Bad Memory: “I just can’t remember things”
I’ll bet you’ve heard that before. It is a common complaint in our NLP trainings. Students say, boy, oh boy, I am so overloaded with things that I forget to do a lot of stuff and then I get mad at myself. Maybe you have a friend who has a poor memory, can you help him? Yes, absolutely you can. But it’s not by making lists or carrying a PDA or cell phone with appointments because for those to work you have got to use them. And how do you remember to do that?
My mother used to tie a string around her finger. (No, really she did!) She only used each piece of string once, because she was convinced each reminder needed a new piece. She swore that worked to help her to remember to do things, but once she forgot what the string was for. Then she decided she had to get a new reminder system. We had a lot of string left over.
When I got into NLP I remembered my mom’s system for remembering stuff and I was curious to find out if there was a system to remember things. It wasn’t until I discovered Time Line Therapy® techniques that I realized a really good system for remembering from big things to little things.
If you have taken the NLP Coaching Practitioner Training, you already have the system for remembering. Now if you haven’t taken that training or listened to the Audio files of that training, I will try to explain briefly what to do to remember to do something. Now here is the system:
You can just put what you want to remember to do in your future time line.
In My Future? Yeah, Sure! Is This Going To Do The Trick?
Now, if you are not sure about that, just follow along with me for a moment. You have a past and a future and your Unconscious Mind knows where you have put them in your mind. So if I were to say, where is your past and where is your future, to where would you point? So, first point to your past. Good, now point to your future. As you point notice that the process of pointing with your finger implies a line. Please point again to your future and notice that there is your future Time Line. Now, to do this you have to trust your Unconscious Mind. You can do that, can’t you?
Good, now that you have discovered the line that represents your future Time Line, you can just put what you want to remember in your future Time Line at the exact spot where you want to remember it in the future.
To get the timing right you will have to trust your Unconscious Mind. That may take a couple practice sessions but it will work. So let’s say that you want to remember to wash the car tomorrow morning before you pick up your Mother In-Law at the airport tomorrow noon. What you do is to imagine (visual if you can, if not then what you do is fine) going to the car wash getting it washed, and then going to the airport to pick up mom. Take the entire thing and put it in your Time Line.
When you wake up the next morning, you will remember to get the car washed. It is as simple as that.
Good luck! Your friends will be envious looking at your freshly washed car and your children will not write on it “Wash me!”
Until next time, be well.