Category: NLP

Categories
NLP Travels

A quick trip to Italy

It was only for a few hours, but what a privilege to work with the participants in Vicenza, Italy on the NLP Italy NLP Practitioner course, realising they had taken in what I had taught them on a previous meeting. (see next blog).

I had opened the course a couple of weeks ago with a bad chest infection, and being part of the training team within NLP Italy, it was other trainers to guide the participants through the course, and I returned to the UK to give other courses.

Sunday saw me on the British Airways flight from London’s Gatwick airport to Verona. (see My Trip to Verona as a Tourist)

A very expensive 10 minute taxi ride (30 Euro) to the railway station from Verona’s airport, and then a relaxing train journey to Vicenza saw me at the Tiepolo Hotel where the NLP Practitioner course was being held, and it was a strange sensation to see faces I recognised, I did not know I was to work with participants I knew.

Even more strange was to see Owen Fitzpatrick, a fellow Society of NLP Trainer, who I had not seen for a couple of years, and I was to take-over from on the course. Owen and myself, along with Alessio Roberti had started the road of NLP at the same time many, many years ago.

Owen Fitzpatrick
Owen Fitzpatrick

In the evening, Owen returned to Ireland, and all the participants and assistants either went home or went about their own business, leaving me to walk the streets of Vicenza on my own, to eat a sandwich in my hotel room by myself. No-body loves me. But it was a wonderful view from my window to the snow capped mountains and rooftops. I can relax.

View from the Tiepolo Hotel, Vicenza
View from the Tiepolo Hotel, Vicenza

Categories
Memory NLP

My photograph the correct way up, how our brain works



Modified photograph of Phillip Holt

This is the same photograph, but rotated by 180 degrees. See article Does the brain interpret what it sees correctly?
 
Now look at the eyes and mouth, they are up-side-down. I do not look like this in real life.

When you re-look at the first photograph , the picture looks fine, except it is upside down, the face looks acceptable, and yet now you can see it is wrong. Why?

The human brain is very selective in what it takes in, in what it recognises. The brain will break an image into constituent parts, it will go on a transderivational search to make matches on those parts, and then says those are eyes, that is a mouth, and so on, which individually are correct, but as you now you can see are up-side-down or reversed.

Thus, even though the eyes and mouth are doctored on the rotated photograph, so that they are up-side-down, they appear correct to the brain, and the brain accepts it.

Oh Poo Poo ,

Cat on the mat?

The original photographs can be seen here.

    
Original unmodified photograph and modified up-side-down photograph

View article Does the brain interpret what it sees correctly?

Categories
Culture NLP Thoughts Travels

Garibaldi Biscuits

 

Garibaldi Biscuits in packet ASDA
Garibaldi Biscuits in packet sold by ASDA in the UK
Going back in my far and distant past, I remember one of the treats my mother would serve, it was a biscuit called Garibaldi. It was not a treat for me as I was not found of them, but to mother and I suspect other British people, they were from an exotic world, a far off country, a touch of something un-British.
The biscuit was a thin sandwich of biscuit with the dried chewy fruit of currents at the center. A current is similar to a dried red grape.
Garibaldi Biscuits
Garibaldi Biscuits
I would mention this memory to the participants of my courses in Italy, and they would look at me as if I was a visiting Martian, they had no idea of what I was talking about, no clue from the description or name of biscuit.
I was really confused.
Here was an Italian product, and the Italians had no knowledge of it. Was it my pronunciation of the word? Was it called something different in Italy?
Then, just before I was leaving for Bologna, I went into my local supermarket, and after years of not seeing the product, there was the biscuit on the shelves. I had to buy it.
During the NLP Master Practitioner course I reviewed Anchors, and brought out the packet of Garibaldi biscuits as an example of the memories it gave me. The participants looked at me with a blank face, they had never heard of the biscuit or seen them.
At the break, I offer each of them a sample, and their reaction was in the negative, they did not like the taste, texture, and most of the biscuits went untouched.
That evening as Elena and myself walked back to my hotel after a splendid pizza meal, in a small square or piazza bordering the main street running from the railway station to the Piazza Maggiore is a statue of a man on a horse, and in bold letter at its’ base or plinth, is “A GARIBILDI”. 
Garibaldi Statue in Bologna
Garibaldi Statue in Bologna
So I was not wrong. The name is Italian. Perhaps I had the wrong “cat on the mat“, the wrong understanding.
Who was this person, A GARIBALDI?
I needed answers. See article Garibaldi a Hero.
Categories
NLP

NLP Master Practitioner, Bologna, Italy

A few days ago I had the good fortune to open the NLP Master Practitioner course for NLPItaly in the Italian city of Bologna. Two days of hard but fun work, as we reviewed the NLP Practitioner work, caught-up on missing knowledge, and introduced more in depth subject matters of NLP.

