Saturday, December 30, 2006

NLP Training - After the training is completed

Ah - there is a time when any training is completed. And then most of the time, reality (whatever that is) sets in. While the beauty of NLP is that it really helps people to change - change on the conscious and unconscious level with greater understanding for self and others - people around the participants haven't changed.

Sadly, many training outcomes are set in a way that they are not very effective - okay, something always sticks with the participants, but often, the learning is quickly forgotten. This happens for a variety of reasons.

One is that the transition back into the normal life is not smoothened. This is difficult in a personal development training, but also in a corporate setting. Coming Monday morning, many participants come back to work, see that the e-mail inbox is full and then, decide to postpone the implementation of the new learning for a day or two.

However, in most cases, the learning is forgotten when not applied immediately. I read a number that 85% of the training effect is lost in such cases. I am not sure if there are numbers for those that participate on their own without corporate sponsorship.

Another reason is that trainings are often conducted to change behaviours. But to change behaviours is not that easy, if the unconscious mind is not integrated. Only if learning is integrated on the conscious and unconsious mind is learning long lasting (something that you get when you train with Asia Mind Dynamics!).

People around those that participated in an NLP training realise that participants coming from NLP courses have changed dramatically. Mostly, participants discover new choices, or develop new pathways in their life. Many participants change their jobs for the better, develop better relationships with loved ones and those around them, gain the promotion that they desired, have a clear picture of the future and more.

But not all and sometimes, it simply is tough to retain the path of change. As much as those participants want to be at Cause for their life and create the results in their life that they desire, the reality can be grinding. An NLP course gives you plenty of tools to operate in a "normal world" (may be it is the crazy world) .

What then can be done?

Well, there are a couple of great, great advantages to go with Asia Mind Dynamics. I will organise regular meetings with all those that participated in the training, there will be online discussion groups, and we will be able to exchange ideas via e-mail, chat boxes or even mobile phones.

If a refresher is needed, I will organise one - for either the individual or the group. Over time, there will be a monthly meeting with those that went through my training, to support each other and learn from each other.

Basically, it is about learning together on how to apply what has been learnt to the real life, to change your life and influence those around you positively. Because, we want to create a world that is worthwhile living in and contributing, right?/

So get the insight now - here is the outline of the brochure and then sign up!
Or, send a mail to NLP AT AsiaMindDynamics.com for more inquiries.

(NLP in Asia)

(
Asia Mind Dynamics)

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Stress and Christmas shopping

Malaysia is on sale, once again. And sure enough, it coincidences with Christmas. The queues in front of the shopping malls are huge, and disoriented shoppers walk dazily around, eyes wide open.

Many appear stressed, and now before the final, final weekend before Christmas, expect chaos. I will be one who is going to buy some presents for my boy on Saturday. He wants some Play Station Games (Star Wars), a new football, and a bicycle.

I am already not the nicest shopper during normal shopping days but now, with Christmas music blaring, promoters hassling, too many people pushing and shoving, wow, can I not feel pity with myself? I call it sensory overload, and that it surely is. You are entrenched in noise, visual teasers, and just the enclosures with too many people close by.

Well, it is the end-goal that I keep in mind. My boy's smile on the face, when he opens the presents. Of course he now knows that Santa Claus is actually is Papa, so there is no surprise on that side anymore.

A healthy mental attitude is healthy to start with - I play it out in the back of my mind, what I want, where I want it and then, be very determined in what I really want, in order not to be distracted too often.

I attempt to be in the mall at the earliest, to avoid being trapped in one of the huge traffic jams. And then, I entice myself as well with a short visit to the residential bookshop or a coffee. As an additional incentive.

Will I stay cool? Well, I hope and believe I am not heating up inside. I will be doing fine :).

How are you coping with the stress during Christmas shopping?

But once again, I am amazed by the amount of tools that I have at hand after I learnt NLP.

My upcoming NLP course still has places free - so register now to secure your seat now - download the brochure for the registration form . Send me a mail at NLP AT AsiaMindDynamics.com for more information.

(NLP in Asia)
(Asia Mind Dynamics)















Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The lost customer - will they ever return?

Recently, I went for lunch to Madam Kwan in KLCC. Madam Kwan, as most of you know, is one Malaysian restaurant with great, great food. The problem (is it one?) with such great places is that they are packed over lunch time. So, if you don't book a place, well, you better have time to wait.

I had a booking for me and friends, but I was there a bit too early. So I could watch the crowd gathering outside. Some were pretty tense, because they couldn't really see their bookings in the book, others were more astonished about the number of people already waiting. A third group was waiting patiently and silently.

The waiter attending to the waiting guests tried hard, but trying is not good enough for some. Especially, since the poor guy had to leave the door and check with his colleagues in the back about tables, I assume, and then come back to the front.

In the time that he was gone, no one was there to attend to the waiting guests - and more came. So there was room for impatience.

Some guests waiting went away, saying, that it takes too long and that they go over to Little Penang, another restaurant. Clearly, there are also queues in front of Little Penang, but I am not focussing on this right now.

The question here is, of course - will those customers ever return? How will they talk about their waiting experience to friends, neighbours, other colleagues? Such events are lasting events for some, while others browse over it easily.

However, every lost customer is lost business - a business that might not return, anymore!

So what can be done? Better management of the waiting list, for sure. Don't let the guests alone - always have someone to entertain them, or be ready to entertain them.

