Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Performance
The definition of social phenomena according to Markey (2007) is “including all behavior which influences or is influenced by organisms sufficiently alive to respond to one another”. Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a set of rules and techniques proposed for modifying behavior in achieving self-improvement, self-management and more effective interpersonal communication (Business Dictionary). The society is made up of people at different social levels. Most of the people at the top of the social ladder self-confess to the use of NLP to enhance their performance in their various endeavors and therefore in their social life. The term NLP is derived from how senses filter and process experience before storing it in the brain for the word neuro, the use of words, symbols and images create mental pictures (linguistic) and how desired behaviors and attitudes become ingrained (programming) (Business Dictionary). NLP is known to be useful in the enabling of people to develop behaviors such as to take effective action in spite of fear, to behave with confidence in any situation, to create positive, pervasive changes, to rapidly acquire skills and strategies and to achieve goals elegantly and easily.
In this information age, communication is what industrial technology was in the technological age. The ability to communicate with people at different levels is a determinant factor in the achievement of success. Given the materialistic nature of society, the highest performing individuals are mostly people with high material influence. Giving NLP different names from self-hypnosis to auto-suggestion, the use of NLP in the achievement of social goals is evident. This paper seeks to associate NLP to performance and determine whether this association is real or imaginary.
Ambition is a very influential factor in the creation of health, wealth and material well-being. In primary school, there are different kinds of young fellows under the care of the noble profession of teachers. The influence of words, images and symbols on performance is not something that arises in childhood, but something that is slowly ingrained in the minds of individuals before they become whatever they become. The pupils with the most ambition are those that believe in themselves most. It is common for such students to have images representing their different goals and ambitions in their lockers and other places that they have jurisdiction over such as their books. In fact, judging from personal experience, the most ambitious students have books set aside for creating imagery of the life they imagine or fancy themselves living in the future. These students are coincidentally the students that are the most confident in self-expression even if they are not among the peak academic performers. This might be a wrong choice of word- coincidentally. There is no coincidence between the confidence of individuals and the clarity of their goals and ambitions that surround their chief aim in life. If there is anything between these two variables, it is a scientific correlation that is defined and explained on NLP under its different names and titles. The people that continue with this child-like behavior (childlike-not childish) through their adult life are able to have a smoother journey in the achievement of social and material success. Apart from the self-diagnosed linguistics that influences a person’s destiny, there are those words and actions that are imposed by others on pupils. The words spoken by teachers, parents and peers about an individual and believed by the individual are fundamental in creating their physical world. Children who are told positive things about themselves are more likely to develop in positive ways than children whose responses to linguistics are casually treated and therefore the messages sent to them left unmonitored. Strong says that there are models in NLP that can help one develop hidden skills and bring them to full flower (2006, p. 6). If this statement has been made about adults, more so can it apply to children and teens whose mind is not yet clouded by long time of mental conditioning? The researcher believes so.
The most common use of NLP is on business. The use of NLP in business is more inclined on reprogramming than it is on programming. There are very many negative perceptions that can arise in an individual’s minds because of the many negative influences that may exist in the workplace. An example is the negativity caused by the weight of tasks and this is enhanced by maybe intolerant leadership. NLP is so useful in the reprogramming of individuals in firms that it has become a multi-million dollar business for those that have been able to sell their services to corporate and wealthy entrepreneurs.
By changing our perception and being aware of all of our senses, individuals can change behavior patterns in order to reach their personal goals (Beischer, 2011, p.18). Changing behavior is one of the most difficult things anyone can engage in. The ability to alter responses to various stimuli cannot be achieved without a lot of effort. To be able to respond positively to an intolerant boss who gives an unbearable task is difficult. Through NLP, people are taught to talk themselves into the mind state where their ‘reflex’ response is a positive one. Positivity, like courage is contagious. Consistency in the self-hypnosis to achieve harmony at the work place leads to positive results. It is a common saying that people do not see the world the way it is, instead they tend to see the world the way they are. Changing the way one is changes the way the way the world is. Neuro-linguistic programming is applied by people in workplaces who do not even know what it means. The smallest of enterprises use visual aids to motivate their workers. Some companies use images of vacation spots to motivate salesmen as the salesman that achieves the highest sales in the period specified wins the chance to have a high class vacation. It is common for people to have pictures of their family members on their desks at work to motivate them to do the work they have to do from nine in the morning to five in the evening. NLP works with the assumption that reality is subjective (Strong, 2006, p. 11). Reality is said to be subjective in that reality is a bunch of human responses and reactions to various stimuli. To change the reactions and responses would lead to a different ‘reality’.
One of the beneficiaries of NLP, though not by that name, is the legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali. Before any match, Ali would be captured in camera saying words like “I am the greatest”. The ability of Ali to convince himself that he was the greatest at the time led him to many victories. This makes it clear that NLP is a scientific and psychological principle that applies to the human being who applies it whether they understand what they are doing or not.
