Scion of NLP

Archive for October, 2009

I’ve always believed that you can tell a lot about a person by the role models they choose. With that in mind I’d like to share a very unique source of inspiration of my own … a human beatbox artist from the UK by the name of Shlomo (Click here to check out his Wikipedia article). Now, many people don’t know this but when I’m working, although I do like to listen to Jazz & Blues music, I often listen to electronic & techno dance music from Europe ( Digitally Imported FM Radio) on my computer.

For anyone who doesn’t know what beatboxing is, it’s a form of vocal percussion which primarily involves the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one’s mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and more. Occasionally it may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments. Beatboxing is mainly connected with hip hop culture although it is not limited to hip hop music — in fact, Shlomo (BTW, his full name is Simon Shlomo Kahn) has pushed the boundaries of beatboxing by using his vocal skills as a way to collaborate with a whole range of artists from different backgrounds.

Here’s a quick 2 minute example of Shlomo beatboxing …

So, you might wonder why I feel Shlomo is such an amazing role model — well, it comes from one of the most phenomenal experiences of my life. When I did my NLP Trainers Training at NLPU in Santa Cruz back in 2004, one of the events all 100+ students did was an enormous drumming circle. During the process we, as a group, each contributed played a small percussion instrument and together we created our very own unique song. It was so incredibly moving and spiritually awakening that I’ve never been the same since — before that I always thought of myself seperate and apart from other people in the world … and after that experience I have a whole new way of relating to everyone around me.

Shlomo does the same type of thing with his Vocal Orchestra. Individually they each add one small piece of beatboxing and together they make the most astounding music …

Although that is wonderful and I do hope that one day I too can bring people together like that, it’s not the main reason I aspire to be the Shlomo of the NLP community. You see, during my training at NLPU, Robert Dilts explained an idea to us which has always helped drive me towards improving myself and my abilities. He explained is in a metaphor about an expert guitarist — first you need to learn the basics about holding a guitar and playing the scales … you need to learn to read music and play different songs … in time you learn different ways of playing the same tunes … you experience mistakes that teach you how to play better and more unique … eventually you have so much knoweldge and experience with playing the guitar that you can simply pick up the instrament anywhere at any time and simply play … no song, no music … just play and the song will create itself — and that’s exactly how I want to be with my NLP!

Dilts showed us a video which demonstrated what happens when two people who are expert musicians — one with a guitar and one with a violin — and when they got together and just played they were able to naturally flow with one another and make a unique and powerful piece of music that simply “happened” … no plan … no rehersal … just an unspoken connection through the music. That’s the way Shlomo is with his beatboxing — he can collaborate with another musician or singer easily and effortlessly … (remember that ALL the music in this video is made only by the beatboxers — no actual instraments are used!)

Finally, this last video is what I consider the epitome of how I want to be able to teach with other instructors (NLPer and/or professional trainers in other fields) … so natural … so smooth … so elegant … and as the audience I was left astounded and speechless …

Shlomo — YOU ROCK!

(Please note:  This story was originally written by Chris Brogan and posted on his Community & Social Media Blog, but I really think it’s a great story and I’ve been meaning to re-post it and pass it on since I first read it back in May.)

The other day, I made a rookie mistake. I left my suitcase in the trunk of a taxi. As it sunk in what had just happened, I knew that I was doomed. Or was I? Here’s the story and how it relates to value.

When I get in the cab at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston, I engage my driver by apologizing for interrupting her lunch break, and asking her how much of the day is left. She says, “Too much,” and sighs a bit. I ask her how she’s doing.

The stories in the car are between this woman and myself, but we have quite a back and forth about her life, about family, about cultures and how difficult it is to make relationships work when some very basic cultural similarities are missing. It was a great conversation, where we both told each other small stories of our lives. I leave her cab happy, and she seems a bit more peppy after the conversation, too.

About 10 minutes later, I realize that I’ve left my suitcase in her trunk. Worse, that suitcase has my very expensive Nikon D60 camera in it. Even worse, I’ve picked up this cab without calling, and paid cash, so she is completely unknown to me.

I call the dispatcher, who had no idea how to determine which Afghan woman had picked me up, and who essentially told me to call the Boston Police Hackney Unit’s lost and found. I did this. Calling lost and found meant just calling an answering machine. No humans. By the way, that was days ago, and still no response.

At this point, I’m fairly sure my bag is gone. I’m reasonably sure this woman will discover the bag, and if she chooses to turn it in, will no doubt keep the camera. There’s no reason for her not to do so. And having just watched a TV news undercover report on how honest people aren’t (17 out of 17 people failed a simple test), I wasn’t feeling especially positive about my chances.

