New Year, new start

Whoops, where did those few weeks go to? No post since 25th November? Startling!

I've done a fair bit of reading since I last posted, and have found a few NLP areas which particularly resonate with me, and on which I'm planning to concentrate my efforts for the time being.

One of these is the use of enriched language. I really enjoyed Sue's chapter on this subject, and try to look out for examples when I'm reading other people's writing. I don't get to do a lot of writing of my own, but plan to change that this year, through the media of blogging, journal-keeping and, well, just writing more. I have some presentations to give at work early this year, and would love to make them more interesting and engaging by the use of such language.

I also enjoyed Sue's chapter on Precision Questions, particularly the case study of the man who needed help managing his feelings before and after giving a presentation. His experiences reflect my own - I get very nervous before and during presenting - and I'm going to use the NLP techniques described, to help build my confidence in this area.

Finally, I'm amazed at how often in the past few weeks I've read statements along the lines of: "you cannot change what another person says, does or thinks - you can only change your reaction to it." This calls to mind what Sue said about not reacting immediately, and the importance of the gap between something happening or being said, and you reacting to it. This is a key message for me...