How we judge others is that shadow part of us. When we criticise others, find fault, get cross, feel angry with people based on what they've said or done, it has triggered something in us about the same thing.

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So when you think - 

That was mean - ask yourself, how am I sometimes mean?
What was my belief at that time when I was mean? 

Think back to the last time you did something similar. 
What was your positive intention on that occasion?
Could there be a similar positive intention in this situation? 

Does this give you greater compassion and clarity? 

I met someone at a local business event who told me about his teenage son who was expressed extreme anger, throwing things around his room and shouting. He told me that he had punished the boy and taken his X Box away as a result and things had got so bad that the boy was throwing things out of his window and they were embarrassed the neighbours would see. 
I asked him "Can you think of a time when you were that angry yourself?" 
Initially he said "no, never" but then he remembered that a long time ago he had been overlooked for a promotion that 'should' have been his. He was very angry. 
I asked him "what was your belief at that time?" 
"It was so unfair." he said. 

This brought clarity. Fairness was a value he had brought his son up with and so it was highly likely that this was underpinning his anger. 
"Is there anything happening at the moment at home that your son may feel is unfair?' I asked. 
"Oh yes" he said. "I know exactly what to do and I'll talk to him when I get home." 

I am currently in Australia staying with my son, his lovely wife and baby daughter. Their way of life is understandably very different from mine as we don't have any young children at home any more. They like to keep surfaces clean and clear, safety gates need to be kept closed and noise kept to a minimum after baby has been put to bed. On several occasions I have slipped up and my son has been annoyed. I found myself feeling hurt because I hadn't meant to be careless but his positive intention was to keep my granddaughter safe and in her routine. 

Here's an exercise for you.

When we judge our children or our partner, parent or parents-in-law, take a moment to consider how we may be doing this very thing as  well. There's an NLP pre-supposition that goes 

'If you spot it, you've got it'. 

The reason we notice it (the behaviour) in others is because it is familiar to us, it is also our pattern. 

Judy Bartkowiak is an NLP and EFT Practitioner, coach, trainer and author. If you feel she could help you with an issue you're currently struggling with, get in touch. You can read about the NLP Presuppositions in 'NLP Workbook' and 'Be a happier parent with NLP'. 
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Do you ever have what might seem like an over-reaction when someone says or does something? From apparently nowhere you feel it in your solar plexus, your stomach, your chest or somewhere deep with you? 

This is what we call 'being triggered'. You have been reminded of a core belief from early childhood that your subconscious created because your conscious mind could not compute it at the time. It could have stemmed from something that happened in your teen years but will nevertheless have originally been formed in the years 0-6. 

In this early years something happens that shocks us, we call it a UDIN. 
U - unexpected, the event took us by surprise
D - dramatic, it was eventful, overpowering and overwhelming for our younger self
I - isolating, no-one to talk to 
N - no strategy to deal with it

At that time, when that event happened, it was probably prompted by someone in authority such as a parent or teacher or guardian shouting at you or your territory being invaded (physically or emotionally) and because you were little, you felt isolated. You didn't have the cognitive skills to make sense of it so the feeling went into your subconscious, you had no strategy for making sense or meaning of it or finding a resolution. 

Your subconscious made it mean something, perhaps

• I'm not good enough
• I don't matter any more
• I'm on my own here
• the world is a dangerous place

This is called a core belief because it then runs through you as a core is at the centre of an apple or like the core of your body. It affects everything you do and is always with you ready to be triggered when you experience that feeling again. 

Two children can have an identical experience but for one it will be a UDIN and for the other it may not even be noticed. Similarly, the same event may imprint a negative core belief for one child and a positive one for another. 

For example, two brothers I know experienced a UDIN when they were aged 1 and 2yrs old. The older brother made it mean 'I can't trust anyone, I can't look after myself' and the younger one made it mean 'I don't need anyone, I'm enough on my own'. It's possible of course that being younger, he was likely to feel more confident as he had an older brother looking out for him. 

Matrix Reimprinting is a modality that enables the practitioner to help recreate that early memory in a safe and supportive environment. Even when children can't remember many of the details, the essential ones will be there. Sometimes starting with later key events and working back in time to earlier examples of the feeling, get us there. We call our younger self, our ECHO. 