Flash forward about an hour and a half from when I realized the bag is gone. I’ve been to three appointments and lunch. I’m now standing exactly where the woman dropped me off. I am on a phone call when I look over and I see her pull up. Yes, the cab driver who has my bag has just pulled back up.

“I figured you were in a meeting, so I waited about an hour and then came back.”

I can’t believe this. There’s my bag. Completely intact. I give her a big hug, give her money equivalent to 2x the original cab ride (which probably still isn’t enough, given how much she saved me), and we part.

Was the storytelling and conversation itself what brought my bag back? I feel it was. Was the connection we shared in the cab better than the connection with the dispatcher who did nothing to help me? Definitely. Do I see that this kind of interaction (being human, caring about others, telling stories) offers a measurable ROI in business transactions? I say so.

My total expenditure: $40 (or so) plus a heartfelt conversation. What it saved me: $1000 (or so).

Yep, that’s ROI to me.

What do you think?

[Original Source: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-roi-of-stories-an-informal-case-study/]

The study of Zen Buddhism is often taught through stories and metaphors as a way to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying principles and ideas. One such story tells of a discussion between a teacher and his students:

A Zen teacher once presented a moral problem to his pupils, “If a man is hanging from a branch by only his teeth and a pretty young woman comes along asking for directions, does the man do the honorable thing of opening his mouth to answer her and end up falling to his death … or does he show the woman great disrespect by ignoring her in order to save his own life?” After several wrong answers one young disciple said, “The man must do whatever is the nature of that man.”

This small story demonstrates a key component of easy and effortless intention manifestation — utilization of personal beliefs and values. The way you perceive yourself and the world around you has a powerful influence over how effective you are in using the Law of Attraction.

Although one prime directive of the unconscious mind is to take actions which allow you to be a “highly moral person,” it is important to remember that the definition of morality is subjective. A criminal will perceive certain actions and behaviors as ethically acceptable, however you may disagree. The key here is to realize that each person is allowed their own perceptions on the level of “right” and “wrong.”

Even though a person acting in a way you consider to be immoral or unethical still accomplishes the desired outcome that you would achieve by choosing a different behavior, the Law of Attraction (LoA) still applies to both of you. The reason LoA applies in both cases lies within the “Higher Positive Intent” which guides the purpose of every person’s actions.

Behind every behavior you ever do in life the unconscious mind will perceive a higher positive intent. That highest positive intention is the purpose which puts direction to LoA, but each individual must make the choices which work best in their model of the world. In this way, two people acting in direct moral conflict with one another can still have the same highest positive intention. In comparison, two people attempting to accomplish the same behavior may find one person fails while the other person succeeds. In this case, LoA is still being directed by the highest positive intention — for the person who succeeded, the outcome was inline with their highest positive intent. For the person who fails it’s more likely that the way they structured their highest positive intention was not best served by achieving their current goal.

An extreme example of this is the basic instinctual need for safety and survival. In the case of a drug user who is “coming down” off a high, his or her mind and body will be experiencing significant forms of pain and anguish. These experiences will drive the person to do whatever is necessary to “survive.” Since they feel like they’re literally dying, flexibility of choice becomes wide open, which means their morals turn in to something equivalent to nothing more than suggested guidelines for decision making. Where one person might think of armed robbery as a good idea for getting more drugs, the other person might attend a hospital emergency room in hopes of finding assistance.

Both the people in this extreme example are making a choice they each believe will lead to survival; however, because we are not experiencing the same level of suffering, those of us outside the experience have the luxury of judging their choices as right or wrong. The universe has no such sense of good or evil and so, in regard to the LoA, the most important point to consider is how each person forms their highest positive intention. If both people are simply looking to “stop the pain” then it’s just as likely the person committing armed robbery may end up being arrested which the universe knows would eventually lead to a prison sentence where he could receive proper detoxification treatment, subsequently “ending his/her pain.”

Thus, by taking time to clearly determine what the higher positive intention is behind something you want you will open your awareness to potential choices you may not have originally perceived. As well, you may find that your higher intention may require some minor tweaking in order to be more inline with the outcome you desire. In either case, applying the principles of LoA to your higher positive intentions instead of simply focusing on manifesting your material desires will significantly increase your degree of success. For example, rather than seeking more money in order to feel more confident in life, it would be better to manifest a greater sense of confidence in the life you have. The end results of using LoA in that way is more likely help you see the choices which will ultimately allow you to make more money.

In the end, accepting that your inner thoughts and desires which are motivated by negative emotions such as hate and anger do actually have a higher intention will allow you to find peace. Thinking about stealing, hurting people, drinking your problems away, etc. all have a higher positive intention — figure out what that higher intention is and you can become aware of better choices to manifest it.