Growing up for me was really no different from anyone else. I had the ups and
downs of going through the traditional schooling system, battling my own inner
demons and outer nemesis. It always seemed as though life was constantly
throwing me hardballs… From the get-go my father was sentenced to life
imprisonment as my 17 year old teen mother was trying to bring up a two year
old me, while giving birth to my younger brother. I struggled through school with bullies constantly using me as a bulls eye for their latest amusements, and
teachers constantly telling me I wasn’t good enough and that I needed to work
harder if I wanted to get a good job. But somewhere along the line, I also
developed a range of issues around the way I looked, and at the age of around 10
years old, I found myself screaming hateful thoughts at myself in front of the
mirror. This way of thinking about myself went on to affect the way I thought of
others, and subsequently, the way they treated me. Later on, I was fortunate
enough to attract some mentors into my life who really helped me to
breakthrough a lot of my past baggage and teach me an entirely new way of
thinking and attitude towards life.
When I first heard of NLP I was sitting across from one of my business mentors as he was sharing his insights with me about personal development and how the
rate in which you grow as a person, was in direct relation to the rate in which
your business grows. He leaned in and said, “Nick, if you want to grow a highly
successful (and profitable) business, you’re going to have to commit to growing
yourself every single day.” Several of my business (and personal) mentors during
this time all felt the same way, and so I thought to myself, “There must be
something to all of this personal growth stuff!” And I’ve never looked back…
NLP just happened to be one of the tools my mentor used to help create change
with the people he worked with, and when I asked him how he came to develop
such an extraordinary ability to help people breakthrough their ‘issues’ he shared that he had sat an NLP course and that taught him a lot of very useful techniques BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
4
in belief system change, and altering people’s perceptions and subsequently, their reality – in a way that served them towards a happier more fulfilled life.
Well that sounded really cool to me, and so the seed was planted, that I needed
to grow, and that one of the things I could do along my journey to grow, was to
learn NLP, and that’s just what I did.
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
5
Body-Image Explained
Body-Image refers to how a person feels about their physical body, and this is
broken down into how they feel about the level of aesthetics and sexual
attractiveness they think they possess. Aesthetics encompassing the shape,
weight and proportions of the body, and sexual attractiveness referring to how
‘sexy’ they think they are (or are not) to the opposite sex (or same sex if one is homosexual).
From the moment we are born as a (mostly) clean slate, there are many factors in
our environment both inside and outside of us that can create poor body-image
from cultural and social ideals, to past personal experiences along with what
some say are biological predispositions. Biological predispositions in my opinion, are misguided in that we are all predisposed to the elements around us, yet how
we respond to those elements determines the result we get. We know for a fact,
that poor nutrition leads to a lack of function in the brain which can result in
various symptoms such as depression and anxiety, but as with everything we
experience, the power lies within ourselves to create the changes we want.
Poor Body-Image is also not something we are born with, therefore it is
something that is gradually developed over-time. For many people, poor body-
image is perpetuated through a series of frequent comparisons. Comparing their
hips to that person, their arms to that person, their waist and legs to that person, and their butt and shoulders to that other person – do you notice where this is
going? The more comparisons you make, the worse your body-image becomes.
Some comparisons were made at a very early age, through a child’s impression of
the world, and thus, tend to be much more distorted than a comparison made as
an adult. Sometimes that requires us to dig into our past and turn over a new leaf with that memory (so to speak), and other times it doesn’t. As with everything,
the approach to therapy varies depending on the individual.
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
6
History shows us that in many cultures there has existed ideals among society of
the way the perfect body should look, which the people have always struggled to
live up to. To show how far reaching these ideals are in our own western culture
we only need to look around to see how prevalent the emphasis on beauty truly
is. In fact, a large study was recently completed by the American Psychological
Association finding that the sexualization of women was contributing to increased anxiety associated with body-image.
In fact, body-image has become such a problem in our western culture that we
don’t even notice it exists; because almost everyone has the same issues! In one
of the largest international studies on body-image conducted (which spanned
over 10 countries), 3200 women were interviewed and the researchers found that
only 2% considered themselves beautiful, and nearly 50% believed they were too
fat.
