Future Pacing and Meta-Future-Pacing - NLP Chat

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IRC Chat Log, April 12, 1998

Meta-Future-Pacing
Jonathan 1st off, thanks everyone for coming in tonight for the event... its been a little while since I last did one -- training's are VERY busy and in fact I'm in the middle of a prac training as we speak but I've given everyone the night off... so... I thought I'd make it EZ on myself and pick a subject which can be covered in a reasonably short period of time... and then entertain questions and open discussion on how we could use the technique more effectively... NOW... As you think about times in your past where you maybe didn't like your own behavior as much as you'd have liked... and perhaps you wanted to do something differently back then... to arrive at a different outcome than the one you got, then... Perhaps those of you versed in some NLP Techniques were able to use any number of NLP tools to get an internal shift relative to how you used to feel about that event/time/issue in your past.... and just possibly you may then have used something called FUTURE-PACING, to then make it more likely that you would achieve the kind of outcome you want for yourself, as you move into the future. How many people here have consciously future-paced the results from having used NLP tools with themselves?
Stile I have
Jonathan Does everyone know what Future-Pacing is?
RodMunch nope
Jonathan ahhh! So.... to get a little definition work out of the way -- lets say you've used an NLP tool to change the way you feel about something in your past. And it works -- you try in vain to get the negative emotion back... and it doesn't... so you think you've changed the internal response to the memory -- i.e. you feel better about it. And you want to lock in the change... so you "PACE" yourself... with the change intact... into the future. You imagine times in the future where you encounter similar potential experiences... and you see yourself behaving in the new way. That's Future-Pacing. So who has questions about Future-Pacing... as a general concept? I mean, its something all of us can do, and do automatically SOMETIMES... but most of us (most people untrained in NLP) don't consciously do it for consciously desired results.
RodMunch I get it in general, but was wondering if I could offer an example to see if future pacing could help?
Jonathan Sure
RodMunch OK, I am a writing major in college, and sometimes, I just can't wait to sit down and write...I count down the minutes till I can get to the computer and start writing but most of the time I don't have that enthusiasm...can meta-future pacing help me attain that enthusiasm more consistently? Because I have deadlines and due dates for my profs that I have to meet.
Jonathan Meta-Future-Pacing as a technique is supposed to enhance the likelihood of FUTURE-PACING being effective in the first place. So anything that future-pacing is supposed to achieve, meta-future-pacing is intended to help lock in the result one wants. Now.
MarcM let me guess - you model when you're able to future-pace effectively?
Jonathan Nope ;) Today/tonight (where I am) is Sunday. Lets say on Sunday (earlier) I used an NLP tool on myself to achieve a new result out of my behavior. And I decide to imagine times later in the week -- lets say on Monday, Wednesday and Friday... when I'll be presented with a similar-enough circumstance to the issue I worked on today.... so tonight I FUTURE-PACE myself on Mon, Wed, & Fri., handling those situations DIFFERENTLY than I might have handled them in my past, knowing what I know now... make sense? But sometimes we get busy enough or the change didn't take as much as we'd like it to have taken... how can we maximize the effectiveness of the future-pace? ONE simple addition to the process!!!! The Meta-Future-Pace. Now. After each of the future-paces... on Mon Wed & Fri... I follow up each imagined circumstance with another imagined process... I'm going to imagine myself doing the behavior differently on those days... and then... in my mind... imagine myself doing another future-pace of the same behavioral shift that I worked on today (Sunday)... for 3 more times out into the future.... So I'm going to imagine doing the thing differently on Monday, and then, once I've done it differently, I'm going to future pace the change again for Wed., Fri., and Sunday.... and then... I'm going to imagine doing the thing differently on Wednesday, and then, once I've done it differently, I'm going to future pace the change again for Fri., Sun., and Tuesday.... and then.... I'm going to imagine doing the thing differently on Friday, and then, once I've done it differently, I'm going to future pace the change again for Sun., Tues., and Thursday. So you're imagining the desired behavior followed by YET another future pace. You FUTURE-PACE the FUTURE-PACE.
Stile hmmm so this is an imaginary future pace?
Jonathan yes
Sabren as opposed to ? :)
Stile whoa kewl I thought of that b4
Jonathan Well, Sabren...
Stile kinda but not quite the same
MarcM how does this help?
Jonathan Actually -- when I future pace a behavior I tend to copy the physiology of the behavior not only mentally - but physically if I can, even if the context isn't applicable -- just to maximize the likelihood of remembering the change... at the appropriate moment!
Sabren ... :) meaning you don't have to stop whatever you're doing on Wednesday and actually do the future pace.. because the new behavior has now become (new behavior and reinforcing that behavior)
Jonathan Right, I don't have to... but I'm more likely to do it on Wednesday if I did a meta-future pace, because I've already practiced choosing to do a future pace on Wednesday...! So how DOES this help, Marc? What do you think? How do you think it would help you?
Galamud couldn't this just go on into infinity? =)
MarcM beats me
Sabren recursion: {noun} see recursion.
MarcM I have yet to get many NLP processes to work on myself, or if they do - it's hard to tell when they do.
Jonathan Yes galamud -- there's a point of diminishing returns in there ;) Marc have you been to a training? I don't mean to be pushy about that point ---
MarcM nope, hopefully I will this fall
Jonathan that's a common comment from people who've learned from books but not training's -- its not a slam in the least -- its just a comment about the different between passive and active learning.
Galamud and you just keep on future-pacing until you completely forget your problem, and then you're cured! =)
Jonathan hehheh galamud -- wouldn't that be nice... but one comment about the word "cure"
