Learn to change the past and free yourself from your conditioning and limiting beliefs using this NLP Change Personal History Technique.. NLP, Hypnotherapy and Meditation - Gold Coast Australia ... Use the contact form in the right side bar to book a free 20 minute Skype or Zoom session.
NLP Change Personal History Technique Part 1 and Part 2
By Abby Eagle (2023)
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In this article I want to show you how to go back in time and give the younger you the resources and understandings that you have now. That is another way of saying that in your imagination you can rewrite the past to change the present and build a better future.
Back in the early days of NLP, Richard Bandler and others in the NLP team created the NLP Change Personal History technique. In this technique you set up a kinesthetic anchor for a positive resource and then holding the anchor you take it back to negative memories and thus update the negative memory. This usually requires a skilled NLP Master Practitioner.
A bit later Richard Bandler created the NLP Decision Destroyer technique. With this technique you identity a time in the past where you made a decision that impacted your life in a negative way. Then you go back over your timeline to a neutral time before you made that decision and then hold a conversation with someone that you trusted such as a grandparent. This authority figure then tells you something to the effect that things sometimes happen in life and the best way to deal with these things is – and the grandparent gives some advice that is relevant to the situation that you were in and the decision that you made. Basically the grandparent tells the younger you that life is unpredictable – to do the best that you can – and not to beat yourself up and unduly judge or criticise yourself. Keeping in mind that the important thing is to preserve the positive learnings and to take the those learnings into the future – so that you become a learning machine.
Tad James created the NLP Proactive Goal Setting technique in which you build an image in your mind of the ‘new you’ some time in the future. You then take copies of the ‘new you’ and put it back into the past.
And going back in time, the psychologist Milton H Erickson of Tucson Arizona, did a process with a woman in which he visits her multiple times in her past in order to build in new resources and update her personal history. This was called the "February Man".
So keeping in mind these NLP Change Personal History techniques I created this procedure which you can do quite easily by yourself.
So you start with your present situation – and you look back to when you were younger – you analyse the situation - and think about how if you had behaved differently then how you would be much better off now.
Let’s say you look back to when you were a teenager and you got into all sorts of strife and made bad decisions which got you into the wrong relationships and led you down the wrong path – and on reflection it could be that you understand that if only you could have behaved differently then you would have lived a totally different life.
- It could be that you were a ‘yes’ person and went along with what others wanted to do.
- It could have been that you put the needs and wants of others before your own.
- Or it could have been that you were self centred and always put your own needs and wants first and never listened to others.
- Or it could have been that you did not know how to say “No”.
- Or it could have been that you lacked curiosity and never bothered to search beyond what you saw on TV or what your friends and family talked about.
- It could have been that you just accepted what parents, teachers, religious leaders, and the media presented to you as truth.
- Or it could have been that you enrolled in a course of study, learned a skill, got a job, bought a house and a swimming pool only to realise some years later that you were way off track with what your heart really desired?
So you start by looking back on your life to your younger days and think to yourself, “If only I had – and then fill in the blank.
- what frames of mind, attitudes, beliefs, resources and behaviours did you need at the time which would have changed everything for the better?
- if there was someone who you trusted who could have given you advice what would they have said to you? What did you need to hear? What did you need to see, feel or do, have or get?
So let me give you some content.
When I was 15 years old I read an article in the Weekend Australian Newspaper about some guy in India who ran a small meditation retreat. I looked at the article and I thought to myself, “I want to go and visit him”. Then I immediately discounted myself and thought, “Who am I? I am only 15 years old and I have no money. I will never be able to fly to India”. I was standing out in the driveway of my house when I had those thoughts. And rather than cutting out the article and holding onto the dream I threw the newspaper away. Anyway I did eventually end up visiting this guy about 14 years later in Oregon USA – and then some years later in India. Who is this guy you may ask? Osho.
Anyway on recollection, about 3 years later when I turned 18 I had a good job at the University of Western Australia as a Lab Technician – and on my annual holidays I could have easily gone to visit Osho in Poona India. If I had done this then my life would have been totally different.
So what frame of mind did I need when I read the newspaper article? First off it would have helped if I had the belief that if you desire something then there is the possibility that you can get it. And I should have held onto the thought – the desired outcome – of travelling to India. This would have been a guiding factor in every decision that I had made from then on – so rather than spending money on V8 cars and alcohol – I would have bought a smaller vehicle and saved my money. I would have looked at travel brochures and the costs of travelling to India. This would have taken me in a totally different direction with who I spent time with and the relationships that I got involved in.
So now what you do is become like a film director and you use your internal dialogue to create a video in your mind of the past that you would have liked to experience. So you see yourself having traits and doing things that would have been useful to you at the time. For example:
- Not over responding to others – not necessarily being self centred but making sure that you considered your own needs and wants first.
- Learning to ask a number of questions before making a decision and saying “yes”. Another way of saying that is being slow to form a belief – or slow to make a decision – or slow to take action – unless you have given it enough thought about the possible benefits and consequences.
- See the younger you having a really good strong “No” and not saying “Yes” unless you are 100% in alignment with the proposition.
- See yourself keeping in mind the upside and the downside of every decision that you made.
- See the younger you having a greater sense of curiosity – realising that there is much more to life than the world in which you think you live. Realising that there is almost an infinite number of possibilities – you just need to get curious and take action – ‘just do it’ as they say.
- See the younger you challenging everything for the truth – being slow to form a belief – always looking for another stone to be upturned – another corner in the road to be traversed – always with an open mind searching and gathering information
What you do is build a story in the cinema of your mind in some detail of what you would have liked to have done. As you see yourself as-if you could have behaved differently it will open up new pathways for you to explore. So in my example, if I had saved the newspaper article and saved my money then I could have gone to Poona India and then my life story would have been totally different. So you explore that story in your mind and then as you move up through your timeline towards now you will find that memories begin to change in some way – and then as you come back to now you should find yourself thinking differently about how you want to live your life now and what direction you want to take your life.
1. When I was 15 years old I kept the newspaper article. I went to the library and the travel agencies to gather information. I learned all I could about India and Osho. This would have changed my interests and who I spent time with.
2. At 18 years old I got a job and I saved my money for an annual holiday to India. I had to get a passport, a backpack, suitcase and all that sort of stuff. I bought copies of any books and audio tapes that Osho may have published at the time.
3. At 19 years old I visited Poona once again and brought back a few more books and started teaching meditation with Osho’s blessings. I built a totally new lifestyle and new friendships.
4. I visited Poona at 20 years old and 21 years old and then at 22 years old I visited Malaysia, Singapore, India and Nepal before going back to Poona.
5. At 23 years of age I enrolled in a psychology degree.
6. And at 27 years of age I enrolled in an art degree.
So by 30 years of age I had two degrees and was living an amazingly fulfilling lifestyle – and most importantly I was in excellent health.
After running that scenario in my mind a number of times it changes how I think about myself now and what I should focus on in the future.
Before you actually run the process it may be a good idea to do an ecology check with your unconscious mind and ask, “Is there any part of me that objects to me running the content in this process? Could this process have a negative consequence?”
To run the ecology check with yourself it helps if you have a reliable ideomotor signal. If you don’t have an ideomotor signal then you can learn how to set up the communication with your unconscious mind by watching this video.
For advanced ideomotor signal skills please check this page.
So now it is up to you to try out this NLP Change Personal History procedure. Let me know how it goes for you in the comments section below. If you are looking for a NLP Coach then feel free to send me an email and organise a free 20 minute Skype or Zoom session
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