Remember that closer that you can get to the person

that you are modelling the easier it will be to effectively model them.

29


It’s Your Future

NLP offers techniques and knowledge to help you in almost every area of your life.

One of the fantastic things about NLP is that it is a constantly developing and

evolving field. As we learn more about how the human brain works and what drives

us NLP adapts.

Remember NLP is only effective if you put it into practise. Simply reading the

principles found within this book and will not change anything in your life. You must

take action. NLP has the tools change your life in ways that you could only dream

were possible. But you are the only one who can make it happen.

Per aspera ad astra! “Through difficulties to the stars!”

7 days to success

Documents