Years ago I wrote an article disapproving the NLP and hypnosis communication principle that people ignore the word “don’t” in a command. For example, “Don’t read this blog” is actually a command to read this blog, because the human mind doesn’t process the word “don’t”, at least according to NLP/hypnosis schooling.
Obviously, people are smarter than that. We learn what “don’t” and “no” mean when we are very young. When you learn accurate and advanced language patterns, as explained in my books Hypnotic Writing and Buying Trances, you can go beyond the basic misconceptions of communication.
Anyway, when I was in Krackow, Poland last month, Andrzej Batko and myself demonstrated the silliness of “don’t” in a short hilarious video Nerissa filmed. You can watch it by clicking on the below image. Better yet, don’t watch it right now.
Note: The article I wrote years ago on “don’t” thinking is at https://www.mrfire.com/article-archives/new-articles/do-not-read-this.html
12 Comments
Hi Mr Vitale,
Thank you for the work that you do, I’ve had some setbacks and I’m at one of the most challenging times in my life and I’m currently using your work along with the work of others to turn things around.
I really believe in your teachings, the point of view that they assume and the pre-suppositions inherent with that point of view really … feel like they make sense for me.
I just wanted to say that while I consider myself a student of yours and a student of the techniques of NLP (I’ve been certified a practitioner) as well as Huna (Which I know is not the same as the Dr Len method, self identity Ho’Oponopono). You’re understanding of the principle you talked about is a little different than my understanding of it.
I don’t know how the NLP principle you wrote of was presented to you but the way I understand it, the principle about “don’t” isn’t to point out people ignore the word and can’t follow directions i.e. if you say “don’t walk in front of a moving train” but rather it was a principle about focusing attention in a way that orients you and your thinking towards going after what you want instead of avoiding what you don’t want, because NLP congruent with the Hermetic Laws or Law of Attraction more specifically says you get what you focus on because the Universe/Divinity/Infinite Abstract Potential/God/ Reticular Activating System/ Servo-Mechanism/ Sub-Concious whatever label is appropriate, doesn’t distinguish between what you want or don’t want as it relates to the focus of your attention. You just simply get what you focus on.
I’m listening to your voice on The Missing Secret as I’m writing this and in this tape series you’re saying Nevillize your goals, to associate to the feelings of having your goal as opposed to the feelings of avoiding what you “don’t” want. Which I would believe to be the same principle. Or at least in the case of the techniques in NLP its a criteria for well formedness conditions when setting outcomes or intentions as one might say, or according to Dr Vitale Nevillize your goals. Different words to descibe the same way to organize experience.
The way I was taught & learned the techniques NLP was that the mind does not process a negative directly.
I really believe that this principle overlaps with your teachings,,, perfectly, at least from my point of view. I think It’s just that people have different vocabulary words for organizing their experience even though its been organized the same way and its hard to understand someone’s experience with just words… if that makes sense. (sorry in i’m being abstract)
The mind does not process a negatively directly in NLP said differently it can’t not hold in conciouosness a blue tree if you say don’t think of a blue tree. Just by understaning the words and making sense of them they entered into your conciousness. So you should not think of what you don’t want because that is where the point of your focus is. And you get what you focus on.
I know the biggest name to come out of the NLP community is critical of The Secret but I think they are different packages and different ways of experiencing the same wisdom. And if that big name went through your material I’m sure that person would see the obvious overlap there is in your teaching now.
I think if you wrote a book with your teachings as well as NLP you would have a whole new target market of people, a cross promotion between NLP and The Law of Attraction if you will.
NLP is about how to learn how to do something, the techniques that are taught as NLP are not NLP but rather a by product of Modelling which at its core is what NLP really is. NLP is really a skill acqusistion technology, and the biggest name that came out of that community I believe really made it that big in part because he combined the how to do things with what you should do which I see as coming from his first mentor. Who was also a ginat in the personal deveolopment & motivational speaking community.
If you combined the metaphysics/ the quantum mechanics (I heard you use the word holographic on The Secret)/ NLP methods/ and the meta-physical methods you teach (Hermetic Laws, Law–of-Attraction, Self-Identity Ho’Oponopono, & Huna) I think you would have a Comprehensive if not dense system of Self-Improvement that could appeal to everybody that invests on self-improvement materials.
I believe all these teachings can be written to overlap becuase the way I perceive them they are all different ways of describing the same “truth”.
Best regards,
Ron Kim
Ron, that was one of the most respectful and well thought out comments i’ve ever seen.
Please don’t stop writing. 🙂
Blessings
joe
Hello dr.joe,
Yes, i am accepting i have done most things when others said to me, that don’t do that thing, Ravin. And what i did, i did it. I went for it. And i achieved something good and bad every time. I think, i should read this post many times, because i am feeling i am misunderstanding something. Missing something.
Yours faithfully,
Ravin…
Guys, don’t do this! People keep paying for Joe’s seminar despite the fact it TOOK place on 24th of October.
Who in the world is still paying for the past event, and how?
joe
Dr. Joe,
I didn’t ENJOY THIS VIDEO, at all. Nor did
I PUT THIS TECHNIQUE TO WORK IMMEDIATELY.
I can’t see how this kind of information
IS EXTREMELY VALUABLE AND POWERFULLY
EFFECTIVE.
So, with that said, I don’t want to thank you all
for doing it and ENRICHING MY LIFE (and so many
others) with it.
Michael Murphy
Dr. Joe, if you want to really make the law of attraction work for you, you have to come to the realization that it is not going to just happen. You are going to have to make it happen. Whatever it is that you want, you have to accept your role in whether or not it manifests in your life.
JOe,
This comment has NOTHING to do with your post , but I’m not going to appologize because I just want to give you some love!
I had to let you know I am reading Adventures Within for the 3rd or 4th time…… and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE how you write!
Your books are such a blessing! THANK YOU for never giving up, and for inspiring me Joe, to continue reaching for the stars!
I LOVE you!
Aymee
Noone is paying for the seminar after i ended. They are paying to preorder DVD sets recorded during the seminar. Marcin Kadziolka, pls, stop sending this kind of bad gossip. Even better, read cerefully what the order form says, before you jump to this kind of conclusions and publish it.
Best regards
Andrzej Batko
The promotor of Joe’s seminar in Warsaw, which took place on 24th of October in Warsaw, but… you can see pictures and order the dvd’s on our website http://www.vitale.pl
There is one thing I really don’t get it here after I read this and Ron Kim’s comment.
Trainers I met, told us the mind has 2 parts, the conscious and the subconscious. Subconscious ignores the not word.
How is the thing really working?
Dear Joe,
I have a website and realize the value that Facebook has in networking-SO I posed a comment on my facebook that said “DON’T go to my websire & I actually got one compliment and one small order-I thought it was awesome-thanks for the tip!! I Dont think they will fall for it again lol
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