In this opening lecture, licensed NLP trainer and ICF‑accredited coach Woojun Sal (The Shiny One) shares his personal story—from growing up in the small Turkish town of Anamur, dreaming of the glamorous life he saw on TV, to becoming a UCLA Extension instructor—crediting neuro‑linguistic programming (NLP) as the decisive catalyst for his transformation. He explains that the upcoming eight‑week course will cover the eight original NLP principles devised by Richard Bandler, enriched with techniques drawn from Tony Robbins, metaphysics, spirituality, neuroscience, communication, marketing, and leadership. Sal emphasizes a learning style that blends education and entertainment (“edutaining”), urging students to watch videos repeatedly, take detailed notes, and actively engage in exercises. He uses a cosmic “stardust” metaphor to inspire participants, asserting that everyone carries an inner power that can be awakened through the course. The lecture ends with an invitation to the first module, encouraging preparation, enthusiasm, and a collaborative, joyful learning environment.
Chapters
Hello everyone, my name is Woojun Sal, also known as The Shiny One. I'm a licensed NLP trainer, ICF accredited coach trainer, and also a lead instructor of leadership communication strategies and emotional intelligence at UCLA Extension. It's unbelievable that I am here today because I was born and raised in a very, very small town in Turkey. And believe it or not, what you see in my background is UCLA Westwood area, and that's where I teach. I was this little girl in my little hometown, Anamur. Actually, if anybody watching me from Turkey, Anamur, hello. So that's where I grew up. And when I was a little girl, I used to watch 90210. Do you remember that show? So that show actually made me so curious about life here. I used to see those palm trees, you know, the long, very tall palm trees. And I used to see these people enjoying their lives here. And I thought, Wow, that's a life too. And I wanted to live that life. I didn't know how, but I really want it. So here I am, you know, fast forward maybe like 20 years. I'm here and I made it happen. And I actually owe all these things, all my transformation to the power of neuro-linguistic programming. That's why I'm here today, because NLP helped me change my life. NLP showed me who I am. It actually reminded me who I am, all my power within, and how can I actually take a look at things in a more empowering way instead of like disempowering, oh, I cannot do that, I am not good enough type of language. I changed everything in my life and now I get to teach it. I get to share this with a lot of people, hundreds, actually thousands of people, and that's why I actually designed this course course for you because I know somewhere in the world you want to change your life, you want to make a difference, and you are going to start with this course, and I honor you for that. And that's why whatever I do, it just warms my heart, and I again honor you and congratulate you for being here, for your commitment to take your life to the next level. We are going to spend 8 weeks together. This course is an intended 8-week course and I will address all 8 principles of Neuro Linguistic Programming designed originally by Richard Bandler, Dr. Richard Bandler. And I am going to include all the techniques and other tools that I learned from Anthony Robbins, other tools that I learned from metaphysics, spirituality, neuroscience, communication, even marketing I'm gonna add. So this is going to be an exciting journey. I'm really excited. I hope you are excited as well. And in this 8 weeks of time, I encourage you to watch your videos again and again and again because as Anthony Robbins says, repetition is the king of any skill. You're just going to master your life and master your skills as long as you repeat them. Okay, promise? Because I promise that I am going to share everything that I learned. It took me 20 years, okay? I mean, seriously, it's easy to talk about it, but 20 years is a lot of time. It's a long time. I started, you know, studying international relations, and then I studied communications, and then I studied marketing, and then I studied leadership, and then I studied metaphysics, and then I studied virtuality, and then I studied neurolinguistic programming. I studied coaching. I studied neuroscience. I studied a lot of things. And that's why this course is going to give you a sum of what I have learned in my 20 years of time. So that's why I really encourage you to, you know, pay attention, take notes. Definitely, if you can actually grab a notebook, And then take notes, ask yourself some questions and take time to answer them. This is how you're going to take your life to the next level by learning about yourself, by learning about your psychology, why you do what you do and why you don't do some of the things that you don't do. So this is going to be really exciting and really you're going to be blown away at the end of this, at the end of this 8 weeks. You're going to be blown away. You are going to love everything that you learned, and you might as well say, oh my gosh, what was I waiting for? Because that's what I said. It took me, believe it or not, it took me 6 years, 6 years for me to go take an NLP training because I got to learn, I got to hear about NLP in the year of 2003, and it took me really 6 years to go and learn NLP. So please don't be one of those. Don't make the mistake that I did because now it is available for you online. You can watch it anywhere, anytime. It's just ridiculously simple to make growth and make a difference in your life now. And please let me do that. Let me help you grow and let me help you shine. I really believe we all are stardust. Do you agree? I mean, if you really go back in time, in the very, you know, cosmical terms, you know, we are all coming from stars. And if you remember the Big Bang and how everything started, you are stardust. You just need to remember that. And when you remember that, you're going to be able to put all the information you need to your brain, and that information in your brain is going to enlighten the room upstairs because it's dark right now. If you don't have the necessary information for you to make changes in your life, this brain upstairs, it's dark. So when you can actually put the information in and turn it upside down, it's going to make it so bright, so bright that you're gonna start shining out. So that's why you're gonna remember your core. At the really core, you are stardust, and that's what you're going to remember with the information I am going to share with you. I believe we all have that cosmic power within as stardusts, and we just need a little push, just an extra love to, you know, to take that power, to take that, you know, shine out of us. And that's what I am actually aiming from this course. In 8 weeks, we're gonna do this together. Do you believe? Yes? So I look forward to seeing you in my first module where I am going to talk about the first, the very first principle principle of neuro-linguistic programming and you're gonna be blown away. Make sure you have your notebook, make sure you have your friends and family members with you. Yes, it's gonna be so much fun. It's gonna be educating, it's gonna be entertaining, which means it's gonna be edutaining. Okay, that's our style. It's an edutaining style. All right, so you're gonna have so much fun together. You're gonna make some exercises together and you're gonna understand each other. Even more, and you're gonna smile and laugh and cherish and enjoy these moments. And this is gonna be fascinating. That's what I want. You're gonna be live in you, okay? So please get ready and let your power shine out with me.
