Personal Ownership – Personal Freedom
This past week’s theme in my CORE Transformation 10 Week program has all been around discussing the NLP Presupposition the Map is not the Territory.
It speaks to the realization that our experience of reality is just that, our own unique experience, which is filtered and distorted by our current thoughts and emotions at the time, and further filtered through our own beliefs about the way things work (which comes from what’s happened in history AND the MEANING we attached to it at that time).
Read that sentence over a few times, as there’s a lot to unpack there. ????
And so, when one realizes this, they can find personal freedom, because what follows is the realization that limitation is not in the world, but it often exists only in their distorted representation of the world.
This brings us to personal ownership.
Personal ownership, for me, is defined by taking accountability and responsibility over all areas of my life.
So many of us have conceded our ability to have choice over to our own limited beliefs about how the world works.
I see this all the time – people stuck in dead end minimum wage jobs, people mindlessly popping one prescription after another, people stuck in states of victimhood about events that happened years ago and people stuck in emotions and behaviours that are self-defeating
Personal Ownership requires us to realize that YOU are the controlling factor in what happens and that no one is going to do it for you.
It IS possible, but it’s going to require work.
On Wealth –
What are your beliefs around money? Do you have an abundance mindset, that there is plenty to go around? Or are you stuck in scarcity? Is money the root of all evil? Or is nothing more than a resource?
Do you have a plan? Have you run the numbers? If you keep progressing at your current rate, will you be where you want to be in 10 years?
I worked with a sales guy once who told me his goal was to hit $100K in 2 years. That’s a very reasonable goal. However, I asked him what the top guys in his company are making? He answered $75-$80K. Something about that threw me off. I then asked him to break down his commission structure for me. We quickly realized that his compensation plan was structured that it was unrealistic to hit $100K consistently – that he would have to literally always be working. It was a bad model for him. He could get all the skills but he was stuck in the wrong environment. His breakthrough happened by switching to another company where the top guys were making closer to $200K. It was much easier for him to hit his goal there.
On Health –
Understand that we can’t give ourselves over to what the so called experts say. Do your own research. Every body (see what I did there) is unique. We have a sick care system, not a health care system. Simply NOT having illness or pains shouldn’t be the goal. Aim for abundance of energy, strength, flexibility, that should be considered what’s normal. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.
I worked with someone who relied completely on his doctors and ignored all the signs his own body was giving him. He didn’t want to take ownership of his own health but instead blindly just followed the system. It wasn’t until our sessions that he realized that HE needed to be driving factor of his own recovery and to use his doctors as his support team part of a much bigger picture of health.
On Relationships-
We become trapped when we look at the people in our lives and expect them to change. They won’t. It always takes two to dance, and the only way you can change their patterns is if you first change yours. Ownership is taking responsibility of your own emotions, your own thoughts, and learning how to self-regulate.
And the point isn’t for them to change. The point is for you to integrate and grow. Your life experience is made up of only 10% what happens to you, the other 90% is how you respond to it.
To self-regulate is the ability to keep composure and maturity, especially during times of stress. To find calmness and gratitude on the inside when everything else on the outside perhaps is going sideways.
I worked with someone who was very angry with happened to them. But their anger didn’t change anything. It only produced more cortisol in their system and generalized into other areas of life. When they realized that the person that needed to change was them, they were able to truly move past their history and start building a new future of possibility.
I tell people, that NLP won’t change your life. It will for sure be the vehicle for that change. But it’s still YOU that’s gotta drive that vehicle, and in the direction that you choose.
So choose personal ownership.
Choose personal freedom.
Understanding Perspective – Pineapples in Lasagna
Here’s another fun story on the NLP Presupposition “The Map is not the Territory”
This speaks to that each and every one of us have a mental map of the world around us. That what we hold as true and how we believe what is real in the world is not actually the real world. Just like when you go to a restaurant, what you see on the menu is not the actual food. It’s a representation of the food.