Once we have the core belief and when it was first imprinted (and it can even be in utero) we can reimprint a different, more resourceful belief. This is possible because your younger self didn't have full knowledge or understanding of the experience so your older self can help it to understand that everyone was just making the best decision they knew how to make with their own knowledge at the time. 

Right now you may have some idea of what triggers you and hopefully having read this post, you will become more aware. Next time you get that deep negative feeling, instead of letting it take you over, say 
"Ah that's interesting. What is the meaning I am making of this event?" 
"When, earlier in my life did I have this experience ?" 

You can then question it as your older, wiser self and ask 
"Did it really mean that?"
"What other meaning could I now make of that?" 

Sometimes it helps to imagine you are looking at the early event as if you're watching the action of a film. This keeps you a bit disassociated (and reduces the emotional content) so you can be curious and look at other options. 

Find a new belief for that situation from your past and 'try it on for size'. Maybe the more resourceful belief is actually one you have in other areas of your life. Can you now find other examples of where that new belief might work well for you? 

If you'd like help with this process, get in touch using the contact form. This is work that can be done over Skype or Zoom. Ask for a free initial 30 minute chat. 

​According to The Buddha 'Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened . Happiness never decreases by being shared'. 

In his book 'The five side effects of kindness' Dr David Hamilton explains that kindness makes us happier especially when we notice it by recording it. This makes us focus on being kind as an ongoing daily habit rather than a conscious choice. This in turn raises our self-esteem because we feel good about ourselves, we feel we have more value, more purpose. Dozens of small acts of kindness every day can make a huge difference. It also makes a difference to the people we are being kind to! Definitely this is a win:win. 

Kindness relieves depression and social anxiety because it produces serotonin and oxytocin which turns down activity in the amygdala , which is the area of the brain that processes fear and anxiety. Good ways to increase your oxytocin are hugging people and being kind to animals.  

Kindness slows the ageing process by increasing vagal tone which in turn reduces inflammation and blood pressure through producing oxytocin which increases nitric oxide which softens the walls of our arteries. 

It improves relationships because we are drawn to kind people so when we are kind, it spreads around us from person to person as the video above clearly shows. Kindness is contagious. Every act of kindness ripples out around us. 

I am co-author of the Jane and Jake chapter books and each story takes a quality or characteristic and through Jane and Jake's adventures in Awesome, child- readers learn how they can build self-esteem. There are parent and teacher guides so these stories can be used at school and at home to extend the learning - as well as enjoy the story!  

Extract from Jane and Jake's adventure.
Jane is furious. First, her art smock is deliberately splotched with pink paint. Then someone pours liquid on her beautiful painting that she is making for the school art fair. Jane suspects that Mia—an older, fifth-grade girl—and Mia’s friends are the culprits. Then, when Mia says horrible, stinging words about the gift Jane’s mom sent to Jane, Oracle whisks Jane and Jake to Awesome, where they discover the challenge that awaits them. To earn their Pink Pearls of Awesome Kindness they must find and return important items lost by their sea creature friends—including the special stinger of Jell-ee-o, a tiny sea jelly. But…how can Jane and Jake return a jellyfish’s stinger without getting hurt?

NLP is great for parents and children in that it works and it focuses on the positive. The tools are easy to explain even to very young children and fun to experiment with. Results are usually immediate and applicable to any part of your or their life whether at home, in the classroom, playground or in the workplace. If one tool doesn’t solve the problem then there are others which will resonate more or work better for you in that situation.
 
NLP is fun. We so often forget in our busy lives that your child’s map of the world is different from ours. The map is not the territory; your map is huge and encompasses worlds they are totally unaware of such as the workplace, your financial situation, relationships with friends and extended family, the political and economic environment you live in and the world you travel in. For them, the territory is smaller, more intense and they are more vulnerable because they are dependent on you for all that they need, love, support, encouragement, respect, security, food, education and practical necessities like toys and TV!
 
