Neuro-Linguistic Programming

7. Ensure the outcome preserves existing benefits

Many people are motivated and committed to achieving an outcome yet still don't attain it or it doesn't last. This is often because their current behavior provides benefits that will be lost if they accomplish what they set out to do. In NLP, such benefits are known as 'positive by-products' or 'secondary gains'.

People who drink too much coffee, for instance, or who are regularly late for meetings, get something from those behaviors, or they wouldn't continue with them. These could be stimulation from the caffeine and a desire to make the best use of time respectively. But there's no 'one-size-fits-all'. Positive by-products are specific to each person and situation.

Sometimes these 'positive' aspects to 'negative' behaviors are not obvious, but it's essential they're taken account of if the outcome is to stand a chance of succeeding. Once we're aware of these positive by-products we sometimes come to the conclusion that they no longer apply. If, for instance, you started smoking at 14 so you could fit in with your friends you may not feel the need to do this when you are 30. If you want to retain the benefit, the new behavior will either need to deliver the same secondary gains or plans must be made to provide them in some other way, perhaps by means of additional, associated outcomes. If you don't take action they will sabotage your progress.

8. Check the outcome is ecological

NLP places great importance on 'ecology', on taking into account the effect of any change to the wider systems of which a person is part. Each outcome we set and achieve, no matter how small, will create a ripple effect on the world around us and the people in it.

If you're a manager and you put lots of energy into working on a big project you'll have less time to spend with your staff - and your family and friends. You may have to put interests and hobbies 'on hold'. And you may not have as much time to get to the gym, so your health and fitness could suffer.

Ecology is about the consequences for the system as a whole. And this well-formedness condition involves thinking carefully and deeply about the advantages and disadvantages in following any course of action.

Do you want the outcome no matter the price? Maybe you want to be better qualified to improve your career prospects. Are you prepared to spend six years studying for an Open University degree and to invest several hundred pounds a year doing it? Money is a consideration few of us can ignore when it comes to making sure our outcomes are well formed. What will it cost to achieve it? What impact will this have on how you spend your income now? Is it worth it?

And does the outcome fit with your sense of who you are as a person and what's important to you? Some outcomes can literally change the way we think about ourselves. Does this take you in the direction of becoming the person you want to be?

There are four classic NLP questions that cover the important ecology issues:

What will happen if you achieve this outcome?
What won't happen if you achieve this outcome?
What will happen if you don't achieve this outcome?
What won't happen if you don't achieve this outcome?

9. Define the first step

Turning an outcome into reality requires action. And even the longest journey begins, as an ancient proverb says, with a single step. Defining that first step is a final and important part of the well-formedness process. If you don't take that step, you probably won't take the others that follow afterwards. Once again, be specific: what precisely will you do, and when will you do it?