Napoleon Hill in his phenomenal success psychology book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ states that “the law of auto-suggestion will lift you up or pull you down according to the way you set your sails of thought” (Hill, 1993, p. 47). The basics of NLP, known to Hill as auto-suggestion are based on the mind as the central command unit of a man. It is from the mind that a thought which determines feelings and consequently results that programming begins. Whatever one is exposed to most in linguistic form is bound to influence them. This applies for modes of speech, dress and action. The philosophy of Napoleon Hill was written to influence men and women to heights of achievement in accumulation of wealth. Accumulation of wealth is the epitome of peak performance in modern times. Nothing is more esteemed in the modern society as a self-made man. Homage is even paid to men who have come to wealth by a windfall of luck. Self-made men are those that have been able to talk themselves into success. Neuro-linguistic programming is a gradual process that takes time to materialize. The book by Hill contains hundreds of testimonials to the real effects of the principles he teaches, one of which is auto-suggestion, known to the researcher as NLP.
The use of NLP in the attainment of goals is a crucial part of this paper. In a book written with the intention of making readers achieve their goals faster, the author states that “any thought, plan or goal that you can clearly define in your mind, will immediately start to be brought into reality by your subconscious mind” (Tracy, 2000, p.74). The key task here is to clearly define a thought, plan or goal in one’s mind. This is where NLP comes to play. NLP supports any action that can be used to anchor or pivot thoughts on a specific item until it is achieved. Hill suggests reading to the point of memorizing a written paragraph that clearly defines one’s goal in detail until the date of intended achievement is reached (1993, p. 58). Other teachers suggest the use of cut out images of things that represent our goals and placing them where the subject can see them often. The use of symbols, words and images to create definite mental pictures is self-evident. The thoughts that one puts deliberately in their own mind have the tendency to persist in the mind until a physical equivalent is achieved.
The authors of another document state that, “the experiments (of NLP) also support the contention that skilled behavior can only occur after new ideas are represented in a way that can be apprehended by the emotional centers of the mind” (Smee & Smee, 2002, p.18). This statement further emphasizes the use of emotions in materializing the useful elements of NLP. It is the words, images and symbols that are emotionalized and implemented by NLP that are most likely to materialize. As earlier stated about boxer, Muhammad Ali, the emotionalized self-motivation practiced by athletes and artists in line with the principles of NLP leads to highly skilled performance. The importance of passion in the effecting of the beneficial purposes of NLP in performance is far reaching. One has to be passionate about what they do, in order to speak about and eventually reap positive results from it. The use of NLP in development of skill is counterproductive. Highly skilled performance leads to glorification by those that admire the performance of an individual. This leads to the skilled persons to increase in confidence when they talk about their skills and therefore increase in the skill.
NLP supports the use of role models in achievement of goals. In fact, NLP explains how modeling works. When learning from a role model, it is more productive to copy their thought processes so that one may emulate actions in order to get specific results. You can model exceptional performance in any discipline to determine precisely what they do that gets great results (Wiley, p.21). This means that the performance of any attractive skilled task can be emulated using modeling what is seen, heard and felt. The author previously states that modeling is the essence of NLP (Wiley, p. 21). The use of NLP is very profound as it affects the social growth of individuals. It is common for individuals raised by parents that were passionate about each other to grow into passionate relationships themselves. When this is not the case, the emulation of a passionate model skilled in interpersonal relationships leads to one acquiring the skills themselves. The practice of apprenticeship is also a byproduct of NLP. By the close learning in thought, word and deed by an understudy, mental files are added to the mind of an apprentice who goes on to be skilled in whatever practice he/she learns.
The influence of NLP is so profound that there are theorists that insist on its use as a political tool. The speeches of political leaders are full of confident remarks that are sometimes promises that they are unlikely to deliver, but due to the confidence and the personality they rally behind their words, the masses are bound to believe them. NLP can be used by a person seeking to reprogram themselves or by a high and mighty institution that seeks to achieve its objectives and is in need of human capital. A classic example is the highly influential advertisements used in the recruitment of soldiers. Some scholars even categorize this as manipulative use of NLP.
Social, political and economic successes are all factors that are determined by the confidence of an individual on themselves. Some of the most confident people are known to appear boastful or arrogant. On the contrary, it is the confidence with which they talk about their desired results that helps them build the correct images in their minds that they may stealthily approach a positive end. The words which we speak are vital in influencing the lifestyle we will live. So are the images and ideas we hold long and dear in our minds. With this, the researcher concludes that as a result of the evidence presented in literature supporting that NLP is useful to peak performance, NLP is a useful and real tool in enhancing performance in every aspect of life.

References
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From http://library.athabascau.ca/drr/download.php?filename=mais/CindyBeischer
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