When we are small children, we learn by copying others. And if you have children of your own, or are ever around them, you know they tend to copy whatever you do.
Sometimes it’s cute, sometimes it can be embarrassing.
Throughout mankind’s history, most “learning” has come from copying.
For instance, if you want to learn a trade, you need to work with a skilled and qualified trades-person and be their apprentice, slowly learning the ins and outs under their close supervision.
NLP modeling works on the same principle of finding someone that is expert in what you want to do, and then copying them. You have to copy everything they do, not just their actions but their thought processes, and reasoning.
Obviously, the more complicated the skills required, the more difficult it is to copy them.
One crucial aspect of learning is the need to make mistakes, and to learn from them going forward, because no matter who you are modeling, they can’t have achieved any level of success without a significant amount of trial and error. Or as they say in NLP, “Trial and Feedback.”
Unfortunately, many people like to be told exactly what to do in the hope it will relieve them from making any mistakes.
“I’m ready for success! I’m ready to take action! Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!”
But they discover the “secret” is to simply keep trying until they get it right, unfortunately most people don’t like this idea so much.
Sure, modeling can help. It can speed-up the process. But being willing to accept any “result” no matter how “good” or “bad” is required for any kind of real success to take place.
This may be the reason why most people are always looking for the next “big secret.”
They would rather wait their entire lives for somebody to tell them what to do, and guide them step-by-step, rather than simply taking action and seeing what happens.
Sure, it can be terrifying taking action. But it is also incredibly liberating. As you’ve likely realized from time to time, most of our deepest fears never actually materialise.
So when you do “wing it” just to “see what happens,” it’s rarely even close to what you feared could happen, and each time you try something, and accept whatever happens as valuable feedback, you will learn something.
Sure, often times you’ll learn what not to do, but this creates a foundation to build on and allows you to learn from your experience and at a much deeper psychological level.
Equally important is the deep knowledge that trying and “failing” isn’t so bad.
It can actually be kind of fun, as long as you have a clear idea of where you’d like to be eventually, and the persistence to keep going no matter what, you’ll not only get there, but have a lot of fun in the meantime.
Make a start today…