Using NLP thinking we are invited to enter their territory and enjoy it by ‘walking in their shoes’ listening and using their language and mannerisms to understand it. By doing this, we can communicate in a way that resonates with them from a close distance emotionally where we have good rapport. As you do this, you will capture much of their excitement and energy.  

The tools of NLP are simple to use and explain to children and fun to try out with them because they can see how they can change the meaning of the communication if they use different structures. You already have a bond with them so there is a trusting environment to experiment with new approaches together. They know you have their best interests at heart and by introducing them to another way of communicating whether verbally or non-verbally this will give them options they can call on whenever that situation arises again.
 
Children are great at playing make believe so getting them to adopt new ways of saying and doing things comes as second nature. They can visualise really well and understand metaphors – one thing representing something else. 

NLP is ecological in the sense that it respects the fact that we all have choices. Children have the choice whether to be angry or jealous or sad about something because we can help them use an NLP tool to reframe a situation so that it makes sense to them in their map. It gives children a measure of control over their lives so they can learn to communicate in a way that will bring them their desired outcome. This gives children the all important confidence they need in every area of their life. It gives them strategies for coping with people they find difficult whether they are peers or teachers; enhancing friendships and increasing motivation in work and sport. Children are fast learners and their patterns of behaviour are easier to change than adults whose habits are well entrenched. 

​Childhood should be a happy carefree time but we all know and possibly remember that it is not all sweetness and light. Children feel sad and angry, bully and get bullied in the playground, struggle with their classwork and exams, experience peer group pressure and have to deal with bereavement and changes at home that are beyond their control. The best skill we can pass on to them is surely self esteem, belief in themselves and their abilities and the skills to use this to achieve whatever they want in life?

If you learn the NLP tools and understand the concepts you can explain them to your children. More importantly, they will give you the confidence and self esteem to parent your children in a positive way avoiding conflict and stress. 

Self-esteem is the extent to which you feel you are OK, a valuable person in your own right.  It is a measure of the opinion you have of yourself in all respects; your physical appearance, how well you perform in your work and sport, whether you feel you are popular and get on with people you meet and how well things are going for you at home with your family. Only you are the judge of your self-esteem, no-one else can make it greater or smaller. When you lack self-esteem no amount of well-meaning flattery will change this feeling unless you believe it to be true for yourself.

Self-esteem is a feeling and it can change throughout the day, over the week, month and years. You may be someone who measures it visually by what you see and the images in your mind, what you say and how you say it or your inner voice or how you feel in yourself or what you do. However you measure it, self-esteem is not tangible, it is not a fact. You cannot weigh it or measure it and it cannot be proven yet it can affect your sense of well-being and your sense of who you are in the world.

You cannot measure anyone else’s self-esteem either in fact they may seem very successful and confident to you, yet may be feeling very different inside and have low self-esteem but be very experienced at hiding it from others.

Here are some of the feelings and thoughts you might experience when you feel low self-esteem.

 " I can't do this. I'm useless."

"Everyone else is better than me."

"No-one seems to listen to what I say."

"Why do people keep criticising me?"

"I'm just a ............."

 Here are some typical thoughts you may experience when you are feeling high self-esteem.

  "My views are important, people listen when I speak."

"I get on pretty well with most people."

"When I make a mistake, I don't mind admitting it."

"I think it's important to be yourself."

"I'm OK with how I look."

Exercise 1
Here are some questions to ask yourself and think about. You might find it helpful to give yourself a score out of ten for each sentence so you can look at them after you’ve read the book to see how you have changed.

Q1. How well do you take criticism?  
Q2. Do you feel valued by your colleagues or those you interact with daily?
Q3. How often do you say what you really think or do you just agree with the majority view?
Q4. Do you get what you want from your relationships?
Q5. Do you take it personally if someone doesn’t agree with you?
Q6. Are you envious of what others have and think they’re doing better than you?
Q7. Do you sometimes feel unloved?
Q8. Do you feel embarrassed about your appearance?
Q9. Do you sometimes feel like a victim?
Q10. Do you feel you’re not good enough?

This was taken from my book 'Self-Esteem Workbook'. If you'd like to receive the first chapter free, just sign up to my newsletter. 

