He he me too 

Please don't tell me it was cookie dough ice cream ... I said DON'T tell me do'h!!!

Hi Peter ... thank you for posting this. I guess we all have moments - extended moments - when nothing seems to be working out and maybe it's time to do something else. Yes I am sharing personal NLP business experience here 

Your message says to me: 1) I'm not alone! 2) It's so inspiring when someone finds their path and purpose 3) Buy and read Supercoach, I've not caught up with that yet (sorry Michael!)

Be well,
Ian

I've never yet had a client ask to see any of my certificates, although of course they're open for inspection if anyone wants to do any due diligence. And yes, insurers and the like always need to see them.

The Society of NLP certs. that I have all bear a clear 'expiry date', so it would be obvious to anyone reading them fully if they were out of date - and of course I ensure they get renewed.

I suspect this issue will grow ... I've just seen someone interviewed on News 24 about the Govt. funding for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy announced today and - hooray - he mentioned NLP as being equally effective. And then went on to say "anyone can teach themselves NLP for free". Well yeah - out of a book ... not the best way to learn NLP from scratch when already living with a mental health issue.

Anyway, anyone seeking to get work under this new mental health funding regime will need to have their certification neat and tidy 

Awesome!

I do agree with the premise - yep, as humans we can do more than the other animals and even the other monkeys - but that brings a heavy responsibilty with it too. To move towards good and away from evil. To work with those monkeys and other animals that need us. To look after this planet that is our only home.

Click the link, enjoy ... and think.

This is wrong, very wrong as far as I'm concerned. And yes, he does sound (as you've described it which I'm sure is accurate) the kind of guy who would tell you it was all just a technique to break your state. Well there are much more effective and ethical ways of doing that.

Now, speaking as a coach who moved into therapeutic uses of NLP, I question the usefulness of coaching alone - in the end there usually are therapeutic issues that, when resolved, will mean the client becomes more effective in getting the changes they seek. But I don't want to muddy the waters here - if you went to him for coaching, and he agreed you were to be coached, then he had no right to do anything else.

I agree with the other posts, find a new coach! Is he a member of any professional organisation? If he is, visit their website and find out how to complain.

Take care,
Ian

I have a set of CDs that I bought from Nightingale Conant. Good stuff although I haven't explored it very deeply yet. Snag is, when I want some trance in my head, it's difficult to get past Richard Bandler of course.

My interest was the CD on getting good sleep ... I do find that very effective but no more than some other tracks that I have.

I hadn't thought to look for the Happy Song on YouTube - will check it out.

I'm sure it will be entertaining Jay 

I asked about the audience partly because it can be better to have a niche audience rather than targeting too widely. That said, I struggle with having a niche myself, for some projects. In many ways a niche makes itself known when it (or the universe) is ready.

Have fun with this and be sure to point us in the direction of your MP3 file.

['Does NLP really get changes as quickly and easily as some claim?']

Hello Jay,

Who is your intended audience for the presentation? I'm mind reading it's for people who are curious about NLP and hypnosis but haven't gathered much information yet. So how about:

'Does NLP really get changes as quickly and easily as some claim?'

A question that can close the gap between what we know as NLP-ers and potential clients - and opens up the way for you to talk about how you get changes.

All the best with this - look forward to hearing the results 

Freedom and love
Ian

Born 1958 ...

60s ... growing
70s ... wasting
80s ... learning
90s ... exploring
00s ... loving

Freedom and love,
Ian

Signing up too - this looks to have some really good features. Worth having a look at www.squidoo.com and www.FreeIQ.com too.

Warmest wishes,
Ian

I've fund out some more - if you're interested, follow the links below and read. The company that called me was called UFindUs and they've got form. I'd better say that I have no evidence that they have rung anyone claiming to be me - and no doubt you can find out more about coincidence elsewhere on Genius Catalyst ...

http://grumbletext.co.uk/search.php?mode=results

http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/2531/companyname/Ufindus.html

Must find out more about Richard's technique for giving people phobias.

Yes, good idea - although I'm sure I'm already registered for this via BT's Privacy Service. Although cold calls can be annoying, my main concern is that a company that has absolutely no connection with me is contacting people and claiming to represent me. That's fraud, isn't it? Especially because I've got no idea of what they're telling people or the methods they're using - then it could affect my reputation.

Most cold calls that I get seem to be from people that have read an NLP book as far as the section on rapport, half understood it at best, and attempt to 'be my mate'. So I'm quite looking forward to some pacing and leading ...

  Ian

Thanks Lee - yes, your experience is very similar to mine and I'll be adoping the 'I'm full' approach in future.

Also, a couple of people have suggested a game to play with cold callers in general - see what we can sell to them (the guy I was taking to has sold Mind Spas and places on courses this way  ). He has a variation on the theme which is to see how long he can keep them on the phone ... kind of interesting although I don't really have that much free time!

Has anyone met this before? Here's what happened to me yesterday, and my theory about what's going on.

I was 'phoned by a very annoyed man, saying that "my organisation" had cold-called him while he was in a meeting. I told him I don't cold call, and as the 'organisation' is just me I'd know if I'd 'phoned anyone.

He said the caller gave the name of my business (actually they gave Purposeful Paths, which was the name before we transformed to NLP Catalysts) and was 'phoning from a call centre - there were noises of 'phones ringing and people talking in the background. Again, I assured him I don't use any kind of agency to call on my behalf.

