Increasing Creative Confidence Using NLP Presuppositions

By Dan Goodwin

Purpose: To help you improve your confidence in your creative abilities and in your life in general by using some common NLP presuppositions. For this exercise it may help to have someone with you to guide you through the instructions.

Estimated time: 15-20 minutes +

Outline of exercise: A concept in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) known as presuppositions is often used to help people improve their confidence and strengthen their self-belief. You don't have to know anything about NLP for this exercise to be effective for you.

A presupposition is simply a statement or belief that is assumed to be true. Here are six examples commonly used in NLP —

1. "I already have all the resources I need or I can create them."


2. "There is no failure, only feedback."
   Failure is only a judgment of short term results. If you have not reached your goal, it simply means you have not reached your goal yet.


3. "I create my own reality. I am in charge of my mind and therefore my results."
   We can each choose our belief systems and our actions.


4. "If one person can do something, other people can learn from that person's success."
   It is possible to discover the components and strategies needed to achieve a particular outcome and to teach them to anyone else.


5. "I am doing the best I can and I can probably do better."


6. "I can accomplish any task when I break it down into small enough chunks."
   Everything is a learning opportunity to find out what works and what doesn't work. It is important to separate someone's behaviour from their identity.

From the six presuppositions above, choose four that most appeal to you. You don't have to believe them at this point, just pick the four that interest you most. Then write each one as large as possible on a separate piece of A4 paper and place in the positions north, south, east and west on the floor, and stand in the centre.

Think of a situation in your creative life in which you would like to have more confidence. Close your eyes and imagine doing this activity right now in as much detail as possible. Get into the sub-modalities — the fine elements of what you're experiencing through your senses.

What are you are seeing? What are you hearing and saying to yourself? What are you feeling? Don't attempt to change these details, just observe them in detail.

Open your eyes. Leave the situation you just recreated in the centre and step on to one of the presuppositions you wrote down. Close your eyes again and imagine what it is like to live in a world where you totally believe this to be true. How would your creative life and your outlook be different? Again get into the sub-modalities, notice what you see, hear and feel. Open your eyes again.

Holding that belief, step back into the centre again where you left your original issue or situation. Close your eyes and notice how you now perceive the situation whilst holding this new belief. Notice what you see, hear and feel.

Repeat the steps in the last two paragraphs again with each of the four presuppositions you chose. It's important to physically move each time and literally "step into" a new or slightly different way of thinking, before again returning to your original situation in the centre and noticing how your perception of it alters.

Action Points:

How has this exercise changed your view of the original situation? What action or actions can you now take to help you increase your confidence in this situation? When will you take this action? Set yourself a time and date to follow through.

Experiment using different presuppositions and situations and notice what works best for you. Sometimes it's by using a presupposition far from what you think you actually believe that can produce the most interesting results. •

© Copyright 2006 Dan Goodwin

Download a PDF of this exercise
from CoachCreative.com

07/24/06