"How well you learn, depends on the state you are in. How well you perform, depends on what state you are in. Whatever task you have to perform, whatever you want to learn, whatever outcome you want, ask yourself: ‘What state do I want to be in to make this easy?’” (Joseph O’Connor)

When we allow others to control our mood or state by how they talk to us, behave towards us or what they do to us, we hand away control of our life. We cannot control them, we can control our response to them. 

Make instead, a conscious decision as to what state of mind you need for each activity in your day. Managing your state is important for many reasons. At work we cannot function effectively if we are at the mercy of unpredictable mood swings; our colleagues wouldn’t know how to respond to us and we’d be unable to cope with pressure. It could certainly be a barrier to advancement. There are also serious mental and physical health consequences when we allow our emotional state to govern us. High blood pressure, risks of heart attacks, digestion problems and headaches as well as depression and anxiety can also result from the pressure of not being in control of our emotional state. Lastly, healthy relationships rely on the ability to control our emotional state so we can communicate well and express our feelings. 

“Leading starts with the ability to lead ourselves. To do this we need first and foremost to be able to manage our emotional state. If we feel irritation, guilt, anger, frustration, doubt or self-consciousness, the result will be less than we are capable of and is unlikely to be a win/win. In contrast, feelings of ease, confidence, forgiveness, acceptance, inspiration and amusement are states that are much more likely to lead to us giving of our best, whatever the context.” (Sue Knight)

Now let’s PLAY!
How would you like to have a play with your state?
In NLP we consider the mind and the body to be one. They directly influence each other and if you play a sport you will be very aware of this. Exercise is the best way to improve your mood as you change almost every part of your physiology and by focusing on the exercise and the external, you take your mind off the internal thoughts and feelings.
So let’s start with making a few changes to the outside and notice what that does inside. A quick and easy way of doing that is to write alongside each one a score of 1-10 for your happiness level.

1. Smile
2. Look up
3. Laugh
4. Frown
5. Look down
6. Sigh
7. Stand up
8. Jog on the spot

Now for the inside and again make a note alongside of how each changes the happiness level. Also notice though how your physiology also changes.

1. Think about something sad
2. Think about a happy moment
3. Think about when you did a great piece of work that you felt proud of
4. Think about when you were a child
5. Recall a sporty success

Have you discovered that by changing one you change the other? So now you know how to manage your state. You are responsible for your own state. Do not blame other people for how you choose to feel. It really is up to you. Some people use drugs and alcohol to change their state, or they buy themselves new things, phone friends hoping they will cheer them up but when you know how to change your own state you are in control. 

This extract was taken from Judy Bartkowiak's book 'Secrets of the NLP Masters'. 

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1. In the morning when you’re getting dressed, imagine what a great day you’ll have. Think of the skills and qualities you’ll need and imagine putting them on as you dress, like your armour, to keep you safe and strong. You have a great many skills and qualities. If you find yourself thinking of an activity rather than a skill, ask yourself “so what skills must I have to be good at that thing?” and the same if you mention a school subject, “so what skills do I have that make me good at that subject?”.
2. As you have breakfast, imagine stoking up on positive energy. Calibrate how positive you feel on a scale of 1-10 and start thinking of things that make you happy that can take it up the scale.
3. On the way to school, list the things you’re looking forward to; making new friends, seeing old friends, meeting new teachers, exploring new topics, learning new sports, enjoying familiar sports and so on.
4. As you walk into the school playground, make eye contact with someone you know and walk over for a chat. Someone on their own will be very glad you did. If there’s a group, join in their conversation rather than starting a new one.
5. Everyone’s a bit nervous on the first day, so go easy on yourself and others. Be friendly. If you don’t get a good response, it may not be about you. If you haven’t said or done anything wrong, it may just be nerves on their part. Give them another chance.
6. If you feel a bit overwhelmed, which is perfectly normal, take yourself somewhere quiet and breathe. Breathe in for 6 and out for 6. Moving your breath around the body is the fastest way to ease any anxiety.
7. Smile, laugh and respond positively when you can. It eases the tension everyone will be feeling on the first days. Be agreeable. You may not support the same football team or like the same music, but you are all in the same situation, probably missing home, feeling sad the holidays are over and worrying about anything and everything so look for what you have in common, not the differences.
8. You will feel resilient when you take responsibility for yourself. Make a note of your homework, what you need each day and focus in the lessons. It’s so hard after weeks of not having to, so go easy on yourself and get some early nights and eat well. It’s called self-care.
9. If things really haven’t gone well here’s what to do to build yourself up for tomorrow. Fine a quiet place and put your phone on silent. Now do that breathe in for 6 and breathe out for 6 (it’s called heartmath breathing). Then think of one thing that has gone well. Now think of what one thing you want to do more of or less of tomorrow and imagine yourself doing it. Then remind yourself what you’re grateful for even if it’s just the chance to do better tomorrow.
10. To help you get to sleep do a body scan. Lie in bed and imagine a beam of energy from your eyes to your big left toe then imagine that beam going across your toes and under your feet. Feel the bedclothes under them. Then travel that beam up your body, squeeze and relax each muscle as you move towards your head. Then take the beam back down the right side of the body, again squeezing and relaxing each muscle along the way.

