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Different levels of thought
One of the things that has emerged from NLP is that people have different levels of thinking (shown in red type below). The higher levels control those beneath them.
Taking the example of someone who becomes angry because of the way some 'idiot' has behaved on the road or anywhere else, the anger could be thought of as being at one level of thinking or response. This anger may then manifest itself as dangerous driving behaviour. To help people to 'move on' you need to tackle the problem on a different level - to help them to think differently.
Trying to tackle the anger directly, perhaps by saying something like "Don't be angry" usually won't work; this is because you are trying to solve the problem on the same level of thinking that it occurs; an effective cure will need to tackle a higher level of thinking.
In NLP the trainer would ask the angry person the question, "What is important to you about feeling angry?" The effect of this would be to shift the person up to the next level of thinking. The angry person may reply, "I can't stand idiots on the road".
This is a statement about the person's capability to be tolerant of shortcomings in others.
If the trainer asks the question again, "And what is important to you about not being able to stand idiots on the road?" The person may reply, "People should learn to drive properly". This is a statement about a belief the angry person has about other people.
If the question is asked again "What is important to you about the fact that people should learn to drive properly?" The reply could be something like, "So that they can be safe drivers like me". This is a statement concerning the self-identity of the angry person who believes that he/she is a safe driver.
You may already have noticed the contradiction in these statements. At the lowest level we have a person whose behaviour is 'driving angrily', while at the top level we have a person whose self-identity is one of 'safe driver'. The simple interventions described above could help the angry driver to change the way he/she thinks.
The theory of levels of thought (Neurological Levels) was first described in the way shown below by expert NLP developer, Robert Dilts. His theory suggests that we all operate at the following levels of thought:
- Identity (Who I am, or think I am) Top level
- Beliefs (How I think the world works or should work. Why I do things.)
- Capabilities (Planning, strategies for dealing with problems which determine my Behaviour.)
- Behaviour (My actions or reactions taken within the environment.)
- Environment ( External opportunities or constraints.) Bottom level
The fixes suggested above are quick and simple ways of tackling a problem; they work very well in some cases and have been used here to demonstrate the principles involved. However, if a driver believes that getting angry doesn't affect his/her ability to drive safely, then other methods may be needed to change the situation.
Inevitably, some people may need retraining or a course in anger management to resolve their problems.
Hopefully, this article has offered you an idea of how NLP might be useful to help drivers to think again about some of their habits; having said this, it draws on only a small part of the field NLP as a whole. If you would like to find out more there is lots of stuff on the internet or at your local bookstore.
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