Been to a museum recently? I know that is not the most dynamic way to introduce a blog article, and I know museums do not usually get people fired up, unless it is going to look at dinosaur skeletons at the National history museum, but I also love the specialist ones. The little ones and the less commercially viable ones.

I love that there are specialists in some of the most unusual and diverse subjects here in the UK. Even cooking shows feature food historians, but there are people more specialist than that, aren’t there? ‘West country beef pasty eaten by miners food historian and expert’, for example. I digress…

I went to a small museum last Summer whilst in Cornwall, it was besides an old watermill and because we had been travelling in the area, we decided to stop by it as it was a National Trust museum and had been highlighted by my National Trust map and so on. It was an old mill in a beautiful area with stunning views and just a couple of rooms.

They had a number of mill-related exhibits, old tools and bags of flour and clothing and so on, as you’d expect and there were old photographs and information boards telling you all about the mill and its history. I loved it.

However, rather randomly also there on display in a side cabinet was on display a coin. It was a regular old coin from the day the mill was in full working order. That in itself was lovely and pertinent as the coin was no longer in use; but it was even more rare.

Unusually, this coin was printed slightly incorrectly and had some of the usual printing on the coin misspelled and out of order. I would not have known if it had not been pointed out to me, and you needed a magnifying glass to see it.

You know what. The National Trust and previous owners of the mill have been offered extraordinary sums of money to buy this one coin, not only because it is a rare, out of date English coin from a long time ago, but it is unique, more rare and has a mistake that made it useless in its day, but massively more collectible and desirable today.

The lady at the museum was so proud to be telling us this, she was incredibly enthusiastic despite the fact that she probably had recounted that information hundreds of times already that week alone.

Museums may seem all fuddy-duddy at times, but rally they are exciting places at other times.

Todays blog article is all about celebrating uniqueness, a topic that I favour and have written about before. Here is an article I wrote some time ago about being a non-conformist hypnotherapist, for example. Being different often scares people, doesn’t it?

Sadly, in days gone by, it would seem that children tend to get picked on or even ridiculed for being different or having a quirk of some kind. This can at times stay with people who are embarrassed, shamed or shy of aspects of themselves for the rest of their lives.

This can also detrimentally affect self-esteem and have all kinds of other unwanted effects, and though today it is something teachers and parents do their best to overcome, it still goes on.

Why is it that when something is different, it gets ridiculed or is considered to be a problem? Why are these things not celebrated?

Well, they are, but a bit later in life, and usually after children have gone through various stages attempting to define themselves, often valuing being different more than anything else when they reach certain ages.  I can remember my days at college being filled with people from so many different kinds of subcultures defining themselves in such a wide array of ways.

The ridiculousness of this discussion is that everyone is so different. Everyone has so many things that are different about them and that make them special. We often just need to make it ok with ourselves and learn to get comfortable with it, even celebrate it.

With today’s session that I am offering up, you get to accept yourself with all your foibles, all your idiosyncrasies and embrace the uniqueness of you with the aim of building and developing your self-esteem.  Just follow these simple steps.

Step One: 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 Two: Imagine being in a museum. Step in through the doors, and begin to create the layout, see the colours, hear the sounds of a thriving and lively museum. Notice the display cabinets and exhibits all around and engage with this place in whatever way is right for you.

This museum is a celebration of unusual things, special items and anything different. You notice this theme as you start to step deeper inside the museum. Each step that you take, you go deeper inside your mind and you engage more, become more absorbed in the museum.

Notice how all the other visitors are enjoying the unusual items… There are paintings by Van Gogh with their unusual use of colours and imagery, then there is a Picasso painting with all its beauty, yet both have things out of proportion, with different lengths, yet are considered some of the highest forms of art.

There are also mirrors that change peoples appearances and make them look unusual, like you see at travelling fairs. You see styles of clothing that are considered outdated, or different, maybe even some considered weird, but all considered beautiful in some way.

You see rare items that are really desired by collectors… And all manner of other curiosities and unusual display items from throughout history. You continue to notice how the other patrons of the museum seem to love being in this place.

When you have really imagined this place in great detail, then go deeper inside the museum and on to the next step.

Step Three: As you move deeper down inside the museum, you encounter a particular section that has a lot of attention and that is receiving much appreciation from others.

Everything within this section of the museum is related to you. All the exhibits are facets of you, facts about you, items from your life, things that represent you, clothing, styles, pictures and so much more. This part of the museum celebrates you and your uniqueness.

Celebrate all that is you for a while and use this part of the session to go deeper inside your mind, telling yourself that each image and thought takes you deeper inside your mind. When you have really engaged with this part of the museum, then proceed to next step.

Step Four: As you move deeper inside the museum, you stumble across an area that is dedicated to “your foibles, eccentricities and personal uniqueness.” It is an area of the museum that is divided off from the remainder. Explore this area of the museum and start to notice some of the more unusual things that make you unique, and some of the things that are really different about you, things that may have been considered more sensitive or personal in some way.

Maybe there are quirks of yours, maybe unusual mannerisms, maybe physical traits, whatever these things are that really make you different, start to see and hear them being displayed.

You now start to notice people from your own life are here as well as members of the public and they all have smiles on their faces, they are all excited and thrilled by each exhibit in this section of the museum. Some people clap and cheer, others have looks of admiration on their faces. They are very appreciative, they approve greatly.

Watch all the people enjoying the real personal unique facets of who you are. Watch how they love this about you. When you have watched this long enough, move on to the next step.

Step Five: As you notice all of this happening around you, allow your enjoyment to increase. As your enjoyment increases, let it become a sense of self-esteem.

Where in your body do you feel that self-esteem and self-assuredness? Start to imagine it as a colour, maybe it has a sound or just enjoy the physical sensation as you imagine it spreading and growing.

As it grows and you feel that even more within you, start to think about aspects of your life where you will be assured with who and how you are, start to think of how you personally will celebrate being the unique individual that you are and how all these things about you make you feel more safe in your own skin and increasingly self-assured and at ease with life.

Let this feeling protect you and fortify you. We cannot change the way people think about us, but we can appreciate ourselves and enjoy who we are, regardless of what other people may think. These people are just people in your mind that you have created and allowed to help you feel good and comfortable and secure in your own mind.

You did that. You increased those feelings. You invested the time to feel good about being you. It does not matter what others think, you don’t need approval of others because you have it from yourself.

Once you have grown that feeling and feel that you are really emanating a glow of self-confidence and self-esteem, then move on to the final step.

Step Six: Once you have enjoyed that for long enough, then take a nice, deep energizing breath, wiggle your fingers and toes and open your eyes. Keep that lovely feeling of self-esteem deep within you and continue to celebrate being unique in all those wonderful ways.

Think about taking some action that is undeniable proof to you that you made an impressive change and show yourself that you control how you feel towards you.

Lets make museums cool. Lets get feeling really good about ourselves and celebrate all that is unique about us.

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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.