By design, you are a learning machine. As an infant, you learned to walk. As a toddler, you learned to talk. By the time you reached age 5, you had mastered many skills needed to thrive in the world. And you learned all these things without formal instruction, without lectures, without books, without conscious effort, and without fear. 

Shortly after we start school, however, something happens to us. Somehow, we start forgetting about the successful easy-going learner inside us. Even under the best teachers, we experience the discomfort that sometimes accompanies learning. We start avoiding situations that might lead to embarrassment. We turn away from experiences that could lead to mistakes. We accumulate a growing list of ideas to defend, a catalog of familiar experiences that discourage us from learning anything new. Slowly, we restrict our possibilities and potentials.

From the moment you started your journey, learning NLP, you are in fact an NLP practitioner (as in, a person who is practicing NLP). Don’t wait for your certificate before you see yourself as a competent NLP practitioner – a medical school graduate is called a ‘doctor’ even though no one in his right mind will allow him to operate on anyone’s brain just yet… You’re going to learn these skills by practicing – by BEING a practitioner. 

Successful NLP learners share certain qualities. These are attitudes and core values. Although they imply various strategies for learning, they ultimately go beyond what you do. These qualities are ways of being exceptional. As you read the following list of qualities common to successful NLP learners, look to yourself. Make a list of each quality that you already demonstrate. Make another list of each quality that you want to possess. This is not a test. It is simply a chance to celebrate what qualities you possess so far—and to start thinking about what’s possible for your future.

A successful NLP learner cares about knowledge and has a passion for ideas. She also cares about other people and appreciates learning from them. She collaborates on projects and thrives on teams. She flourishes in a community that values win-win outcomes, cooperation, and love.

A successful NLP learner is highly inquisitive and is curious about everything. By posing questions, you can generate interest in the most mundane, humdrum situations. 

Mastery of skills is important to a successful NLP learner. When he learns a new practical concept, he studies it until they become second nature. He practices until he knows the process cold and then puts in a few extra minutes of practice. He also is able to apply what he learns to new and different situations.

More often than not, a successful NLP learner is seen with a smile on her face—sometimes a smile at nothing in particular other than amazement at the world and her experience of it. This ties well with the curiosity and wonder that NLP is built upon. 

The successful NLP learner is energetic and determined and persistent. He uses the tools he learns to boost his energy and increase his determination to explore even more. 

A successful NLP learner is self aware and is willing to evaluate herself and her behavior. She regularly tells the truth about her strengths and those aspects that could be improved.

The successful NLP learner is a responsible grown-up. There is a difference between responsibility and blame, and successful students know it well. He is willing to take responsibility for everything in his life. He remembers that by choosing his thoughts and behaviors, he can create and jump into interesting challenges, enjoyable relationships, fulfilling work experiences, and just about anything else he wants.

A successful NLP learner admits her fear and fully experiences it. She does not deny fear but embraces it. If she doesn’t understand something or makes a mistake, she admits it. When she faces a challenge and bumps into her limits, she asks for help. And she’s just as willing to give help as to receive it.

Rewards or punishments provided by others do not motivate a successful NLP learner. He is self-directed. His desire to learn comes from within, and his goals come from himself. He competes like a star athlete—not to defeat other people but to push himself to the next level of excellence.

A successful NLP learner is truly in the here and now, fully present, open and spontaneous. She is able to respond to the moment in fresh, surprising, and unplanned ways.

Where others see dull details and trivia, a successful NLP learner sees opportunities to create. He can gather pieces of knowledge from a wide range of subjects and can put them together in new ways. He is creative in every aspect of his life.

A successful NLP learner sees setbacks as temporary and isolated, knowing that she can choose her response to any circumstance.

Human beings begin life with a natural appetite for knowledge. In some people, it soon gets dulled. A successful NLP learner has tapped that hunger, and it gives him a desire to learn for the sake of learning.

A successful NLP learner has an inner sense, an intuition that cannot be explained by logic alone. She trusts her gut instincts as well as her mind.

Becoming a successful NLP practitioner means mastering learning for you, for who you are, based on your skills and personal characteristics. 

Mastery means attaining a level of skill that goes beyond technique. For a master, work is effortless and struggle evaporates. The master carpenter, for example, is so familiar with her tools that they are part of her. To a master chef, utensils are old friends. Because these masters don’t have to think about the details of the process, they bring more of themselves to their work. Actually, mastery does not make sense, when you think about it – the master is always relaxed, and makes his actions seem effortless. The master is hyper alert and self disciplined. The master works hard without seeming to make any effort whatsoever. Mastery cannot be captured in words. It defies analysis. It cannot be taught. It can only be learned and experienced.