The guy attending to the customers looked stressed, and it was a stressful environment. So give him something that motivates him, immediately, and on the spot - ha, of course I talk about the magic of NLP here :)

Also, understand the individuality of customers. Every customer is different and wants to be treated differently. So train your people to be able to identify the different characteristics of customers, and treat customers the way they want to be treated. Rapport building, for one, is one great way in doing this, subconsciously!


Again, I am promoting my training here, of course, and again, this is something that we are going to talk about in intensity during the training. How to identify the different types of customers and be able to serve them in the way that entertains them most appropriately, so that, in the end, the level of complaints get reduced and you get a reputation even better than the current one. Which, in turn, increases sales. Great, what?


So join me now, okay?

Here are some details!

Just send me a mail to NLP AT asiaminddynamics.com and we take it from there, okay?

Andreas

(NLP in Asia)
(Asia Mind Dynamics)















Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Eye patterns, customer orientation and decision making strategies

This now is a bit of an advanced NLP topic, but I am in the mood to write about it.

I believe that all of us have realised that when we look at people, they move their eyes, in all directions. It might look like it is a wild goose chase going on, but hey, when people move their eyes, they are actually doing something inside their head.

Now this has been a bit of a contentious topic over the years, with some groups saying that it is nonsense, and others, that it is a workable "technique". I think that if it works for you, it is fine, and if some believe it doesn't work, well, they will come around, sooner or later, okay?

Because, fact is, we all move our eyes.

Talk to people, ask them questions, and look at them, how they move their eyes - and you will see that they do!
Now, basically, there are six quadrants as you can see in the chart.

Vc - which stands for Visual Construct - people construct pictures in their head that they haven't seen before
Vr - which stands for Visual Recall or Remember - people access pictures from their memory,

Ac - which stands for Auditory Construct - people construct sounds, that they haven't heard before
Ar - which stands for Auditory Recall or Remember - people access sounds from their memory,
K - which stands for Kinesthetic - people access their feelings
Ad - which stands for Auditory digital or self-talk - people access information.

eyeaccessing.gif
(Borrowed, with gratitude, from Renewal CA)


Now, listen - in many NLP books it is written that this is how you access your own different quadrants, but hey - I am teaching you that this is how it is when you are looking at the other person.

Why?

Because people access or construct information inside their head and it goes very, very fast. What they are doing is formulating their way of action - how do they do what they do. You want to know what is going on inside their head, not inside your own head, for that matter.

Complicated?

Not really.

You can use the information, on which quadrant people access to identify how they motivate themselves, how they make decision, and how they reassure themselves that they have made the right choice.

Wow, that is great, because, well, you now can look people into the eyes, and know what they want, how they want it and how they are assured of what they got.

Imagine, you can use this to build rapport with people, and serve them better. Because instead of being the pushy salesperson, who is coming from the wrong end of town, you simply know how to sell according to how people want their stuff. What customer orientation is that? What great sales strategy!

Just by looking into their eyes.

Now, wasn't there a movie, where oen actor was saying - "look into my eyes, baby"? Gives a whole new meaning.

These eye patterns elicitation is something I am going to teach in the NLP Certified Practitioner Course in January/ February 2007. I will provide much more detail, and we have a couple of great exercises around it, so that you are able to really use it in your day to day life. So why don't you join me?

Just send me a mail to NLP AT asiaminddynamics.com and we take it from there, okay?

Andreas (Asia Mind Dynamics)

(
NLP in Asia)















Tuesday, November 21, 2006

NLP Certified Practitioner Course in Kuala Lumpur: Course Benefits

Neuro Linguistic Programming or NLP, due to its nature, touches all areas of humans and the environment. This is because we all have a subconscious mind, because we all think, act, behave, communicate, interact with others, have our habits, capabilities, values and identity.

Thus, it always looks so encompassing, when you read NLP brochures. But, here it is - what you will learn in the upcoming NLP Certified Practitioner Course in Kuala Lumpur in January 2007.

Interested to know more? Send me a mail to nlp AT asiaminddynamics.com

Andreas
________________________________________________

During the Certified NLP Practitioner Training you learn to apply NLP in many different areas successfully:

Grow your career, or your business - NLP in Business – e.g.; Sales, management, communication, performance enhance. career development;

Your personal life – Communicating with others and create more rewarding relationships, become a better parent, learn easier and remember more

For A Healthier Life – the breaking of bad and installation of great habits

Personal Acceleration – empowerment and motivation at your fingertips
________________________________________________

In detail - what are you going away with:

What are the benefits and outcomes of this training?
Practical tools for your day-to-day life ….

• Learn how to set and achieve goals that really materialize
• Create instant rapport by communicating much more effectively with the people you meet
• Change your mindset, gain emotional mastery and access your inner personal strength and
capabilities —be at peak performance anytime you want
• Become aware of other people’s body language by increasing your understanding of sensory
indicators
• Learn how to communicate to the subconscious mind
• Be able to give and accept constructive feedback
• Understand the way other people think and act and be able to influence them positively
• Eliminate limited beliefs and generate new behaviors – see opportunities where before, there were
only problems
• Be able to identify and interrupt unwanted behaviour in yourself and others
• Get rid of those habits that you always wanted to get rid off – and help others to do so as well
• Resolve inner problems with great healing methods
• Get closer to your clients, friends and family – learn how they get motivated, make decisions and be
reassured
• Run meetings effectively, succeed in business negotiations, dramatically grow your sales, and
become a successful parent
• Learn how to coach others effectively and become a more effective leader
• Become more creative, innovative and powerful in your thinking and brainstorming skills by amazing
others with your lateral-, high level and specific thinking abilities
• Learn precision questions to get behind the meaning of words and sentences
• Learn hypnotic language patterns and how to apply them in your day-to-day life for greater success
• Be able to see varied perspectives from many different positions

And much, much more….

