Written by Ivan Staroversky | 07 July 2010

 

Every day we encounter people who give us negative suggestions both intentionally and unintentionally. A common example of a negative suggestion that my clients have is the one that they got from doctors or parents. For example, several of my clients have been scared badly by their doctors when the doctor told them that they will never be healthy again unless they take the medication. Another common example is the cancer patients who constantly hear from doctors that they have only a few months left to live and that noting can be done.

Negative suggestions can range anywhere from small comments to important statements from the authority figure. Sometimes it can be irritating to hear and think about what someone has told you. However, there are situation in which negative suggestions can turn into negative beliefs and activate the nocebo effect. A nocebo effect happens when a person hears something negative which may not be true at all but the person believes the negative statement so much that it becomes real for that person.

The more negative statements we hear about ourselves, the higher the probability that we can start to think negatively about ourselves. Often these negative statements come from our family members or teachers. Some of the common negative statements include:

"You will never be smart."
"You are just not talented."
"You are not artistic."
"You are a failure."
"You will never be successful."
"You are silly."
"You have problems."
"You have social issues."

All of these negative statements have a certain degree of influence on our self-concept. Self-concept is the sum total of an individual’s beliefs about his or her own personal attributes. Negative statements from other people are not the only concern. People often create and rehearse negative statements about themselves throughout the day. Some of the common negative self-statemtens include:

"Oh.. I am such an idiot."
"I am a loser."
"I can't do it."
"I will never be able to make it."
"I have no self-control."
"I am fat."
"I am ugly."

One of the ways to prevent the negative programming is to avoid negative people. However, this is not always possible and you can't really avoid yourself can you not? What you can do is become aware of the negative programming from self and other people. Once you become aware of it, you can change it. Here is how you can change negative suggestions:

1. Think of something negative someone has told you or something bad you say to yourself.

2. Think of someone you distrust. Someone who lied to you. Remember how they told you a lie.

3. Notice the submodalities of the lie and the negative suggestion.

Visual Submodalities:	Auditory Submodalities	Kinesthetic Submodalities
Number of images Moving/StillSize Shape Color/Black and white Focused/Unfocused Bright/Dim Location in space Bordered/Borderless Flat/3D Associated/Disassociated Close/Distant	Volume Pitch Timbre (mood of sound) Tempo Tonality Duration Rhythm Direction of voice Harmony	Location in body Tactile sensations Temperature Pulse rate Breathing rate Pressure Weight Intensity Movement/Direction

4. Move the negative suggestion or the person who told you the negative suggestion into the submodalities of the lie. As you see them speak, notice how their nose is growing just like Pinokio's nose. You can even change their or your voice into the voice of the person or a cartoon character that tells a lie.

Reference:

Bandler, R. (2008). Get the Life You Want: The Secrets to Quick and Lasting Life Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Deerfield Beach, FL: HCI.

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