Be wary of gurus part 1 and 2

Hi, I'm back again.
For the last few blogs Gary has been telling providing you with some great wisdom on learning a new language fast.This week onwards I will start to advise you on the greatest language instruction courses ever created.These courses are what you should - no, must have if your mission is to learn another language fast.But first I wish to cover the most important subject of all.

Belief.
Let's take someone who is deeply religious, no amount of persuasion can convince this person to change their mind.
I covered beliefs briefly in two previous blogs, but it's so important I want to cover it again.

Once upon a time I met a woman who I thought at the time was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen.Knock out looks! However when we eventually started talking to each other something didn't feel right.Every other sentence she kept stating the words "I can't".

"I want to leave my present partner but I can't".
"I'd like to move to another town but I can't".
"I'd like to meet up with you but I can't".

Soon I began to question whether I truly wanted to be with this woman.In the end I decided to pass.

Your beliefs are key to anything you want to achieve in your life.The subject of beliefs led me on a fascinating journey into the world of psychology.My thoughts were if I can achieve whatever I set out to do like the gurus advise, what methods would be the quickest way of making it happen?I've already shown you briefly the best methods from my previous blogs.However I caution you about a path you don't want to go if you wish to explore further.

Be wary of gurus part 2

Do this exercise.If the weather is forecast to be sunny the next day, get up very early.Do this before sun-rise.Look out of your window and wait until the sun rises in the sky.

Have you ever tried this before? Did you see the Sun slowly appear in, lighting up the sky minute by glorious minute?
I didn't either. Why not? Well you may have noticed the sky change colour but to actually see the minute changes?

Your brain does not register the minute changes because it's taking place too fast for the brain to comprehend.There is special equipment which can slow down motion so you can see this great change of the sky.Your brain notices the changes too but doesn't see it actually happening.The reason being nothing moves faster than the speed of light.With this point in mind we move on to:

NLP, Nero Linguistic Programming.

Developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler, its technique is based on modelling successful people to achieve quick results. NLP focuses on how people communicate to themselves to achieve optimum resourceful states of mind.

As with all new methods from USA it has to have a guru that people look up to and give it world wide acclaim.Just like a religion really.

Enter Tony Robbins.Mr Robbins is known internationally for promoting the NLP techniques as the ultimate key to success, the Holy Grail.

His reasoning sound good, but do they work?

There is no substitute for consistent effort to produce the result you want.The flaw with NLP is it too analytical.For instance on the subject of internal representations you are supposed to analyse the following;

What and how we picture in our mind.
What and how we say things to ourselves.
Behaviour, verbal- physical-breathing.
Physiology- biochemistry, Nerve energy-breathing-relaxation/muscular tension, it all sounds a bit too much doesn’t it?

Some of these methods are useful especially with regard to physiology, i.e. alternating one's posture to TRY to achieve the best results. But most of this is on a conscious level.The equally vital part of the mind, the subconscious level, the level which regulates our heart beat, aids us in digesting our foods is BEYOND our control.Unless you have lived in a cave all your life and have developed the skill of a yogi, in which case you can stop your heart beat completely.For us mortals the subconscious is beyond our control.

With all the millions spent on NLP its flaw is that it concerns itself with the conscious mind.Ancient sages in religious china were aware of this.They developed many kinds of breathing techniques with regard to health.They used deep breathing as an aid to calm the emotions and bring them under conscious control.

Always remember - it is your subconscious mind that rules you.For without your subconscious you would not be able to function, thus you would not be alive.Your heart beat, your internal circulation system is determined by your subconscious mind.Deliberate deep breathing helps regulate the heart and helps slow down the mental chatter which enters the subconscious.

Till next week - CJ

If your goal is to learn a language quickly check out further details at the link foreign language master.

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