I had a great time as I weaved my way through the subject of NLP, clearing-up one or two of the participants self and limiting beliefs, ever aware of the next trainer to takeover from me, leading the participants on this wonderful journey.

NLP Master Practitioner in the Italian city of Bologna

The time in Bologna gave me perhaps for the first time in my travels as a trainer a big WOW factor, as I had given myself time to discover the city, to do a bit of sightseeing, something I never usually do, as I fly in, do the course and fly out.
I found new knowledge about Italy and Bologna from Elena my translator for the weekend. More to follow.

Elena Martelli and Phillip Holt, scary

Categories
Mind Maps NLP PhotoReading

I am off again

Having only just returned this week from Italy where I was giving a training in NLP for a group of eager Italians in Bologna, I find myself packing again to go to Gaziantep in Southern Turkey.

This trip will take me to Turkey, Istanbul, Gaziantep, for an NLP Practitioner course and a Coaching course, then on to Italy to give PhotoReading and Mind Map courses in Rome and Milan. My return to the UK towards the end of March, will see me giving the Stage Hypnosis course in London. So I have a busy month ahead.
I love my work, although I get very tied, I meet so many people, and in a way, give them the opportunity to look at and try new ideas, bring out the excellence that they seek.
But, sometimes I feel like a ship passing in the night, visiting through many ports, perhaps going un-noticed to some who are not looking, but like the ship, leaving its’ cargo, I leave information and knowledge for those who stay behind, so they are free to use what I deliver to them, to use as they see fit.
I hope my visits leave a good memory, so that the knowledge will open their eyes and free them to do what they wish to do, as I sail my ship to another port with a cargo of knowledge.  
Categories
NLP

Ambiguity

In NLP the use of words, phrase, sentences which have more than one meaning are called ambiguous, and they can have profound effects on people, participants and clients, in understanding and change.

Milton Erickson was a user of ambiguity in his language, and as Richard Bandler and the other co-founder of NLP, the linguist, John Grinder, modeled Erickson, thus the art and usage of ambiguity became part of NLP.
His use of stories are a form of ambiguity, in that what does story refer, to the content of the story, or what he is trying to change. I will tell stories or metaphors in my courses. My story of having breakfast in a hotel in Ankara (Turkey), and the first morning how thick the orange juice is, but each morning the waiters water the orange juice down in the dispenser, keeping the level on content the same, until there is no content, just water. Am I referring to orange juice or trainings of other course providers, where the content of the course is passed from person to person, trainer to trainer?
You can say that an ambiguous statement can be a metaphor but also an analogy, structuring the language differently and used with making the difference. An analogy is a the process of transferring one piece of information of a subject onto another subject or  piece of information by giving examples.
Ambiguous words are words that sound the same but have different meanings. They may have different spellings. In English, (sorry for my foreign readings, you will have to find your own in your own language), there are many examples.

 To, too, two To =’s the movement toward, ‘going to bed’. linking ideas (verbs, objects etc) ‘ oranges are sweet to taste’. etc.
Too =’s indicating excess ‘too big’. having in addition ‘he has a computer too‘.
Two =’s having a numerical value ‘she has two (2) handbags‘.


Paw, Poor, 
Pore, Pour  		 Paw =’s the foot of a dog or four legged animal..
Poor =’s not having much wealth, or lacking in something, ‘his knowledge is poor‘.
Pore =’s small hole, say where we sweat from. To read eagerly, ‘he pored over the book‘.
Pour =’s to dispense liquid, ‘please pour me a cup of tea’


 Sun, Son     Sun =’s A star around which a planetary system evolves.
Son =’s The male offspring of a mother and father.


 Sea, See, C See =’s To perceive with the eye, or mental vi
sion.
Sea =’s A large body of salt water.
C =’s The third letter of the alphabet.


“As the father went to sea/see, the sun/son rose up enabling him to gain more than he ever expected………………..”

That sentence could have many meanings, it is what the listener, who goes on a Transderivational Search to make sense of it, gets from the understanding that counts or is important.

Thus, in my article Interpretation gone wrong, the use of the word “follow” was ambiguous, and I took it the wrong way, for me the way it was not intended.