And so our maps aren’t the real world either, they are simply our own interpretation of the world. These maps are formed through each individuals life experiences, their values, their beliefs, their surroundings, what their parents have told them, what their friends have told them, what society has told them. And each individual has their own map of their reality.
We actually don’t operate in the world directly. In the meaning, that we operate through our five senses, through our perceptual filters, and then onto the world.
Often when we get stuck in life. It is usually not a limitation in the world, but rather a limitation in our map of the world. For example, let’s pretend we have the goal of getting a promotion at work. But we tell ourselves that we don’t have the qualifications or the self-confidence to actually get hired. When questioned, we will discover all the evidence that actually shows the amount of experience and qualifications we actually do have. And in the matter of self-confidence – well… self-confidence shows up when we are with our family, or when we are playing ball, driving a car, or arguing with friends which restaurant to eat at, doesn’t it? And so the limitation that we perceive to have, is simply a limitation of our own map, and not reality.
This becomes very useful and very empowering, when we look at all the things we want to do, but don’t. “What’s stopping us? No – Really… what’s stopping us?”
Another area this is applicable to is when we interact with others. Because we all have our own mental maps, made up of our own unique experiences, beliefs and values, we tend to assume that everyone around us are also operating out of the same map. Conflicts, disagreements, miscommunications occur when we impose our map onto someone else. Sure, there are overlaps, and general agreements, but when we chunk down into the specifics, you’ll begin to notice just how different our maps are from one another.
Enter into their map first and understand what their map is about and then speak from that.
A couple weeks ago, the team over at Naseeha got together for a family potluck. We brought lasagna. Everyone complimented us on the dish and commented on how “the pineapples were a very pleasant surprise”. Meanwhile, both my wife and I were thinking “Aren’t there always pineapples in lasagna?”…
Simply by understanding that each and everyone of us operates through our own unique maps of the world, our beliefs, our values, through our experiences, and through what has served us well in the past, will allow us to have better relationships and synergy with those around us and effectively, lead us to be more successful and ultimately just happier.
Stretching outside your familiar zone, having conversations to learn (and not to judge), adapting different perspectives, picking up different hobbies, reading books and attending workshops are all ways to add richness to your map. The more richness in your map, the more flexibility. The more flexibility, the more success.
Have a great Tuesday and rest of week!
Better Communication – Why won’t she pick up my call?
Here’s an NLP principle that has given me much success in life over the years.
“The meaning of communication is the response you get.”
What this speaks to is that if you want to understand the impact or how your communication was actually understood you look at the response you get.
If you get a response that is totally not what you expected, then it’s actually your job to change and adjust your language until they receive the message that you intended. And again the evidence is in how they respond.
So many times we expect others to simply know and understand what we intended or what we meant. But that’s the root of miscommunication.
If you want to be a good communicator than take ownership of the response you get.
And where I found real value in this is when I started applying the reverse approach. Before communicating I always ask myself well what response do I want. I then speak to the result rather than simply speaking.
Let me give you an example.
Back when I worked my corporate job, we would ship orders out to customers. I was in sales. And every now and then, there would be an issue and the order would not get delivered to the customer for one reason or another.
Many of my coworkers would call their purchaser and ask “what went wrong?” or “why didn’t it get delivered?” Or (oh God…) “you messed up my order, fix it!”
On contrast, I would pick up the phone and say to my purchaser, “Hey this order didn’t get delivered. Can you please look into it and use your best judgement so that the customer gets their delivery as soon as they can. They are down and need it desperately.”
One line of communication focuses on the problem, the other line of communication focusses on the solution. One line of communication blames, the other asks for help. One line of communication creates tension, the other empowers and acknowledges.
The results? My purchaser fixed what needed fixing and my customer got their order. I also gained more loyalty and trust with my purchaser and over time my purchaser would take extra care of me and my orders.
So the next time you get a response other than what you intended, take ownership, ask yourself did you communicate with the intended response in mind, and YOU adjust your communication accordingly.