• In short … the training in NLP puts you in charge of your mind, body and therefore your life and your
destiny!



My personal aim is that you go away from this training knowing that this was the most amazing, and life changing training ever.

(NLP in Asia)















Wednesday, November 15, 2006

NLP Certified Practitioner Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in January/ February 2007

Asia Mind Dynamics is organising a fast paced, fun loaden and success oriented Certified NLP Practitioner Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!!
If you are interested in changing your life, and to make 2007 a year of personal and professional breakthrough then register immediately (nlp AT asiaminddynamics.com) and book your seat NOW:
_________________
Training Dates
_________________
January 20 - 21, 2007
January 27-28 2007
February 3-4, 2007
February 10-11, 2007
_________________
There will be not more than 15-20 participants in the training so that I personally can attend to all participants to help them succeed in the exercises.

My aim in this workshop is to assist participants such as you to get to know the magic of NLP, fully understand how it works and be able to apply it in all parts of your life - perfectly.

I developed staggered stages for the registration process:

1.) The investment for the Early Bird registration, which closes on December 31, 2005 is RM5,700*;

2.) The investment from January 1 onwards until training commences is RM6,300;

3.) When you bring a friend who also signs up for the training, the investment for you will remain at RM5,700 after December 31 while your friend has to invest RM6,300;

4.) Should both of you sign up before December 31, you qualify for RM5,200 and your friend for RM5,700*;

* These condition applies for full payments only!

Please be aware that we impose an administrative fee if you cancel your participation 1 week before the training to cover administrative and other occurring charges on our side.
Accelerate your performance!
Create the changes you desire and break through in your personal and professional life.
Make 2007 a year that counts!

Please send a mail to me in case of questions or inquiries -
nlp AT asiaminddynamics.com

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Rapport building - now watch this picture

A while ago I wrote that rapport building is matching and mirroring the other person in their physiology, tonality and the words they use.

I don't know how much has been said during the recent meeting between Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, and Australian counterpart Alexander Downer before they signed the security agreement in Indonesia last Monday.

The pact signals closer ties between two countries that have experienced a long history of thorny relations and looking at the picture below, boy, I have to say that these two hit it off. Look how much they mirror each other and I really don't think that they do this purposely. Both tilting their head, both signing nearly simultanteously, and have the same facial expressions. Rapport can be so beautiful.

ap_Indonesia_Australia_agreement_210.jpg


(NLP in Asia)











Monday, November 13, 2006

Malaysia's ranking in the happiness survey - is being happy so difficult?

Adoh - what is that? A map of happiness? Produced by the Psychology Department of the University of Leicester, and Professor Adrian White, an Analytic Social Psychologist. And Malaysia is placed pretty well at rank 17 as one of the happiest nations?

The analysis is based on the findings of over 100 different studies around the world, which questioned 80,000 people worldwide. For this study data has also been analysed in relation to health, wealth and access to education.

There is, firstly, no clear indicator in the study of what makes people happy. One time, the article states that "the frustrations of modern life, and the anxieties of the age, seem to be much less significant compared to the health, financial and educational needs in other parts of the World."

Hm - what do I think? Personally, I think that the definition of happiness varies widely across the world.

From an NLP point of view, happiness is a State of Mind. And a State of Mind can be changed, almost immediately. Initially, and if you are a person that carries a lot of sadness, or similar emotions with you, happiness might only be short lived, until you clear up issues in your emotional life. But basically, to reach a happy state is easy.

What do you need to do?

in short (very short), all you need to do is a to do a two step process:

- Change your physiology. Stand upright, and look upward. How difficult is it to be sad when you look upwards. Related to it - smile. Smile, and even if it is a faked smile. Fake it till you break it. The moment you smile, neurochemicals are released from your brain into your body and the body reacts to it, sooner or later (probably sooner). And your State of Mind changes!!

- In addition, you just need to remember a time when you where happy (or any other State that you want). Remember a specific time, focus on the positive feelings. Then float into your body, see what saw, hear what your heard and feel the feeling of happiness rising in you. You can access positive states anytime, anywhere!This is standard NLP for anyone. Remember something you like and you are back into the same state (don't try it with states you don't like, hehe!).


Now - of course, this doesn't change the fact that there are some people out there that want to be unhappy. They chose to be unhappy, with everything, and curse and swear and point the finger at others as the cause of their unhappiness - the government, the boss, the driver on the road, the unfriendly service attendant, the blogger next door, whose opinion you don't share. But, again, that is THEIR choice. And again, you can chose to be unhappy or happy, whenever you want.

Try it out, as I explained above, or also here with the Circle of Excellence!

(NLP in Asia)










Thursday, November 09, 2006

The secret to success: Rapport building skills

Do you read self-help books? Do you find that there is often a description about building rapport but then, you don't quite know how this goes? Would you like to build better rapport with those around you, but don't know how?

There are also plenty of recruitment and interview skills handbooks out there, but I also find that they are not always helpful. Don't you agree? I understand that the intention of the authors is to help readers in search for good answers.

Still, the question still remains - how the heck do you build good rapport? Especially, since first impressions count. Today more so than ever in an increasingly competitive environment!

Rapport by Answers.com is defined as "Relationship, especially one of mutual trust or emotional affinity." How true is that - but does it help? Not really, right?

NLP talks differently about rapport, and states that rapport is not about a relationship - it leads to it - but that rapport is the instant connection with another person mostly on at the subconscious level. Just another definition, still not helpful.

