How to Tap Into Preexisting Resources

A recent article from Steve Andreas, one of my favorite NLP thinkers, offered some useful examples about the presupposition that people have all the resources they need, but they may not be applying them in the right context. The great hypnotherapist Milton Erickson described these resources as “what you know, but you don’t know that you know.”

For instance a manager might have wonderful people skills and treat his employees with care and respect, but he might end up struggling to treat his spouse well. When reminded of his abilities, he could be encouraged to treat his wife as though she were one of his valued employees.

Steve encourages those he trains to discover the areas where people are already successful and have them apply that skill set to the troubling context.

I have found that this often will work—sometimes in surprising ways—and it can be reinforced with suggestions like, “I never know how people can discover new ways to apply old skills. I’ll be curious to see what happens for you.” This presupposes that they will discover something, prompting them to take positive action using resources they already have.

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I like to collect stories about belief change experiences. If you have any interesting ones, please share them below so I can comment on them in subsequent articles or posts. 

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About Terry: Terry Hickey, M.S., is a Certified NLP Professional Coach, Business Trainer and Consultant, a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the co-owner of NLP Advantage Group. Originator of the Belief Breakthrough Method™, Terry specializes in teaching coaches and entrepreneurs how to rapidly resolve limiting beliefs about wealth and success. His tips and strategies can help you launch yourself into the future you want… NOW. http://terryhickey.com/