Have you ever gone nine tenths of the way with an exercise program and then sabotaged yourelf? Neuro-linguistic Programming is all about effectively training or reprogramming the brain so that we can overcome existing limits and fears and create new behavioural choices that will help us in what’s important to us.

NLP is the study of human excellence and how to replicate that success in our own lives – it helps us create a user’s manual for our brain. It’s a perfect fit for someone committed to getting fit as it’s about getting your brain working for you, instead of against you.

NLP was originated by Dr. John Grinder, an associate professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Richard Bandler, who was a fourth year psychology student.

Its methods are so successful that many of its models have been incorporated into sports performance, coaching, management training, psychotherapy, education and personal development. If you have done some form of personal development or attended a recent management seminar it’s likely that you experienced daily cialis some NLP techniques.

NLP and fitness

Have you ever lost your motivation for getting fit? You know you need to get up and get moving but nothing happens. Sometimes it’s not enough to work on the body alone. NLP would go far to say that it’s pointless working on the body unless the mind is willing to go there. How many people do you know who have lost weight, only to hear them say they still “feel” and think of themselves as fat?

NLP provides methodologies that can easily move you from self-doubt, procrastination and uncertainty to total focus and discipline. For people wanting to get fit, or for more elite athletes wanting the next level of success, NLP techniques can provide the answer.

Imagine for Tadacip a moment you feel completely unmotivated. Where do you look? Notice your eyes wander to a certain location. What do you see in your mind? Is the picture in your head in black and white, or in colour? Is the picture panoramic or framed? Is it far away or close to you? What do you tell yourself as you see that picture? What feelings are attached?

Now you’ve done that, white out the picture in your mind, and create the feeling of complete motivation – take a few moments to create the feeling so it’s intense and real for you. Only when you really feel motivated, notice where you’re looking. (It will be a different location to the location you looked for when you were unmotivated.) Notice the pictures forming in your head. Where are they located

? How intense are they? What distance are they from you?
Is the picture framed or panoramic? What feelings are attached?

If you compare the two feelings – unmotivated and motivated – you’ll find that the pictures in your head are located in different places, and are probably different distances from you. the pictures themselves are probably different too. The unmotivated feeling was probably accompanied by a picture that was far away. When you created the feeling of motivation, the picture was probably closer, the colours more intense, the picture bigger and brighter.

To intensify the feeling of complete motivation, you could move the picture closer, more in front of you, and you could intensify the picture by adding your favourite colour. Now add the sounds of applause, the roar of the crowd and really allow yourself to feel completely motivated. You can adjust the picture in any way you choose to change how you feel.

This the key to NLP – we can feel and experience anything in this moment by shifting how we perceive our world. Our perception Levitra is only a piece of our imagination – it’s made up! So to feel motivated, all we need to do is create the most intense picture we can imagine for ourselves and really turn up the volume.

Now imagine playing your favourite sound track as you do this – Rocky! (okay, that’s mine) – and turn the music up in your head. Now see yourself exactly as you want to be.

Combine all of the above with a few key questions to yourself, and you will stay on track with your program.

Key questions

Our mind will go where it is directed, and if it’s not directed it will probably end up worrying about what could go wrong! A focused mind is created through specific questions that are designed to conspire for our success. Questions to ask yourself –

1. What do you want to achieve? (Make sure your answer is stated in the positive – if it’s stated as “I don’t want to be fat,” the mind will wander to the worry… to be fat.)

2. Why do you want to achieve this? What will having it allow you to do or experience? How will you feel when you achieve this? How does achieving this link to your purpose or vision for your life?

3. Describe in detail how you want to see yourself (Again, only positive descriptors – if the client says, “I won’t have these thighs,” ask “What will be there instead?”)

4. How will you know you’re on track for achieving this goal?

5. How will you know you’ve achieved this great goal?

6. What attributes are you going to need to develop within you to really make this happen? (ie, determination, resilience, persistence) How will you know you are demonstrating them?

7. What will I do if things get off track? How will I know things are heading off track? (Setbacks are normal, it’s managing them and getting back on track that matters)

Each time you doubt yourself, recreate that mental image – in detail – of exactly how you want to see yourself. The more detail and the more vibrant the image the more motivating it will be. Then ask yourself the questions, especially about why this is important. With a big enough reason why, the how will take care of itself.

Top ten tips for using NLP in fitness training

1. State what you want in the positive – state it the way you want it, not the way you don’t. ie don’t say, “You won’t fail,” say “You will succeed.”

2. Constantly link the tough activities of now with your higher purpose and vision for yourself ie. Remember, this is for your family… this is about being the best version of you you can be…

3. Use as many sensory descriptors as possible ie I can see me doing this, and I’ll feel great. Just imagine what I’m going to say to myself when this is done, and how awesome I will feel…
4. Visual language is the most powerful for goal setting ie I can see this happening, let’s paint a picture of me right now, really see it happening, really bringing it to life right now…

5. Build the inevitable setbacks into the self-coaching ie I know there will be tough times, and if I focus on my persistence and my resilience, I’m going to get there…

6. Create an image of what success is – you need to know how to know you’re on track or you’ve got there, or there’s nothing to celebrate

7. Install and magnify the attributes you want to see in yourself ie I see such determination in me, and that’s why I’m going to succeed…

8. Successful people do what needs to be done, even if they don’t want to – build this mentality into your self-talk

9. “Future pace” yourself – I can me in a month’s time, John, really enjoying what you’ve created, and even in two months, the successes you’ve had, the way you look…

10. Remind yourself that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome – for something to change, something must change – and this means new choices need to be made, rehearsed, practiced and committed to for lasting change to take place.

Author Bio: Sharon Pearson is founder and CEO of The Coaching Institute and Your Coaching Success, author, speaker and trainer. You can visit her at http://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au or http://www.YourCoachingSuccess.com.au

Category: Personal Development/Coaching
Keywords: coaching, neuro linguisting programming,