What is NLP | Mental Maps and World View

Mental Maps and World View

In this short video, Michael explains the idea of mental maps and world view, as they relate to NLP. Understanding mental maps is very useful for anyone who needs to influence and persuade others.

What Are Mental Maps?

The basic idea is that we live in our perception of the world. So everything is filtered through our beliefs, experiences, mental state, upbringing, etc. One person’s perception will never be exactly the same as someone else’s.  Two people can argue about the meaning of something simply because they see it differently.

To be a successful influencer, it’s important to be able to understand and respect other views and perceptions. In terms of coaching, you can improve your skills by:

• Looking and listening more carefully. Your own mental maps will broaden and improve.
• Work from within the other person’s mental map. Your influence over them will increase because there will be more connection and they will be more interested in what you say.
• Explore NLP and other ways to expand your thinking. This develops your flexibility so that you can adapt to other maps more easily.

How do you test if a mental map is a useful one for the client to have?  Put simply – does their world view make them feel happy? Do they get the results that they think they should?  If they are in conflict all the time – if their mental map doesn’t fit with their experiences, then neither of these will be true.

If their mental map is ineffective, it’s not that they are lacking intelligence, nor is it the fault of outside circumstances, but it may be that their world view is out of line with their experience of it.  You can help align them.  Read about cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias and heuristics, effects and biases to understand more about this.

See more on Wikipedia.

The next section explores Cognitive Dissonance

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What is NLP Section Index

1: What is NLP | What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming 
2: The NLP Adventure Starts
3: Mental maps and world view
4: Cognitive Dissonance
5: Confirmation Bias 
6: More Heuristics, Effects and Biases
7: What does NLP offer?
8: Do I need a coach?
9: Get the most of this guide?
10: Exercise
11: Summary

What is NLP | Mental Maps and World View