 

If I can help you in any way, give me a call or email. Check out my workbooks for children, tweens and teens.....parents and teachers. 

I have had a very busy summer training new NLP Kids Practitioners and helping children who for various reasons finished the summer term with very low self-esteem and feeling worried about returning to school in September. Parents decided to tackle this by enrolling them on my confidence and resilience programmes of four one hour sessions. Mostly these were face to face here in Burnham but I also did a great many on Skype which work so well as kids can sit in their bedroom and talk to me which makes it easier for mums who have other children and also for the child because they feel safe and relaxed. 

Let me share with you the one thing they all found really helpful. 

When they talked through things that had happened at school; teachers telling them off for things they hadn't done, other children being mean to them, friends dumping them for another person in their class, not being invited to a party 'everyone else' was going to, being bullied etc when I asked them to cross out everything they couldn't control, there was nothing left. None of this was in their control. 

We talked about the things that were in their control such as

• their body language
• their beliefs about themselves
• their ability to make other choices
• what they could say back
• who they could go to for help
• what skills they could use to respond differently
• choosing to be with other children
• acting 'as if' - fake it until you make it - pretending not to care

It was remarkable how once they realised and accepted that 

If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got

they could actually take responsibility for responding differently and get a different outcome. 

We have mentioned the importance of controlling your state and your communication but what if your sense of failure is a belief you hold from your past? Has someone in your childhood said or done something that has left you with the feeling of having failed or being likely to fail. This is what NLP calls a ‘limiting belief’ and you can choose whether to hold this belief or not. If the feelings of being a failure are holding you back from what you want to achieve or from being a happy parent then you may want to revisit it. 

I had a limiting belief about arguing and around conflict. My parents didn’t argue but bottled things up and then the explosions were frightening. My mum would go off for a long walk and dad would maintain a stony silence for days. I learnt to fear arguments and raised voices and learnt that it was dangerous to disagree. I internalised my anger and instead of expressing my views when they were different, I did what I saw mum do, go off somewhere and cry. When I got married my husband was a great cook and suggested making chips. I didn’t know how to make chips and made a mistake, Edward made a rude and insensitive remark and instead of retaliating that this was rather out of proportion with the incident, I drove off in the car and cried. My belief that I could not risk an argument was holding me back. Then I wondered why I was making such a fuss. I realised I was over reacting. So I went back and we kissed and made up and Edward assured me that it was OK to argue, he wouldn’t leave me, and he hasn’t! 

Some limiting beliefs that lead to feelings of failure belong in our past and need to be revisited as adults to check whether they are outdated. After all, we have changed since childhood, learnt more about ourselves, grown up and developed new skills that make those limiting beliefs no longer true for us (assuming they were then, which might well not be so because sometimes parents pass their own limiting beliefs on to their children). 

