Wellness Corner 28: Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Hey Falcons,

Hope you’re all staying healthy during this wave of sickness. Lots of water, good food, rest, etc., you got the gist. We’re all winners (especially after that 38-28 smackdown), and we’re no less if we take some time for self-care. This week’s topic isn’t self-care, though. It’s about NLP: neuro-linguistic programming. I first heard about NLP in August, and I’ve been interested ever since.

NLP studies the way thoughts affect our behavior, more specifically how our brain interprets language. At the core of NLP is a growth mindset and the belief that the meaning we assign to our experiences shapes our perception of them.  For people who want to/need to communicate in a compelling and assertive manner, studying NLP is a great first step. 

“Our minds really do not process the negatives,” Walid Tawfik, a talent management consultant based in Dubai, told me this weekend. "If I tell you: do not imagine a blue elephant flying in the sky, you will now think of a blue elephant…and it’s flying in the sky, right? That ‘don’t’ is not processed. We must focus on positives even in speech and commands.”

When I was first introduced to NLP, I learned about it through imagery training, an NLP technique based on visualization. Here’s how it goes: Create a highly detailed scene of yourself performing an action successfully. Picture your body language — confident, in control, but also at ease. Feel the confidence and the energy surrounding and exuding from you. Verbally describe the scene. NLP techniques like this are essential for creating absolute certainty in yourself and your abilities.

Try out some NLP techniques this week. It’s really cool to just read about, too, so I encourage you to dive in. There’s tons of info about it here. As a friend of mine tries to overcome chronic overthinking, they say the “Running the Movie Backwards” strategy has helped them. 

Have a great week ahead, and stay well,

Eshaan

Chatting with Mr. Tawfik via Zoom on Oct. 29