ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? .....

We all love stories don't we? I reckon anyone who says they don't is lying!
Whether because they remind us of our childhood or just take us away from our everyday lives, we all have our own reasons for enjoying them.

Stories are wonderful - from the very simple to the very complex. The simplest story often has more depth to it than is at first apparent whilst the most complex can also be enjoyed at a simple level.

Our unconscious minds love stories too. They love to try and make sense of them. When we hear or read a story, our unconscious mind goes into overdrive, working on deriving meaning that is relevant to us. Maybe that's why stories are so great - because we can all take out of them exactly what we need for ourselves.

When my brother and I were little, our grandad used to tell us a lot of stories. He made up his own characters, a family of bears called the Brewin Boys and told us brilliant stories about their adventures. Thinking back, they were really moral tales; each time the bears managed to get themselves into a situation and faced a choice between right and wrong. They always made the right choice and learned something along the way ........... and of course........ subtly, so did we. Now if grandad had sat us down and lectured us about doing this or not doing that, we might not have listened, but this way, it was fun. Not only that but memorable - 40 odd years later.

In today's new video, Suzanne talks about the power of using stories and metaphors when communicating. You can view it here and subscribe to our You Tube channel here, so you never miss another video.
Michelle

THE RAZOR'S EDGE

What separates the great from the excellent? How big is the difference between the winner and the also rans? Often it's tiny, no more than the thickness of a razor's edge......

I love this concept. I love the idea that the difference between mediocrity and excellence is definable and frequently not as wide as we think. But how come some people have it and others don't? What gives some that certain something that puts them above everyone else - be it at work, rest or play?

Anthony Robbins explores this concept and concludes that what makes the difference is time - quite simply the hours you put in. He talks about the concept of 10,000 hours to mastery, claiming that if you want to master any skill - be it a new sport or a foreign language, then that's the time commitment you're going to need to put in if you want to excel at it. Although that might sound daunting, think of it the other way around - if you put a lot of hours into something you will get very very good at it - no question.

Now how often do you say or hear others say that they don't have time? On a daily basis I'd say. Certainly in my surgeries I hear it at least ten times a day - but is it true? Do we really not have time, or could we use the time that we do have more effectively?

What really helps me is the thought that however great anyone is, they only ever have 24 hours in their day, the same as I do. I have the same time available as everyone else - what makes the difference is how I use it. How committed am I to really make something of my life? Committed enough to really look at how I use my time? Of course. Even the busiest people could use their time better - we can all do more with what we have by being smarter with our time.

Personally I'm a real morning person. I like to get into work very early and get things done in the quiet time before everyone else arrives and the soap opera that is my practice kicks off again! Maybe you spend a lot of time driving to and from work? Could you use that time more profitably - listening to self-development DVDs or podcasts? Maybe when you're in the gym - try giving Jeremy Kyle or Coronation Street a miss for once and listening to a bit of Wayne Dyer or Michael Neill?

If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting the same results. I don't know about you but I'm thinking maybe it's time for a change.
Michelle

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO US!

NLP4MEDICS is one year old today! Happy Birthday to us!
After meeting late in 2009, Suzanne and I incorporated our company on 8th February 2011.
Since then we've gone from strength to strength and overcome lots of challenges along the way.

We celebrated last week, as we said in the last post, by doing something completely different. As we'd got the company off the ground, we thought we'd get ourselves off the ground too. We went indoor skydiving at Airkix in Milton Keynes and then had lunch at Paris House in Woburn Park. It was great fun and harder than it looked. (Skydiving I mean - the eating was very easy!) Any slight change of position leads to you banging into the side of the tunnel or shooting up in the air. Pictured above is me. I look OK here I reckon, but seconds later I managed to land in a very undignified heap as our trainer Fred helped me exit from the tunnel. In retrospect it always helps to put your legs down when you want to stand!

Rather like life itself, the skydiving was easiest when you just relaxed and enjoyed it and didn't try too hard. I'm liking that metaphor if I say so myself. Talking of metaphors - that is the subject of our next video, to be released on 15th February. Why not subscribe to our You Tube channel, that way you'll never miss another video.

Michelle

MIND - BODY CONNECTION

Our mind and our body are intimately connected. At one level we all know that but it's easy to forget it when it suits us to do so. In today's new video I give a simple demonstration of the mind-body connection and you can view it here. Play along with me and you'll see what I mean.

