One of our classmates emailed me asking me the difference between Resources and Choices in NLP. The information can be useful to many of us, so I answer her here.
"Resource" comes from a French word meaning "to spring forth". In NLP, Resource is described as anything that helps a person going from current state to desired state, including from a problem state to a solution state.
There can be 2 kinds of Resources, the Inner and the Outer. Inner Resources include beliefs, values and internal states of excellence (eg. Confidence, Joy, Humor...). Outer Resources include skills, guidance, tools and supports. The Inner Resources help us to change an Inner State, while the Outer Resources help us to change the Outer States.
There is a NLP Presupposition stating that we have all the resources we need. It is referring to the Inner Resources. We have all those qualities but we might not be able to aware of them right now.
"Choices" in NLP refers to actionable options created or discovered by a person in order to achieve something.
My friend asked me: Is it true that the more resources we have, the more successful we will be?
From a view point of a "normal" person, it is true. But from the rediculous NLP point of view, it is a misunderstanding of the basic concept of NLP.
If we already have all the resources we need, there can't be "more" resources!?
However, it is true that if we have more choices, we can be more successful (another NLP Presupposition). Choices can be the usable options of making use of the Outer Resources. If success is defined as achieving something, i.e. external, the more choices that we can make use of the Outer Resources, the higher probability of gaining success.
You can also see "Resources" as something passive, something already been inside you or outside over there. "Choices" are something active, you create or discover in order to make use of the "Resources".
Keith
Explore, Exceed & Excel