Well, let me give you some numbers - people always communicate, in fact, you cannot NOT communicate. Everything in your appearance communicates. You body, your physiology, your skin colour changes (yes, they change constantly!!), your words and the way you say those.

There was a research done, a longer time back by someone called Birdwhistle or so (others say that there was someone starting with an M, who established the findings earlier), that states the following:

During a communication, what you communicate via words makes up only 7% of the total. In contrast, 38% of our communication with others is a result of the verbal behavior - tone of voice, timbre, tempo, and volume. Overwhelmingly, 55% of our communication with others is nonverbal communication, such as body posture, breathing, skin color and our movement. Figure that!!

Remember a time when you just knew that the person in front of you wasn't telling the truth or that is was a bad time to interupt the other person because he "looked so busy"!

True, what?

So rapport relates to matching and mirroring the other person in their physiology, tonality and the words they use. Do this consciously - match and mirror people, the moment you get into touch with them - but not in a way that is too obvious, because that would be mimicking!! And hey, it is not manipulative - look around you, and see, how people that converse sit in similar positions, stand just as if they were mirroring each other, how great they feel when you talk the same language (e.g.; see how guys link up with each other, when they talk about sport!!). For me, it is like a dance with each other. In harmony. The subconscious mind is picking up the signals and says "hey, this person is just like me, I like the person." Isn't this happening all around us?

What I have done here is giving you a short breakdown on what rapport building is about and how to do it. Try it out, over the next day or two. When I conduct the training during the NLP Practitioner course (in end-January), I will explain, in much more detail, how good rapport building is done, and what goes into it (NLP teaches you the process of how to do things). But the result is that it makes you more aware of how things are done, and in the end, it makes real practitioner more successful - in interview situations, meetings, negotiations, hey, even in discos and pubs. And that is what everybody wants to be in life, more successful, right now.

(NLP in Asia)










Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Success story for NLP

How is that? I just found this entry from someone on the web:

The author wrote that she was a "recipient of an NLP intervention in early 2004. I used to live with constant depression, self-sabotage and chronic under-achievement. I had spent nearly 20 years working with different therapists, reading self-help books, and studying different psychological approaches to find a way to get myself healed and whole. It may sound surprising, but my intervention lasted all of 6 hours and I immediately became a different woman :: healed and whole.

That next week, I ended my ongoing therapist appointments. Within 3 months I moved into a new career making 500% more than before. And within 6 months I had learned enough about NLP on my own to start using the approach to ‘pay it forward’ and help others remove their own obstacles to success."

Hm - NLP works, right? What are you saying?

(Psst: When are you going to jumb onto NLP to accelerate your life? Asia Mind Dynamics is going to offer a NLP Practitioner course VERY soon - ready to rock and change your life?)

(NLP in Asia)











Beautiful - hypnosis leads to weight loss

A North Texan Teen, 13 years of age, says something almost like "magic" helped her lose 70 pounds - and it is the magic of hypnosis. Before that, she only ate junk food.

Once again, a lot of our habits, if not all, are deeply burried in our subconscious mind. Without positively influencing this huge part of our mind, most of our conscious efforts to change behaviour can fail.

Learning, behavioural change and all needs to encompass both, the conscious and the unconscious level. And to change our habits, we have to change this deep structure inside our mind.

Thus, ask yourself, is hypnosis a way to overcome obesity? I believe it sure is.

(NLP in Asia)











Sunday, October 29, 2006

NLP trainer in Malaysia

Yesterday evening, I arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, from a 3 week training in Australia. Training by Tad and Adriana James to become a trainer of NLP and Timeline Therapy (TM) training myself.

Boy, its been an astonishing up and down over the last 3 weeks. There were about 40 participants in the training. Many from the UK, one from the US, some from Australia, even lesser from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Accompanying the training were coaching assistants that were already schooled by Tad and Adriana and they observed the development of the individual participants.

And developing we did. From the very first beginning, and after being put into different groups, we were "subjected" to exercises, exercises, exercises. Feedback by the coaches and by one of the partipants.

What happened? I would describe it as breaking down my neural networks in my brain, putting it all into a mixer and let it re-develop and emerge in a beautiful and magnificent fashion.

How did we do? Well, considering that all of us were to become trainers, we had to learn how to present ourselves magically. How often is it happening in the "real world", the world we came from and had to present, that we move around wildly in front of our audiences, gesticulating with our hands and pacing around up and down. Does this sound familiar? All those gestures are kind of disturbing, and very often coming from somewhere deep down inside - because we feel we need to do it or were told that this is how to present. The worst case are those presenters, that start to scratch themselves, sway on their feet, or pace around like tigers in a cage. I know you know what I mean, right?

So, the first thing to learn in Australia was to get rid of those unsconscious behaviours. So - for the first 5 days or so, we were not allowed to move our hands when we did presentation exercises.

It started by standing in front of our 6 member group, about 1.5 meters away - don't say anything, don't move anything on your body, especially not the hands. For 5 long minutes. I tell you that these were the longest 5 minutes of my life!!!. Standing in front of people I didn't know. And not to go inside and think, but to also switch off the inner dialogue. Wow!! After about a minute or 2, I felt this feeling of extreme discomfort inside of me. Something kept growing, and I couldn't run away. This is what I mean by breaking down the existing neural network!

There was more. In another exercise, we learnt how to see from the corner of the eyes, when someone in a group makes a slight movement, even if it is only a finger. I had to point this out the moment I saw it, point out with a slight movement of my finger.

