Fending Off Negative Emotions with NLP
Posted on April 03, 2011 by Nannette DiMascio, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
The pause between thought and emotion... The point where we have the prerogative to choose. Find out how to drive your own "bus."
Are you focused on your dreams?
Do you know what they are? Your dreams want to be lived, that’s why you have them.
Prerogative Point
There is a place between thought and emotion. It’s the Prerogative Point.
Having a thought is like being in your car traveling with the windows up.
And then there is an in-between time. The Prerogative Point. The point where you (and not just women!) have the prerogative to choose.
After that there is the moment when you attach the thought to an emotion (or emotions). You may do this without conscious awareness. However, now you know about it, you will start to see how it works.
What will it be like when you open the windows of your car, and let in your chosen emotion? Will it be nice and calm like a Spring day, going 70 miles an hour with the wind in your hair; will it be hot out like the Las Vegas summer akin to a blast furnace; or will it be like a blustery winter day going 90, the hail and strong winds tearing up the insides of your car? Do you see where this analogy is going with regards to health?
Have you ever noticed that the same event will affect others differently?
Watch at the airport, you can see the people who have lost their luggage. Some of them are quite vocal, while others just take it in stride as part of the traveling adventure. Watch people stuck in traffic, some get upset, some make a fun time out of it. I once saw a happy couple with a young child having a blast while we all waited in New York traffic for two hours.
You have the easiest choice at the Prerogative Point to decide on one emotion over another, one way of thinking about it or another. Its not so much about what happens, or our thoughts, but what we choose to do with the event and what goes on in our minds.
Most anyone can make major changes at this point just by knowing it exists. There are techniques within NLP such as work with Submodalities, Anchoring and Hakalau that can help with increasing your ability to sidestep your usual responses like the bullfighter sidestepping the bull (I couldn’t resist the pun). Techniques that work with the way you store time can help with events from the past. The emotional charge from these events can affect the intensity of the emotions wanting to rush in at the Prerogative Point.
As you go through your day and you start to see how easy it is to become aware of the Prerogative Point, and then have the power to choose, you can start to work with your mind in a delightful way and open yourself up to the life of your dreams.
Cheers to all of you!
