Logical Levels of Perception

The concept of logical levels of perception—also known as NLP logical levels, levels of thinking, or levels of personal change—is a powerful tool for noticing shifts in perspective within individuals, organizations, or social groups. Developed by Robert Dilts and based on Gregory Bateson’s idea of “neurological levels,” this framework helps us understand how change occurs at different depths of our experience.

The Six Logical Levels

1. Spirit and Intentions
   Who else, besides you, is involved? Whom or what do you serve? This level is about your connection to a larger system. For example, if you are an NLP practitioner or an organization offering NLP-based services, what new value do you bring to your community? What is your specialization, and how does it differ from others?
2. Identity and Calling
   Who are you or your company? What do you do to achieve your goals? This level involves your self-concept as an individual or organization: where do you excel?
3. Beliefs and Values
   Why do you do what you do? What do you believe in and value? As a person, you might believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, or you might highly value honesty. As an organization, you might value customer service or employee well-being.
4. Capabilities and Strategies
   How do you operate? What are your skills, abilities, behavioral strategies, and action plans?
5. Behavior
   What do you do? What are your behavioral norms?
6. Environment
   Where, when, and with whom do you act? How does your environment influence your actions?

Example

Suppose it’s 9:00 AM and I’m already at my workplace (environment). If I didn’t want to be there, I’d need to change my behavior. I could go for a walk, head for the door and leave, or even shout for help in hopes someone would assist me in leaving the building.

The behavior I choose depends on my capabilities and behavioral strategies. If I’m allowed to leave without special permission, “heading for the door” is a real option. Alternatively, I might seek outside help (shouting for assistance). Or, if I don’t want to work at my organization and need some source of income, I might “escape into illness,” becoming so sick that I’m granted long-term medical leave. Many people, consciously or unconsciously, have used such strategies.

My capabilities and strategies depend on my beliefs and values. If I believe I can easily find another job to support my family, “escaping into illness” is unlikely to be my choice.

My values and beliefs are shaped by my identity and self-concept. If I see myself as a successful person, I’m likely to believe I can find another job or even start my own business.

The set of skills and self-perceptions that make up my identity are largely influenced by my life goals and the contribution I want to make to society.

Lasting Change

Changes at lower levels (like moving to a new city—environment) don’t necessarily lead to changes at higher levels, though sometimes they might. In contrast, changes at higher levels (like beliefs) strongly influence lower levels, as shown in the example above.

Applying the concept of logical levels to personal change leads to several important insights:

1. Short-term vs. Long-term Change
   NLP techniques can sometimes quickly change unwanted behaviors, but if the new behavior doesn’t align with your beliefs, values, or identity, higher levels will override the change, and the old behavior will return. For lasting behavioral change, shifts must also occur at higher levels, or at least at the level of identity.
2. Organizational Change
   Have you ever been part of an organizational change process? Typical changes include restructuring or simply rearranging office space—these are changes at the environment level. Will they be deep? Only if they’re synchronized with changes at higher levels! Sometimes staff are asked to work differently (behavior) without proper training (capabilities and strategies). This often leads to superficial, short-lived changes.
3. Personal Planning in Health and Career
   If your personal goals (health, career, etc.) don’t align with higher levels, how successful do you think you’ll be in achieving them?
4. “Major problems of our time cannot be solved at the same level of thinking at which they were created.” (Albert Einstein)
   Many quote this, but few explain how to actually move to a higher level of thinking. Using logical levels, we can do this: if a problem arises at the behavioral level, to solve it sustainably, we must rise at least to the level of capabilities and strategies.

NLP can help you change at higher levels (beliefs and values, identity and calling, spirit and intentions) or ensure your goals align with all your personal or organizational levels. When this happens, your life goals become clear and achievable without major external effort—you grow to the level of your goals.

Next, let’s look at a different perspective and an exercise to help you achieve personal congruence, where all your logical levels are in harmony.

Understanding Others

A key feature of logical levels is that you can directly observe only two of them in others: behavior and environment. You can see what people do, when, where, and with whom. This may give you some idea of their capabilities, strategies, values, and beliefs, but to confirm your assumptions, you need to engage them in conversation about these topics. When you discuss higher logical levels, you gain deeper insight into why someone behaves as they do. How often, when talking to someone important to you, do you only discuss the weather (environment) or what they’re doing (behavior), but not their self-concept (identity and calling), beliefs, or values? For such conversations, you need to create an atmosphere where both of you feel safe to share your inner selves.

Teaching Example

Several years ago, I worked as an adjunct professor of statistics at the University of New Brunswick. Nursing students were required to take a statistics course in their final year, which had a bad reputation because previous professors taught it as pure mathematics. Unsurprisingly, most nursing students struggled and often asked for help.

When it was my turn to teach, I went to the university library and found many examples of statistics used in medicine. I used these in seminars and assignments. As a result, the course was seen not as math, but as a way to develop additional skills needed for quality patient care. It was a wonderful experience for me, and the students achieved remarkable success. In the second semester, many students used statistical analysis in their graduation projects on public health surveys.

Why was my approach successful while others’ were not? Analyze this using the concept of logical levels. Could you use a similar approach in your family or workplace to help others see situations differently and tap into their own resources to overcome difficulties?

Aligning Logical Levels for Personal Congruence

For many of us, logical levels are outside our conscious competence. But whether we realize it or not, they significantly influence our lives.

The following exercise will help you:

• Recognize what influences your life’s direction.
• Identify possible internal conflicts.
• Discover changes you can make to bring your logical levels into greater alignment and achieve higher personal congruence (resolving internal conflict).

Take your time with this exercise and write down your answers:

• Spirit and Intentions: What is your mission? What impact do you want to have on a larger system (family, colleagues, clients, society)?
• Identity and Social Role: Who are you? What is your role? Does your role match your mission? What needs to change?
• Beliefs and Values: What are your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world? Do these beliefs support your role? What do you value in yourself, others, and the world? Are your values in harmony with your role? Are there other beliefs or values you could adopt that would better align with your role?
• Capabilities and Strategies: What are your skills? What are your methods and action plans? Do you need to develop new skills, learn new methods, or adjust your plans? Are they aligned with higher logical levels? If not, what needs to change? If you need new skills, seek additional training. Or, after gaining new information, you may need to rethink your mission, role, beliefs, and values.
• Behavior: How do others perceive your actual behavior? Does your behavior align with each higher logical level? What needs to change?
• Environment: When, where, and with whom do you act? Does this fit well with your higher logical levels?

Aligning Logical Levels and Goals

Many of our goals (in career, family, relationships, health, achievements, etc.) are based on the expectations or desires of others—parents, spouses, teachers, mentors, religious leaders, bosses, friends, or society. These goals aren’t truly ours, so they lack the energy to drive us toward our real aspirations. When we struggle with our goals, there’s often an internal conflict that needs resolution. These conflicts can make our lives less effective. The following exercise will help you identify these conflicts and align your goals with your true self.

Reflect deeply on your goal and answer the same questions as in the previous exercise. Pay attention to how well your answers align. For example, you might find that achieving your goal would take time away from your family (assuming that’s also important to you). If so, is there a way to adjust your goal or plan so you can spend more time with your family without sacrificing your goal? It’s also helpful to consult those affected by your goal—they may offer solutions you hadn’t considered.

This process will help you determine whether your goals align with your inner self. Once you align your goals with your true self, you’ll find your goals become clearer, more attractive, and easier to achieve.