Morpheus Coaching

One often-used quote on my NLP Master Practitioner course was “Knowledge is only a rumour until it is in the muscle”. It comes from a Papua New Guinea proverb, I think.

I’m not big on ‘warm and fluffy’ phrases and gimmics and my first action would normally be to dismiss it out of hand. I’m not sure what it was that is different about this phrase but it instantly struck a chord. Now it forms a central part of my development philosophy.

What it means to me is that I first need to take on new knowledge or develop the base-level of a new skill; with an open mind. Secondly I need to recognise the impact using and not using it will have; this is the part that generates the ‘rumour’, i.e. ‘it should work -and well!’ Thirdly, having internalised it thoroughly it becomes engrained and adds another dimension to the ‘mix’ of my skill base – at this point I can regulate it, flex it, stretch it, adapt it compress it, extend it, etc – in other words, it’s in my muscles.

I believe this is now happening with me in relation to NLP skills, knowledge and techniques. Tell me what you think.