Categories
Culture English Courses NLP

Interpretation gone wrong – Ambiguity

Recently a member of Mee Len’s family was diagnosed as having cancer of the liver, which does not have a good prognosis.
The doctor suggested that it would be in his best interest to go to seek expert advice and treatment in Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia. This would mean a long car journey of perhaps five hours from Penang to KL (Kuala Lumpa), mostly by a motorway.
As this journey is long, soul draining, one of his sons who lives in KL drove up to collect his father and take him down to stay a couple of weeks whilst tests were done and treatment given. After some rest, they returned to their home here in BM (Bukit Mertajam), Penang. Again being driven back.
Since then a few weeks have past, and another appointment was made for a follow-up check-up in KL, meaning they would have to travel down that motorway again.
The conversation I heard was that they would “follow” their son, who was staying with them at the time, down to KL.
So, in my mind I saw the son driving his car, with the mother and father following behind, in their car
“To follow” means from the internet site http://www.elook.org/dictionary  “to travel behind, go after, come after“.
From http://ardictionary.com the definition is “To go or come after; to move behind in the same path or direction”.
I was confused, thinking he would not be well enough to drive for five hours, but I was not privy to his health, so said nothing. Perhaps I should have cleared my confusion by verifying my understanding.
Yesterday, they return again to Bukit Mertajam, but caught a train from KL, a journey time of over seven hours.
I was even more confused. Why catch a train when their car is with them in KL? How are they going to get the car back?
When I queried this, I was given a very strange look. Was I stupid? The car is in Bukit Mertajam, not KL.
Then I found out, or informed, that the literal translation in the Chinese language to English of  “to follow“,  is “to go with“.
How often do problems arise, arguments ensue, through misunderstandings, misinterpreting, not really understanding what we have been told or what we have said, “putting our own cat on the mat”?
Oh Poo Poo. Wrong again.
The use of the word “follow” was ambiguous.
Categories
NLP Thoughts

A story behind a pigeon orchid

There are so many metaphors, so many analogies in our daily life that can be used to transfer information to others at a deeper level without them being consciously aware of what is being said.

Part of the power of
Milton Erickson and thus what Richard Bandler and John Grinder incorporated into NLP is the use of metaphors.
Milton Erickson when working with clients, friends of foe, would relate a story of perhaps his friend John being able to do certain things, go about doing an action in a different way, overcoming difficulties. It was whilst listening to these stories, metaphors, that the client would try to make sense of them, understand them, to go on a Transderivational Search, and in doing so would place their own understanding on what Milton Erickson was saying.
They would place their own “cat on the mat” on the analogy.
Our brain does not know what is reality at a subconscious level, what is real or what is just a thought. Yes of course most people can tell the difference on a conscious level the difference of reality and internal thoughts, but certain types of people, as depicted in the film about John Nash, A Beautiful Mind, do not have the ability to distinguish between the two states.
Thus, as a metaphor is being told, the client, the listener, will be processing the story “as if it is real” at a subconscious level, but putting their own understanding upon it by linking it to previous experiences or learnings. Once a memory trace is in the head, the brain, a story, an idea, it cannot be removed, giving the listener to possibility of choice.
I love telling metaphors in my courses, taking an idea, a comment, and weaving a story or metaphor around it to get a message across.
Sitting in my garden here in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, there are many plants trying to grow. I say trying to grow, because the builders of the house had removed all the nourishing top soil, leaving a virtually inert sandy land, devoid of any nutrients, life giving growing material. The best way of growing plants is to grow them in pots. The grass lawn, struggles to cover the whole area, leaving patches of gravel which seems to emerge from deep below the surface, further depriving the struggling grass any foothold.

      
The heavy tropical rain, further washes away any nutrients from the soil.
Yet plants seem to survive, although growing much at a slower rate in the tropical heat.
One such plant in the garden is a palm tree, which over the eight years it has lived in the garden, has not significantly grown.
Growing within its’ stems or leaves, attaching itself to the truck of the palm is an orchid, a Pigeon Orchid, which takes its’ food from the air itself. The high humidity keeps the orchid wet enough. It again does not grow very fast, and causes no problems to anyone or thing, in fact it just goes unnoticed most of the year.
 
A pigeon Orchid roots itself to the truck of a palm,
But once a year the Pigeon Orchid sends out stems and for just one or two days, when there is a sudden drop in temperature, with wonderful perfumed flowers developing, white, fragrant, with a yellow
tinted throat. so delicate, clean. A beauty to behold.
A pigeon Orchid, resembling a pigeon in flight.
Notice 3rd from the top.
It brings with it a shock of beauty that makes you pleased that you have this in your life. Happiness, joy and love reigns.
Just as suddenly as the blooms have developed, the flowers are gone. Just two days. But you know in your heart that the experience can never be taken away from you, and if you can just wait, you will have that happiness, love and joy again, as the blooms come back, perhaps even stronger.
With the right environment, providing nutrients and food, caring and love, even the grass may grow.
Categories
Memory Mind Maps NLP PhotoReading

NLP, PhotoReading, Memory and Mind Map Courses in Malaysia

Great news.

We have now finalised dates for this months (January 2009) courses in Malaysia.
I conduction with a company in Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia, we will be offering the following courses :- Please note that this partnership never happened, and NLPNOW seek other partners.

PhotoReading      – 13-15 January 2009 (2.5 days)
Mind Maps            – 16
January 2009
NLP Practitioner — 7 days from 18th January –
24 January 2009.