Then, also, standing in front of the group and make each of them feel that I connect with them through my eyes. The moment, they had the feeling of connection, the individual had to raise the hand and put the hand down, when the connection was lost. Target was to get all hands up at the same time!

We also learnt to create and develop metaphors, put an audience into trance, close metaphors, and to build rapport with a larger group of participants. This is important when I teach NLP to a larger number of people (what is my aim!).

Then, after 5 initial days, we learnt how to move our hands during a presentation more consciously, to bring a point across. And we learnt how to structure material that needs to be taught, how to structure exercises, answer questions in a way that the whole audience has something to learn and so on and so on.

All in all, I was re-created in a very special ways.

There were two presentations that all of us needed to do in preparation for the evaluation period. The first 2 were dry-runs, for the "big evaluation days". And these were tough challenges. I failed one of the presentations, like many others. It was devastating, initially, because hey - I thought I knew my stuff. Apparently, the evaluator didn't, and it was a great learning for me!

Then came the evaluation period - 4 days in a row. I felt like going back to high school or university.

First, a theoretical test about Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). About 80 questions, with 210 points to achieve in total. Passmark was 70%. I learnt and learn, studied real, real hard. Memorising, getting it into my head. Knowing my material backwards and forward. The day of the test was the day were I felt real good. No anxiety at all, just coolness and great anticipation. I normally felt anxiety, but not this time around, because of the beautiful Timeline Therapy (TM) techniques. It just helps to take out negative emotions, fear, anger, and all, as well as anxiety.

Still, 6 hours of writing in the test. 6 hours and about 60 pages - handwritten. This was one thing that was hard, because, hey - I usually use a computer, right? We didn't get to know our marks but most of us cam through the test. But this is no wonder, because all of us studied real hard for the test.

Then the first presentation - and I presented magically. No flaws, whatsoever!! Then, demonstration day - this means we were to demonstrate an exercise to a larger group of participants. I have to admit that here, I was nervous initially. This, despite visualisation of the whole process the night before. What happened? Well, I visualised my favourite exercise, but forgot to include the short theoretical introduction in the visualisation. naturally, there was a break, but I came through. The demonstration itself was smooth - great and exhilarating.

The next presentation then, the second and last was an easy right, since I was bursting with energy, joy and fun. Nothing was going to hold me back, and so I am here now, back in KL with two trainer certification. One for NLP, and one for Timeline Therapy (TM) Training.

For you, to share in my happiness about the successful completion, the picture below. It was a hard October, but it was worth every single minute of emotion, sweat, and long nights of learning, studying and preparations!

Here a picture from the graduation ceremony:

Certification-Day-October.jpg


(NLP in Asia)











Thursday, September 28, 2006

18 habits to make this Ramadan a WoW!

It is the time of the year again, when Muslims around the world fast - the month of Ramadan. It is the month of greatest meaning to Islam and Muslims around the world fast throughout the day to strengthen one's self-discipline and to be reminded of those less fortunate in their existence.

Let's try to make it a good one, the best ever:
  1. Make this Ramadan a real great WoW
  2. Be tolerant to yourself and others, even when you think that your opinion is the right one
  3. Donate to those that you know are less fortunate than you
  4. Be friendly to yourself and those around you, speak relatives, friends, neighbours
  5. Love yourself and your neighbours
  6. Walk the talk
  7. Be polite
  8. Show vulnerability. It is okay to show feelings even as a guy :)
  9. Share your knowledge with others, freely
  10. Give up at least one addiction - what about smoking?
  11. Get to know someone that you haven't known before
  12. Invite those of other religions and share your thoughts and opinion. Learn from them
  13. Break fast with someone who is clearly different from you
  14. Learn something new this Ramadan, develop a new hobby
  15. Spend more time with your family
  16. Find time for reflection on you and develop a real great plan of what you want to change in your life
  17. Overcome at least some of the bad thoughts and feelings inside of you. Eliminate anger and hate and create tolerance and patience
  18. Take more care of your body. Don't engulf yourself in loads of food and other habits (e.g.; smoking), after the break of fast
  19. Keep the positive habits developed during Ramadan going until the end of your life.
How is this for a start? Do you want to add on some more?

(NLP in Asia)










Monday, September 25, 2006

The ecology of success

What a title. But how important is it for you to define your final outcome and when do you know you have reached success (didn't you know that there is more to success, always?). Have you put in place the write measurements? A SMART Goal? Steps to achieve your goal?

Very good. What will it be? More rewards, awards, more money, a better position, a more beautiful car, may be a new husband, boyfriend, wife and girl? Your own company? How great your goals are, really!

But one thing we as humans like to forget in the chase for success. Something that we in NLP call "ecology". So you defined your success - and hopefully it is what YOU decide is success, and not your boss, neighbour, the tax department!!

You have a clear plan forward - Grrreeeaaat.

So ask yourself:

What will happen when you are there? How will the world around you look like? Or, you personal surrounding? What has changed, after you have reached your goal?

Remember the movie "Click" that I wrote about? Adam Sandler reached his goals but destroyed everything around him. So when you have reached your goal, how does this then influence your family, your friends, your job, your competition, your city, country, the planet?

Think about it for a moment.

When George Bush Jr. announced the war on terrorism, he had good intentions, and the world was with him, initially. But look at the ecology now, and the effects and outcomes of his actions. Did he actually reflect on his actions, initially? While it is good to be focused on your outcomes, when you see that the results don't come in in the way you want them to be, or the ecology changes, you better change your strategy.

