The Self-Hypnosis Library

Fun and Games in the Supermarket Shopping Queue

Whilst in the supermarket this week, I was queuing to make my purchases and a lady behind me noticed what I was putting on the conveyor belt — pomegranates, red grapefruit, juicing oranges, blueberries, quinoa, green beans, avocado, spring onions, and lots more delectable stuff that makes me drool to talk about.

“Ooh, you eat all that healthy stuff, do you?”

The naughty, sarcastic boy within me wanted to say, “No, I am just buying these things to replace my existing furniture.” However, I instead replied, “I certainly do… I love to see all that colour in my refrigerator, it makes me feel healthy just thinking about it.” I beamed a very big smile and turned to tend to my shopping.

“Oh, I just don’t have the time to eat those kinds of things, and they are all quite expensive, aren’t they? And my kids don’t like that stuff, and my husband likes simple things… I would love to eat like that though, it would be so good for me and you look so healthy… Your skin especially…”

Now, the metrosexual in me wanted to discuss skincare; however, I just thanked her, buttoned up the sermon I wanted to give, and bid her adieu. I thought I would give you that entire sermon instead :-)

What a fabulous set of excuses, eh? She had a list of excuses and rationalisations that were at the ready. She made it OK to eat in a way that she knew was not that good for her, but she excused herself and validated what she was doing. This is one simple example. How many times each day do you excuse yourself or create rationalisations for what you do? Are you doing things that you know if you updated what you were doing, would improve your life greatly? Are you settling for something other than delightful, inspirational and joyous in your day to day existence and then make an excuse that makes it OK to be that way?

We allow ourselves to be programmed from all kinds of sources, and I wanted to talk about programming yourself for the better today.

The Magic of the Library

When I was at college studying my A Levels as a much younger man — that is, after school and before University, for those outside of the UK — I went on an trip with my English Literature class to the Bodelian Library in Oxford. Oxford feels like it is steeped in knowledge and makes you feel very erudite just being there, especially among the grounds of some of the older University buildings. However, multiply that by ten thousand times when you go to the Bodelian library.

They have books there that Kings and Queens of England have flicked through. They have some truly old parchments and old bound books that you would want to use fur-lined tweezers to turn the pages of! Some of the older reading rooms and areas have very old, large ornate oak carved seating — you know what? A copy of every book ever published in the UK has to be sent there! It is an amazing place, and fills you with a sense of intelligence and wisdom.

Certainly the Bodelian library is a lot different to the mobile library that used to visit my street once a week as a child growing up! That mobile library that toured my neighbourhood, it looked like a kind of strange space van in the shape of a bus. All the books were falling apart, and the driver never spoke a word…

Anyway… I love being in libraries, and I love being in book shops — there is something about all that knowledge and information and fills me with a sense of wonder and awe. Libraries are amazing places and if you think about what a library represents, isn’t it a joy to know they exist? OK, allow me to divert your attention for a moment…

Recently, in a personal development survey that I was reading the results of, the findings showed that the three things that people of the UK believed to be the most important ingredients for a happy life were health, success and motivation. Hmmmm. I am guessing that this would be similar or with related results in many other countries too.

Of course, health, success and motivation mean different things to different people. Health can mean all kinds of things, we all have our own meaning of success and motivation is vastly different from one person to another. So, have a think about what those words mean to you.

When you think of what those terms mean to you, are you doing all you can to achieve those things? Is your life filled with health, success and motivation? If not, what are the reasons? Do you stand around in shopping queues, enviably eyeing up what other people have and then delivering a plethora of excuses for why you are not taking actions that would make you healthier and happier, for example?

Often, when you ask someone why they are not doing more with their life, or making better choices, or taking actions to enhance their existence, you get excuses! Whatever their reasons might be for not moving towards dreams they have, these are usually excuses or ways of excusing why they are like that or living like that.

So I though I’d show you a technique that can allow you to symbolically start programming yourself to stop making excuses, to stop rationalising and begin taking action and living the way you want, or a way that makes you happier on your own terms.

Just follow these seven simple steps…

Seven Steps to Being Free of Any of Life’s Excuses

Step One

Prior to us even beginning this, there needs to be some written preparation to get anything from this technique.

So before you do anything else, write on a piece of paper the words health, success and motivation and write a paragraph or just a couple of sentences that explains what those words mean to you.

Make it personal and positive and heck, make it sound healthy, successful and motivating! Excite yourself with what you write, engage your senses, be imaginative and dig deep within yourself, maybe even have some fun doing this! Enjoy it.

