NLP Self-Concept

Life Design

Create your life anew. Become the designer of your own future. NLP is a powerful tool for changing your thinking, emotions, and actions to create the life you truly want. This chapter lays the foundation for living according to your own vision. Because in my opinion, success means “living life on your own terms.” That can mean something different for everyone. NLP offers us many ways to achieve this goal and to enjoy the journey with great joy.

NLP Self-Concept

The self-concept is the image or idea we have developed about ourselves – how we perceive and define ourselves. Our self-concept greatly influences our thinking, emotions, motivation, performance, learning, and behavior.

"Recognize your Self, trust your Self, enjoy your Self, enrich your Self, find the expression of your Self: because you are the only person you will live with your entire life." – Johann Kluczny.

Unfortunately, many people develop their self-concept based on the reactions and behaviors of others instead of their own experiences. Many don’t even recognize feedback as a reaction to their behavior. Instead, they judge their self-worth. Your self and its attributes are valuable. Other people’s reactions are merely responses to your behavior.

"The world is a reflection of ourselves. When we hate ourselves, we hate others. When we love who we are, the world becomes wonderful. Our self-image is the blueprint that determines how we behave, who we associate with, what we try or avoid. Every thought and action arises from how we see ourselves. The image we hold of ourselves is shaped by our experiences, our successes and failures, our thoughts about ourselves, and how we interpret others’ reactions to us. When we believe this image is reality, we live entirely within the limits it creates. Our self-image therefore determines:

How much we love the world and how much we enjoy living in it. How much we will achieve in life." – Andrew Matthews

Therefore, the goal of any kind of psychotherapy is to change the image that the client has of themselves. Every person defines their own self-image and thus determines their own worth and the amount of happiness they allow themselves to experience. There is no stronger lever for behavioral change than the self-image.

Our self-image is our identity. The term “identity” includes all beliefs through which we define our individuality – our unique traits that distinguish us from others. We act in accordance with our self-image, whether or not it reflects reality.

Five Key Components of the Self-Concept

Valuable

Gives you the emotional quality of feeling:
“I am important.”

Sensual / Sexual

Gives you physical substance and identity through which you interact with the world:
“I enjoy the feeling of my body.”

Significant

Gives you a sense of importance for other people and for the world:
“I have ability and meaning.”

Capable of Learning

Gives you the experience that you can do anything because you can learn:
“I can improve and enrich myself.”

Powerful

Gives you the experience that you can influence your own experience:
“I can choose the state I want to be in.”

Who Am I?

There are countless ways to answer this question. We can describe ourselves by our emotional qualities (I am loving), by our profession (I am a doctor), by our status (I am a CEO), financial situation (I am a millionaire), roles we play (I am a mother of three), by our behavior (I am an athlete), possessions (I am a Porsche driver), our metaphors (I am just a small cog in the machine), our faith (I am a Christian), nationality (I am German), achievements (I am a world record holder), or our past (I am a failure).

Put yourself in a state of curiosity and relaxation and then ask yourself one of the most profound questions in philosophy:
Who am I?