If this first step is not posssible, to continue would be fruitless. All they have to do is lie back and enjoy it. And they do change. So maybe we can streamline this and simply say that they have to believe that change is possible. Patrick Merlevede disagrees with this last point.
Counter examples shoot back and forth through overheated telephone wires.
Not only does the client have to believe the change is possible but so does the operator. Broadening the clients model of the world involves helping the client access the other polarity of the metaprogram. I will pace my clients statement by matching their metaprogram, will use a linking word, will mismatch their metaprogram, will use a linking word, will match their metaprogram, will use a linking word, then will remind them they can choose either. For this technique to be effective, I must choose the metaprogram that is causing the problem in the first place. For example, I had a client who had the complex equivelence between making mistakes and being a failure.