What do Sandwich and NLP have in common?
Dec 07, 2025
Most people know me for my passion for NLP and using it to help change the lives of others... but not everyone knows that I live in one of England’s most quietly fascinating towns: Sandwich in Kent, England.
Yes — Sandwich.
The town is literally synonymous with one of the world’s favourite foods. In fact, when my step-grandson was 5 years old he told his teacher that his grandparents lived in a Sandwich! That still makes me smile. Originally, it's name came from old English meaning 'The sandy harbour settlement where people came to exchange'. For centuries, ships came through, goods were traded, and ideas moved across borders. Sandwich was a gateway — a place where things entered, shifted, and left differently. Hundreds of years later, the 4th Earl of Sandwich asked for something very simple. He was an avid gambler and wanted to continue gambling without leaving the table to eat. His servants came up with the idea of putting a slice of meat between two pieces of bread and the rest is history!
One small structural shift in how food was arranged…and suddenly Sandwich had a completely new meaning.
I've noticed some surprising parallels with NLP.
Same word.
Different context.
New experience.
A meaning isn't fixed, we create it. This is a perfect reminder of something central to NLP because our thoughts, labels, and beliefs work the same way. A name, a belief, a story… none of these are permanent.They evolve when the context changes.
What's the bigger message?
The town of Sandwich started as place for exchange then it became an idea that reshaped how the world eats.
It's a simple reminder that:
-
You are not fixed.
-
Your stories are not fixed.
-
A small internal shift can create a big external difference.
-
And sometimes the biggest transformations come from the simplest adjustments.
Just like the sandwich itself.
What would you like to change as we move into 2026?
From Lindsey and the team at Team NLP x
