If you would like to discuss anything in more detail, including one to one or in house trainings, please contact me here.

nlp practitioner training

An NLP Practitioner is someone who has learned to use the attitudes, principles and techniques of NLP as they are intended to be used, by its creator, for themselves and with others.

Module 1: 16 – 18 November
Module 2: 23 -25 November

Module 1: 27 – 29 July
Module 2: 03 – 05 August

For more information on this course and to book, click here, or visit my dedicated NLP Cardiff site at www.nlp-cardiff.co.uk

In this NLP videoblog, I share a confession about my mistakes in attempting to build rapport in the hope it will help you avoid making them yourself!

And one of the words I noticed still seems to create an incredibly emotional response is the word “hypnosis”. The response still tends to be negative.

I say still, because hypnosis is becoming increasingly mainstream thanks mainly to an increase in research of the positive effects in a therapeutic context.

But I still hear phrases like “It’s manipulative” or “its dangerous” or “it doesn’t work” or “you won’t make me act like a chicken will you?”

Maybe these are some of the things you have thought when you have heard the term hypnosis or maybe you have heard such phrases from clients or friends when you mention what you do.

So, how can we reframe the term and get people comfortable with the idea of hypnosis and show them that it isn’t anything evil?

Well, after noticing this regular resistance with the term hypnosis I started working on a strategy to reframe the meaning of hypnosis and make people feel more comfortable with the term. My first thoughts were to just avoid the word altogether and use another phrase such as “persuasive language patterns” (as some organisations try and do), but the problem with that is that hypnosis and trance are so intrinsically linked to NLP that it is difficult to avoid.

So, to “arm” myself, I did a little research into the term “hypnosis” to see what was quite so evil about it. And here is what I discovered…

Hypnosis is a way of creating a “trance like state”.

A “trance state” is defined as an “altered state”.

An “altered state” is an other mental state (or mood?) than you are in right now. So, if you are unhappy and someone tells you a joke and makes you laugh they have altered your state, therefore they have hypnotised you.

So, essentially all communication, if you think about it is hypnotic to some extent. In fact, we are all hypnotists, the difference between trained and untrained hypnotists is that trained hypnotists can control their communication more effectively to create the altered state that is required, rather than at random.

Usually this altered state is a state of relaxation as this seems the most conducive to therapeutic change, but you can easily use the same principle for energised hypnosis or motivational hypnosis.

Hypnosis is just, in it’s most basic and broadest definition, simply a structured way of doing changing your mental state. Now, what isn’t comfortable about that?

The Practice Builder Handbook has been renamed “Coaching Business Tradecraft” and is now available to purchase exclusively on Kindle through Amazon.

why publish it on kindle?

Because Kindle publishing gives you the most flexible way to read the book. You don’t need to own a Kindle, you can download the (free) Kindle reader app for your phone, tablet, or PC, including:

• Android
• iPhone
• iPad
• Windows 7 phone
• Windows and Mac

There has never been an easier way to sky rocket your success!

Click here for  more details or click below to buy now:

My other ebooks will be following onto Kindle very soon.

can you help me?

Have you purchased the Practice Builder Handbook? I would really appreciate it if you could take 5 minutes to write a review on Amazon. If you do, email me and I will send you a gift to say thank you.

Have you got your own blog or website? Do you run a practice group? Why not write a review or add it to your recommended reading list (if you do it through Amazon Affiliates you can earn commission!)?

But it is not an effective strategy for advertising trainings.

Why?

The only person who benefits from the sale is the discount site. Simple as that.

You may be thinking that you are getting a good deal as a customer, but you are not.

Think about it for a second. If the company runs a course that is priced at a £1000 (for ease of maths). The discount sites demand that they offer at least a 75% discount, so that is £250, they will then have to pay the discount site 50% in commission, so they will be getting a grand total of £125 per person for what should be a £1000 course.

This means the companies are running the course at a (big) LOSS.

This is not a good thing for you as a trainee.

Why? Well, they have to recoup that loss somehow. Which means they will cut costs and reduce the overall quality of the training, using a substandard venue for example, or they will wedge more people into the training, giving you a less personal experience (maybe cutting the amount of trainers or assistants), or  (and this is the worst) use the whole training as basically a marketing exercise to get you to book on another more expensive course. This means you will get a substandard training which won’t fulfil  your requirements.

If two car dealers were offering what seemed the same car, and one was offering it at a 75% discount to get you to buy it. Would you trust them? Would you buy it?

Companies who use these discount sites are DESPERATE for your business. If they think that the only way they can attract you is by giving you dirt cheap trainings, what does that tell you about what they think about the quality of their course?

I am committed to offering quality NLP trainings to small groups and have been for the last 10 years. I cannot do this (nor, do I think, can anyone) by offering massively discounted trainings. I have had these discount companies constantly calling me up and I have turned them down every time.

