Your computer has something called an ‘operating system’ by which it runs. In a similar way, NLP also has an ‘operating system’ by which it runs.
This system is called the ‘NLP presuppositions’. We call them presuppositions because we pre-suppose them to be true and then notice the results we get. It is not claimed that they are true or universal. However, in our experience, if you act ‘as if’’ they were true you will find your life and interactions with others become more effective, interesting, satisfying and enriching. There is no orthodox list of NLP presuppositions. I have selected the ones most important and commonly used: (Note: If you start living the first 2 basic presuppositions below in their full meaning, you’ll have the other presuppositions automatically)
The map is NOT the territory, people respond to their map of reality and not to reality itself - We experience and respond to the world around us via our five senses of sight, hearing, feeling, taste and smell. We process all information through our senses. We don’t respond to the ‘real’ world, but instead to our ‘neuro-linguist’ maps of reality. Our mental maps are NOT the reality. Believing that the map is the territory, is like eating a menu instead of the food. In NLP we remember that no one is capable of creating the only ‘right’ or ‘correct’ map. Some maps are more useful than others. In NLP we learn how to create more choices in our mental maps and therefore enrich our experience of the world. NLP is the art of changing these maps, not reality.
Life and mind-body are systemic processes - The processes that take place within a human being and between human beings and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies and our universe form an ecology of complex systems and subsystems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other. It is not possible to completely isolate any part of the system from the rest of the system. For example, our mind and body are parts of the same system. Our thoughts instantly affect our muscle tension, breathing feelings, and more, and these in turn affect our thoughts. When we learn to change either one, we have learned to change the other because they are parts of the same system.
You cannot NOT communicate - We are always communicating, at least non-verbally, and words are often the least important part. A sigh, a smile and a look are all communications. Even our thoughts are communications with ourselves, and they are revealed to others through our eyes, voice tones, postures, and body movements. Even if you tried putting a bag over your head to stop communicating, you’d still be communicating something!
The meaning of your communication is the response you get - Others receive what we say and do through their mental maps of the world. When someone hears something different from what we meant, it’s a chance for us to notice that communication means what is received. Noticing how our communication is received allow us to adjust it, so that next time it can be clearer.
Underlying every behaviour is a positive intention - Every hurtful, harmful and even thoughtless behaviour had a positive purpose in its original situation for the person who performed the behaviour. Yelling in order to be acknowledged. Hitting to fend off danger. Hiding to feel safe. Rather than condoning or condemning these actions, we may separate them from the persons’ positive intent, so that new, updated, and more positive choices can be added that meet the same intent.
People are always making the best choice(s) available to them - Every one of us has his or her own unique personal history. Within it, we learned what to do and how to do it, what to want and how to want it, what to value and how to value it, what to learn and how to learn it. This is our experience (mental map). From it, we must make all of our choices; that is, until new and better ones are added.
Experience has a structure - Our thoughts and memories have a pattern to them. When we change that pattern or structure, our experience will automatically change. We can neutralize unpleasant memories and enrich memories that will serve us.
If one person can do something, anyone can learn to do it - We can learn an achiever’s mental map and make it our own. Too many people think certain things are impossible without ever going out and trying them. Pretend that everything is possible. When there is a physical or environmental limit, the world of experience will let you know about it.
People already have all the resource they need - Our five senses are the basic building blocks of all our mental and physical resources. We can use them to build up any thought, feeling, or skill we want and then place them in our lives where we want or need them most.
If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else. Do anything else - If you want something new, do something new, especially when there are so many alternatives. If you are trying to solve a problem and you are doing something that is not working, do something different. Anything different.
As I mentioned above, the NLP presuppositions are assumed to be true - not because they have been proven, but because when they are held in mind, they give their holder a much greater degree of freedom of choice and opportunities.
NLP is a model; it is not a theory nor is it concerned with ultimate truth about human behaviour. Like all ‘models’, NLP is judged by how useful it is. To test a presupposition, act ‘as if’ it were true and notice the results you get.
One of the major differences between the practitioner who can understand and use NLP and the practitioner who can only talk about NLP, is how well the individual has incorporated the presuppositions into their behaviour. So as you read and learn the skills here, please remember underlying them are the presuppositions which make them work.