Sara believed that she was not clever enough for further education because her mother had left school at 15 and none of her siblings had stayed on at school. When at 40 she started to question why she had no qualifications and considered doing some through evening classes, her mother’s words were in her mind and indeed her mother questioned the sense in doing any learning at her age. It took a huge amount of faith in herself and her abilities to overcome this limiting belief but she’s signed up and can’t wait to start. The words ‘can’t’ have been replaced now by ‘but what if I can?’ and she’s moved on. 

When we feel those first self doubts creeping in, those destructive and limiting beliefs that we are not capable of doing something or a feeling that we have failed at something, we have the resources to reject them. Remind yourself of your skills. Remind yourself to use the feedback and your response to the situation as a resource to move forward and draw on the skills you have, perhaps in another area of your life to apply to this area where you need it.
 
From time to time we feel we have failed as a parent or a partner or lover, daughter or friend. This is natural after all we are not perfect. How do you think you have failed? What can you do to succeed; it is in your power. You can turn the situation around by asking yourself
 
“What would success in that context look/sound/feel like?”
 
“What skills do I need to achieve this desired outcome?”
 
“Where do I use that skill?”
 
“How can I bring it across into the area of my life where I need it now?”
 
Do a quick audit of your skills. This is a great help when you feel you’ve failed at something. What are you good at?
 
Write your list down and keep it handy. 

Now add in what others say about you because they see you in a different light. Perhaps you are self critical and don’t always see your assets or they are so familiar to you that you take them for granted.
 
My friends and family say I am good at………………
 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
 
Now revisit those areas where you feel you’ve failed and look back at these two lists. Which of these skills can you take and work with.
Write down the skill here
 
I am good at…………………………………….
 
What does this say about you that you are good at this thing? What can you do differently by using this skill in the area you want to change? 

I can……………………………………………………
 
Try it and ask for feedback.
 
This exercise is very useful with children too of course.
 
Paul finds reading very hard and he gives up easily when he gets to a difficult or unfamiliar word. “I can’t do it” he groans and closes the book. Paul is very good at sport and plays quite aggressively, he tackles and perseveres until he gets the ball off the opposition.
 
“What makes you good at football Paul?”
“Because I like it”
“Don’t you like reading?”
“No”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t do it”
“So why can you do football and not reading?”
“Because I am fast and because I am not scared of trying to get the ball”
“Are you scared of reading?”
“Yes because I keep getting it wrong”
“If that difficult word was a ball you would keep trying until you got it wouldn’t you?”
“Yes”
“Shall we pretend that each difficult word is a ball and that because you are fast and not scared you can work it out?”
 
Children are very good at imagining things and they use metaphors very naturally so it wasn’t hard for Paul to pretend each word he didn’t recognise was a ball and in fact applying his fast and ‘not scared’ skills from football he approached his reading quite differently, speeded up and was soon reading confidently on his own.
 
When you feel you can't do something, it’s good to use an anchoring skill to put yourself in a resourceful state so you can assess your transferable skills.  Here's a link to my blog post on how to anchor 

This was an extract from 'Be a happier parent with NLP' published by Hodder and written by Judy Bartkowiak NLP Author, Trainer and NLP and EFT Practitioner. 

Judy offers one on one coaching face to face and via Skype/Whatsapp with children, teens and parents. She also offers four-session programmes for confidence and resilience, anxiety busting and anger management. 

She offers NLP Kids Practitioner Training again via webcam on Skype/Whatsapp and face to face residential. Parenting Chats by the Aga for local mums in #berkshire #buckinghamshire #surrey #london #oxfordshire see Eventbrite 

As a children’s therapist, I see a lot of children who are afraid to fail. It’s a real problem and you are in the best position to help your own child. Here’s what happens. 

This curve represents fear, fear of failure, not passing the 11+, fear of looking stupid, people laughing, parents being disappointed, not getting to the school they want to go to, or the university, fear of coming third in the race, not making the school team, not being in the popular crowd, not attracting the boy/girl …….…..the list seems endless. Children have such high expectations of themselves and are very quick to be self-critical and slow to recognise their gifts and skills, shrugging them off as unimportant. No matter how much praise we give them, ultimately they need to believe in themselves.