Do you want quality or do you want cheap?

Once you have looked back on the previous year, what questions do you need to ask to focus on your resolutions for this and make sure you achieve them.

The news is grim, with continued reports of the collapse of the worlds finances, talks of a returning recession, massive unemployment, companies going bust left right and centre… and here in the UK the New Year has started with sever storms (I hope that isn’t an omen)!

Now, more than ever, we need to carry out a revolution, a personal revolution in the way we think, act and behave. Ignore the glum and the doom and gloom and make 2012 your best year yet!

why do most people fail to achieve their goals?

One of the reasons I have discovered as to why people tend to fail in their resolutions is they look back at the previous year, convince themselves they didn’t achieve any of the resolutions they wanted to do that year and either give in in a big fat sulk or rush to try and do everything they wanted to do immediately, there by overwhelming themselves and giving up (in a big fat sulk).

If this sounds familiar then It is often a good idea to look back over, and assess the year just gone. But in a very specific way.

To achieve goals and outcomes you need to gather the appropriate resources, and to get the appropriate resources you need to ask the appropriate questions.

looking back

So before you start your plan of attack for this year ask yourself the following questions.

Lets start with something positive:

What went really well in 2011?

It can anything, no matter how small. Make a list. As you think about them, make the effort to really re-live the experience, pay attention to what you are seeing, hearing and in particular how you feel. Take a moment to be grateful and appreciate that you did them.

Ask yourself “how did I achieve these things that went really well, what did I think about and feel as I was working towards them?”

Now you have got yourself in a positive state and focused on some successes in 2011 you can approach the trickier area:

What didn’t go well in 2011? What were your biggest failures? Disappointments? Frustrations?

Write them all down and then ask yourself.

What did I learn from that experience?

Because, even if it was not the result you wanted, you still got a result or outcome and as we NLPer’s (sometimes annoyingly!) say “there is no failure, only feedback” so what can you learn from the results you got?

As you think about that, focus in on answering the following questions:

What do I need to do differently?

What do I need to do more of?

What do I need to stop doing altogether? Look at the goals or “resolutions” you did nothing with in 2011. Are they really what you want to achieve? One the most powerful lessons we can learn is to let go.

Once you have answers to all those questions you will have better resources to plan and achieve your goals for 2012. And be in a better frame of mind.

(I posted a video blog about this here, just the other day).

looking forward

Now, start thinking about the things you want to achieve in 2012 (bear in mind the “stop doing” list above!). List them in priority of what you want to achieve first. The biggest mistake people make with changes in their lives is to try and do everything all at once. Don’t. List them in priority order. You may not get round to even starting something on this list until much later in your year. That is fine.

When prioritising choose the following to do first:

1. Look at the quick gains, what easy goals can you achieve that will set you up for succeeding (quitting is a dangerous habit).
2. Look at the things that will make the biggest impact on your life right now.

If in doubt. Do less. Ask yourself what are the 3 key priorities. Can you get it down to just one? If you could only make one resolution this year, what would make the biggest impact?

Now you have your resolutions, ask this one simple question:

How will my life be better when I have achieved this goal/result?

Focus on what you see, hear and, most importantly, feel. If you cannot strongly imagine how these achievements will change your life (for the better) do you really need to do them? The secret here is to fall in love with the end result and make it so captivating for you that you are utterly compelled to take action. You don’t want it feel like it is a chore, or something you have to hype yourself up to do, it has to feel like something that you have to force yourself to stop doing. Make sense?

january coaching sale!

Do you need a little extra help in focusing on what you want to achieve?

In the spirit of New Years Resolutions and January Sales, I am offering a package of 6 one to one Skype coaching sessions for just £400 (usual price £600).

Click here to book your first session or call me on 07711 204013.

Wishing you a great 2012!

Matt

At long last! The eagerly awaited return (well, a few people have asked about them) of my video blog series. Starting, fittingly enough, with New Years Resolutions.

Before you begin to make plans for 2012 it is worth looking back at 2011 and assessing what you did.

Matt

Matt

what’s coming up in 2012

• BRAND NEW COURSE – Hypnotherapy Diploma (in Association with Balanced Approach).
• NLP Practitioner Training – Now with iPAD!
• Online courses and Premier Membership club.
• Developing Your Dynamic Voice audio programme.
• More advice for setting up your own coaching or therapy business, including web design.
• A brand new blog (details coming very soon).
• And finally (for now)… More videoblogs that I have horribly neglected in 2011!

• Society of NLP official manual
• NLP Exercise eManual
• Advanced Language Pattern Flash Cards
• The Little eBook of NLP Techniques
• A short cut to my website, blog and YouTube channel so you can keep up to date.

On completion of the training the iPad is yours to keep.

No other NLP training company is offering this cutting edge and innovative way to present your learning materials!

For more information please click here.