Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142949 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 342 pages

Customer Reviews

A parallel purpose
I first heard of this book from an audio cd. Seminar leader David DeAngelo, demonstrated how to use Mind Lines to shatter limiting beliefs, and strengthen inner game, and how it worked for him.

Later an nlp student asked me to install the idea from this book, EXTERNAL BEHAVIOR = INTERNAL STATE. He waxed so lyrically about Michael Hall and Mindlines, I determined to read it.

Ostensibly it's about the art of reframing conversations using the 26 techniques in this book.

What happens though, as you read, and apply the Mind-lines to yourself, you come up with new ones and you may notice your own mind starts to open up, you look at things in new ways, and you can find inspiring answers, and shifts in perception.

Here is an example with reframes:

"Your being late means you don't care." External behavior (lateness)= Internal State (don't care).

Reflect back: Have you ever been late for something, and did it mean you didn't care?

Counter example: If I was on time would that prove that I did care?

Contrast: Just because someone is on time doesn't mean they care. Just because somenone's late doesn't mean they don't care.

Meta Model, Chunking down: How specifically, does my being late mean I don't care?

Mind Reading: How do you know I don't care? Are you able to read my mind?

Authority frame: According to who? Where is it written that lateness means not caring?

Value: What's more important, my being here, or my being late?

Allness: What would it be like if everyone was always late? Would it mean that no one cares, ever?

You do need to have good rapport with some reframes. And there are 18 more than this. The patterns I have used most to change my own thoughts have been negation, future pacing and metaphor patterns. More recently, I am using chunking up questions.

If you're like me, you'll discover yourself coming up with your own reframes for common situations, whether it be in career, personal relationships, dealing with children, or dealing with difficult or uncooperative people, and as you do you will realise the rewards of reexamining these situations. The more you open up to the opportunities these reframes present, the more opportunities open up.

I hope you find this review helpful, and if you do, please click yes.

Lines that Change Minds for the Better
This book is extremely interesting because it gives you a structure for communication. It's about using language to influence yourself, for giving yourself options, and it is about changing your limiting beliefs. It can be used for helping you understand how to influence others through influencing yourself. It gives you a sense of flexibility. The more you read it, the more you learn about being flexibile in your communication. You can always come back to it to find that there is so much more to understand.

It isn't just about communication between two living people, it can be used on books, on texts also. For example, you might find that this book is a bit complex, but the book itself teaches you how to handle complexity, since the idea of "complexity" is only in your mind.

It is not a quick-fix. The book demands a lot of dedication, but it is engaging and interesting, it keeps you thinking because the ideas in this book are so generative.

I have found the book more useful in the realm of learning. Since it is a book about communication, and influence, it can be used as a model for how to teach yourself "how to learn". You will be able to handle complexity, you will be able to manage yourself and your ideas. It is a book that gives you an emotional intelligence about learning.

My only criticism is that the authors have not gone deep enough into the topic, even though they have gone pretty deep. I wish they said more about the symmetry of the model, how all the ideas are organized. But this is not a big criticism since the reader, if he or she is dedicated, can explore these relationships themselves.

Overall, it is an extremely important book. It is also quiet fun to read, the metaphor of "magic" being used for communication is very good.

Not exactly there
Doesn't really pin down the subject.
Lots of NLP-like talk but not much essence.
I was left with the impression that the two authors don't fully master the domain.

Best is to get a 'slight-of-mouth' book from the source