Step Two

Having done that and being sure that you know what those words mean to you, find yourself a comfortable place where you are not going to be disturbed. Relax your body, engage in the moment, concentrate on your breathing (ideally, invest in my book, ‘The Secrets of Self-Hypnosis’, and learn how to develop a really beneficial trance state that amplifies all the good you do with these techniques) or use any technique for getting relaxed, or being in a meditative, alpha state and allowing your mind to get receptive.

Step Three

At this point, you have to use your imagination. If you find it hard to imagine things (you don’t, you might just think you do) then pretend that you can imagine them really well — that is just as good.

First of all, imagine standing in front of a door. This may be a door you have seen in the past or a door you create in your imagination. If you impatiently attempt to open the door, you discover it is locked. Reach into your own pocket and find that there is a key in it — use the key to unlock the door in your mind.

Now imagine that the door opens up easily and effortlessly, unless you find creaking doors appealing, and you walk into a vast and beautiful library. Notice the sights, the sounds, the beauty of this magnificent place. How does it feel to be surrounded by all those books?

Take a closer look at the books lining the walls of the library. This is a special library because all of the books in this library are about you. Notice also that the books closest to you are embossed with the year 2007 and as you look further into the library of your mind, the books go back in chronological order all the way back to the beginning of your time.

Just begin to imagine and think about all the tiniest of details from your life — they are all on a book somewhere in this amazing place. Every aspect of your being is here, within a book in the library of your mind.

Step Four

Have a search to find a particular book now. This book may well try to hide. It may even think it can outsmart you. Remember that this is your library, you created it, you choose what happens here. The title of the book is ‘My Life’s Excuses’. Seek out that book. Go find it.

Contained within this book are all those excuses and rationalisations that you have programmed your mind to use that have been preventing you from reaching your goals or dreams or holding you back from doing more with your life.

Take your time, then once you have found this book, take it off of the shelf, locate the nearest waste paper basket in your library and chuck the book inside it. That book contains all those excuses and all that rubbish. So now pick up the rubbish bin and find a door in your library, which leads downstairs.

Step Five:

You can use this part of this technique to relax more, or drift deeper inside your own mind. Imagine that with each step you take down the stairs, you go deeper down into the basement and further into your mind.

Then, once you have taken the steps down, find yourself walking over to a furnace. There is a fire blazing inside the furnace. The intensity of the heat is such that the black of the furnace is turning red. Become aware of the sounds, the feelings that you feel as you sense the enormous and ferocious power of this furnace.

Go and grab a poker not far from where you are standing, open up the door of the furnace and toss the book inside and watch.

I used to love watching fires, especially open fires, they are very hypnotic… Anyway, watch and imagine that every breath you breathe is feeding the fire and burning that old book — the binding begins to blacken and char and the pages begin to burn and curl. You start to feel all those excuses disappearing… Just erasing them from within you. Really imagine that you are letting go of those old excuses and everything that was in that book.

That book was trying to control your life. All of those old excuses, all of those old rationalisations, no more though, eh? You are done with those excuses, aren’t you? Look into the fire and watch as it finishes burning.

Step Six:

When you are convinced that the only thing that’s left is a pile of blackened ash, come on back up the steps into your own special library.

There is a chair in the library, a very personal, special chair, which sits in the middle of the room. Imagine the colours, the textures, what it is made from and imagine a chair that is just right for you. Take a seat and relax in that chair.

There is a box of books lying at your feet. You lift up the first book, the title of this book is ‘Health, Success and Motivation’… and you instinctively know what these words mean to you.

So now you go and place this book on the shelf to replace the book you burned. Go fill the gap that was left. Allow yourself now to feel a great sense of excitement as you leave the library for now.

Imagine the messages of that book now start travelling through you. Imagine that all the words, ideas and thoughts in that book are coursing through your mind and body. Know that changing the book in your library makes permanent changes in your living. Imagine that the messages and words from your new book, are making a complete and lasting impression on the deepest part of your unconscious mind, and become a permanent part of every cell of your brain and body.

Step Seven:

Take a deep breath and open your eyes.

What is an action that you take this very day to begin to get that working for you? I mean, we need to take actions to reinforce what we have done internally. Decide to take some specific action this very day that is undeniable proof that you have made a powerful update and let go of old excuses impeding your progress.

Think of something you can say or do, an action you can make to show the world and to show you that you have let go of lots of old excuses and rationalisations and that you are the proud owner of some healthier, more successful and motivating thought processes.

Start noting your internal dialogue, as well as the things you say and confirm in life — even when just musing with a stranger at the supermarket checkout. You can apply this to any aspect of your life that you may have made excuses, or any aspect of your mindset that you wish to symbolically be free of and that you can toss in the furnace.

Go and have some fun letting go of old excuses and see how it moves you forward.