Submodalities: The Language of Time

You can learn a lot about how others think about time by analyzing their critical submodalities and paying attention to the language they use. For example:

• “That was in the distant and hazy past.”
• “He has a bright future.”
• “I left that novel behind.”
• “How time flies!”
• “Time is on my side.”

Time is so important to people that we use it in our speech to organize language. We use verbs in the past, present, or future tense depending on whether an action is completed, ongoing, or yet to happen.

Verb tenses are often used to move a problem into the past. For example: “We had a problem, didn’t we?”

Notice how this sentence differs from: “We have a problem, right?”

And from: “We’re going to have problems, aren’t we?”

The last sentence is unhelpful, because to answer it, you have to accept the assumption that problems will inevitably occur in the future.

Time is also reflected in the adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions people use in their speech. Think of words like “before,” “after,” “during,” “when,” “until,” “simultaneously,” “earlier,” “later,” and so on.

These expressions position us in time and influence our experience. For example, consider how the following sentences affect you:

• “Before you leave, I wanted to ask you to help me.”
• “After you left, I wanted you to help me.”
• “Before you leave, but after you have breakfast, I’d like you to help me.”

How do you know which event happens first? You assign different submodalities to the events, placing them in your mental space. The event that is closer to you is the one that will happen first.

Action Guide

Sometimes it seems like NLP is just a way to solve problems. That’s not the case. “Problem” is a negative word. It means there’s a significant difference between what you have and what you want. When you dislike what you have and want to escape from it, you have a corrective problem. Many people think of “problems” as these kinds of corrective states. However, if you like what you have but want something even better, then you have a different kind of problem—a generative one. Generative problems are the best kinds of problems you can have.

If you have something good, you can significantly improve it by changing its submodalities.

Mentally return to a pleasant memory. Analyze its submodalities. Can you make the memory even more enjoyable? Change the submodalities and analyze the effect. Make the image brighter, larger, and closer. Did your memory become even more pleasant? Experiment with the submodalities of the memory until it becomes as enjoyable as possible.

Identify your own timeline. As you analyze your timeline, think about how it helps you think about the past and the future.

For example, a person whose short segment of the timeline is in the past places events at a fairly short distance. It’s hard for them to remember exactly how long ago something happened. Those whose future timeline segment is short have trouble with strategic planning. They find it hard to look ahead and lose their sense of perspective. (The length of your future timeline segment has no mystical connection to your lifespan! If it’s short, it just means you have trouble planning for the future.) Your timeline isn’t predetermined at birth. You created it yourself, and you can change it. Choice and flexibility will allow you to make your life richer and more interesting. While enjoying pleasant activities, you can live “in time,” and when planning for the future, you can switch to “through time” mode. No matter what state you’re in, experiment with both ways of perceiving time.

Imagine stepping onto your timeline.

• If you’re “through time,” imagine stepping onto the line so it passes through the center of your body. How do you feel? You might feel more grounded, living in the present moment. Now step off the timeline again.
• If you’re “through time,” imagine stepping off the timeline and seeing it pass outside your body. You might feel more objective, more capable of impartial analysis. Now step back onto the timeline.

You have a choice. “In time” or “through time” are states and resources you can use depending on your plans and desires.

Watch the movie Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke, even if you’ve seen it before. How did Robin Williams’ character change the meaning of poetry for his students? How do your submodalities change the meaning of the idea of “poetry” as the film progresses?

Listen to your inner voice. Is it your own voice? Where does it come from? How loud is it? How could you make it more pleasant so you’d want to listen to it? What’s the tone of your inner dialogue? Do you like it? Do you talk to yourself as if you actually like yourself?