NLP... in a nutshell...

NLP is an ever-growing collection of information, insights and mental techniques that can enable you to improve how you think, behave and feel - and assist others do the same.

It is easier to describe what it does than to define it succinctly and comprehensively. So, for example, becoming skilled in NLP will enable you to:

	do whatever you already do reasonably well, even better
	acquire skills and attitudes to do what you cannot do right now, but would like to be able to do
	communicate more effectively with others
	think more clearly
	manage your thoughts, moods and behaviours more effectively.

(Check the FAQ for other definitions.)

‘The study of success’

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) has been variously described as the technology of the mind, the science of achievement, and the study of success. It is based upon the study of excellence in human performance.

For over a quarter of a century NLP explorers have studied or ‘modelled’ the behaviour and thinking styles of particularly effective and successful people in business, education, sales, therapy, sport, and personal development.

The results of this work are nowadays presented in workshops and extended trainings which, in effect, provide shortcuts to more successful living - you learn in hours what may have taken the experts years to discover by trial and error.

The essence of NLP could be expressed in the question

How is it possible to be an idiot... or an expert?

NLP is, in effect, the study of what accounts for these types of performance. It is the practical and pragmatic study of the ingredients of excellent performance and the transfer of these ‘ingredients’ to others.

NLP - that name!

The name Neuro-Linguistic Programming is believed to have been the result of an attempt to describe in a succinct manner the scope of this extensive body of insights and skills:

	Neuro refers to how the mind and body interact.
	Linguistic refers to the insights into a person’s thinking that can be obtained by careful attention to their use of language.
	Programming refers, not to the activity of programming, but to the study of the thinking and behavioural patterns or ‘programmes’ which people use in their daily lives.

The name is a bit of a mouthful and is certainly not NLP's strongest asset. By trying to be too comprehensive it has ended up being somewhat off-putting and most people feel a little uncomfortable about the 'programming' part of the name when they first encounter NLP.

But the name Neuro-Linguistic Programming has been around for about 35 years so it looks like we are stuck with it. Which is why it is generally abbreviated to the initials NLP.

You could say that NLP has become successful not because of the title but in spite of it. Let's face it - if something with such a weird name can become this popular it must be good - because the title does it no favours at all!

What they've said about it

Science Digest said that NLP 'could be the most important synthesis of knowledge about human communications to emerge since the sixties.'

Time Magazine announced that 'NLP has untapped potentials for treating individual problems.'

Training & Development Journal reported that NLP 'offers the potential for making changes without the usual agony that accompanies these phenomena' and that it 'allows for increasing options, flexibility, creativity and therefore greater freedom of action than most of us know.'

Best-selling author and motivational speaker Anthony Robbins said that NLP is 'an incredibly effective and enjoyable way to access more of the true potential of your brain.'

Pegasus NLP NLP Courses

You can download information about our NLP Practitioner training here

NLP Practitioner Part 1 (NLP Core Skills)

NLP Practitioner Part 2

NLP

NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming was used to develop the ideas and themes on this site. I have been using it for nearly three decades to help me understand how I and other people tick and in my work as a consultant and trainer - and it continually impresses me. See the NLP links below for more information.