In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a strategy is a recipe for results. It’s how we order and sequence our experiences to produce a specific result. A simple way to think of a neurological strategy is it’s what you do in your mind when you do something. They are the thought patterns that produce our results. We have strategies for everything we do from falling in love to getting motivated, to feeling depressed. We aren’t usually conscious of them. If we know what they are, then we can use our strategies to get in a particular state more effectively.

Photo by Pathfinder Linden
A friend of mine sent me an email titled “Twelve Little Laws of Life.”   The laws were short and sweet and I was impressed.   I hunted down the original author Tom Hoobyar.  Tom said I was free to republish the laws.  Here are the 12 laws of life, followed by my take on them. 

The 12 Little Laws of LifeHere’s Tom’s 12 little laws of life:

SELF-MANAGEMENT AND PEOPLE SKILLS ARE THE KEYS TO YOUR SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS.
YOU ARE AT THE CENTER OF YOUR UNIVERSE. STAY THERE!
WHAT …

"Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are." — Oscar Wilde
If you’re not getting what you want, you might not be asking the right way.
It’s an easy trap to fall into.  It’s easy to ask, but it’s not so easy to ask well.  It takes practice.  Even with practice, I still fall into the traps of asking too generic a question, or asking the wrong person.  However, I catch myself faster, and it’s easy to course correct, because I know what asking intelligently looks like.
In Unlimited Power : The New …

"Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." — Anthony Robbins
Why are you stuck?  That’s not a very empowering question.  You’ll just figure out reasons for why you’re stuck.  Instead, ask a question like "how can you move forward?" or "how might you accomplish that?"  The key is to ask "how" questions over "why" questions. 
In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, Tony Robbins writes about choosing "how" questions over "why" questions.
Key Take Aways Here’s my key …

"A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights." — Brian Tracy
How can you ask better questions to improve your effectiveness?  By asking "outcome questions" you can change direction toward the outcome and away from the solution. 
I actually use this technique effectively at work, but I call them "solution-focused questions."  Basically, I focus on how to move forward and getting clarity on where we want to …

One of the best books I’ve found for simplifying NLP into practical application is Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People Know, Say and Do , by David Molden and Pat Hutchinson.
NLP is a set of techniques and strategies for modeling excellence. I use NLP for practical things from building rapport to learning success from others. The most important thing I learned from NLP is how changing your thinking, feeling, and doing, changes your results.
My Book Nuggets Here are my nuggets from the book so …

The precision model is a tool for overcoming some of the most common language pitfalls. When your language is fluffy or when somebody else’s language is fluffy, it can be difficult to take effective action, because you don’t really understand what the problem is. Using the precision model, you can clarify people’s distortions, deletions, and generalizations, while keeping rapport. In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, Anthony Robbins writes about using the precision model to improve your ability to cut through fluff and get more actionable insights …

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” –  Carl Gustav Jung
In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), meta-programs are the keys to the way you process information. They’re basically how you form your internal representations and direct your behavior. In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, Tony Robbins writes about meta-programs that people use to sort and make sense of the world.
Key Take Aways Here are my key take aways:

Use meta-programs to understand yourself and others. Meta-programs helps …

"By concentrating on precision, one arrives at technique, but by concentrating on technique one does not arrive at precision." — Bruno Walter
You have programs for everything you do. Your programs consist of sequences of thoughts and behaviors triggered by a stimulus. In NLP terms, this is called a strategy for achieving an outcome. Really, this is an internal processing strategy. If you know about the components of an internal processing strategy, you can change it, copy an effective strategy from somebody else, or create a new one from scratch.
In …

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print, and begin to build.” — Robert Collier quotes
What if you could step into your future, experience your success, and look back on how you got there? What if you could do a dry run or walkthrough of your future accomplishments and actually feel your results?
In Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People Know, Say & Do, David Molden and Pat Hutchinson write about a simple but effective technique from their Neuro …

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” — Jimmy Dean
The acronym PRIEST provides a framework for evaluating outcomes.   Outcomes is another way to say goals or “results” but with more precision.   It’s a way to walk through what you want to accomplish and map out your results with precision and detail.  The better you can visualize, talk about, and feel your success, the more you stack the deck in your favor.
In Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People …

“Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.” – Unknown
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) was founded on a core set of beliefs. NLP was originally used to model excellence, so the beliefs reflect patterns of excellence that show up in people at their best.
In Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People Know, Say & Do, David Molden and Pat Hutchinson write about the core beliefs NLP is based on.
Key Take Aways Here are my …

“When things are steep, remember to stay level-headed.” – Horace
Virginia Satir was a highly effective family therapist. Richard Bandler and John Grinder modeled Virginia Satir when they created Neuro Linguistic Proramming (NLP.)   Satir achieved rapid results by using five communication categories to identify behavior: Blaming, Placating, Computing, Distracting and Leveling.
In Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People Know, Say & Do, David Molden and Pat Hutchinson write about the Satir communication categories.
Key Take Aways I work in a high-stakes, high stress environment. I get …

“The relationship is the communication bridge between people.” — Alfred Kadushin
Negative, vague language can work for or against you. Whether self-talk or dialogue with others, generalizations we make, details we leave out, or the way we distort through language, influences how we think, feel, and act. You can choose limiting vague language or artfully vague language patterns that are positive and empowering.
In Brilliant Nlp: What the Most Successful People Know, Say & Do, David Molden and Pat Hutchinson write about generalization, deletion and distortion as it pertains to Neuro …

Meta-Programs are a way to improve your self-awareness and better understand those around you.  You can use them to improve how you communicate with yourself and others. Intrinsic values show themselves as patterns in what you say, how you say it, and what you do. Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) calls these intrinsic values, meta-programs. You can think of each meta-program as a range of behavior and tendencies based on what you value. The real key is to pay attention to know where your intrinsic values are holding you back, and …