NLP is not just about recognising things such as the mind-body connection, it's about using it to your advantage. If you want your body to do anything, you need to get your mind in the right state first. Once you "get your head right" then things flow much more easily.

If you're struggling to follow an exercise programme because you're seeing yourself as fat and unfit, it'll be hard to make changes physically before you make them mentally. Concentrate on how you want to be. Give your unconscious mind something positive to work on, then it will work for you, not against you, to help you create what you are aiming for. If you see or feel yourself as on the way to becoming slim and healthy it'll be much easier to keep going in the right direction than if you see yourself in a more negative way.

It's said that we only use somewhere around 10% of the total power of our brains. Can you just imagine what we could achieve if we could harness our full potential and channel it? How wonderful would that be?
Michelle

RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES

In the last post, we talked about Steve Jobs' Nine Guidelines for Life, one of which was "break free from routine." This is so important and is something that we often forget to do or make excuses not to do, in our busy lives. Not doing this takes it's toll though as your level of creativity certainly goes down when you plod through the same old routine day after day.

With this in mind, Suzanne and I decided to do something different today - very different indeed. In fact neither of us has ever done it before. What prompted it was the upcoming first anniversary of the incorporation of our company. OK it was a good excuse for a day out too, but who cares!

The fun in doing something different isn't just in the doing, it's in the planning and the anticipation of it too. We've been looking forward to this for weeks. Not only is it something new to us but something that, shall we say, will give us a very different perspective on life!

So, what are we up to? Well you'll have to wait until our next blog on Monday to find out...........

Michelle

STEVE JOBS - 9 GUIDELINES OF LIFE

Steve Jobs was a genius. He was also an entrepreneur, an innovator, a philanthropist and much more besides.

His life was cut short by a rare form of pancreatic cancer but there can be few of us on the planet who haven't been touched in some way by his inventions. I'm writing this on a Mac, I have two ipods and an ipad2. Suzanne has an iphone (I'm a BlackBerry woman myself).

His ideas are all around us. At one time, they were just that - ideas. Consider this - every single thing you see around you began as an idea inside someone's head. That person's drive and persistence is what made them into reality.

Steve had no shortage of drive and persistence and he also had a great philosophy. He crystallised this philosophy into what he called his 9 guidelines of life. I'd read these before and loved them. I was reminded of them recently by a friend who mentioned them in his business coaching newsletter.

So whether you've seen them before or whether they are new to you, it's well worth taking a minute to read through and think about these.


9 Guidelines of Life


1) Do what you love
2) Develop a beginner's mind (be open to new possibilities)
3) Never fear failure
4) Break free from routine
5) Say no 1000 times
6) Believe in yourself
7) Persist
8) Give back
9) Live with purpose

I have these on the wall of my surgery - somewhere only I can see them.
I love reminders like this, reminders from one who achieved so much in such a short time.
Thank you Steve.
Michelle

NLP SKILLS FOR THE CONSULTATION

Our fifth video -  NLP Skills for the Consultation, is launched toady. You can view it here.

I often get asked about this when we are training. People want to know which NLP skills are most useful in real-life situations with patients. The video refers to some skills that we'll be learning more about later on - like matching and mirroring. It also talks about the fact that when you become better at using NLP you'll use the skills without knowing that you are doing it - remember Unconscious Competence from an earlier blog?

NLP is all about choice. It's about sharpening you awareness and observation skills, becoming more tuned in to what's going on around you and then using appropriate tools to optimise your communications. I talk about using the skills in the setting of a medical consultation because as a GP that's what I know, what I do everyday. They are equally applicable for use in many other settings. Whether you work in an office, manage a team, are involved in sales or in looking after teenagers, there is something in there to help you do it even better.

The essence of great communication is being in rapport and the basic premise of rapport is that people like people like them. When you are in rapport with someone your unconscious minds are picking up the signal that there is something about the other person that is like yourself. This gives you that comfortable feeling, that sense of "have I met them before?" I'm sure you know what I mean. There are some people who you've not known for long and it feels like you've known them for ages. Something just seems to "click"between you.

Of course this often happens naturally. Many times things will just seem to flow. What we are talking about here is what to do when that doesn't happen and how to make what's happening already even better, easier and more enjoyable. I'm all for making life easier and more enjoyable!

So enjoy this video and let us know what you think. Either leave us a comment below or on our You Tube channel. While you're there why not subscribe? You'll never miss another video again. We've got some great stuff coming up for you - including a real "high-flying" treat. Watch this space!