I recently saw an NLP trainer use the NLP acronym to stand for Now Let’s Play. What a thought. Neuro Linguistic Programming can be used to study excellence, learn new skills, and have fun. I was hoping that I could convince my daughter, a 15-year old soccer player of the alternate meaning. So far she had been resistant saying that she really didn’t want to step outside her box.
Several years ago I had read an article by Carmine Baffa where he described using a circle of excellence to help the players on a little league team. Around the same time I read another article by Win Wenger, Ph.D. on borrowed genius. I was convinced that combining the two techniques she could gain an immense boost to her game.
Finally, riding in the car on the way to the first regular season game of the summer travel league I convinced her that there was nothing to lose and a great deal to gain by humoring me.
Since we were in the car, we did need to modify the circle of excellence so that moving in and out of it was all in her head, but I wasn’t concerned about that. I keep one of my own “packed” in the glove compartment. Getting the whole family out the door at one time to attend an event tends to be stressful. I need an attitude adjustment so I can let go of all that enjoy the ride and event. I wasn’t worried about Jen being able to do the same thing.
It turns out that her circle is yellow, and in case you were wondering circles do not have a smell or make a sound. However, her circle does glow. We stacked the circle with three specific memories each of the resources strength, speed and endurance. She relived these experiences and soaked up the resources.
Then we added David Beckham to her circle to increase her soccer skill above and beyond what she currently has. She pictured him in her glowing yellow circle kicking the ball, heading the ball, scoring, etc. When we finished the exercise, she packed her circle away into her box that she’s so fond of not stepping out of.
Jen had an exceptional game that night. Lest you think that I am a biased soccer mom who wanted the experiment to succeed for both of us, she got compliments from the coaches and other parents not just me.
Today, she watched great soccer plays on uTube. She loaded those into her circle of excellence and then went on to have an even better game. If she’ll continue to work with this, next time we’ll add a kinesthetic anchor. While David Beckham has nothing to fear, Jen’s circle of excellence has certainly made a difference on the local soccer field.
Several years ago I had read an article by Carmine Baffa where he described using a circle of excellence to help the players on a little league team. Around the same time I read another article by Win Wenger, Ph.D. on borrowed genius. I was convinced that combining the two techniques she could gain an immense boost to her game.
Finally, riding in the car on the way to the first regular season game of the summer travel league I convinced her that there was nothing to lose and a great deal to gain by humoring me.
Since we were in the car, we did need to modify the circle of excellence so that moving in and out of it was all in her head, but I wasn’t concerned about that. I keep one of my own “packed” in the glove compartment. Getting the whole family out the door at one time to attend an event tends to be stressful. I need an attitude adjustment so I can let go of all that enjoy the ride and event. I wasn’t worried about Jen being able to do the same thing.
It turns out that her circle is yellow, and in case you were wondering circles do not have a smell or make a sound. However, her circle does glow. We stacked the circle with three specific memories each of the resources strength, speed and endurance. She relived these experiences and soaked up the resources.
Then we added David Beckham to her circle to increase her soccer skill above and beyond what she currently has. She pictured him in her glowing yellow circle kicking the ball, heading the ball, scoring, etc. When we finished the exercise, she packed her circle away into her box that she’s so fond of not stepping out of.
Jen had an exceptional game that night. Lest you think that I am a biased soccer mom who wanted the experiment to succeed for both of us, she got compliments from the coaches and other parents not just me.
Today, she watched great soccer plays on uTube. She loaded those into her circle of excellence and then went on to have an even better game. If she’ll continue to work with this, next time we’ll add a kinesthetic anchor. While David Beckham has nothing to fear, Jen’s circle of excellence has certainly made a difference on the local soccer field.
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