A widely accepted break down of our psychic layers within NLP is what is called the 'logical levels'. It starts with a SPIRITUAL core, that defines our purpose in life.
Out of which we create our IDENTITY which form and effects our VALUES and BELIEFS.
These values and beliefs determine our COMPETENCIES or skills and knowledge we choose to learn and engage in.
Our competencies predominantly affect our BEHAVIOUR which is also affected by, and creates, our ENVIRONMENT and context In which we live. Also see bottom image.
These levels essentially make up our reality.
We engage with life and Information at different levels at different times, and use these levels as a sort of funnelling system to pass through new information. This new information or stimulus passes through these levels making changes to our complicated processing until it is blocked by one of the levels. It may get blocked because it conflicts or disagrees with the current information within that level or is busy with another agenda. Information continues through these levels affecting each level as it passes to the higher or deeper level.
For change to happen at each level we need to make a change at the deeper level than the one we want to make a change at.
This process is continuously happening every second, every day as we see, touch, think, feel and hear the world in front of us. For example, we may hear someone say that we need to train everyday for 4 hours to be a world champion. As we process this information we may accept this in our current ENVIRONMENT and the information may be confirmed by the people around us. It may fit nicely into our BEHAVIOUR and training regime as we already allocate 5 hrs to training every day. We have the skills and COMPETENCIES to endure this training scheme, however, this information may conflict with our BELIEFS. Maybe we have seen another champion only train for 4 hours on only 5 days a week, or maybe we believe it is the intensity of our training, not the quantity that makes the difference.
If we don't accept this new Information at the BELIEFS and VALUES level, we will never change our COMPETENCIES and BEHAVIOUR to align with this new information for any extended period of time. We may try to train for 4 hours every day, but after a few weeks, if we don't believe this strategy to be true, this regime will slowly start to fall away.
Take the time and use this model to assess your goals, beliefs, and messages you tell yourself. See if what you are telling yourself is acceptable at every level.