There are many factors associated with developing a poor body-image, and so
awareness around what causes it, and how it is perpetuated helps provide us with
a launching pad to breakthrough it.
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
7
Body-Image & NLP
Body-Image in itself, has a lot to do with how we perceive the world around us,
and NLP is an extremely valuable tool in changing our MAP (view of the world)
which subsequently changes our experience (for the better). I found this with my
own experience of learning about NLP, and how my mind works, I was better able
to let go of old negative habits, and replace them with newer more empowering
habits. Habits of thinking, as I call them, are perpetuated by us in our repeated efforts of thought. Much of body-image is unconscious, meaning we are not
consciously (on the surface level) always aware of the thoughts that are running
through our minds, and as such, NLP is a powerful tool in modifying our
unconscious thinking habits to create a completely different conscious outcome.
Although in some people, negative body-image can lead to mental illnesses such
as eating disorders, depression or anorexia, this is not always the case for
everyone. But do keep in mind that men are not exempt from negative body-
image; Recent research suggests that many men wish to become leaner and more
muscular like they see on the covers of men’s magazine covers, or what they
perceived as children when playing with action figurines or watching cartoons of
muscular heroes. In a recent study, western men, compared to their Asian
counter-parts, wished to gain an additional 30 pounds of muscle mass than they
perceived they currently had. In a survey completed by Psychology Today,
researchers found that 56% of women and 40% of men were dissatisfied with
their overall appearance. To the modern western man, it appears as though a link
between the amount of muscle mass and their level of masculinity has been
created, which is in my opinion, a false expectation. NLP is valuable in making
adjustments to the way in which these men are perceiving masculinity, through a
series of processes that I will explain and (share how to use), throughout this
book.
In a recent survey women were asked, what was the first thing they noticed about
other woman when out with friends, and the majority of the respondents replied,
“How fat she is.” Continuing, the researchers found that women had an average
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
8
of 13 negative things to say about themselves each day such as, “I hate my
stomach”, “I hate my thighs” or “I’m ugly”. In an even larger international survey, researchers found that 90% of women aged 15 to 64 want to change at least one
thing about their body, most of all their body weight. So we understand that the
majority of people are affected in some way by poor body-image, it’s just that
because this way of thinking about ourselves is so widely accepted amongst
society, it’s difficult for many people to realize they have a problem, or could even do something about it if they knew they were struggling. Body-Image is so
emphasized throughout our culture that even girls as young as five have strong
ideas about weight, such as “fat is bad” and “skinny is good”. These perceptions
around the body are created so early for most people that we tend to accept
them as truth, and thus, live our lives according to that truth (or world-view).
When in actual reality, those perceptions are completely false because ideals are subjective, and that means we are living our lives according to a false sense of
reality, in much the same way that a person with depression believes that the
world is an unhappy place to live in, when in actual reality, the world is what we make of it.
Body-Image can be measured by comparing yourself to images of what you think
the ideal body should look like. When making the comparisons, the difference
between how you perceive your body, and the ‘ideal body’ is what determines
the level of dissatisfaction (if any). Researchers have found a link between body dissatisfaction and women who smoke cigarettes, along with a discomfort around
engaging in behaviors associated with intimate relationships, such as being able
to express their sexuality fully. What if there were a series of switches we could flick that would automatically change the way we perceived our bodies and
ourselves, so we could go on to feel completely comfortable with ourselves (and
enjoy intimate relationships in the way we desire)? With NLP there are a variety
of techniques and tools that allow for that to happen, which will be explored in
this book.
As you continue reading I want you to decide to set your intention (on what you
wish to achieve) by absorbing the information contained within this book. The
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
9
clearer you are on what you wish to gain from reading this book, the more value
you will receive as a result of that intention.
Now that you’ve set your intention on what you would most like to gain from
reading this book, let’s continue exploring NLP together…
BOOST YOUR BODY-IMAGE WITH NLP – NICKRITCHIELIVE.COM
10