Executive Coaching: What the Hell is NLP?

By: Preston Braathen, Director of Strategic Partnerships at The Greenhouse

The Pits of Personal Development

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie was the starting point for me. One pass through that book and I was hooked. Why had no one shown me this before? My personal development journey was underway, and I had no idea where it was going to take me.  

After countless books, podcasts and recommended videos, I was simply spinning my wheels. What was the point of reading all of this and listening to these great speakers if it did not translate into any real-world changes? I was consuming with no plan of action and was getting upset by my lack of results. I had no idea what I wanted.  

Start with Why by Simon Sinek blew the cap off of my understanding of personal development. You have to start with the Why behind everything you do, otherwise, you will lose track and become upset with your results. That is where I was, upset with the results but still doing things and expecting new outcomes. I think someone said that was insanity, but I kept going. How in the heck do you figure out your Why? We have so many stimuli in our lives, how do we know for sure what we really want internally rather than what sounds good in a world of consumption? What if we could figure out ourselves? What if we really could develop a good relationship with ourselves? I think that might be where we need to start.  

Outside the Box

It was not until I truly stopped consuming and started thinking that I began finding the real results I was looking for. I dug deep and found that I needed to let go of the idea that personal development was going to allow me never-ending knowledge and an all-powerful persona. Nope, what allowed me to make the best changes in life was when I decided I didn’t know s?!#!. It may seem counterproductive, but it was so relaxing to sit with that idea.  

Why would you want to take the stance that you will never be the smartest person in the room? Being the smartest, the richest and the best is how you get power, respect and success! Is it not? I agree, all those things will come with knowledge, but so will unwanted pressure. The kicker is, the pressure will be created by you and you alone. If you come up with an issue that you do not have the slightest clue to solve, you will press yourself to find the answer and develop a plan of action. The more you press, the more you feel the heat. Nothing wrong with pressure, but if you are not willing to be wrong, life will find a way to show you that you are, and that leads to problems.  

Inside the Brain: What is NLP?

Question: What do you think is the starting point of every problem? 

Answer: Your mind. 

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