NLP & The Glad Game

Taking charge of your reactions and behaviors using NLP

Chapter 5

p.4

What is meant by "Playing the Glad Game”? Pretending to be happy when I'm not ? And what does it have to do with business'?

Nowadays we hear a lot about Neurolinguistic Programming, or NLP. NLP is a way of taking control of your mental state and taking charge of your reactions and behavior.

Mike Matulovich coined the concept “The Glad Game" which in essence is about finding something positive in all negative experiences; in other words, playing a positive mind game through which you direct the way you react to external stimuli which you receive from situations or interactions.

There are many aspects to The Glad Game. Let's focus on one of them: All external events pass through your individual mental filters, which consist of aspects such as beliefs, values, memories, your experience of time, space, energy, etc. They in turn determine how you interpret those events. It is important to realize that these filters can cause you to distort, generalize or even delete external stimuli.

Playing the Glad Game implies deliberately changing negative filters.

For example, if you make a mistake, convert it from a negative internal attitude of “I am stupid” to a positive attitude of “This is a good learning experience”.

So that's where the "Glad" comes in, instead of a negative picture about myself I deliberately frame it in a positive state of mind leading to a positive way of dealing with a mistake..

The process of receiving and processing information:

1. An external event happens

2. Internal filters interpret the event

My experience of Time / Space / Matter and energy forms my internal meta programs determine which filter to use.

Meta programs include:

Value

Beliefs

Memories

Decisions

Language

Attitudes

These meta programs switches on the filter which fits with ones personal perception. This internal filter determines what should happen with the event, generally one of three things:

Delete filter - Deletes appropriate or inappropriate

Generalize filter

The brain runs programs to switch on a light. It can run inappropriate programs for example a phobia against spiders.

Distortion filter - Punish self "I am stupid"

3. An internal representation is formed

Consciously turn the event into a positive event or as a learning experience.

4. Your own emotional reaction to the event takes shape

Consciously shaping an event into the positive adds to ones positive state of mind.

5. Physiology and behavior is determined by your emotional reaction

Based on a positive relation to which filters are switched on ones physiology and behavior will automatically follow the positive state of emotion.

6. Language as medium of expression

Expression, verbal or otherwise, can now not help but be genuinely positive and constructive.

The above explanations makes it obvious how the Glad Game relates to the workplace.

A manager criticizes your work - his criticism filters through your internal representation (how you picture yourself). If you have a negative attitude your state of mind becomes negative, affecting your behavior, for example you withdraw. This adds to a further negative state of mind which affects the type of language you use, for example denial or blame.

If you play the Glad Game your positive image gives you a positive state of mind which in turn has a positive affect on your behavior and language. If customers give you negative feedback, you need to be able to thank them for the feedback and ask further questions to ensure that you can address the customer’s needs.

This is true Elephant behavior.

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