Also,an interesting aside, is that whenever I would pick up the phone, my purchaser would always pick up. But they wouldn’t pick up my coworkers calls. And this was even after the company implement a no-call, email only policy. ????
Please like and share if you found benefit in this!
The Map is not the Territory – How not to give advice
If you’ve ever taken any sort of workshop with me around communication, you’ll know of a little exercise I like to do in which I ask everyone in the group to close their eyes and think of the word “HORSE”.
In fact, do that right now. Close your eyes and answer the following three questions while thinking of “HORSE”:
1. What do you see?
2. What do you hear?
3. What do you feel?
Leave a comment below with your answers. It’s a fun little exercise 🙂
I’m sure it won’t surprise you that people will have difference answers. I’ve received varied responses including:
– a beautiful white horse, galloping freely across a beach next to calm blue waters, giving a sense of confident peace…
-a black horse, in full war armour, facing an army, with feelings of anxiety of the unknown outcome…
-a simple brown horse, not moving, no sound, no feelings associated with the picture, just floating in the mind…
Now think about this, if we can’t absolutely agree on the word “HORSE”, then how can we agree on words like “happiness”, “love”, “respect”, or “success”?
Reflect on this for a moment… now let’s continue.
The reality of our own realities of life is that each and everyone of us experiences the world through a set of perceptual filters, which is based upon life experiences that have formed our unique beliefs and values. And these beliefs and values directly dictate our behaviours. In other words, our own personal realities, or how we perceive the world is a unique creation that is different from everyone else.
This is what it means when us NLP Practitioners say: “The Map is Not the Territory”.
Once you understand this model of the world, you can now begin to understand why two people may be in an intense argument even though they are making the same point and are trying to achieve the same objective. They may have the same objective but their unique approach to the issue is so different that they can’t come to terms. They are busy on arguing about the resulting behaviour without any communication of their beliefs and values that creates that behaviour, and that is wherein the problem lies and the root cause of the argument.
In order to find resolution, understanding of the others’ beliefs and values must first occur. From there on you can speak to the behaviour and perhaps offer alternative, more positive behaviours that honour the existing beliefs and values. If you can understand their beliefs and values you can now operate in their model of their world.
This is, sometimes, a very difficult thing as most people aren’t consciously aware that they are actually stuck in their own model of the world, in their own maps. They keep applying their map of the world to everything and everyone around them and so when they are asked for advice, they simply respond from the context of their own maps instead of stepping out and operating in the map of the one asking for advice. And yes, it is possible to step out of your map and into someone else’s map. It’s a skill, it takes practice for most, while some people are born with it. Either way, it really is essential for proper communication.
Let’s apply this knowledge to real life, every day scenarios of giving advice. I belong to a number of resource groups and I always cringe when someone sends out an email to the effect of “I am challenged with such and such, and so and so is saying this and this… What should I do?”
I cringe because I know what is going to follow is a flurry of replies from individuals offering their “sincere advice” on what actions to take and how to rectify the situation. I cringe because that the advice that is going to be given is from each individuals’ own model of the world, their own experiences, and their own beliefs and values.
It’s a huge gamble because what worked for the one giving the advice may not be applicable to the person asking for advice. Perhaps, it may even cause the situation to become worse. The advice that is given is from a different map and the one giving the advice does not understand the map of the one asking for advice.
Think of your own example of a time where you were given advice and while it was solid content, it didn’t help much. I can guarantee what was missing was the lack of understanding of your unique map. That person who offered you advice was operating from their own map and asking you to apply their solutions into your map. And however sincere they may be, at the end their advice wasn’t much help. Good intentions doesn’t equal good results.
On the flip side, think of a time when you gave advice and while the same advice helped you in a similar scenario, it didn’t offer much benefit to the other person. Break it down now. Did you fully understand their map? Did you fully understand their beliefs and values? Did you fully understand the thing that was driving that behaviour or situation that needed change?
