THE NLP Domino Effect by Sue Brereton

By Sue Brereton, NLP Trainer

My NLP journey over the past 18 months, can be described with a collection of adjectives culminating in brilliant.

When I began this amazing journey, it was for the purpose of professional development. Something just for me.  I was turning 50 years old and as a mother to three, wife, daughter, pet owner, government employee and volunteer; I was very good at giving to others, so I decided to justify my attendance with the tag professional development.

As I embarked on my NLP Practitioner’s Course, I was filled with excitement and a little fearful of the unknown.  What will I discover in the depths of my unconscious? Am I going to be good enough to do this stuff?  Wow not only did I learn a phenomenal amount of information and techniques- I expanded my capacity to think critically and to think laterally of possibilities in problem solving.

As the certificates were being presented, certifying us all as NLP Practitioners, the excitement, pride and satisfaction was palpable .  I was on the road, no u-turns required. Everything was possible.

The thing that really exploded all my ideas was the discovery of the domino effect that these trainings initiated.  I was unaware that the NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line Therapy®  dominoes were clinking their way through my whole family and circle of friends and colleagues every time I took action to achieve my goals.

My family includes twin 13 year old girls.  The girls have been in separate classes at school since starting.  One twin flourished, while the other had not had the same experience.  She struggled with the expectations of teachers, classmates, developing friendships and trying to be like her sister, a belief she had because she is a twin.

When she was in year 6 she walked to school with her head hung down, her confidence and self-esteem were in her boots.  My heart was breaking with every discussion we had about why she must go to school.  After one such discussion she says “Hey Mum do you think your NLP stuff could help me with maths?”  Oh what an idiot I had been!  I have a toolkit full of exactly the right tools to work with people and I hadn’t even contemplated working with my children. What was I thinking!  She knew, from being in the car with me while I listened to the CDs exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted some S.M.A.R.T goals and explanation around cause and effect.

We set about doing some work around strategies, cause and effect, Time Line Therapy® for her negative emotions and limiting decisions.  Then to top it all off, some wonderful, achievable SMART goals for her bright and successful future.

There is only one word that can describe the results WOW.  It was only 6 weeks later when it was announced at school that she had come second in our state in a maths investigation.  WOW.  The next thing was a day on a flying trapeze showing none of the old fear of heights. The results just kept coming for her. I was so proud of her.  Then her sister started to achieve some wonderful results as well.  The Domino effect.

I could go on for a long time about the domino effect on colleagues and friends, some of whom have completed trainings with the Tad James Co.  The thing that sealed my theory of the domino effect was whilst coaching a student attending a NLP Practitioner Course in Sydney Australia who said to me on the phone:  ” You have no idea how great this stuff is. My mother has been listening to the CDs with me,  our family and friends have all commented on how different she is, how happy she is and much better she looks.  She also says that she feels so much better in herself.”

I recounted the story of my daughter to Drs Tad and Adriana James at a subsequent NLP training.  As I told them all about my girls, their reactions were so heartfelt, I walked away oozing contentment and joy.

This year the girls have started High School.  I have set goals with both of them for this year.  They are flourishing, building rapport with teachers and classmates and developing good strategies.

Now to get the girls to eat peas!

“Getting us to eat peas,” my girls exclaimed “does not have ecology, NLP is a do WITH process Mum and we are not with you on this!”