This is what George Bush Jr. doesn't do! He doesn't change his strategy, even so it is not working. The ecology around him collapses and clearly, there are more and more critics that doubt that he can reach his goals in the way he currently pursues them.

So, what about you? After spending 15 hours per day on the job, trying to build a better future for your family, secure the education of your child, how does your ecology look like? Inside of you - has stress build up, did you have a first heart attack, do your kids still remember you, and your wife loves you?

If you see that the ecology doesn't reflect positively on your success, stop for a while, look around you, and may be change strategy or your plans. Don't beat around the bush!

(NLP in Asia)











Thursday, September 21, 2006

Leadership interviews at nPost - GoDaddy founder Bob Parson

nPost has plenty of interviews with leaders about their success, challenges, dreams and failures/ learnings when building up their enterprises.

These interviews are not conducted with the "normal type of CEO", such as Jack Welsh, or Donald Trump or whoever. Refreshingly, these interviews are conducted with other, lesser known CEOs.

I just read one interview with Bob Parson, the CEO of GoDaddy.com. I know I had my issues with them, a while back, but in the meantime, they have improved a lot. At least on servicing my side and x.

He tells the story about GoDaddy and how he and his friends tried to meddle their way to success in the end of the 1990s. The company nearly went bankrupt - losses of US$300,000-400,000 a month and it was all his cash since he was the only investor. Okay while this is not the typical start-up (who can afford such personal losses, even in Malaysian Ringgit?).

What I liked is the part when he was close to giving up and took a final trip to think through about ways to close down the company and related procedures.

Coming back from the trip, he says that he "saw a guy parking cars one day and the guy seemed really happy doing that and I decided that if the business went broke then I could always park cars."

Okay - it is not the dream of every entrepreneur to end up like this, but what I believe he is trying to say is that there is always a way forward. Fail Forward Fast, one of Tom Peters favourite saying comes true here. The spirit of gung-ho, let's do it, go for it etc. Or, in a different manner, that the universe will take care of you, in the end.

(NLP in Asia)










Monday, September 18, 2006

The Apprentice - is it possible to copy the Donald ?

I watched the first couple of seasons of The Apprentice pretty diligently always hoping to learn something - what I did.

I wonder if someone actually realises the similarities between the candidates that get hired. Energetic, robus, getting things done, standing up for themselves and straight to the point.

Now ask yourself - are these the characteristics that make up a winner? Or are these the characteristics that make up a winner for Donald Trump? Looking at the types of personalities that populate his organisation, it is clear that these are the ones that are liked by him, because that is how he is.

Nothing wrong with that because believe me, these are propbably the right candidates (even so I wonder, watching the series, if these are really the creme de la creme in the US? Some candidates are really below the level that I would consider suitable for a corporate life, but this is my perception, of course!!).

Now imagine the people who buy his books, looking for solutions in his approach to business. If they are similar to his personality - energetic, robust etc - well, they might learn something. If not and you are too different, you set yourself up for a new learning.

Because, while it is possible to model big Donald, and assume his personality, it takes a giant step for someone who has not mastered the art of modelling (something that NLP teaches you, by the way!).

The inner workings of a Donald are just too different from the one who picks up his book.

PS: I discovered (and I am probably not alone), that Donald Trump is not perfect. Lucky for the rest of us. I wanted to check his blog and the last entry visible is from May 29, 2006.

Interestingly, that entry talks about decision and procrastination. May be they just decide about the next perfect entry :) (Just Kidding, mah!)


(NLP in Asia)









Saturday, September 16, 2006

Revenue numbers, project development and the entrepreneurial mindset

It is budgeting time in many companies. The thousands or millions are thrown all around us. There are the good and the bad salespeople. The ones that met their target and those that still glamour to meet the numbers to secure their bonus.

Forecasting is also in the air. Again, numbers, heavier than before (is it true that every year, you get kind of punished when you achieved your goals? Your numbers to achieve get higher?).

Anyway, this is also the time I always start to wonder.

There are those that are good in their business, and they sell a lot. So let's assume (and the numbers are made up, as are the names) that there is a business developer called Mr. X, who is able to secure 12 million Ringgit in 2006. Great number, he beat all the goals that he set out for last year. And now, Mr. X plans for may be 15 million.

Mr. X is happy. He gets a salary increment and a bonus of may be one month or two months salary. Let the story continue and assume that his salary is very, very high, for Malaysian standards - let's assume that Mr. X gets a salary of RM240,000. (I put in this number because it is easily dividable by 12 moths, lor!). So, he generates RM12 million - speak: RM 1 million per month - and is awarded with RM20,000. The ratio is 0.02%. Or, to put it differently, for every one dollar he earns, he generates RM50 dollar.

Now, Mr. X is also very much favoured by his clients. They love him and they would go with him, if he changes company. If he changes, he might get a little salary increment.

What I don't really get is the following:

Why is Mr. X, so successful, staying with this company? Why is he not jumping and opens up his own business? If he is able to take along just 50% or even 10% of the value that he originally generated, wouldn't he feel better?

Is this loyalty? Someone stays because he loves a company so much that he earns to the ratio of 1:50? Is this the plain old fear, that holds someone back? The fear of what? Because clearly, if Mr. X doesn't deliver anymore, he will get fired, right?

Or do I just have a wrong point of view?

I am interested - so help me out, dear reader, because I am lost!

(NLP in Asia)









Controlling artificial arm via the brain

Do you know that all the movements of the body are stirred by the subconscious mind? How else is it possible that you can move your hands, or get into a car or go around somehow?

Do you tell you body to move? Muscle number one, please contract, number 2 expand, number 3 do this .... and so on? Nope - it is all stirred from parts in your brain, automatically and since we are born or even earlier.

