Hi guys! Here's an excerpt from Richard Bandler's book! This is the creator of NLP. No one can write this text better than him, so I don't even undertake to author. Before reading, I recommend reading my article on submodalities.
One of the most important aspects of human life is the formation of beliefs. It is beliefs that keep most people captive to problems. Until you believe that you can overcome everything, do everything and receive everything, you can hardly do it. Beliefs give a sense of certainty to your thoughts.
Most people at an early age listen to parents, teachers, and those in authority and internalize the limitations of their mentors. If you are told that you are not smart enough or unable to succeed in sports, then most likely you will believe it. And as soon as we believe in something, we immediately begin to look for ways to prove the truth of our beliefs. We must learn to question our own limitations and be more confident in our own strengths and capabilities.
To change yourself, you need to change your beliefs and form new ones that will allow you to act differently in the future. To change beliefs, you first need to learn how to define their properties.
We are dealing with submodalities. Like any thought, a belief has a certain structure and properties. If I ask you, "Do you believe that the sun will rise tomorrow?" - how will you answer me? Most people instantly answer this question in the affirmative, but this is an intermediate process. To answer the question: "Do you believe that the sun will rise tomorrow?" - man-dollars wives submit to their conviction.
It is important to note that if I were to ask you this question orally, you would know the answer without even saying it. When I ask, "Will the sun rise tomorrow?" - most people immediately imagine a picture of dawn. Mentally, they answer in the affirmative. At the same time, their inner voice sounds confident and definite. Inside his body, a person feels confidence and certainty, and this feeling tells him that his answer is correct.
This is a guide to action. It allows us to make plans. It allows us to buy books and know that we will definitely read them in the future. Having beliefs and using them as a guide to action is a very important part of human existence. It is also an important part of understanding how you can change any person, including yourself.
If I verbally ask you, "Will the sun rise tomorrow?" - what picture do you see in your mind's eye? Is it on the right or on the left? How far? Is it normal or small? Is the painting static? Or is it moving? Do you hear any sounds? Do you hear a voice that gives an affirmative answer? Is there something going on that you can hear? If so, is it happening on the right? Or on the left?
Catch a sense of certainty. Look at the painting with your mind's eye and magnify it twice. As a rule, at such a moment, the feelings become stronger. When this happens, focus on the sensations of your own body. Notice how they move. You become aware of the submodalities of strong belief.
Now stop for a moment and get distracted. Clear your mind, and then come back to this page and read it with me.
After that, think about something that you are unsure about. Not about something that you strongly doubt, but about something that "may be" and "may not be." Think about what you are unsure of. What are you going to eat for lunch? A tuna sandwich or a cheese sandwich? You need something that may or may not be so. Think that someone is going to buy you a birthday present. Maybe he will choose this, or maybe that.
Try to see this picture in your mind's eye. Pause briefly, take your mind off the book, and think about it. Then go back to the book and come back to an idea that you are absolutely convinced of. First, imagine the image of the sun rising over the horizon. And then imagine a second image that may or may not happen. Compare your feelings, feel the difference.
Do your sensations arise in the same place? Most likely no. If the images appear in different places, are they at different distances? Are they different sizes? Does your inner voice come from different places? Does it sound to the right or to the left? Is it directed inward or outward? The only thing that distinguishes these sensations is the difference between the two images.
Start looking at this difference more closely. Explore the properties of certainty and uncertainty more deeply. Below is a long list of submodalities: visual, auditory, kinesthetic (sense), olfactory and gustatory. I want you to look inward and feel the conviction that the sun will certainly rise, and that which you are not entirely sure of, and fill out the table below. Record those submodalities that are different for the two beliefs. Take some time for this process.
IDENTIFICATION OF SENSE OF DETERMINATION
1. Think about what you are absolutely convinced of. (The sun will definitely rise tomorrow.)
2. Become aware of the images, sounds and feelings that arise in your mind when you think about this belief and your confidence in it.
3. Analyze the list of submodalities below and mark all properties of persuasion.
4. Think about what you are in doubt or not sure about. (Maybe so, maybe not.)
5. Become aware of the images, sounds and feelings that arise in your mind when you think about this belief and your insecurity about it.