For details of the courses and to book please visit the web site of NLPNOW, click on the links above, or telephone
NLPNOW (Malaysia) +60174491308 (mobile)


Please note that the above partnership never happened, and NLPNOW seek other partners.
Categories
NLP Travels

The map was not the territory

I have written a number of articles on the NLP phrase The Map is not the Territory, (click here to read some of them), but yesterday it became a reality.

All my working life I have had to visit customers in strange towns and cities, in countries where I could not speak or the language so I could not read the road signs, where they drove on the wrong side of the road, and I always get there, even before the advent of mobile telephones, GPS and satellite navigation.
Today when I visit 1-2-1 clients in their home, for phobias or fears, addresses I have never been to before, I would find my way, reading a map, asking for directions, transcribing instructions into my own shorthand which I can read at a glance when driving, planning ahead.
Since the coming of satellite navigation aids, like Tom Tom, and I have installed one on my PDA/mobile phones (Another gadget – I love gadgets), I have used this means of navigation successfully, only once being sent to drive across a railway line which was for walkers only. My fault I had the wrong settings.
Here in Malaysia, I have not got a satellite navigation system, there are no A-Z road maps published that are up-to-date or even published at all, and the old friend we were to visit from days gone passed in Saudi Arabia, could not give verbal instructions as to get to her house in Ipoh, a town I had never visited before, she could only give her address.
Armed with this information, her home address, I searched the internet, surely there would be a means to find directions.
Sure enough, and the only one, was Google, which gave a highlighted map and written instructions.
The written instructions were a little confusing to me as the street names meant nothing to me. Jalan? Bulatan? Distances were given in kilometers and meters, meaning nothing to me, my brain works in miles and yards.
Our friend we were to visit had said that when we exited from the North-South Highway, we would within 50 meters come across a big shopping complex of Jusco and Tesco, she would meet us there, but she failed to say take the second exit from the North-South Highway, and as per the Google map instructions we took the first, so there was no shopping complex nor Jusco or Tesco.
No problem, we had the map and instructions, and I had asked that each new direction be given a long time before I reached the turning or junction so that I could plan ahead, reading out the distances, so I could gauge in my head and on the map where we were.
All was fine. Then one instruction said “Turn right at Jalan Pasir Puteh” after 1.4km. There was a set of traffic lights with a right filter, but I could see no road name, so I turned right. It must be a major road to have traffic lights. We were to proceed 3.4 km.
The road came to an abrupt end, it literally ended at the base of a wall surrounding a house after 2km. Obviously this was the wrong right turn.
So back I went to the traffic lights. 50m further on was another set of traffic lights, with a right filter, and as I approached, I could see the road name Jalan Pasir Puteh mentioned in the written instructions.
Go 3.4km the instructions said, and we could notice landmarks on the printed map as we drove past.  The map was correct, we were going in the right direction.

Ipoh Map

Actual location marked with the arrow.
Jalan Pengkalan Barat 8 
Looking at the map and instructions, it said “Turn right
at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 6“, and although I could not see a road name sign, there was a row of shops or buildings and the turning on the printed map, so I turned into the road.
The printed map clearly showed to take the fourth right after entering Jalan Pengkalan Barat 6, and there was a big marker, “B” which showed the destination.
The written instructions told something different. “Turn right at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 5” then “Turn left at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 8“.
The map and the written instructions did not equate, they gave different instructions.
I followed the map, as it had been correct so far. but the passengers in the car followed the written instructions.
Our maps we were using, the representations of the real world were different.
Not only were the written instructions and the pictorial representations we were using different, but they did not correspond to the real world, or to reality.
Yes, using the pictorial map we arrived at Pengkalan Barat 8, but it was not Jalan Pengkalan Barat 8 but Persarian Pengkalan Barat 8.
NOTE. Jalan means in Malay (language) “large road”, but taken to mean “Main Road”, whereas Persarian means a “playground”.
After much searching we eventually found the correct street, certainly not the one indicated by the pictorial map, and not the one in the written instructions. See map above and the black arrow, compared to the “B“.
Maps and instructions are guides. We have to be there, we have to experience the real world to make absolute sense of the real world around us.
Even then, it will be our own representation, our own understanding of what we have seen, heard or experienced, not other peoples.
So, The Map was not the Territory.
    WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS

16. At Bulatan Bahagia, take the 2nd exit onto Jalan Leong Boon Swee     1.4 km 
17. Turn right at Jalan Pasir Puteh                                                                        3.4 km 
18. Turn right at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 6                                                            0.3 km 
19. Turn right at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 5                                                            61 m 
20. Turn left at Jalan Pengkalan Barat 8 
              Destination will be on the left                                                                    14 m 

                   Jalan Pengkalan Barat 8, Taman Pasir Putih, 31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia