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.After Alice had thought of five different things she might enjoy doing,I asked her to pick the one she liked best.Since this was an "off-hours"decision-making program, I had Alice think of what she would enjoy doing.If she had needed a new decision-making program for work, I might havehad her ask something like, "What will be the most effective or useful thingto do now?"Altogether it took about two hours to gather all the information Ineeded from Alice, and only about 20 minutes to provide her with the newdecision program and make sure it was automatic.Sometimes people wonder, "Won't I have to think about doing it thenew way?" Most of the changes made with NLP result in an automatic shiftin feelings or actions.We all demonstrate over and over that we're capableof acting automatically.If Alice could eat automatically, over and over, she 174 HEART OF THE MINDcan use the new brain program just as automatically.It's only a matter ofgiving her brain a new program that works better.Eight months after this session with Alice, I called for a report Alicesaid she had lost weight effortlessly, and had kept it off.Now that she hada way to think of and evaluate many options, eating was seldom her bestchoice.Several years later I received a letter from Alice confirming that shewas pleased to still be at her desired weight.As she lost weight, Alice gained something far more important thanslimness.She now had a more effective way to make decisions.Whenever changing someone's decision strategy, it's important tocarefully consider all the ramifications.Alice's new ability to decide willmake her a more creative person generally, not just keep her fromovereating.She asked only for help with her weight; not to be more creative.Even though most people would be pleased with this additional benefit,every ability has its drawbacks, and as the person responsible, I need toconsider them carefully.Alice had been satisfied in a job in which shefollowed a schedule set by others.When she is better able to generatechoices, she could become dissatisfied with such a job.This dissatisfactioncould result in her quitting or being fired.If she had been married I wouldhave had to consider how her husband would be able to relate to a moreimaginative wife.Would he welcome it, or would this unbalance theirrelationship in some way I could assist them in dealing with? It seemed clearthat in Alice's case the benefits far outweighed any possible disadvantages.Keys to Good Decision-MakingWith Holly, we needed to provide an entirely new program fordecision-making.Her old program had no steps that were relevant tomaking a decision.With Ralph, we kept his basic decision-making program,adding a step that would allow him to generate new ideas and be creative.There is no one "right" decision-making brain program for everyone.What's important is the question, "Are you making satisfying decisionsreasonably quickly, usually without regret or undue complaints fromothers?" If you are making satisfying decisions now, then your brainprogram for decision-making is probably fine for you.Here are some elements that most people want in their decision-making program:1.Access to Creative Options: Ralph is an example of adding this.He needed to access the creative part of his visual imagination to help himgenerate new possibilities to choose from.As with Ralph, you can build thisinto your decision-making program. Making Decisions 1752.Using All Your Criteria at Once: Janice discovered somethinginteresting about her decision-making brain program.She had difficultybuying clothes.When Janice walked into a store, an internal voice saidsternly, "You should buy something on sale." Janice then looked at the saledresses, felt bad, and thought to herself, "I don't want to buy something onsale." Then she looked at the regular-price dresses and felt good.Imme-diately, the first voice again spoke up preachily, "You should buy somethingon sale!" and Janice again felt bad.This inner conflict continued until shecreated in her mind a bright, vivid picture of herself dancing in the desertin the sun, wearing the clothes she liked (from the regular-priced rack).Thispicture was so bright and attractive that it took all her attention away fromthe voice that wanted to buy things on sale, and she purchased the moreexpensive items she liked.All of this had been automatic for Janice, and out of her consciousawareness.She laughed when she found out what she had been doing."Inever thought about it," she said, "but I never buy any winter clothes.Myex-husband used to buy all my winter clothes, and I haven't bought anywinter clothes since I got divorced 3 years ago!" This made sense, sincewinter clothes wouldn't look or feel good on someone dancing in a hotdesert.What Janice needed was a way to consider all of her criteria at thesame time.The voice that urged Janice to buy sale clothes probably wantedto save money.The voice that wanted to buy more expensive clothes mayhave wanted quality.Rather than going back and forth between these twovalues, Janice could have resolved her conflict using the integration methoddescribed in Chapter 13.Then she would have one voice that identified allher values as she walked in the store: "What clothing will best satisfy bothmy desire to have good quality and a good buy?" or "What is the bestquality for the money?" Janice could then evaluate each item of clothingfor both values at once, and rank each item.She could then select somethingthat best meets all her criteria.If you find yourself going back and forth between different values;"This one is more attractive but this one is more practical," you may benefitfrom having a decision-making program that allows you to consider all ofyour values at once.3.Using All Sensory Modalities: Beth said she was unhappy withthe way she made decisions.She made decisions quickly, but sometimesregretted them.For instance, when shopping for a coat, she tried on severalcoats until she found one that felt really comfortable, and immediatelybought it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]