Faulkner's numerous contributions to the field of NLP began in 1984 with his modeling of "Accelerated Learning", to pioneer more efficient and effective learning strategies. He taught this model together with NLP, to a group of teachers in Japan that same year. The result of this work was the founding of "Learning How to Learn". Upon returning to the U.S. in 1985, he modeled the "Metaphors of Identity". This model states that an individual's strategies and behavior patterns are informed by deeply structured metaphors for life, self, desired outcomes and challenges. By adopting new metaphors, an individual can create new pathways to transformation.