NLP
Walking My Talk
By Taymour Qabazard A qualified London based Executive and Personal coach who is also a Master-Practitioner of NLP and a Diagnostic Thought Field Therapist. Speaker and workshop leader, monthly columnist for Enigma International Magazine. © 2008
Jan 16, 2008, 21:59

“Wisdom becomes knowledge when it becomes 

your personal experience.” Anonymous     

Honesty has always been a policy that I’ve relied on when making a difference with my clients.  I’ve been a personal coach for almost five years now and time and time again, I’ve helped my clients by teaching them powerful and life changing techniques that have contributed to their growth and success.  This is not to say that I don’t use such tools and techniques myself; they are always there in the background helping me cope and overcome my own challenges.  Reframing a situation for the positive, adjusting my own internal dialogue and even being aware of what I visualise with my overactive mind.

Like all of you out there, life has tested me with its challenges and hurdles; and it continues to do so on a regular basis.  I suppose every challenge has helped me become a stronger person and better at my work, as I can understand and empathise with my clients more easily.  I am writing this article because of an experience that I went through recently that truly tested my attitude, mental discipline and the many mind techniques that I regularly recommend to my clients.  I suppose you could say that I was caught off guard and life pitched me a curve ball (pardon the Baseball expression) that I had to deal with. 

Without boring you with the details, I came to realise that:

 a) The TFT Algorithms I use are extremely effective.  They calmed me enough to think straight and take necessary action. 

 b) I (and many of you out there) can be highly resourceful when it’s necessary.  It’s all in the attitude.  I kept thinking that: “I need to fix this, no matter what.”  Rather than: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…

 And c)  I was uncomfortably reminded of the fact that imagination is far more powerful than intellect or common sense. So I had to be extra mindful of the power of my thoughts and their impact on my body and mind.  .  

My logical/sensible mind was very calm and collected.  It knew that this problem in its core could be remedied easily.  On the other hand, my creative mind was super-active with terrifying thoughts of “What if!”.  My breathing became shallow, my heart began to palpitate, I was sweating and feeling horrid with fear.  My emotional and physical state was being overtaken with daunting thoughts that were not happening in actuality – they were just thoughts that I was beginning to unfortunately believe.  All this in a matter of just one to two minutes. As this unpleasant drama unfolded, a voice somewhere in my head whispered gently: “BREATHE…You can handle this.   Just do what you usually ask your clients when they’re faced with a similar challenge”.  Luckily I listened to that voice of higher wisdom and began to walk my talk once again.  I did what works.  I first became aware of my thoughts in detail, and changed them for the better by visualising myself taking the steps needed to fix my problem and see it through.  I went over that empowering movie in my mind repeatedly and acted right away.  In stead of giving into my fears (which we all have and I’m no exception), I collapsed them with cleaner thoughts. Thoughts that were a cocktail of positive and helpful internal dialogue coupled with better pictures and film clips in my mind.  After all, you are what you think; and what you systematically think will result in what you believe and act on a daily basis.  Remember, for something to happen in your reality, it must first happen in your imagination. 

Although the above experience has been simplified to make some focal points; it was also very humbling to go through.  I was reminded of my own fragility and the importance of being the master of your own mind (thoughts and imaginations), rather than its slave.  It is terribly easy to give into bad thoughts and follow their deceitful trail only to be left emotionally wrecked and physically drained.  I can even appreciate the effects of anxiety and panic more than ever when clients describe them to me, as I’ve gone to the edge and stared into the abyss except I didn’t wait for the abyss to stare back at me.  Nevertheless, as the old saying goes: “Life throws you only what it knows you can handle”, and in hind sight, things turned out for the best.  Just look at this article as one the positive outcomes of a lesson learned.      

The ancient Zoroastrian religion is based on three principals:  Good Thought, Good Words and Good Deeds – in that order.  Reiterating the importance and power of thoughts, this experience educated me once more to monitor and control my own in order to better my words (internal as well as external) and to alter my actions for the better.    

 The fundamental key is to discipline our fertile minds to exercise constructive thoughts that can be mastered through repetition and habit.  I believe it’s all about realising what doesn’t work and letting it go; to discover what does and embrace it.  In essence, it’s quite easy and simple to do.  The conscious and positive conditioning of our minds is the keystone that can hold it all together as we carry on building our lives into edifices of pride and happiness.                      

Until Next Time, Live…………Don’t Just Exist!