NLP is a complex science but its foundation is based on a set of four vital steps to success that apply in any situation. These four steps have been spoken about by many motivational speakers and trainers including the great Tony Robbins when introducing neuro linguistic programming. With the proper understanding and mastery of these four steps, a plan for success in any field can be formulated. This article will explain these four steps and illustrate how their use can be the defining factor in ultimate success or failure in any given pursuit.
The steps are simple but powerful and are based on the understanding that human beings are in essence, goal striving mechanisms, destined to move in the direction of their focus. By taking control of our minds using these four steps we can harness the innate power of our brains for maximum results.
Step 1: Knowing what you want: The first step to achieving anything is knowing what you want or as NLP practitioners would say, your outcome. You can’t get to a destination or an outcome without knowing where or what that destination is. It’s like getting in the car in the morning to go to work and not knowing where the building is… you’re not going to get there. Knowing what you want is vital because for one, it allows you to formulate a plan for getting there and two if you don’t know clearly what you want, you won’t even know whether or not you have got it… You won’t know even if you DO get there! It all starts with a destination. After we have mapped a destination then we have to MOVE!
Step 2: Taking action: The foundational key to all success. Nothing happens with out action. You can know what you want, know why you want it, know how to get there, and want with all your heart to get there but unless you take massive chunks of focused action, your dream will remain just that. You can’t get into your car and expect to get to work in the morning if you don’t turn your car on. Once we know our target destination, we have to take off, to move, to work, to ACT.
Step 3: Noticing the results you are getting from the actions you are taking: This one is a little less talked about but equally as important. We have to develop what NLP practitioners call “sensory acuity”, which means an acute sensitivity to the results we are getting from the action we are taking. It’s one thing to be able to go at your goal like a bull at a gate, but another thing to be able to continually analyze whether your actions are moving you closer to your goals or further away. We have to be constantly watching the ‘results’ we are getting. Ultimately there is no failure, only results.
Step 4: Adjusting your actions to keep them in line with the desired outcome: With sensory acuity you are able to notice whether an action is taking you closer to your goals or further away, you are now ready to act again upon the actions that aren’t moving you in the right direction and replace them with actions that will. This is how we achieve any goal in life, from something as simple as opening a door, to building a business. We continually take actions, some right and some wrong. We carry on with the right actions and change the wrong actions to the right ones. A perfect example of this is how I open a door with my key in the dark at night. I can’t see the keyhole, so I start poking the key at where I think it might be. I hit the edge of the doorknob, so I poke it closer to the middle. I hit the other side so I adjust again and eventually through my mistakes my brain learns exactly where the keyhole is and gets it in there to open the door. The key distinction to make here is that a lot of the time, the actions you are taking WILL be wrong, just like I had only 1 successful poke at the keyhole after 3 failing attempts… and this is not a bad thing! Adjusting our behavior according to mistakes is the way to achieving any goal and the fourth step to ultimate success.
As I said these are the keys to success in any endeavour. We cannot make anything happen without them. Whenever you have achieved something in your life you will have followed some adaptation of these four steps, even if you were totally unaware of it.
Each of these steps is a skill to be practiced and eventually mastered. While it is outside the scope of this article there are specific ways to become proficient at each of the above steps, which you can also learn.
Be continually working on your ability to do each of these things and your capacity for achievement will be ever increasing.
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