(I think the process is called ‘frustrating response potential’ in typical NLP Jargon… )

Anyway, he did it deliberately…

However, the unusual and ferocious (for England) snow on the morning of our intended Practitioner Part 2 High Ropes session last February wasn’t a deliberate man-made event but it certainly prevented us from even travelling over the hill to the Benscombe High Ropes course – in fact, although only living 6 minutes’ drive away I remember arriving nearly 30 minutes late for the morning session – not something I like doing!

Great that you were able to join us for the recent session in the New Forest (and in much warmer and milder weather) and that you so obviously thrived on it.

And, however accidental it may have been, maybe Erickson’s “delayed response potential” phenomenon may have helped further boost your determination to prove a few things to yourself…

NLP practitioner took me on a amazing journey, from identifying the limiting beliefs embedded from a young age to working on various ideas to make “giving high ropes another go” a real possibilty. To feel disappointment (instead of relief!)on the last day of practitioner when the ropes session was cancelled due to snow was something very unexpected, and a milestone for me in itself.

Almost a year to the day. i went back to Avon Tyrell, and played on the ropes!! The impact of that second session is still making itself known but the possibilities for using what that journey taught me are endless

I was still processing the insights I gained from the High Ropes a couple of years later – and even now I still get occasional new insights when doing them on our courses.

Ive always been the type of person who has refused to do things that were in my stretch zone – always saying “im too scared” or “i will never be able to do that”. Through a lot of support from the NLP group – and using my circle of excellence – and also managing my state – and dealing with all those limiting beliefs – I managed to do the high ropes. Firstly in my Core skills with a marginal achievement of getting up into the trees once. The second time was when I did my practitioner course – and I think Reg may have struggled to get me down this time.

What Ive taken away from this – and believe me, its completely changed my life – is that I am my own worst enemy when trying new things. Ive achieved so much since – learnt so much about myself – and done things Ive secretly always wanted to do but never believed I could.

Reg would ask me how I planned to take away what I learnt in the high ropes and apply it in my every day life…….and at the time I had no idea exactly how I was going to do that. But I have applied it loads – and I do still all the time.

What a great experience!

First time I did them, I felt “it’s not me” and was sooo happy for the exercise to be over. The second time I did them was after the few months between the courses. To my surprise, in my mind I’d become a monkey scampering about (still clunky and stiff legged to an observer though!). It was fun but there was no flash of insight or anything.

However… since then, if I get nervous about something or feel “it’s not me” it feels natural and obvious to give myself a “no-consequence” stab at it anyway. Then the second time I do it, it’s no longer a scary problem and I am free to be more strategic about it.

Really nice result from all that tree swinging!