Have you ever been so passionate about something that you become addicted to it at first sight?
It happened to me with NLP. I call it „the affair” of my life!
When I started my first job, it became clear that my soul’s lesson was the passion for the human mind and connection. I wanted to know it all beyond the judgemental „why.” I tried to understand the „how” to uncover the mystery of this miracle called the human mind, encompassing all it can and what chemistry and physics catalyze it. I was curious whether processes or procedures are embedded into the infinite human data lake, shaping and forging the human identity. It was a lot about „who am I” and „who are we,” so I zoomed in on the study field of human behavior and psychology.
I read and practiced a lot on my development journey, yet I was missing a „something” pretty hard to name. Luckily, I found NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and realized I had uncovered what I was missing. As soon as I discovered it, I fell in love. The idea behind NLP is to study and model exceptional people’s behavior and translate that into processes and procedures that anyone can quickly adapt and reproduce. It helps people acquire new skills acceleratedly, develop and integrate new behaviors, remove limitations, or re-hierarchize their value systems. All of it happened at a very, very fast speed. It uses language to produce a significant shift in consciousness down to the behavior. It is all procedure. This was like drinking from the grail of knowledge around my human cognizance for the engineer in me. Unlike traditional psychotherapy, which looks way back in the past to help one understand the cause of the blockages allowing healing to install, the NLP adjusts and creates strategies and models tested to prove that work.
My favorite metaphor to describe the difference between psychotherapy and NLP/coaching is that the therapist might be considered an archeologist who digs deeper to uncover the past. Yet, simultaneously, we can see the NLP master/coach as an architect, dream designer, and life engineer who translates wishes into plans and behaviors, creating paths to solutions quickly.
I’ll go back for a while to my first connection with NLP. The first few modules fascinated me. I hardly believed that was even real. I saw parts of me; I wasn’t even aware they existed. And when I say I saw, that’s what happened. I read and unfold the secrets of how the brain works, how we create memories, and how we understand life and other people through our senses. It was becoming more evident to me the importance of communication and language. I found an entirely new universe, and I quickly identified myself. It got me in a carousel, awakening the same sense of adventure that adrenaline gives one when riding the highest and most cumbersome rollercoaster. That made me not want or be able to stop.
It was August 2014. last day of the month. I was already preparing for the upcoming exam of graduation for NLP Practitioner. Yet, while reading and practicing, I was the Tinkerbell of my own life; I was the fairy who threw stardust upon her story to get the well-deserved happy ending. I was gracious, curious, and glad to have my means of „fixing” myself. The transparent processes and procedures explain how the human mind works and how inner and outer communication open ahead magical realms of self-comprehension and realization. They were my most powerful wand to transformation.
That day affair was born. I sealed it with an oath to practice every day what I learned, intending to remember and eventually master it all.
Today, I celebrate six years later, summing up 2561 days of NLP self-practice.
We are celebrating 2561 days of NLP self-practice!
When I look back to those days, I picture myself numb, clueless, but curious. Like detective Columbo, I walked with small steps unfolding one of the greatest mysteries of my world – my mind.
The journey took me to edges I could not have even dreamed of. It connected me to my core and helped me discover and accept my inner calling of healer and leader and take my story out. It still helps me every day to bring that to perfection with self-ablaze enthusiasm and motivation. It connected me to my sense of inner truth and righteousness. It got me to find a stable equilibrium between my inner world and outer reflection, mind and heart, body and soul. It offers me a solid foundation to reach and live a „Citius Altius Fortius” (Faster Higher Stronger) state of being in every second of my life, to be present in each moment, and to enjoy it all together. And above all, it helps me accompany, guide, and witness other people in their journeys to discover themselves, find their purpose and identity, adjust their career course, or heal their lives. Their smiles and their epiphanies confirm the righteousness of my being here.
I am still in love with NLP. Perhaps I am now more passionate than six years ago. But then, I uncovered many of its secrets and even more of mine. I fire up this flame daily with great joy, and it burns me to ashes so I am reborn, a better version of myself. I had no pause, no holiday, and no exception. My addiction, my reason to wake up in the mornings, is me – an essential part of who I am. And I am who I am every day—no break from it.
That’s what I call „my passion.” I am curious to know what your is yours.
Stay safe.
P.S. Writing this text got me one of the biggest smiles.
Photo credit: Josh Riemer on Unsplash
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