6. Analyze the list of submodalities below and mark all the properties of an unsteady belief.
7. Notice the difference in submodalities between firm and unsteady beliefs.
Now that you've made your list, let's analyze it. Now you know the difference between what constitutes a strong belief and what constitutes an unsteady belief that leaves room for doubt. By realizing the difference between the two, you can control your beliefs. If you are reading this book, then there is probably something in yourself that you want to change. And the first step towards achieving this goal is the ability to believe in your own strengths and capabilities.
First, think about the problem you think you have. It doesn't matter what kind of problem it is. If you are convinced that you lack confidence or determination, then choose this problem. The most surprising thing about the belief in lack of determination is that people always very emphatically claim that they lack this trait.
Now you have to do the following. Apparently, just as you are convinced that the sun will rise tomorrow, you are confident that your problem will persist tomorrow. Place your problem in the same place as your belief. Now look at her and say, "I'm tired of all this!" Over the years, I have become convinced that people really change the moment they decide that they have had enough. Most people are not yet satiated with their problems. Perhaps it seems that their cup of patience has run out. I have had obsessive-compulsive disorder patients who fill every minute, every morning, afternoon, and evening with rituals aimed at finding comfort. They locked and unlocked the door fifteen times, washed their a thousand times a day, but hands remained depressed beyond expectations. Finally, they said, “I've had enough! I'm not going to do this anymore! " And at that moment, people really changed. But we will return to this later.
To begin with, we must understand exactly what you want to get rid of and what to gain. You want to get rid of self-doubt and believe in your own strength. You want to get rid of fears and gain confidence. In any case, thinking about your problem, you are probably convinced that you are doomed to suffer from it for the rest of your life.
With the conviction that the problem will persist for the rest of your life, you must do something for me. Try to literally push the image further away, move it into an area of uncertainty. And then you look at this image and think: "Am I going to live like this forever?" But since this is an area of uncertainty, you will say to yourself, "Maybe yes, maybe not!"
To fix the image in any other position, it is very important to do everything very, very quickly. Place an old limiting belief in an area of uncertainty. To do this, fix the image and do the following with it. You have to push him away from you so that he moves back five meters, turn him and pull him to the other side, in the submodality of uncertainty. And then the firm conviction will become vague and weak.
Now you need to do the opposite. Take an image of what you want to believe - for example, that you will free yourself from your problem, become happy and prosperous. Pull this image five meters, rotate it and move it to the position of submodalities of firm conviction.
This will allow you to change your beliefs and believe in yourself and your bright future. As you do this exercise, you will create a plan for yourself that will help you change your expectations for the future.
BELIEF CHANGE TECHNIQUE (BELIEF CHANGE PATTERN)
1. Think of a limiting belief that you think you no longer need. For example, that you are doomed to suffer from your problem for the rest of your life, or at least for a long period of time.
2. Think of a helpful belief that you would like to form. For example, that you will free yourself from your problem and live the rest of your life very happily.
3. Explore the submodalities of certainty and uncertainty that you have just identified.
4. Imagine a limiting belief that you want to get rid of, goes aside and ends up in the submodality of uncertainty.
5. At the same time, imagine how a useful belief is attracted and falls into the submodalities of firm belief.
6. Repeat the exercise several times very quickly.
As you learn to control your beliefs, you will begin to generate new, rewarding beliefs yourself that will help you live happier and better lives than ever before.
Most of the problems that we face in life, as I said, are formed in our minds. Moreover, problems usually exist in our understanding of the past and the future. After all, the past and the future do not exist otherwise than in our mind.
When people are suffering, they have negative feelings about the past, they do not like the present, they are afraid or worried about the future. We talk about "overcoming" something and about leaving problems "behind." We are talking about the fact that we need to go through something that is ahead of us. We are talking about "striving" for something and "expecting" the future. For many, such expressions really symbolize time. To change the way we think about the past and the future and how we process incoming information, we need to analyze the concept of a timeline.
Source: "Guide to Personality Correction" by Richard Bandler
