Translator: Trần Minh Hiền Reviewer: Denise RQ
About a year ago, I had a reoccurring dream.
I would dream I was walking into a forest with a guide,
and the guide would bend over, he'd pluck a flower out of the ground,
and he'd say, "This is poison."
He then would point clear across the forest at another plant,
and he'd say, "But there is the antidote, there is the remedy to this poison."
He then shared with me a very simple truth.
He said, "In nature, wherever there is a poison,
the remedy often grows nearby."
This is true in nature: wherever there is a poison,
the antidote or the remedy often does grow in the same environment.
I believe this to be true in our minds, as well.
So whenever we have a negativity or a poison in our minds,
the antidote can often be found nearby.
But the human mind is far more difficult to navigate than the forest,
especially without the proper tools, and especially without the proper guide.
Around the same time, about a year ago,
I began to see a hypnosis client; we'll call him Martin.
Martin was a compulsive spender.
So, as soon as he got any money, even if he had debts and bills to pay,
he would just spend it immediately.
Martin had been seeing a therapist consistently for years on this issue
to no [avail.]
Martin's spending problem stemmed from a limiting belief,
a negative belief,
a belief which told him he did not deserve that money.
So as soon as he got it, he spent it.
We all have beliefs like this: we believe we can't change,
we believe we can't accomplish a goal or learn a new skill.
These negative beliefs manifest themselves into negative habits,
habits like giving up before we even try
or fearing failure so much we never even try.
These are our poisons.
But the antidote is nearby.
Most just never bothered to look.
But in order to understand how to overcome these negative beliefs,
we must first understand what forms our beliefs.
This is what I found.
What you focus on influences what you believe,
and what you believe influences your reality.
All of our realities are completely subjective.
They're influenced by what we choose to see in the world.
So if I were to ask every single one of you,
every day for a year,
to make a list of everything in your life
that made you unhappy, that made you depressed or miserable,
and I asked you at the end of that year
what you believe the quality of your life to be,
most of you would say, "Terrible!",
and of course, you would, because all you're doing is focusing on the terrible,
beginning to believe the terrible,
and your reality will manifest in that way.
So, our beliefs are also our habits:
what you focus on turns into your beliefs, what you believe turns into your habits,
and what your habits are turns into your reality.
In this way, our realities are entirely under our control.
But so often our beliefs and our habits become so deeply ingrained in us,
it becomes nearly impossible to rewrite them,
nearly impossible to change.
This is where I believe hypnosis can come in.
Hypnosis allows us to quickly and easily change our focus,
change our beliefs, change our habits,
and in turn, change our realities.
Hypnosis allows our realities to work like clay in our hands to mold,
to fit any mold that we wish to see.
It's an incredible space.
But what is hypnosis even?
How does it work?
I'm glad you asked.
Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness.
It dances that fine line between being awake and being asleep.
You're not quite awake, but you're not fully asleep.
You experience it almost every single night.
In scientific and medical studies of hypnosis, they've found
there are two parts of the brain that are active during hypnosis:
the part that controls intense concentration
and the part that controls intense relaxation.
In further studies, they found the left hemisphere of the brain,
the part of the brain that controls critical and analytical thinking
is less active;
and the right hemisphere of the brain,
the part of the brain that controls creativity, fluidity of thought,
subconscious mind, and dreaming is more active.
So what does this mean?
It means that hypnosis is a space where you're largely unhindered,
you're relaxed, you're focused,
you have creativity and fluidity of thought.
So knowing all this, let's bring it back to Martin and his spending problem.
Martin's problem stemmed from a negative association with money,
an association with money.
So now, whenever he gets money, he has a negative feeling attached to it.
So it's very difficult to remove associations,
it's far easier to add associations.
You associate the feeling of comfort with your mom's chocolate-chip cookies.
But if I were to stand up here on stage and set off fireworks
while eating chocolate-chip cookies, you'd have a new association to cookies.
But what about your mom?
Would still be there but you'd have a new one.
So it's much easier to add associations. That's what we did with Martin.
Under the state of hypnosis, I added a third association for Martin;
I added this: a clockwise spin - really, really simple, literally this.
All we had to do is to give him the proper hypnotic suggestions
and do this: reverse the spin.
Literally, by reversing the spin and given the proper hypnotic suggestions,
we reverse-engineered the emotion for Martin
and literally, reversed the emotion, reversed the feeling.
So by adding a third association, and then reversing the third association,
we reverse the feeling.
So now Martin associates money with good feelings.
This is a very small, simple change,
but it led to many bigger changes and many new beginnings in Martin's life.
This is a very profoundly simple but incredibly effective technique.
But it's just the tip of the iceberg with hypnosis.
We're all taught from such a young age,
that our minds are too complex, too convoluted to navigate.
But that simply isn't true.
Hypnosis allows our minds to be simple, open, and adjustable.
Hypnosis allows us and gives us the proper tools -
the psychological Swiss Army knife -
to not only survive but to navigate the forest of our mind
and find the remedies to our own poisons.
The quality of this life is determined by how well we control our own thoughts.
I implore you to not only understand, but to know
that any negative belief, or habit, or state of being you may be in
can be completely changed, can be overcome,
utilizing the powers of your own mind.
All you need to do is find the proper tools and the proper guide.
(Applause)