Before we proceed further and move onto a brief description of values level (VL) 8 – yes we’ll get there sometime soon – we have to come again full circle and recognize that everything we’re talking here about is based on your mind and thinking ability.
Developing your mind, never thinking you know anything but always striving to learn more, will keep your mind open to further development. Or… you can stay where you are. Who’s to say you “should” develop further? I believe in free choice and free will. Development through values levels is possible but not guaranteed. It is ultimately up to each individual. I have seen people starting their journey with NLP in values levels (VL) 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. They all have made progress. How far? That’s an individual answer and I cannot tell you the answer for each and every one of our students. I can only say some have moved along more, some less. But evolution happened.
If you’re not familiar with the first seven articles in this series see them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7.
NLP has allowed our students to learn to think differently – to begin to think critically. Whether they continued the journey or not – well, that’s not for me to decide. Some have grown way beyond their starting point, some have grown a little and some stayed the same. That’s all right. I would like to point out just one difference between those who have grown and those who have not – desire, commitment and perseverance in developing their mind(s), persistence through life’s adversities and turning challenges into stimulating situations that lead to evolution.
In order to think and think about one’s own thinking one needs correct logic. Courses in logic are not taught anywhere nowadays – fuzzy and retarded thinking abounds in our society – but unfortunately logic and clear reason are not taught anymore. Therefore the closest and quickest way to this is NLP. A person needs to be able to analyze and take apart things which are presented to them in a certain way and be able to put them back together again. S/he needs to be able to use his/her mind to identify flaws in self-reasoning and discover falsehoods. S/he needs to recognize logical fallacies (by the way I spent about 6 months deconstructing most of these for you in the NLP Marketing Training) and reach his or her own conclusions based on reality, facts and information correctly analyzed.
I am sorry to say – because I know I will disappoint some of you – but VL7 cannot be achieved without critical thinking and parallel development of one’s consciousness. It has to do with complex thinking and the word complex presupposes critical and logical. Actually not even VL 5 can be achieved without a certain level of critical thinking.
Neurology will not be capable of developing if under the influence of wrong thinking installing limitations as beliefs, decisions and accepting reality as defined by others. And hypothetically, even if the environment would support VL 7 (which for most people on this planet is not the case) it isn’t feasible for an individual to get there unless the “inner environment – IE neurology” is also permitting. Remember there are always three parts to a values level: environment, neurology and the description of the values (words) themselves.
In terms of all sorts of values levels combinations, this planet looks like a zoo. From our hypothetical SciFi scenario, if ET comes here, s/he will be scratching his head wondering how to assess what’s going on. It’s hilarious!
What Keeps People from Evolving Their Consciousness To Values Level 7 and Beyond?
Oh and if you think quickly “I am thinking at VL 7” I want to ask you some questions. Are you involved in functional solutions to the world problems keeping in mind the bigger picture? Are you aware of what is really happening on this planet? Are you aware of the history of Homo Sapiens (not the one you learned in school)? Do you know the geo-political, economic, social etc. real problems in the world? Do you think the news that you see on television is “real”? Do you believe automatically the alternative websites without questioning just because you like the host? Do you read and research on regular basis (I.E. daily) and learn from everywhere? Do you even care about any of the above? If the answer to these questions are “Hmmm…not sure” or “No” you are not actualizing VL 7 right now. Why? Who knows? Could be environment, could be your own neurology.
In general, people are kept back in lower values levels mainly by their own acceptance of limiting beliefs and decisions (their own or imposed on them by “well-meaning” others), lack of desire, lack of questioning, “blah” attitude to life, obsession with irrelevant “entertainment”, which is another way of saying desire to stay unconscious, mental laziness, as well as unchecked kneejerk (unconscious) negative emotional responses.
The list of reasons could continue, however I would like to remind you that even good reasons are just that – reasons. And in life you either have reasons or results. However, all the examples above ultimately short-circuit and short-change what the individual is really capable of. As I mentioned many times, many if not most of your beliefs and decisions that you never challenge but take for granted are not even yours. They have been put in your head since you were a child and they represent whatever trends were fashionable at the time.
All these create your mind’s environment and unfortunately many times lead to distracting and confusing thought processes. The only way to escape this vicious circle is to be committed to perpetually train and develop your mind. Linguistics (as in Neuro Linguistic Programming) is one way to make logic and reason have any sense without the unconscious knee jerk emotional irrational response. Release of your accumulated baggage of Negative Emotions is the second prong. You cannot have a sound logic or reason when you’re in the midst of anger, fear, sadness, hurt and so on. There is a lot of information and mis-information on the internet and in the media. Nothing personal – it’s just business – as the VL 5 corporations selling you stuff and manipulation your mind would gladly say.
A mind stuck in a pattern of thoughts restricted and reduced to a tiny box, has no creativity, no imagination and no reason. How do you expect to evolve if you always stay the same? How do you expect to evolve if you always expect others (family, friend, the television set, the news, the gossip magazines, the politicians) to tell you what to think. Every stuck values level presupposes the same thing: passivity in the face of challenges. Passivity in accepting our proverbial restricted box that creates the same problems every day.
Every new values level involves the development of new strategies of coping with the newly discovered “reality”. These strategies are created anew by you – please note I used the word “created”. This implies creativity and imagination. Sadly many people lack these two very human functions, like a computer whose operator has popped out of memory some software running in the background. The programs are still in the computer, but whether they are utilized, applied and exercised depends on the user.
In the next article we will address why a lower values level cannot understand or comprehend a higher values level thinking and how that creates many problems in relationships, organizations and in the world as a whole. next is Part 9. And yes, we’ll get to VL 8 as well.
Until then, be well