By the way, he assumed PP was a large organisation because we're top of the list on Google - well yes, but only if you put the URL or exact business name directly into Google. We're all number one and 'large' on that basis!

When he'd calmed down, and accepted this call was nothing to do with me, he promised to let me know if anyone calls him again and to get as much information about them as he can.

I was bemused and couldn't work out what the angle might be. Then I remembered a cold call I'd taken a couple of weeks ago.

I was asked by the caller if I was looking for clients. "Of course."

"Well we have many clients all lined up and anxious to use your services - all you have to do is register with us." I didn't bother to find out how large the sum of money was they were looking for, or get much information about them. I ended the call and thought nothing more of it - after all, if that many people were anxious to be my clients, I'd be getting a large volume of calls direct, wouldn't I?

So I guess there's some unscrupulous agency (or several) out there trawling the web for smallish websites, posing as the business/practice concerned, and getting potential client details. Anyone who does pay the fee - guessing again - gets sent a list of names and 'phone numbers (at best).

So, I'm expecting another call with a similar 'we have clients' for you proposition soon. When it comes, I'll get their details and consider how to get them put out of business - permanently. This harms the reputation of anyone affected, and they're just riding on the back of those of us working hard to establish and grow our business in a legitimate way.

Has anyone else been affected by this scam, or think you have? I'd be interested to hear your experience and what you did about it.

Is my theory correct, or does anyone have another angle on this? Again, all thoughts welcome.

Hi bluesky,

Just out of curiosity, was it in any way disruptive to your business when you changed the name?

Much love,
Ian   

We're Purposeful Paths Unlimited (we added the Unlimited after hearing John talking about limited companies at the Master Prac. and we're not one of those!).  Soon it will be Purposeful Paths Training LLP for formal use - limited liability partnership, which seems to be a good way of formalising a business without all the legal requirements that a ltd. co. imposes.

How did we arrive at the name? We wrote down all the descriptive words that resonated with us, put them in different combinations, threw out the ones already taken or too similar mainly by searching google and a domain name search) , and this was the name that we liked best at the end of that process.

Oh, and we wanted something that could cover all sorts of change and development work - most of what we do is and I suspect always will be NLP, but as ideas (ours and those 'out there') evolve, we want to be able to go with them.  That said, most of what we do, in the end (and the beginning) is about values and purpose, so it fits well.

There are some very inventive names around ... saw an NLP training company called Pink Grapefruit the other day ...

Much love,
Ian   

Hi Mark,

That's cool. I got the impression the rush was to beat the standards!

I agree the short, sharp option is best. I've been down the academic route in the past ... well, I guess this is another thread really but on the weekend I was musing about how much more effective teacher training courses could be if they were done in rapid NLP style.  I used to prgramme manage and lecture on teacher education courses. Guess I'm now a fully paid-up herectic (feels great  )

Be well,
Ian

[are]

Hi Mark,

I did mine with Achievement Specialists www.achievementspecialists.co.uk.  The course is a residential weekend (in Bournemouth) followed by coursework, which can be completed quickly if you're really in that much of a rush. You do need to log 50 hours of coaching before you can complete the Diploma.

They have various options, depending on the amount of business-building support and coaching you require.  If you go for it, tell Curly I sent you as they have a referral scheme 

However ... do you really need to rush? Standards for coaching are coming (sloooooowly) but if you have a track record of satisfied clients that will count for more than a Diploma. Even when standards are ratified, I really can't see them becoming mandatory for a very long time, if ever. As for standards for NLP - is anyone even working on those yet? I'd genuinely like to know, 'cos if they are we need to ensure they know what they're attempting to do 

Once the standards are publically well known I guess some potential clients might ask for your accrediation - in a few years time.  So, calm calm calm and find a course that really suits your approach and your desired outcomes.

And whatever you do, enjoy it.
Ian

 

There's a great Spanish film in the cinemas just now ... 'Volver'.  Highly recommended.

Be well,
Ian

I'm having a good result using a mini-disc recorder. I have a tiny clip microphone that I bought from Mappins and it gives a surprisingly high quality (as in CD quality) recording. Once recorded, I use the Sony software 'SonicStage' to transfer the file to my PC as a .wav file. Then it goes onto a CD and can be saved as an MP3.

I had feedback from a client just yesterday that he was surprised by the high quality of the CD, and that he's used it to review the coaching session and work on his goals.

I've used the same system to record a talk that I gave with equally good results.

If I need to edit the file I use Audacity, which is free (open source). The next part of my strategy is to find some music that can be mixed into the file, to liven things up for podcasts and other plans that I have.

Mini-disc is just one option - it will be interesting to read of the set up that others are using.

Be well,
Ian

Well ... people that have said to me "buckle down and get stable" (financially ...well I think they meant financially  ) are those that seek to apply their map to everyone else. That's what they've done so that's what we all 'should' do.

Personally, I've found when I don't do what I'm passionate about I struggle to be successful. I'm much happier in my life now I've set some well-formed outcomes and am taking action to achieve them.

Yes, as Martin says, if you have a clearly defined path to your destination, maybe some short-term diversions are okay. If not, it's all too easy for the diversion to become the journey. Take care.

Much love,
Ian

Cool, thanks for dealing with the rotten spammers. I wonder how far into the minus figures their karma rating can go? 

Much love,
Ian