What’s the message here for you?

Let me paint you a picture. I completed my NLP Trainer in July with John Grinder, co-creator of NLP, Carmen Bostic St. Clair, partner of John and co-creator of New Code NLP and Michael Carroll, inspirational Master Trainer and the business brain. This training was three weeks with the last week being four days of assessment.

Throughout I felt confident of my ability and was reassured that I do actually know what I’m doing, I do have the ability to use NLP ethically and successfully and I noticed that other learners were coming to me to ask for my support and insight. All this felt very good indeed.

My reason for qualifying is so I can start helping other people experience the magic of NLP, I want other to use it and know its value. I want to qualify Practitioners and Master Practitioners alike. I watched as other people on my course launched into delivering their own programmes and as yet I still have not started mine. Why is that?

For me, I still need to believe that if someone is going to spend their hard earned personal cash with me, that I am going to be the absolute best I can for them. This got me thinking about how I could practice my skills, spread the word that I was now in a position to deliver NLP training and create some momentum. So I decided to start an NLP Practice group. A place where people curious about NLP could come along and find out more. A place where those who already had a Practitioner or Master Practitioner qualification but didn’t really use it very much, could come along and practice. A safe place for everyone, including me, to practice. To try, test, question, experience, learn, share or simply be.

I put the message about among some online groups that I was planning to create a Zest NLP Practice group and would anybody be interested and the response knocked my socks off. The interest was massive. So I pushed ahead and started the group. Our first session was in October and 14 people said they were coming and 14 people turned up! The vibe was great, informal, friendly, welcoming with a little buzz of excitement running through the group.

Our second session was in November and 20 people turned up. Oh my! The word had begun to spread and momentum was gaining. A more challenging session this time for everyone, with great debate and discussion, some quizzical brows and much learning. Again, the buzz on arrival, the anticipation in the air, was visible. The room was vibrating. This particular evening went on much longer that it was meant to, something that I will ensure doesn’t happen again, but it went on because people were curious. When I finally got home my brain was whirring and I couldn’t get to sleep. 1am crept upon me and finally I was able to close my eyes, although my whole nights’ sleep was very unsettled.

Even the next day I still had a nervous feeling in my tummy, a vacant expression in my eyes as I delved into a world inside my head. The question that I was churning around was this, I have been working in Learning and Development for over 14 years, and I’ve worked with so many different types of people and different size groups, that I’m confident in almost all situations. So what was the difference between working with this group of people than all the others? The answer to that finally dawned on me and its two fold.

Firstly, the fact that these people are coming to this practice group because of me. They come because of what I can do and bring. They spend their own money and their own time because they feel it’s worth their while. I feel truly honoured by that and if I’m honest slightly daunted. It puts a level of pressure on me that I haven’t felt in a while, of making sure that I uphold their expectations.

The second difference is energy. On the more corporate side of my business, it is usually my energy that creates the energy in the room. I spark the energy off for others and sometimes people join in, sometimes people power themselves off my energy and sometimes people drain it from me. Yet in this environment I have the privilege of being given other people’s energy. They want to give back, they want to connect, and they want to be part of it.

I couldn’t get to sleep that night because I had been powered up to a level I had never yet experienced. And if you know me already and know how much energy I have myself, times that by ten and it becomes obvious why I couldn’t sleep. If you don’t know me yet, let’s put it like this, I could have illuminated a whole town with the amount of vibration I was projecting. Phew. It took me another day before I was back to being the usual me!

We’re not having a practice group in December (on the one hand I breathe a sigh of relief and the other disappointment not to be connecting) it’s a busy time and falls too close to Christmas. I have however, created a little video for all the practice group members, something fun with of course an NLP focus.

Our next practice group is on January 12th and already there seems to be more people planning to come. Our first guest speaker and an interesting night of meta programmes and time lines, linked to health and well-being. I’m also feeling confident that I am ready to launch my NLP Diploma and Practitioner courses.

So what’s my message or point in this blog? I think there are many. Give out and you’ll get back. Believing is the first step to achieving. Taking action makes all the difference. People are amazing, have faith in them. These are the messages I get. What’s the message for you? I’d be very interested to know so why not drop me a line and tell me? Send me an email with your thoughts nikki@zestlearning.co.uk.

To find out more about our practice group, visit www.meetup.com/The-Zest-NLP-Practice-Group. From the New Year information about Zest and NLP will be on our website www.zestlearning.co.uk. Or you could simply give me a call on 01252 706844. Spaces are limited! We might even have to start a second group in a bigger location. Although after that I might not sleep for a week!