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How to Change Your Frame of Mind With NLP & Neuro Semantics

What are frames of mind.

(By Abby Eagle) You might have heard people say, "You need to have the right mind-set. I did not have the right frame of mind.” So what are frames of mind?

A frame of mind is a generic term for attitude, values, beliefs, memories, decisions. It  is simply a thought that frames how you think about something. Like a set of glasses or a picture frame that sets a context for how you think about the picture within the frame, for example. Television networks frame the content as either factual information, entertainment or advertising. Sometimes television networks blur the frames and the viewer may not be sure whether the content is fact, fiction, propaganda or a sales message. In addition to the frames set by the television network the viewer brings their own frame of mind to how they think of the content. But as you will learn in this article, “The one who sets the frame controls the game.”

How does the framing process work?

Let’s say six year old John is asked to give a presentation at school. The students and the teacher respond enthusiastically. He enjoys the experience, gets top marks from the teacher and his class mates congratulate him. But the reverse can happen. John does not know what is expected of him, he stumbles over his words, the students laugh at him, and he feels embarrassed being the centre of attention.

There are two components to this: one is the experience of the event and the second is reflecting back upon the event. Reflecting can occur during the event as it occurs or at a later time. It is during the process of reflecting back upon an event that we build frames of mind, such as what is important to us, beliefs about self and others, what we think we are capable of, and decisions on what to do or not do in the future.

The framing process is ongoing. We have all had experiences that were painful or pleasurable but how we think about the event may be more important than what actually occurred. As it is the frames of mind that we build from our experiences that determine whether or not our life becomes enriched or not.

Frames of mind work in two directions. You can apply a frame of mind to something out there in the world or apply the frame of mind back to self. So you might judge people, blame, get angry, ridicule, even hate others. That may not enrich your life or theirs but at least the direction is away from self. But when people bring negative frames of mind back to themself and judge themselves, blame themselves, get angry at themselves, ridicule or even hate themselves then clearly this way of thinking is not going to enrich one’s life and it may even harm the health of the body. So the first step for some people is to stop applying negative thinking back to self.

The second step is to build frames of mind that are useful and apply them to self and others. Kindness, compassion, love, friendliness are great frames of mind but what about frames like curiosity, playfulness, fascination and learning? What if you set the intention to learn from everything that happens in your life, and then immediately apply the positive learning's to future events? Would that be useful? Playfulness is another powerful resource. No matter what happens in the world – at least looking at it through the eyes of playfulness creates a more resourceful positive state of mind. But what are the frames that you have been using? Do those frames serve you? What behaviours, what results, what experiences do these frames of mind bring you? What frames of mind would help you to achieve your most cherished desired outcomes? That question is in itself a frame that invites you to think about your life from a higher frame that outframes all your current ways of thinking.

Do you need permission to change your way of thinking? Some people do. Have you ever heard someone say, “Don't think, just follow orders. You think too much. Stop thinking about such things. This book has everything that you need to know. Trust me, I'm a Doctor." These statements set a frame of mind to not think for self and to follow the crowd. Perhaps a better frame of mind would be, “I am the master of my destiny.”

He who sets the frame controls the game.

Where do your frames of mind come from? They come from childhood, parents, religion, government, school, media, Internet and life. Who set the highest frames of your mind? Attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviours that you take for granted - where did they originate from? Are you in control of your life or are you just acting out from your conditioning?

What game are you playing? Do you know the rules? What is your position in that game? Are you playing the game or is the game playing you? Are you enjoying yourself? Are you winning or losing? If you are losing is that because you don’t know how to play the game or is it because you are playing the losing game? Perhaps you could create your own game and write your own rules. Whatever works!?

If you want more from life then what frames of mind do you need to hold? If you want to make more money then what frames of mind would support that? If you want to bring more peace, happiness and health into your life then what frames of mind would support that? If you want to travel the world then what frames of mind would support that?

Step one is to build a well formed outcome. Step two is to brainstorm and build in frames of mind to support the actualisation of the outcome. Step three is to close the knowing doing gap and muscle in the new frame/concept into your neurology. Read a more detailed article on frame games.

Acknowledgements: sources of information for this article come from the work of L. Michael Hall, the originator of Neuro Semantics.

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Copyright © Abby Eagle

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