Damon Cart is an NLP trainer, coach and the co-founder of SelfConcept.com, where he leads research and training on the Self-Concept model developed by the late Steve Andreas. Based in Santa Cruz, California, where NLP was first created, he teaches practical, precise techniques for lasting change at the level of identity. [1] [2]
Who is Damon Cart?
Damon Cart came to NLP during a hard period in his own life. SelfConcept.com describes him as a once-depressed insurance agent with a failing marriage, who used NLP to turn his life around. [1]
He trained thoroughly. He earned practitioner and master practitioner certifications at NLP University and the NLP Institute of California, along with hypnosis and NLP Health certifications, and trainer and consultancy training at NLP University in 2014. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of New Orleans. [3] He co-founded NLP Gym and founded the NLP Practice Group in Santa Cruz. [3]
Cart apprenticed under Steve Andreas, the American psychotherapist and author who, with his wife Connirae, researched and developed many well-known personal change tools, and who created the Self-Concept model. Andreas mentored him until his death in 2018. [1] [2] He has guided thousands of personal transformations at the identity level, and SelfConcept.com describes him as one of the lead researchers and most experienced trainers of the model anywhere in the world. [2]
NLP co-developer Judith DeLozier has described him as a master trainer and coach who is “both systemic and systematic” in his approach. [2] His YouTube channel has more than 145,000 subscribers. [4]
His approach in brief
- Start with self-concept. Lasting change happens at the level of who you think you are.
- Be precise. Use specific techniques rather than general theory.
- Practise daily. Treat NLP as a skill you train, like going to the gym.
- Get to the root. Shift the belief behind the habit, not just the habit.
At a glance
Company: SelfConcept.com
Mentor: Steve Andreas
Training: NLP University; NLP Institute of California
Degree: Communications, University of New Orleans
YouTube: @DamonCartNLP
Good fit if
You want practical NLP techniques you can actually use, you are a coach or therapist looking for identity-level tools, or you are curious about the Self-Concept model.
Our take
One of the clearest teachers of practical NLP on YouTube. Start with his three everyday NLP techniques, then try the swish pattern for habits.
Damon Cart’s methods
Cart’s work combines classic NLP with Steve Andreas’s Self-Concept model. Tap a card to read more.
The Self-Concept model
The Self-Concept model was developed by Steve Andreas, who spent decades researching how people represent who they are to themselves. Cart describes it as a framework that helps teachers, coaches, trainers and therapists create life-long change for their clients at the level of identity. [2]
Rather than simply setting goals, the model looks at how you hold qualities such as “I am kind” or “I am capable” in your mind, and how to strengthen them. His video “Once You Understand This About Self-Image, Your Life Will Finally Change” is a good starting point.
The NLP swish pattern
The swish pattern is a classic NLP technique for breaking unwanted habits. You notice the cue that triggers the habit, then rapidly replace it with an image of the person you want to be. Cart demonstrates it in “How to Break Any Bad Habit So Fast It Feels Illegal”. [4]
Our NLP guide explains this and other core techniques, and how Richard Bandler, co-creator of NLP, first developed them.
Working with limiting beliefs
Many of Cart’s videos focus on beliefs that hold people back, from self-doubt to self-sabotage. He offers short, guided exercises, such as “This 10 Min Exercise Will Eliminate Your Self-Sabotage” and “How to (Actually) Kill Your Limiting Beliefs”. [4]
His channel’s stated aim is to cut through theory and offer practical, precise coaching that gets to the root of change. [4] See also our guides to self-esteem and self-confidence.
Rapport and conversation
NLP began partly as a study of communication, and Cart teaches its social side too, from building rapport to starting conversations. His videos include “The Quickest Way to Connect with Anyone” and “The 3-2-1 Conversation Trick That Helps You Talk to Anyone”. [4]
For more on this, see our guide to improving communication in relationships.
NLP as daily training
Cart treats NLP like a gym: a set of skills to practise regularly. By building a rigorous daily NLP practice, he says, he was able to speed up his own learning, coaching and teaching. [5]
He runs an online training community, Ultimate NLP Practitioner, where members practise the techniques together. [6] He has also made a video on burnout, “It’s Boring, But It’s the #1 Way to Fix Your Burnout”; our burnout guide has more.
Videos with Damon Cart
Hand-picked and checked one by one: NLP basics, identity work, beliefs and communication.
Start here
Everyday NLP
Identity and self-concept
Beliefs and self-sabotage
Communication and wellbeing
Articles about Damon Cart
Damon Cart’s books
Cart’s teaching builds on the work of Steve Andreas. These books are the best way into it.
Find Transforming Your Self in your country: US · UK · Canada · Australia · India.
Training and coaching
Cart offers a training community, one-to-one coaching and courses through SelfConcept.com. Prices are set in USD. [4]
Training runs online, so it is open to people in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and India.
What the Research Shows
NLP itself has a mixed research record, but several ideas at the heart of Damon Cart’s self-concept work, such as how we see ourselves and how we talk to ourselves, are well studied.
- Affirming your values. Brief exercises in which people affirm what matters most to them have had lasting benefits in many studies. [7]
- Self-belief. Believing you can succeed at something, known as self-efficacy, shapes how much effort you put in and how long you keep going. [8]
- Simple if-then plans. Deciding in advance exactly when and where you will act makes people much more likely to follow through. [9]
- Self-compassion. Treating yourself with the kindness you would show a friend is linked with greater wellbeing and resilience. [10]
- How you talk to yourself. Talking to yourself in the second or third person helped people stay calmer and perform better under stress. [11]
Frequently asked questions
Who is Damon Cart?
An NLP trainer and coach, and co-founder of SelfConcept.com, based in Santa Cruz, California.
What is the Self-Concept model?
A framework developed by psychotherapist Steve Andreas for understanding and strengthening how people represent who they are.
Who trained Damon Cart?
He apprenticed under Steve Andreas, and trained at NLP University and the NLP Institute of California.
What is the NLP swish pattern?
A technique for breaking habits by quickly replacing the trigger image with an image of the person you want to be.
What is SelfConcept.com?
The Self-Concept Research Group, which Cart co-founded to teach and develop the Self-Concept model.
Does Damon Cart offer training?
Yes. He runs the Ultimate NLP Practitioner community and offers one-to-one coaching.
Where should I start?
Watch “3 NLP Techniques That Will Change Your Life”, then read our NLP guide.
Sources
- SelfConcept.com: About
- SelfConcept.com: Self-Concept Intro Keynote, Damon Cart
- NLP University: member bio, Damon Cart
- Damon Cart on YouTube: About
- Life Mastery Gym: About Damon Cart
- Ultimate NLP Practitioner community on Skool
- Cohen and Sherman, The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention, Annual Review of Psychology 2014
- Bandura, Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change, Psychological Review 1977
- Gollwitzer, Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans, American Psychologist 1999
- Neff, Self-Compassion: An Alternative Conceptualization of a Healthy Attitude Toward Oneself, Self and Identity 2003
- Kross et al., Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2014
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