By Wang Rong Zheng
Since 1997, 25 of Mind Transformations’ NLP Practitioners has went on to become full-fledged NLP Trainers. Here is a story from one of them.
It all started when I was 12 years old. A fat boy, whose once round chubby cheeks became red houses to millions of bacterium. I always figured myself as an intellectual, better to have brains than brawn. Until puberty kicked in, then I knew that having brawn was more fun. I always felt that I was meant for more. Dreamt big dreams, to which others would say, “Wake up your idea! Or stop building castles in the air.” I wanted to make a contribution in my lifetime. Do something worthwhile, like ’empower the human race’.
When I was 13 years old browsing at a bookstore, a book called ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ by Anthony Robbins caught my eye. Scanning through the book, my eyes picked up keywords like Dream, Destiny and Mastery. Sounded like my kind of book. Without hesitation, all $24.67 of my 10 days of school pocket money was invested in it. It came to be one of the most influential books of my life!
From 14 to 16 years old, I focused on accelerated learning. Learnt techniques like Mindmapping™, Mega Memory™, speed reading and Photoreading™. However, I was so focused on learning these techniques, that I neglected the actual content of my studies. I knew how to study, but not enough of what I was studying. My interests were sidetracked and as a result, so were my ‘O’ levels. Disappointed with my results, I resolved to focus my efforts on priorities, the very next chance that came along.
During the 6 months of floating around while the Joint Admissions Exercise tried to disqualify me, I enrolled for a Practitioner’s course in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Intrigued by it’s applications and uses, I was a Certified NLP Practitioner at sixteen.At the end of 6 months, I managed to get a place in the School of Business at Temasek Polytechnic. During that year, my performance had a dramatic boost, with semester’s results ranging from Distinctions to A’s and B’s. I continued on with my NLP training that November 1999, and by March 2000 was certified NLP Master Practitioner at seventeen.
On the 25th of June 2000, five NLP Master Practitioners (graduates of Mind Transformations) set to meet each other on the other side of the world, and I was one of them. The meeting place was NLP University, Santa Cruz, California. The purpose was to study under the famous NLP Master Trainers Robert Dilts and Judith DeLozier. We were training to become NLP Trainers. The trainers course was gruelling, intense, fun, and I loved it. I had to take extra two weeks leave from school to complete my Trainer’s Training. Personally, I developed Robert’s more analytical; systematic NLP thinking style and at the same time caught on to Judith’s enthusiastic approach. On reflection, both Master Trainers are truly an asset to the NLP community. My four friends and I became licensed NLP Trainers on 15th of July 2000. Twelve days before my eighteenth birthday!
I believe that in life, we all start out somewhere. When you hear a calling or see a mission, there is a path to walk and each event along this path is there to test the limits of your soul. There are demons, but there are also guardians who guide and protect you. So find your guardians and mark your demons. NLP was the skill that helped me transform the demon into my friend!
Find out more about the NLP Practitioner Certification Course that changed Rong Zheng’s life.
