Whilst in the supermarket recently, I was queuing to make my purchases and a lady behind me noticed what I was putting on the conveyor belt – pomegranates, red grapefruit, chicken breast fillets, 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?”
I have been ill (not sure if I mentioned that) and it effected my social skills…. 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 the fridge at home, 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.
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.
I still think that my own collection of old hypnosis books beats anything this library could have offered.
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 therapeutic process and script (reference coming up shortly) Â that I was reading in a book, the central, important ingredients for a happy life are considered to be health, success and motivation and those three things are going to be central to our self-hypnosis process here today 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.
This process is based on a lovely technique by B. J. Gorman that features in the Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors (pages 133-135) book I have, aimed at ego-strengthening – let me know if you want more details.
Just follow these 7 Steps for Using Self-Hypnosis To Build Your Own Library Of Change:
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.
make sure you are in a comfortable position where you’ll be undisturbed for the duration of this session, with your hands and legs uncrossed and not touching each other, and the progress to step two.
Step Two:Â Induce Hypnosis.
You can do so by any means you desire or know of. You can use the process in my Science of self-hypnosis book, use the free audio we give away on this website to practice or have a look at the following articles as and when you need them; they are basic processes to help you simply open the door of your mind:
Heavy Arm Self-Hypnosis Induction Method
Using Eye Fixation for Self-Hypnosis
The Chiasson Self-Hypnosis Method
Hand to Face Self-Hypnosis Induction
Using Magnetic Hands for Self-Hypnosis
The Coin Drop Self-Hypnosis Induction
However, with this process, an induction is potentially too much activity, so I teach my clients how to adopt a hypnotic mindset and simply have a mindset that is positive and expectant. Again, to really understand the cognitive set of the hypnotic mindset, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book where it is explained in simple but comprehensive terms.
Once you have induced hypnosis, or just adopted the hypnotic mindset, move on to the next step.
Step Three: At this point, engage 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. Have the intention to imagine well and that will serve you well.
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. Notice the colour of the door, the size of it and what kind of handle or knob it has.
Open the door in the way that is right for you and your imagination, 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? All that wealth of knowledge… As you take a few moments to be in awe of this amazing library, let it guide you deeper and deeper inside your mind; maybe even telling yourself that you go deeper as you imagine it in more detail.
As you look closer, you see that all the books have the same author written on the spines of the book – it is your name on every single book. And the title of each book is a facet or an episode of your life.
Each and every aspect of your life is covered here on all levels that you can think of. Your own history is represented here, and so is your mindset, so are your dominating thoughts, your emotional make-up, your identity, your beliefs – there is a book for every single thing that makes you who you are. The library is a living breathing monument that details you – it is the library of you, connected to you.
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. As you reach deeper into your mind, exploring the library of yourself, when you get a sense of the fullness of this place, move on to the next step.
Step Four: Now we refer to the work that we did prior to starting this session. Have a search to find a particular book now.
The title of the book is “my daily excuses” Seek out that book. Go find it.
Contained within this book are all those excuses and the rationale that you have continued to use and give to yourself and those in your life. These excuses may well have been preventing you from reaching your desired outcomes 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, take a firm grip on it and you might want to have a casual flick through the pages of the book and see the things that you used to do, say and think that used to hold you back in a variety of ways. Each page you turn takes you deeper. Snarl at the book, or just sense enough frustration for this to be useful and then find a door to your private chambers within the library. With that door in front of you, move on to the next step.
Step Five: Step into your own private reading chambers within the library. See the sights of the room, the dimensions, the décor and sounds, enjoy feeling safe, secure and at ease in here.
Then, once you have got a sense of the room, find yourself walking over to a an open fire place with a pile of paper, kindling and small logs, all ready to be set alight. Place the old book of excuses on top of the pile and discover that there are matches nearby.
Strike a match and set fire to the pile and watch the book catch alight and begin to burn.
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. Watch the flames lick up and let the book burn and turn to ash then dust and into nothingness.
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. Take a couple of deeper breaths and feel lighter and more at ease.
All of those old excuses, all of those old limits that you used to impose upon yourself; no more, eh? You are done with those excuses, aren’t you? Look into the fire and watch as it finishes burning. Then move on to the next step.
Step Six: When you are convinced that the book is absolutely gone, find a chair to sit in within your reading room.
Enjoy your favourite reading chair in this room, 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.
You close your eyes for a moment and hold your hands out in front of you and think the words “Health, Success and Motivation” over and over in your mind to yourself and as you do a book with the same title appears in your hands and you instinctively know what these words mean to you and you just know what the pages of this book are filled with. All your own meanings to those words, with all the related wonderful thoughts, internal dialogue, feelings, positive outcomes and influence.
So now you go and place this book on the shelf in your library to replace the book you burned. As you place it there on the shelf, notice something start to happen…. It is like a light or a colour or a subtle movement vibrates and pulses through the entire library and spreads to you.
Imagine the messages of that book now start travelling through you. Imagine that all the words, ideas and thoughts in that book are coarsing through your mind and body.
Imagine your mind and body absorbing all the new messages in the new book and when you feel a real difference, move on to the final step.
Step Seven: Take a couple of deep, energising breaths, wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes.
Think of an action that you can take this very day or tomorrow to begin to get that working for you. Tell yourself with real volition and belief that you are going to do that action and then prove to yourself that you are making changes within.
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 fire place of the library in your mind.
Have a great day and have some fun letting go of old excuses and see how it moves you forward.
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Have some of themes here resonated with you? Then have a read of these pages:
1. Do you need help or support in a particular area of your life?
Coaching with Adam Eason Or Hypnotherapy with Adam Eason
2. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others? Are you a hypnotherapist looking for stimulating and career enhancing continued professional development and advanced studies?
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
3. Are you a hypnotherapist looking to fulfil your ambitions or advance your career?
Hypnotherapist Mentoring with Adam Eason.
Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar. Alternatively, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book.
