What is the NLP Swish Pattern?

(in English, please...)

The objective of this article is to introduce you to the NLP Swish Pattern, which allows you to install an automatic, positive response to a certain stimuli - which has previously provided you with a negative outcome.

Ah, simple! Hmm... as with much of NLP, this sounds like jargon. To put it better, an NLP Swish Pattern is a cheat to acting ideally in a situation that you generally under-perform in. Think selling, getting fit, chatting up members of the opposite sex, speaking to groups, asking for a pay rise, eating healthily - even sex. All can be improved with this little gem of a technique.

The aim of this article is to demystify the Swish Pattern – and demonstrate the numerous benefits and applications of using it. In the next article, I’ll show you How To Use the NLP Swish Pattern.

By using this technique, you’ll embed a new automatic and positive response into your subconscious - which means that no conscious thought or willpower is required to make the new response permanent. You’ll just start to act in the new way you decide. This can be a little overwhelming a first, but you’ll soon get over the shock and start enjoying your new behaviour.

How Does the Swish Pattern Work?

You act the way you do now in any given situation because your subconscious believes it is the most appropriate way for you to act, based on all your years of experience.

If you’ve been highly confident, assured, charismatic and utterly bedazzling throughout your life, you’re in for an absolute treat – your subconscious will make you act like this on demand.

For the rest of us, who have ballsed up in epic proportion over the years - embarrassing ourselves in front of strangers, the opposite sex, friends, Romans, countrymen and everyone in-between... Well, this is a technique that can help.

When you next find yourself in a situation that used to cause you to under-perform, rather than thinking about all your past failures, mishaps and misdemeanours – and living them out again – with the NLP Swish Pattern a new and compelling image will fly into your brain at breakneck speed - of you feeling brilliant, confident and performing at your best. It’s fair to say that it’s much more likely that you will perform to your potential if this is the case!

What Makes You Act The Way You Do?

To perform at your best in the future, first you will have to find out which exact external stimulus triggers you to act a certain way – and then we will arm this trigger with a new, improved picture of yourself that helps you to act in the way you want to.

For example, if you want to exercise more, you can use the NLP Swish Pattern to change a dread of the gym into an excited desire to work out. When you think of the gym, what used to be an image of you struggling on the treadmill – sweating, hyper-ventilating, exhausted and miserable - will be replaced with a picture of you after the gym – grinning, buzzing off endorphins and feeling brilliant about yourself for being such a wonderfully motivated and healthy human being. Having this pop into your head at the moment you make the decision whether to go to the gym or not is sometimes all it takes to get you there – and at the very least, it will be a gentle kick up the backside.

Another example is if you constantly snack on crisps, chocolate or other unhealthy crap. You can use the Swish Pattern to replace the desire for unhealthy grub with a craving for healthy fruit and vegetables – even exercise. I kid you not – it actually works, and I’ve tried it out on myself and a fair few friends.

One girl used to love her chocolate, for example. She loved it so much, I couldn’t even get a bite. Now, when she thinks of eating a chocolate bar, an image of her feeling happy, healthy and utterly amazing flies into her brain – instantly cancelling the urge for the snack. Best of all, I inherited all of her surplus stock.

What Can I Use The Swish Pattern For?

You can use the this technique for pretty much any situation which is causing you grief.

It should be noted, however, that I’ve found it most effective for relatively “small” changes, rather than gigantic life-altering 180 degree turnarounds. Big changes will require more than this – which is effectively a bit of a brain trick. Try it out on smaller problems first – and test the results.

It’s a little complex, but the technique really seems to work – particularly in conjunction with other techniques such as Creative Visualisation.


If you’re intrigued and want to give it a go yourself, click on the link below to learn how to do a Swish Pattern now.

I’d recommend reading through the instructions fully before you attempt to play with it, and then give it a go – I’d guess it will take you about 20 minutes all in all – which is not long at all for the benefits you can expect. Enjoy!

Related Articles

How To Do An NLP Swish Pattern

NLP Submodalities

NLP Anchors

Chaining Anchors

Collapsing Anchors

NLP Rapport & Body Language

The Power of Creative Visualisation

How to Visualise

Advanced Visualisation Exercises


An Introduction To NLP



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