NLP Training 5 - Outcomes and Direction

[michaelbeale@ppimk.com]

[michaelbeale@ppimk.com]

Transcript - Draft

Liam : So Michael, what in NLP is an outcome?

Michael : An outcome is something that you want, somewhere that you want to get to, something that you want to achieve.

Liam : When are they important?

Michael : I think that outcomes are useful when you want to achieve something - Because it's like focusing down on one particular thing and putting your energy into more easily going in the direction that you want.

Liam : Could you take me through an outcomes exercise?

Michael : Yes, certainly. Tell me something that you want.

Liam : I'd like to be better at music.

Michael : OK. There's four questions that I have at the back of my mind. If you get these four questions right it means that the outcome is something that you are likely to achieve.

So the first one is: Is it something that you want as opposed to something that you want to avoid?

Liam : It's something that I want.

Michael : OK. You get the first tick.

The second one is; Imagine that you are now better at music, what do you see?

Liam : I see myself writing down music on a music sheet.

Michael :OK, you see yourself writing down on sheet music. What colour paper do you see?

Liam : White.

Michael : And you're really good at music now, what do you hear?

Liam : I hear the sound of me playing pleasant music.

Michael : OK, and tell me a bit more about this pleasant music.

Liam : It's very simple. One instrument. Piano, or maybe guitar. Just very simple sounds that don't necessarily take much talent, but somebody has bothered to pick out the particular notes that sound nice.

Michael : And as you hear that nice-to-hear music how do you feel?

Liam : Relaxed.

Michael : Relaxed. OK, and you've got the second tick because you can represent it in at least three sentences. You know what it would be like sometime in the future when you've really got this skill. You've got representations in at least three sentences.

OK. Is it under your control?

Liam : Partly.

Michael : And what part is under your control?

Liam : The way that I spend my own time.

Michael : OK, so you could be practicing - the way that you spend your personal time, when you could be practicing. So the overall outcome is getting better at music - the thing that you focus on might be how you spend your time practicing.

OK last question - You've got three ticks so you're doing well, last question - If you could be better at music now, would you take it?

Liam : Yes.

Michael : Excellent. And the purpose of doing that exercise is really that if somebody wants to do something - because they're putting more detail into it it actually makes them more motivated to do it. Secondly it can motivate them to do it, but they realise that they have to focus on something specific. Like in your case you see that you need more time to practice.

And the third one is that maybe they'll find that they've got it anyway. And that's a good thing to find out up front because it might be there already or that they didn't want it anyway. And that's a good thing to find out up front before you put lots of effort in and wasted it.

So really any of those three results from any of these sorts of things can be very useful.

Liam : And just to close - is there anything that you would like to reiterate or emphasise about outcomes in NLP?

Michael : Outcomes in NLP is something that is very important. There are times to have outcomes, which is about focus, and getting what you're looking for. But it's equally important sometimes to relax and enjoy the journey.

And in many things in personal development it's good to develop and balance two polar skills. One is to focus, to go for what you want, which works for a lot of things - but also to counterbalance to learn to relax, soften, and enjoy whatever it is you're doing, and it's a combination of bother skills that I think leads to mastery.

Liam : Michael Beale, thank you.

Michael : Thank you.