My views on NLP. I have known a lot of folks into it who had very little success in their lives and others who had a great deal of success. I think the problem for those who don't have success is that they are looking for a recipe book, while very often times what you have to do is find flexible patterns you can make work for you.
Of course this also means that one cannot just follow the techniques as they are. It's an artistic, creative endeavor.
For example, I noticed the NLP no/not problem before I had heard of NLP. I noticed that people habitually create circumstances they fear and this was one of the ways I sought to explain it. You can't imagine a negative, so try as far as you can to think about what you want, not what you don't.
This being said there were a lot of things I never really thought were correct in NLP or at least never worked for me. Some of the emphasis on puns for example.....
Of course this also means that one cannot just follow the techniques as they are. It's an artistic, creative endeavor.