NLP values multiple perspectives because each perspective can enrich our map of the world. Within any NLP training, the trainer will certainly offer different tools and perspectives, but one of the most valuable things for any NLP trainer or practitioner is to examine how other trainers present the tools of NLP. One very interesting perspective is provided by Steve G. Jones, an American hypnotherapist. I purchased some of Steve’s hypnotherapy audio programs long before I realized that he was also an NLP trainer, and when I watched his NLP training videos, I saw that his long experience as an hypnotherapist has given him a valuable perspective on NLP.
Steve suggests that only 10% of our brain is under conscious control and that the other 90% is unconscious (he uses the equivalent term subconscious). When we try to make a change in our lives, we generally attempt to make that change using the tools of the conscious mind, what he describes as:
Willpower
Analytical
Rational
But these tools of the conscious mind only make up 10% of the brain’s operation and they run up against defenses. Our brains create these defenses because even unwanted behaviours such as smoking, gambling, and alcohol abuse may have some benefit or what is generally called secondary gain. For example, smoking may provide a social circle or gambling may form a kind of stress relief. Because of these defenses, the tools of the conscious mind (Willpower, Analytical, and Rational) very often fail to help us change the habits that we consciously want to change. In particular, impulses originating in the unconscious brain can act to deter the conscious. These include impulses such as being:
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
These impulses hijack the intended change, and the power of NLP lies in its ability to put a person more directly in communication with the unconscious mind. Steve describes the unconscious mind as including:
Strategies
Habits
Impulses
Physiological Control
It is this SHIP that is really in control and it is only when we get on the SHIP that we can truly gain control over our unwanted behaviours and direct our lives in the most optimal way. Steve believes that NLP puts you in contact with the SHIP.