But here comes the exciting news. How about the news that someone is able to move an artificial arm via thoughts?

26-year-old Claudia Mitchell is just doing this. She lost her arm in a motorcycle accident and recently received an artificial limp, or, better, a bionic arm.
The medical team "found a way to use chest muscles to connect the prosthetic to nerves that once sent signals to the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder. After an amputation, the brain still thinks the arm is there. It feels sensations and sends signals to move. But those signals are too weak for modern mechanics to detect from the surface of the skin, so Kuiken's team amplified them."

"First, plastic surgeon Greg Dumanian of Northwestern Memorial Hospital moved the targeted nerves into muscles in Mitchell's chest. Then, the nerves that cause the motion of those muscles were disconnected. Mitchell can no longer send a signal to flex her pectoral muscle, but when she wants to close her hand or bend her elbow, the nerve impulse moves her "pec.
When that muscle moves, it sends a signal strong enough for a sensor on the skin to detect. After some rewiring by Dumanian, six muscles in Mitchell's chest now move six motors in the bionic arm.

And nerve data flow up, too. When Todd Kuiken, who heads neural engineering, touches a certain spot on Mitchell's chest, she feels him touch her hand, even though it's no longer there."
There is more work that needs to be done but this is only the beginning of exciting times for those that struggle with losses of limps.

(NLP in Asia)

Monday, September 11, 2006

Just another day - Time Thieves all around us

Wow, what a great entry by the Slacker Manager about Time Thieves.

Do you know who they are, those, that steal your time? Those, that waste your time? Just realise that this day is gone, gone forever and will never, ever return.

You just grew one day older, got one day closer to death.

Well, did YOU, who reads this entry, just manage to get over this week, this day, this year so far, may be by chance survived a great amount of mishaps? Think and realise how many hours you wasted, enjoyed. I know already what my colleagues at work will say when I ask on Monday - "So, how was your weekend." What do you think?

Reminds me of one of my all time favourite song by Pink Floyd - Time.

"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull dayYou fritter and waste the hours in an off hand wayKicking around on a piece of ground in your home townWaiting for someone or something to show you the way.
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rainYou are young and life is long and there is time to kill todayAnd then one day you find ten years have got behind youNo one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinkingAnd racing around to come up behind you againThe sun is the same in the relative way, but youre olderShorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the timePlans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled linesHanging on in quiet desperation is the english wayThe time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say"

So - focus on what you are doing. Be clear about what you are doing. Do what you have to do to get it done. And do it NOW! Not tomorrow, or next year, but now. Because you never know what tomorrow will bring!

And hey - I have a great, wonderful and fulfilling weekend so far. Now I tell you what my colleagues will say about the weekend. "Nothing special", or "so, so." "Sleeping, resting, eating."

Is this not sad?

(NLP in Asia)










Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed. Who cannot relate to this?

There are 20 projects on your table, with 10 deadlines (only?) closing in fast, the phones are constantly ringing, preventing you from finding the time you so urgently need, your child is sick, your car broke down on the Federal Highway and your partner asks you to help you, your boss calls for a short meeting, your executives queue up outside your office.

Sounds familiar? In one way or another?

Then the feeling inside of you - creepy, crawly, coming out of its mousehole.

I CANNOT DO THIS.

THIS IS TOO MUCH!!!!

HOW TO MANAGE?

I WILL GET FIRED, FOR SURE.

Panic.

Wahhhhh - step back. Do something else. Real quick, because with THAT feeling, you will not get through the day and waste some more valuable time. Hey - remember, you had this before, it is possible to manage!

Helaine Iris is a Small Business Coach of Path of Purpose has written a piece about being overwhelmed (currently it looks as if the post has been moved) at Solostream.

She summarises it in a couple of interesting points (with some few comments from me):

  1. Start with a powerful shift of awareness or - being overwhelmed is only a feeling or state in your mind (I now sound like Stephen Covey :));
  2. Remember that the overwhelm is usually triggered by a perception - true or untrue, like: not enough time, money, resources, confidence;
  3. Recognize your personal symptoms of overwhelm - what happens to your mood when you are overwhelmed.
  4. Call a time out and admit that you are overwhelmed. Sometimes simply naming the obvious is all you need to stop the cycle. How true, isn' it?
  5. Prioritize. Easy to say, right, with all the work, but hey. You are doing it anyway. You have to start with one piece of work - and this is then probably the one you decided to be the most important one. Remember, you cannot work at many things at once! This is sometimes forgotten in this age of multi-tasking!
  6. Breathe life into your time management system. You only have 24 hours a day. If you have more, give me a call!
  7. Read your vision statement for your business. Or your personal vision. But find your purpose. When you are burried, you can forget your mission and purpose of your life and work
  8. Get back to basics - Stop what you’re doing and take ten deep, full breaths. Walk outside and notice five beautiful things around you. I love it as a tip.
  9. Get outside perspective. Being alone doesn't help much. Get a coach (my e-mail address is at the right upper side :))
  10. Imagine in full detail how you would rather feel. How would you be if you weren't overwhelmed?

I would add on - make your tasks manageable. Manage - able. The opposite of overwhelmed. Break all these tasks down into very small details and tasks. Initially, it really shows you how much there is that is to do. But then, it is easy to handle small, written down tasks, right?

Have fun!!

(NLP in Asia)










Friday, September 08, 2006

There is more to success

Ahh - there is already so much to success but to become successful is a never ending story, isn't it?

