NLP and High Performance Coaching

By Sue Knight

“It matters not what a person is born but who they choose to be”
Joanne Kathleen Rowling

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is a way of discovering our excellence and the excellence of others. Most people are unaware and unappreciative of the essence of their true talent. For example…

I had been talking about appearance and how we can read a person through what they are wearing. Christine asked me to explain more as she did so I noticed that she was touching her necklace - a large silver filigree medallion. So I said “well for example chances are that your necklace tells us a lot about you” “In what way?” she cleanly questioned. “Well tell me about your necklace.” I said. She lowered her head towards it as she held the medallion between her fingers. “Well I like the feel of it and the detail of the pattern”. “Anything else?” I asked. “Hmm - well the smell of it too”. I was surprised – I had not expected her to comment on the smell of a necklace. “Wow the smell, and anything else…?” “Well it has lots of associations for me.” She replied “So what does that tell you about me?” “That you use many of your senses to appreciate the world around you and possibly the world within you too”. I added “That ability to appreciate things in such an enriched way is a talent”. “Really” Christine looked surprised. “Yes indeed, the majority of people that I meet do not have such a sensory rich way of experiencing the everyday…” Christine looked astonished and she was beginning to flush. “For example I notice this talent in great speakers and great writers – they have a way of using all the senses in the way that they communicate themselves” Christine jumped in quickly and emotionally “I love good writing... in fact I do write but have only written for myself to date. And I believe that life is only worth living if we fully appreciate every moment; savouring it. I have sometimes thought of spending more time writing and maybe publishing... it is something that I would love to do”. The floodgates to her desires had opened. “You have the talent to do that” I replied. She looked deep in thought for a moment. I looked her straight in the eyes and held her gaze “You are an author”. Her cheeks became even redder than they had been before. “That is what I have always wanted to be” she replied. “That is what you are” I enforced. “There are things that I want to say to the world” she said in a resonant confident voice... ”This is your purpose” I replied.

This is just a flavour of what we can do: by being aware of how we use our senses, of what choices we make in the way that we interact with the world around us and the way that simple behaviours are the gateway to appreciating our true talents.

In the year since this discussion Christine has written a book, something that she had only dreamt of doing previously.

Want to know more (and there is much much more…) read NLP at Work and see www.sueknight.co.uk

About the author

Sue Knight
www.sueknight.co.uk
Office: +44 (0) 1628604438