NLP is often described as an Attitude backed by Methodology and followed by a trail of techniques.

Read below my experiences and understanding of this seemingly abstract definition.

Last week I was invited to attend an NLP practice group session and found myself practicing putting my goals in the future time-line.

We formed groups of two and the person I found myself partnering with for the exercise is someone who has recently completed the practitioner certification.

As we started the exercise, I found myself generating creative ideas and instead of sticking to the script for the practice, I realized I was using hypnotic induction in addition to the future time-lining and also using a through time strategy for the future time-lining with this person. I had already sensed that she was making up her experiences using a through time strategy.

Soon I found I was being chastised by the Trainer who had organized this session. Not that the script provided was a verbatim read aloud script. Rather it was a script of steps in the process and I was deviating from these listed steps.

Now, I'll jump to another incident which happened a few months ago which at first may seem unrelated and yet as you continue reading, I will explain how these incidents are related.

A few months ago, I attended a talk session of another NLP trainer on a topic from the NLP domain. The talk session delivery was quite flat and almost like attending a lecture by a university professor of psychology. We did some exercises which were quite basic and seemed to miss the point of the NLP topic.

Now, What is the relation between these two incidents?

In the first, I was almost reprimanded for being creative and deviating from the script. And a few years ago, I would have felt stifled at my creativity being shorted.

In the second, I participated in a session which would have been considered boring and typically not have derived any value out of these.

And yet, what is common to these incidents is the learning I derived from them.

Initially, I found myself critiquing the exercise that was given. And what came out of that criticism was a different way of putting together that same exercise and create something different and valuable. As soon as that thought struck me, I got engaged into it with renewed vigour and interest. And even then I thought to myself that the process of this strange realization was something new and alien to me.

Now, going back to the first incident, As I was being corrected by the trainer to stick to the script I was struck by another thought. That here we are as a group to practice a certain skill and the participants have been given a script.

Now while I may think that I do not need the script - what about the others? Not all were at the same level of expertise. Not all understood NLP in the same way and to the same level. What was the purpose being served by the script? It allowed all to approach the topic at the same level of understanding and in the same way.

And what was being achieved by my so called "creativity"? Sure, it might have had a better impact for the person. But what about her learning? What would she have learned? Would she have learned about time-line exactly the same? Or would she have come to an understanding that my hypnotic induction was "Time-line"?

I don't know and can't be certain. But for sure one thing which became clear to me is the process by which information and experiences get distorted when communicated from one person to another.

So here is the thing with things that we find boring, uninteresting or challenging. What is it that we have not yet found interesting in that? What is it that we have not understood about it yet? What is it about it that we need to explore to find that unprecedented opportunity to create new learning and new realizations, which after having learned it now, we would find that it opens up a completely new world of possibilities for you? This is part of the attitude to inculcate for mastery in NLP and in general for life.