Every once in a while, you run into these little nuggets that actually make all the difference in understanding what happens once you master NLP.
It's like a benchmark you reach. A flagpost, if you will, that lets you know how you're progressing in your mastery of a certain discipline.
Years ago, I was chatting with Robert Johannson of Svensk NLP and this particularly skill or quality came up in our conversation. We both do what I'm about to tell you, and I'm not sure we'd paid attention to how important as a measure of NLP proficiency.
Before I tell you what it is, I just want you to start paying even more attention to these little flagposts, these little clues that let us know that we're making progress. Whenever you get the chance to interact with a master student of NLP, really try to figure out what sets their skill apart. Generally, these are tiny distinctions on how they read people.
They use different lenses.
Try to zero in on those as fast as you can, because they will guide your development and accelerate it.
So for the uninitiated, this sounds funny at times -- and it is.
When we're interacting with someone, as they speak, all kinds of visual cues start popping up above their heads.
I'm not kidding.
Depending on what we're sorting for in a particular interaction, different pieces of visual information start hovering around them, over them, next to them, and so on.
Robert was telling me about this in the context of examining people's relationship to time. I was mentioning it in the context of examining the impact other people have on the client.
And we both construct holograms with the information that the client is giving us.
What's so important about this, especially to beginning NLP students?
One of the differences you've probably observed between beginning NLP students and those who master NLP is the ease with which they operate.
Master students of NLP work easily and elegantly, almost effortlessly, right? In fact, that's true about virtually any field. Think Martial Arts.
So what's the secret to this effortlessness?
I'll tell you in just a second... Bear with me.
Can you remember a time when someone caught your attention in a unique way? I mean, one particular piece of information she shared with you really hooked in with something you were already curious about at the time and this led you down a totally new, unexpected path in figuring out a problem you had.
Now, all of this happened because you effortlessly followed the flow naturally to guide you to where you wanted to go. It was all free, all simple and you were blown away by what you discovered.
That's more or less what I'm talking about here. Our clients guide us in how we form and shape those visual cues.
So the secret I was telling you about is the way master students of NLP package information.
When Robert and I visualize holograms, those contain and present all the information we need as we're working with the client in real time. We don't need to stop and check notes or any of that. The hologram updates itself as we interact.
The package is tight, elegant, simple and easily updated.
Also, it completely frees our attention since we don't waste any live memory trying to remember details of the interaction. It's all right there in front of us.
Pay attention to these little phenomena that will start happening as you master NLP more and more. They let you know you're making progress.
