NLP Timelines for Limiting Beliefs

How can you use NLP timelines for limiting beliefs? If your beliefs about something are limiting you, why will NLP timelines be an excellent strategy for tackling them?

There are two timelines. One goes through you from front to back like this.

The other one goes immediately in front of you from left to right like this. 

The first timeline is in time. The second one is through time. 

Which one do you use?

It’s useful to know, because your timeline tells you how you perceive time. If you’re mostly in time, you are mostly in the now, in the present moment. When you’re in the present moment, you are little or not aware of what was yesterday and what will be sometimes even an hour later. A person in time tends to be immersed in the now. Since he isn’t aware much of what’s around him [yesterday or an hour later is part of what’s around], he tends to be stuck in the moment and may therefore have difficulties with planning, be late a lot, double or even triple book meetings, etc. 

If a person is through time a lot, he will likely have the opposite problem. He may be an excellent planner because his timeline goes slightly in front of him and he has an excellent view of what happened yesterday, even years ago, and where he’s going, i.e. what will happen an hour later, or even what he wants to happen 5 years later. He may be very aware of time and have life planned out. But he may have a problem enjoying even beautiful moments, because his timeline goes slightly in front of him outside his body, not directly through him. 

This is directly connected to limiting beliefs.

A person who is mostly in time will probably be stuck in looking at things from his viewpoint and not be aware of how what he believes at this moment is connected with what he believed yesterday or even years ago, and how what he believes at the moment will influence his life tomorrow and years later. 

A person who is mostly through time will have the opposite problem: he may be too influenced by too many beliefs or perspectives at once, and may find it difficult to form a belief or even recognize what he believes. This is as limiting as is the limiting belief of the person who is mostly in time. 

2 things you can do today:

1. Identify which timeline you mostly use
2. Imagine that you’re in a helicopter. Fly above you standing/sitting/lying on the ground and look at the you on the ground from the helicopter. See yourself on the ground with your timeline going through or in front of you. Now see the dark spots on your timeline. Shine a flashlight or zoom in on each dark spot and see what it contains. The dark spots are your limiting beliefs. How do they connect? How do the ones in your present moment connect to the ones in your past? And if you keep limiting yourself to believing them, how will they affect your future? How many more dark spots will they make on the timeline in future? 

If you see dark spots (=limiting beliefs) on your timeline in future, again shine a flashlight or zoom in on them and find out what they contain. Remember that since future hasn’t happened yet, the fact that you already see them is a form of limiting belief which you are forming now. You can experiment with this. As you see what the limiting beliefs from the future are, you can connect them with all the ones earlier on the timeline. What are the connections among them all?

Artists can use NLP timelines for limiting beliefs

Many artists take their lives exactly because they come across a limiting belief which often connects to or influences time. Using this NLP strategy will be wonderful for them, because it will give them a wider perspective on life.

Found this fascinating? Or perhaps scary, but still fascinating? Would you like to know more about NLP, timelines, and limiting beliefs? Let’s talk.