There is the saying of Bill Gates or was it Ford (correct me if I am wrong -) who said that you can take away everything from them - cash, company, everything, but if he is able to keep his people, he will get back on track.

Similar, I found this online - and it really depicts another ingredient to become successful.

"The formula for success = your human capital (what you know) times your social capital (who you know) times your reputation (who trusts you)."


There are plenty of books available on networking, building your reputation and creating trust. And you know what you know, already.

But do you know how to create trust, develop your reputation, and build your networking skills?

It is not that easy, really. Because very often, our own fear comes in between. The fear to become successful and happy. Or, you are not able to network - too shy, or way too bold, both not always helpful (okay, you can join an online network, so but is it successful for you or just a presence?), while networking should be fun. Then there is the challenge to get into rapport with your conversational partner and build the relation ongoingly!

Now, the question is - do you know how to build rapport, get out of your mental shell and be great in what you are doing? What ways do you use to get moving forward? Or what is holding you back?

Tell me, since I am curious to know.

Or, if you want to get better at it, send me an email to set up an initial coaching conversation.










Monday, September 04, 2006

What Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) can do for you

Ask yourself:

Have you ever wondered, why some people are able to just create success as if it takes nothing to do it, while others hesitate, all the time? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be successful anytime, anywhere? Do you know that you have all the resources and strength inside of you, buried deep, deep down inside of you, and that all it takes is to find a way to rediscover your strength?Do you know that NLP is offering you just that? Offers you the Art and Science of Personal Excellence!

What is NLP:

N-L-P -? Huh?

Neuro refers to the nervous system/mind and how it processes information and codes it as memory inside our body, and neurology. By neuro we refer to experience as inputted, processed, and ordered by our neurological mechanisms and processes.

Linguistic indicates that the neural processes of the mind come coded, ordered, and given meaning through language, communication systems, and various symbolic systems (grammar, mathematics, music, icons).

Programming refers to our ability to organise our sensory-based information (sights, sounds, sensations, smells, tastes, and symbols or words) within our mind-body organism which then enables us to achieve our desired outcomes.

Huh? Huh? I still don't get it!

There is a way to define NLP easily and understandably:

  • NLP is the Art and Science of Personal Excellence
  • NLP is and Attitude and a Methodology leaving behind a Trail of Techniques
  • NLP provides a User Manual for the Brain

Better, but still!

With NLP, you can easily learn:

  • How excellent people do what they do
  • How you can model this behaviour and use it over and over again
  • How you can consistently get great results in every situation and whenever you need it
  • How to manage your thoughts

Adoh! Any example?

Sure there are - Whatever we do, we have a certain program running in our mind that uses the same way in coming to a conclusion, over and over again. Let’s call this internal program processing strategy, can we?

Do you know that every external behaviors is controlled by such internal processing strategies. All of them!

That means that we use strategies for love, strategies for hate, strategies for learning, strategies for math, parenting, sports, communication, sales, marketing, wealth, poverty, happiness, death, sex, eating, disease, creativity, relaxation, attention and fun. Really, there are strategies for everything (ah, these are some examples from Tad James).

You will identify those strategies when you become aware of your behaviour. How do you start your day, how you meet and approach new people, how you eat, how you communicate, what you do for fun .... Can you identify a certain repetition in certain task settings already?

It wasn’t always like this, so. There was a time, when we were free of these programs or strategies, a long, long time ago.We first develop a set of particular strategy when we are young. A

t an early age, perhaps you put a series of internal and external experiences together, and made (for example) a decision, probably subconscioulsy (sounds heavy, I know). Then, at some point when you knew it worked, you generalized the process that you used before in making the decision and said, either consciously or unconsciously, "OK, this is a good way to make a decision", and you then probably used it over and over and over again.

Let's say, for example, you made a picture in your mind and talked to yourself or someone else about it, until you had enough information, and that was how you made the decision. If that worked for you, then at some time you began to use it over and over again – you entrenched a strategy in your subconscious mind to achieve what you want to achieve (or avoid) in these situations.

Over time however, as situations change, some of the strategies might not work anymore to the extend they did earlier. Others simply handicap you nowadays in your development.

Have you ever thought of the command that we give little children: “Finish the food on your table?” Over and over again. Until it is deeply entrenched in our subconscious mind that we are no longer aware of it. Now – little children do lots of things – and burn the calories off very quickly.

But they also grow up and don’t run around that much anymore. Still the program in their mind is still running and running and running? This is happening!

Now, can you identify any program in your mind that is outdated?

Wouldn’t it be great if you find a way to update and eliminate your own limiting programs and may be others that you come across as well – just think anger, sadness, fear, hurt, guilt and doubt?

And, while we are at it – do you know that you can create your future – today? What will happen when you do this?

That is the easy part – you will become magnificent and tremendously successful.

How would it be for you, if you can:

  • Attract and have people like you, immediately
  • Speak your ideas in the client’s language – and become successful in client servicing• Influence others, without even opening your mouth?
  • Increase your sales and/ or income, by knowing, what’s your client’s or bosses internal strategy?
  • Suddenly find personal strengths and create positive feelings?
  • Generate new habits and behaviour to solve old problems and new challenges
  • Negotiate better contracts, close deals without buyers remorse• Become the leader you always wanted to be
  • Learn how to handle objections
  • Let go of negative emotions in an instant

Sure you can get this – if you are willing to change.

But then, change is everything anyway. And you don’t want to be left behind, right?

So send me an e-mail, now, if you are interested to know more. Write to Andreas at always_wow@yahoo.com.sg, will you?

(NLP in Asia)