Whatever the situation your child is going through at the moment, there is a process. It starts with Position 1 when there is some fear of failure. If they opt out at that point or if you ‘rescue’ them by allowing them to opt out, they can safely return to the Low Fear place. They have escaped having to do that thing they fear but they don’t feel good about it. They know that they haven’t made the most of an opportunity, they’ve perhaps allowed others less good than them to take the opportunity and ultimately they have made it more difficult to take a challenge next time. They actually lower their ability to perform.
If however, you encourage them to push themselves they have the chance to move round to Position 2. Here they get a sense of having pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and are beginning to feel a bit brave. They are doing better than others who have dropped back down and if they’ve managed to get to this position on their own, then they are feeling quite empowered. You can notice this and comment on what skills they’ve used to make this initial push. It’s a bit uncomfortable at Position 2 and they will be feeling nervous. If this is the first time they’ve ventured out of their comfort zone it will seem a bit of a scary unfamiliar place.

Now they’re on their way to Position 3 where things feel more uncomfortable. They may experience butterflies or knots in the tummy, they may feel hot and cold alternately and they may be tempted to quit. Encourage them by reminding them how well they’re doing and how proud you are of them and importantly how proud they should be of how far they’ve come. Remind them of where they want to be, what they’re aiming for. I help children with the symptoms for fear by using metaphors.

This fear, it’s like what?
If it was an animal what animal would it be?
Can you pet this animal and calm it down?
Can you quieten it, stroke it, tell it you’re OK?
And breathe…..breathing is a great way of getting yourself in a calm place.
 
Use mindfulness by stopping and notice how your body feels:

What is my experience right now?
Breathe and notice your breathing by counting it out and in
Reconnect with the present

As they move into Position 4 they will be experiencing the worst of the fear and it’s really important that they hang on in there because if they give up at this stage they will feel really bad about themselves because they were so close to achieving what they want. If they are visual remind them how they will feel when they see the results of their efforts. If they are more auditory, remind them of how they’ll feel when they hear how well they’ve done. If they are kinaesthetic, remind them how they will feel.

As they do that they are now on their way to Position 5 and are experiencing a feeling of relief that the worst is over. They’ve done it and survived! It was terrible but they did it. It doesn’t matter what the result might be because they’ve challenged themselves and overcome the hurdles themselves. They’ve learnt something about themselves and they have recognised that they have skills they didn’t realise they had. They are now in a great position for whatever challenge comes up next.

Each of these stages is a decision point when you need to be there to support them with reminders about what specific skills it is that they need at that point. This might be about putting themselves forward for selection, it might be about approaching someone to make friends, trying a new club, deciding to say ‘no’ to someone. Invite your child to identify what the steps are in their particular fear journey. Ask them what (if anything) they need from you at each stage. What skill would be useful at that point, do they have it? The certainly do so perhaps you need to remind them where you’ve observed them using that skill.

Rescue them at any of these points and they drop back down to the position below and eventually to the LOW FEAR position from where it will be even harder to do anything challenging. By rescuing I don’t mean helping. Helping your child to find their own bravery and resourcefulness by giving them information and supporting them with your time and money these are not examples of rescuing. Rescuing is taking away the pain or the fear by allowing them to opt out of it completely. Examples I’ve heard of are changing schools because the child isn’t making friends, going into school to explain things to teachers that your child could have said, doing your child’s homework for them, writing your child’s personal statement for Uni, paying off your child’s mobile phone bill, tidying up your grown- up child’s bedroom and doing their washing etc. Basically rescuing is doing things for your child that, had they done them themselves, would have enabled them to feel good about themselves. In the context of fear of failure, rescuing is saving your child from the chance of failure. I hope I’ve shown that by doing this you are also saving your child from the success of overcoming it and experiencing self-esteem as a result.
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Judy Bartkowiak is the author of the Engaging NLP series of Workbooks, other NLP books including ‘Be a happier parent with NLP’ and ‘Self-Esteem Workbook’. She offers workshops and individual consultation in Marlow or Burnham and via Skype. If you have a child taking the 11+ exam you might be interested in ‘Passing the 11+ with NLP’. If you email me I can send you a free PDF of the book judy@nlpkids.com

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