Yield Theory: Proflect to Flow

86,400. This is the number of seconds in a single day of your life. There are only two choices you can make within every second: make progress or make excuses. Having studied Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) for a number of years, I have come to discover the power of intention used in conjunction with the words we select and, ultimately, the story we tell ourselves about our lives. 

It's no test and, as they say, life is not a dress rehearsal. Perhaps, you've spent a lot of your life contemplating and not doing, thinking and not acting, or making excuses for not doing or acting. Our behavior is a direct result of our thoughts and actions and repeated behaviors become habits and patterns. 

In order to get to the state of Flow coined by renowned psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who I arranged to meet at his center in California in 2014, you have to Reset and Proflect. In 2015, I presented on my work in Proflection (a reinvented term from the 1990s then used in psychotherapy) at the International Neuropsychology Association conference in Chicago. 

The idea of Proflection is to consider, pre-think, and plan in quiet contemplation with intention prior to any given activity. I researched and tested my theory on several hundred high school freshman in their planning periods in 2015. The activity was to write, draw, or sit in quiet with a specific guiding prompt to proflect upon. The results were 86% in favor of a positive effect on the students' lives.

I coined Yield Theory in September 2015 with this research and found my work well-received by the likes of Dr. Dan Siegel and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who were both in attendance at the conference. I sat in quiet contemplation in Dr. Siegel's keynote address to over 700 educators and scientists. I introduced Yield Theory as a newer take on ancient traditions with a neurodevelopmental twist using NLP and the power of Intention.

Today, I use Yield Theory in my professional and personal life for not only every decision but for difficult and challenging times as well. As a Martial Artist in Shotokan Karate (Shodan), I use it on the dojo floor in the same way I use it on the streets and in the office. We are the result of our behaviors and actions, but without quiet contemplation and intention, we are randomly bouncing around the stratosphere. Yield Theory is like meditation on steroids as it can help you to ground and define your behaviors and actions.

If you are interested in more information, feel free to contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Dr. E. Cruz Eusebio, Executive Director, Insight Neurodevelopmental Associates, Washington, D.C., USA