Off late, there has been a lot of hue and cry for changes in many parts of the world. The call for the changing of leaders, changing of government, changing of system, changing of policies and so forth could be seen happening everywhere, either by democratic action or by undemocratic actions. Nevertheless, these changes would only bear positive results if oneself change. Take for example of a student. We can change the school and the teachers but if the student doesn’t change, the results would still be the same i.e. back to square one!
To really change oneself is not that easy unless you acquire certain knowledge and/or intelligence. However, in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), there is a ‘tool’ called NEUROLOGICAL LEVELS.
The levels are as follows:
- Environment – the where and the when
It is the place, the time and the people involved. You may be successful only in specific circumstances or with particular people – ‘being in the right place at the right time’.
- Behavior – the what
It is what we do. It includes thoughts as well as actions. Sometimes behavior is difficult to change because it is closely connected to other levels.
- Capability – the how
It is skill – behavior that is consistent, automatic and habitual. It includes both thinking strategies and physical skills. Capability at an organizational level manifests as business process and procedures. Capability is only visible in the resulting behavior because it lies within you.
- Beliefs and values – the why
They are the principles that guide our actions – not only what we say we believe, but what we act on. Beliefs give meaning to what we do. Values are the why we do what we do. They are what is important to us – health, wealth, happiness and love. On an organizational level, businesses have principles they act on and values they hold. They are part of the culture of the business. Beliefs and values direct our lives, acting both as permissions and prohibitions on how we act.
- Identity – the who
It is your sense of yourself, the core beliefs and values that define you and your mission in life. It is built throughout your life and is very resilient. We express ourselves through our behavior, skills, beliefs and values, but we are more than all or any of these. In business, organizational identity is the business culture. It emerges from the interaction of the other levels.
- Beyond identity – connection
It is the realm of ethics, religion and spirituality – your place in this world. For a business it means vision and how the business connects with the community and other organizations.
Neurological levels are not a hierarchy. They all connect to each other and all influence each other.
So, how to use the Neurological levels to effect changes? Below is a simple example.
Assuming you are not handsome or pretty since the day you were born! (Sounds familiar!) Because of this, you may feel timid, inferior and you may want to avoid interacting with others. It may also affect your confidence and this may create problem when attempting to learn and/or acquire certain skills. Bottom line, you may be having a miserable life!
From the above example, it would appear that the origin of all the problems is with your Identity – the who. Well, to solve the problem, if you have plenty of money, go for a plastic surgery! But, there again, it may not solve the all the problems and may create other problems. In NLP, you use – change other neurological level.
How? Let say you take up a hobby like bowling. You start playing, alone of course! Later, as you play more and more, you begin to like it. As you like it more and more, you notice, you also good at it. Maybe, some of your friends (you got to know at the bowling alleys) encourage you to joint a bowling competition. You later join and win. It didn’t stop there. You joint more competition and you win more. You competed in a major competition and you won. You are famous. Reporters rushing to interview you, photographers snapping pictures of you and your fans gathering around to get your autographs! At that stage, you are not BOTHERED WHETHER YOU ARE HANDSOME OR PRETTY! WALLA……ALL SOLVE!
How’s that for a change!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Osman Hj. Kamaluddin is a marine surveyor who has for the past many years researched and observed on accelerated learning techniques. He is also a Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) & NLP Coaching.
1 comment:
Our immediate environment and world situations are constantly in a state of flux. As such that nothing is permanent in life except change . Change we must. Change within oneself has to happen either willingly through own realisation based on added knowledge or forcibly due to impinging external forces and demands. Change for the community is organizational based.
We are a creature of habit. And habit don't change easily when reinforced by culture. Now, more than ever the individual and thought community of Malaysians are being challenged, provoked and inflamed to ponder,react and adapt.
The country is facing dynamic controversies and issues on many fronts at one go - politics (leadership, government vs oppositon parties, elections ...), religion (bible issue), social (sex-scandals, corruption, disunity, poverty), economics (price hikes), education.
Many of the issues are self-created due to poor governance. With all these going-ons our minds are in a state of amuk as to what really going on with the country. And we have to make decisions as to choices, moves, adaptations to stay peaceful. To stay ignorant means inviting unhappiness.
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