Here’s a case study for all of us. A true story that happened a few months back on a Facebook group my wife belongs to. The context is not of giving advice, but notice the cause and effect of what happens when the map isn’t understood. And in this case not understood by both parties.
On a Facebook group for only women, a man used his wife’s Facebook account to post a message to the group. The husband was having some issues that he wanted to sort out and was looking for advice. He did not pretend he was his wife, and actually did identify himself as the husband, spoke of his problems and also commented that the reason he is using his wife’s account and posting on this private group is because his wife is always telling him what an amazing resource the group is for all its members. The result was that he received no advice at all. Instead what he received was harsh admonishment for using his wife’s account. Here was a man looking for advice and to make positive changes, but those he was seeking help from could not see past the ‘behaviour’ of using his wife’s account and posting to an all female group. They didn’t bother to understand the beliefs which lead him to do what he did, and instead insulted him further. At the same time, the man’s map did not incorporate the level of privacy that belongs to an all women’s resource group. In his map, doing what he did, was not such a big deal.
I do not know the extent of damage that was done in this case.
How would you handle the situation? If the members of the group were able to step out of their own maps and into his map, would the outcome have been different?
The question you should all be now interested in is how do we effectively give advice then? Well, simply apply Stephen Covey’s 5th Habit (7 Habits of Highly successful people).
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Stop trying to offer a solution that is really meant for yourself, i.e. if you were in that situation, because it’s not about you, it’s about them. And really you will be far more effective in creating positive change if you actually do not offer a single piece of advice. Instead focus on asking better questions. Questions that allow the person asking for advice to understand the map that they are operating from within. Questions that allow them to consciously understand the beliefs and values driving the resulting behaviour. Questions that allow them to understand what is really going on. Questions that speak more to the desired result and what they must do to achieve the result.
One of my mentors, Dr. Mike Mandel, often says:
“Not only are you your own therapist, you are your best therapist”
And so the best advice you can give is really no advice but rather to ask questions that empowers the individual to self direct themselves to positive change.
For further reading and suggestions of good questions, I highly suggest the NLP Coaching Cards by Salad Seminars.
I personally use these NLP Language patterns in my one on one sessions all the time and they are beneficial for self work as well. You can get them much cheaper from Amazon here: NLP Coaching Cards
More information can be found here:
http://www.saladseminars.com/nlp-coaching-cards.php
One of my favourite “NLP stories” that wonderfully showcases application of operating within the map of the person needing help is the account of the man who believed that he heard voices from electrical outlets. If that wasn’t crazy enough, he also believed that he must obey the instructions that he heard.
After many failed interventions with therapists he was eventually handed over to Bandler and Grinder (2 of the 3 founders of NLP). In their first appointment Bandler and Grinder effectively extracted the man’s map of the world and understood the two directives that drove his behaviour which simply put were:
1. Electrical outlets speak to him
2. He must obey what he hears
After the initial consultation they asked him to return the following week. When he returned they purposefully had him be the last appointment and had him wait in the empty waiting room pretending that they were running late with the previous session. Bandler and Grinder had actually set up a speaker behind an electrical outlet and using a microphone in the other room gave the following instructions:.
1. What you are hearing right now is the real voice of the electrical outlets.
2. All other voices are fake and can not be trusted.
3. This is your last communication.
Their intervention was pure genius. Where all other therapists failed they succeeded. Other therapists challenged the man’s map and tried to prove what he believes to be incorrect, false and not real. Bandler and Grinder instead operated within the man’s map, honoured his beliefs and used the rules of his own map and his own beliefs to accomplish instant and everlasting change.
This also brings up an interesting point. It really doesn’t matter WHY we do things that we want to change, what matters is HOW we are going to do those things that we want. But that’s another blog post for a different day 😉
I really look forward to your feedback on this post and I welcome your questions, comments and stories.
Please comment below.
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