NLP Well Defined Outcomes

There is no set time to begin and set an outcome, however, there might be few who would be setting some goals/outcomes as part of their New Year resolution, some probably halfway through the year.  As the first half of the year 2021 has ended, and as we move into the second half, take a moment to take stock of things in your life. NLP well defined outcomes are going to come in handy in this. Answer the following questions: Where are you now? and where do you want to be? What drives you? What is your dream day, week, month, year, life?

Outcomes/Goals play an important role in who you are going to be in the near future. If you create your Outcomes/Goals based on the well-formed outcome (Also known as Neuro Linguistic Programming, NLP well defined outcomes) criteria, there is more probability for you to achieve them.  This NLP well defined outcomes are what makes an online NLP Coach certification program, as this is the starting point of getting started. 

The NLP well defined outcomes criteria is as follows: 

1) State the goal in positive.

Describe your Outcome in Positive. It has to be towards what you want rather than what you don’t want.

Example. I want to lose 30 kgs in a year. This is an outcome which is ‘Away from’ or stated in negative. The same outcome can be stated as, ‘I want to get fit in a year’s time, where I see myself as size X, able to run 5 kms under 30 minutes’

As a coach always make sure that you are aware that the goal is stated in positive.  Questions to ask your client during a coaching conversation.

a)      What do you want?

b)      What would you rather have? (If the person has stated the outcome in negative term)

Note:  The outcome needs to be crystal clear.  ‘I want to get fit’ is a vague outcome, even though stated in positive.  I want to see myself between weight X, and Y in next six months is specific and stated in positive. .   

2) Specify the goal in a way that you find compelling.

• Is the goal compelling? Does it pull you towards achieving it?
• Have you broken down your goal into small enough specific chunks, so that each is do-able, and you can measure it, and if required make changes in your actions towards that outcome?
• What are the sizes of these actionable chunks? Are these chunks manageable? Do they motivate you? Drive you?

Exercise that you can with your clients at the end:

Make it a compelling future representation (When you think about your goal, make sure that you see, hear, feel yourself having obtained your goal. What are the experience you are having?).

3) Evidence Procedure.

Evidence procedure is a way of asking: “How will you know that your outcome has been realized?” Some of the sensory based questions that you can ask your clients, so that the outcomes which may seem vague and unclear (at the start) to the client, will take shape during the discussion:

• What will you see, hear and feel when you will have it?
• What will let you know that you have attained that desired outcome?
• What will you be doing when you get it?

4) Ecology Check.
As a coach when you ask your client about the ecology of the outcome, you are making sure that the outcome fits within all aspects of a client’s life.  It is also a check to find out what the client is willing to do for the goal.  You as a coach will bring in different perspectives with respect to the outcome, which client may have missed in the heat of the moment.  At the end client is responsible to make his/her own choices, and as a coach you are just facilitating this process.  Here are some of the questions that you can ask as a coach:

• Is the outcomes/goal right for you in all circumstances of your life?
• Is your outcome/goal appropriate in all your personal relationships?
• Is there any impact on your health, finances, relationships etc. if you pursue this outcome/goal?
• What will happen if you get this goal/outcome?
• What won’t happen if you get this goal/outcome?
• What will happen if you won’t get this goal/outcome?
• What won’t happen if you won’t get this goal/outcome?

Run a quality check to make sure that your goal fits every part of who you are as a person. Ask, “Is there any part of me that objects to get this desired outcome/goal?” If so, acknowledge that, and see how you may want to address that (frame of mind), and make sure that the outcomes satisfies who you are as a person.

5) Self-initiated, self-maintained, and within control.

Generally you will hear from people about things that someone else is driving or someone else wants to get solved.  Such as, ‘I want my boss to promote me by next year, or ‘My husband wants me to reduce weight’. In both cases the actions towards the outcome is not self-initiated, and self-maintained. In first case, as boss might not promote the person next year, and in the second example, the person may not want to reduce weight, it is only husband’s want.

The person needs to set an outcome for himself/herself to make himself/herself eligible for promotion, rather than a directive to the boss.

It can be worded as, ‘I will ensure that I am ready for a promotion by next year, and ready to put a case in front of my boss to get me promoted’.  In this case the actions are going to be initiated by the person himself/herself, and the person will be driven towards the outcome.  Second case, the desire to get fit has to come from within, then only the person will move towards to get fit.

So in this case what puts the person (with the outcome) back in control?  As a coach ask the following two questions, which will provide clarity to the client.

• Is the goal something that you can initiate yourself and maintain?
• Is it within your control?
• Are you doing this for yourself or for someone else?

6) State the Context of the goal.

The next criteria about NLP well defined outcomes or NLP well-formed outcomes is context of the goal.

• When, where, and with whom do you want to realize this Outcome?
• Is the goal appropriately contextualized?
• Re-adjust your goal to make sure that it fits.

Example. I will be careful with people this year.

Above sentence stated with context using ‘When, where and with whom’: I will be careful with my communication while dealing with my client X at work this year (starting from next project), so that whatever I want to communicate with client X the communication is clear with no chance of ambiguity.

7) State the Resources needed to achieve the goal.

• The following questions help people identify what resources (internal & external) will enable them to move towards their outcomes:
• What resources* do you have currently?
• What resources (Internal and External) will you need in order to get this goal?
• Have you worked towards an outcome like this before?
• Do you know anyone who has achieved this goal?  If yes, what have you noticed about them that can be useful to you?

*Internal Resources: Confidence, motivation, positive state, desire

*External Resources: Help from mentors, finances, training etc.

Some other Powerful questions that you can consider while having a discussion with your client w.r.t Outcomes/Goals:

1. What is important to you about this (outcome)?
2. What is stopping you from going all out towards your outcome?
3. What is that one question, you are hesitating to ask yourself with respect to this outcome?
4. What is that you can do now to really make it work?
5. When will you take the first step towards your outcome, and what will that be?

Today is a good day to start putting together some Outcomes/Goals/Good Direction (as per NLP Well Formed Outcomes) in your life.  So start now, move ahead in different areas of your life, and get more results.