MarcM believe me - I can't wait to attend a training
Galamud slit my wrists, go ahead.
Jonathan NLP does not work from the medical model. Its doesn't connect with the presupposition that some people are broken... and that they need to be fixed or cured. I understand the vernacular but I personally need to be clear about it for a lot of reasons.
Sabren ... yeah, or a study group or something... anything where you're actually DOING it with people, and can see what works and what doesn't from outside..
MarcM 'course - NLP would just have a different label for the same affect :)
Galamud sorry...just picked a word real quick.
Sabren .. and inside..
Jonathan I understand. We don't cure people -- we help people through advanced communications education to learn how to run their own brain! ok
MarcM (which the medical people would call "curing" them)
Stile no, they'd call that losing $$$$$
Galamud and which the Buddhists in the crowd would call "nirvana" =)
Sabren there's a distinction
Jonathan The medical model assumes the existence of conditions that need to be treated and cured. The NLP model aims towards OPTIMIZATION and excellence and does NOT (and should NOT) treat such conditions. If we happen to prevent such conditions from ever arising, that's terrific! ;)
Sabren curing is like taking away a problem.... NLP is adding another choice...
Galamud isn't NLP a mixture of these things?
Jonathan NLP is *NOT* therapy. Though there are therapists who use NLP.
Stile DHE is creating NEW problems :)
Galamud it can be used to "cure" a phobia, or install moods that can be used to improve your life, or a whole bunch of other things.
Jonathan Though early NLP tools did arise from studying therapists (and OTHER professions, lest we forget)
Galamud so it just depends on what you're using it for.
Sabren NLP is conscious communication.
Jonathan so... comments... about the META-FUTURE-PACING process as a whole (before we chunk down)
Sabren no, but a question...
Jonathan yes?
Sabren any thoughts about doing this covertly with others?
Jonathan Meaning... how could it be elegantly done with others?
Sabren or perhaps even nonverbally?
Jonathan I can do it spatially, in front of a group, sure...
Sabren well, in some settings you could just tell people to do it...
Jonathan Right....
Sabren but.. I mean you can future pace things by talking about them and just putting the picture in people's timelines...
Jonathan yes, absolutely.
Sabren presupposing all the ethical stuff that goes with it is taken care of.. ecology, etc.... how would this work covertly?
Jonathan Then... just sweep your hand through the timeline... slowly, as you talk about both doing it differently into the future... and about practicing the process with future paces... (marking out the timeline spots ;) Consciously they think only of doing future paces at THIS time... but unconsciously they're locking in future-paces into the timeline./
Sabren hmmm... cool :)
Jonathan The suggestion covers both angles.
Sabren ... or you could anchor them while you future pace, and fire the anchor off into the future.... :)
Jonathan kewl.... Now.. you could mark out a timeline in space in front of them (without them knowing or with them knowing...) by talking about different times as you move to different locations in front of them... making sure now is close in front of them... then later... as you move across the room again into the future spots... talk about future pacing (like what you described only with visual anchoring of your location) and cyclically running through the future spots again & again...
Sabren woah! build a timeline, install the behavior, and then return them to their regularly scheduled reality... temporary timelines! rock on.
Jonathan yes
Sabren my new motto is "why elicit, when you can install?" :)
MarcM so....
Jonathan So lets get more specific... Who still has questions about the Meta-Future-Pace concept (those who were here for the earlier part of the chat)
MarcM not I! I tend to understand how things work very easily - I just can't do them :(
Sabren ever?
Jonathan kimbo -- how many meta-future-paces have you just done?
MarcM sabren: well, with others I *rarely* get the chance to play around, and, with myself - it's hard to tell when something actually has an affect
Jonathan Now that we've covered Meta-Future-Pacing... And how it could be used to MAXIMIZE THE RESULTS of doing a SIMPLE FUTURE-PACE... I'd like to know if the next time you're successful with an NLP tool on yourself (if you choose to do something of that nature)... We can follow it up with a future pace of several times in the future that we'd like the new behavior to manifest itself... and if we can imagine times after such behavior manifests itself... in the future... where we do additional future-paces.... in order to help make that change that we desire to be MUCH more likely to occur... in real life... and wouldn't that be REALLY EXCELLENT? I think that would be phenomenal ;)
MarcM yes
Stile yesssss!
Jonathan Well, believe it or not... that about covers it... for tonight... there are certainly exceptions to how to use this that may come up in your use of this tool... and I may hold another event... following up this one... but this is a shorty because I'm in the middle of a prac training and because I'm WAY under the weather ;)
MarcM wow - quick :) can we talk about something completely different?
Jonathan So I'll thank EVERYONE for coming.... And suggest we move into another topic right after I do my quickie plug!
Sabren {applause}
Jonathan I've got some weekend events coming up which should be rather innovative -- there's the personal enhancement weekends -- but the exciting ones....
Stile modeling + AI knowledge acquisition!
Jonathan are the Knowledge Engineering weekends -- Yes Stile!
Stile I'm drooooooling
Jonathan May 29-31 in Tampa. Talk about taking your NLP modeling skills to a new level. I've been letting the integration of these two careers bubble up for the last straight year and I'm ready to present.
Sabren :) sounds cool. I'll send Sabrina.. :)
Jonathan So... think about them -- if they're right for you -- sign up and if not -- I hope you'll recommend them to people who might get some real benefit out of them. ;) Sabrina has a seat reserved ;) (well, a table, actually).
Sabren just a disk drive.. :)
Jonathan I'm done with the obligatory plug -- so have a great time -- I'll stick around for the informal's for a while... and keep an eye on the newsgroups for the next chat!
IRC CHAT OVER!

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