Are there habits you’d like to change easily, without relying on willpower or effort? The NLP Swish pattern offers a natural and straightforward way to shift how you feel and act.
This technique is generative, meaning it involves transforming your sense of self. Consider: Who is the version of you for whom this habit wouldn’t be an issue? Perhaps it’s the calm, composed person who stays unbothered by a messy room, or the confident individual who enjoys cold calling.
We don’t interact with reality directly but through our internal models of it. Our behaviors stem from these mental models. When we adjust the model, our reactions change accordingly.
Often, we think things directly cause our emotions or behaviors (like “he makes me angry”), but it’s actually a process of stimulus leading to response. For instance, your brain receives cues—like your foot feeling a solid surface—which then triggers your action of walking.
The NLP Swish pattern primarily works through visual processing, making it one of the simplest methods. It focuses on altering key visual qualities such as size and color, known as submodalities. While other methods may use different sensory systems, the core principle remains: changing one mental image for a more desirable one.
How NLP Swish Works
- Identify the trigger: Recall the last time you engaged in the unwanted behavior. What sign told you it was time? For example, Marnie realized that seeing the clock was her cue to eat chocolate while watching TV. Visualize this trigger as if through your own eyes—fully immersed in the moment.
- Analyze the submodalities: Notice which aspects of this image make it compelling. Would making it black and white or pushing it farther away reduce its pull?
- Create a new self-image: Picture yourself as the person who no longer has this habit, but from a detached viewpoint. What do you look like? How do you sound? What is your posture and breathing like?
- Enhance the new image: Make this new image vivid and attractive—bring it closer, brighten the colors, add music or movement that makes it appealing.
- Check for resistance: Pay attention to any doubts or concerns about changing and becoming this new version of yourself.
- Set up the mental “swish”: Place the unwanted cue image close and colorful, while the desired self-image is small and faded somewhere else in your mind.
- Execute the swish: Quickly “explode” the desired image, making it larger and more vibrant, while shrinking and fading the old cue image away. Add a mental “swish” sound effect for emphasis. Hold this new image with all its positive qualities for a moment.
- Break state: Clear your mental “screen” so your mind doesn’t revert to the old image. This step is crucial for lasting change.
- Repeat: Do this sequence several times rapidly (usually at least three repetitions).
- Test your result: Think of the original trigger—does it now automatically bring up the new, desired image?
Tips for Effective Change
- Clearly identifying the cues that start the unwanted behavior is essential.
- The speed of the mental switch is critical.
- Use the right submodalities for your experience; in this method, size and color are used, but others like distance or direction can also work. You can customize the process by swapping compelling features of one image with neutral or less compelling features of another.
There are helpful videos demonstrating how the NLP Swish works, including explanations by experts like Steve Andreas.