There is a powerful belief I have and that is that whatever you want to accomplish in your life, whatever obstacle or challenge you face, that you already have the resources you need to accomplish what you want to accomplish, even if you aren’t aware of those resources. Many times you are already using the resources you need in other areas of your life without even knowing it. Allison is the perfect example of this. In our conversation as she was telling me about how terrible her life was not having any self-confidence and noticed that the farther she got into her story the more her body language changed. She uncrossed her arms, she was using bold arm gestures, and she sat up straighter and taller in the chair. Her voice changed. She spoke louder and with more authority in her voice. She was acting like a confident person. Allison had told her story so many times for so many years that she was an expert at telling it and did it with confidence. As she was talking to me I smiled at her and told that I thought that she already had all the confidence she needed and that I could not give her anymore. That made her angry and she became even more powerful; louder, more forceful and more intense. My smile get even bigger and she stepped up her power, self-confidence and presence even more. When Allison reached a fever pitch, I jumped out of my chair and yelled, Freeze! And she did. I told to look at herself in this moment in time and I asked her what she was observing; her body language, gestures, posture, tonality of her voice and her words. And then it happened, for the first time in her life she realized that she possessed confidence. I will never forget the look on her face when she made that connection in her mind. Allison become overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry because for this might have been the first time in her life she realized she had what she had been looking for all her life. It was a powerful and life changing moment for her. We worked together for several weeks. Allison did great in her job as a sales support representative. Several months later she called me and told me she was no longer in her current position. She had done so well and changed so much that she had been promoted to a sales position. Life is amazing isn’t it?

Jeremy told me that he liked playing video games and making sculptures of the characters he liked from the games. These were no ordinary sculptures. They were less than two inches tall and they were perfect in detail. They were really amazing. He took me through the process of how he created his sculptures. First he would play a video game and find a character he really liked. Then he would study the character by drawing it out on a piece of paper in exact detail. He would look at the drawing until he had a clear sharp picture of it, in his mind. Once Jeremy was clear on how he wanted it to look, he would take tiny pieces of clay in different colors and mold and shape them until they were exactly how he saw the picture in his mind. The whole time he is telling how he does this, he is telling me with passion, energy and confidence. His mind is clear and sharp on what and how it needs to be done. And he is smiling.

As I was thinking about his process of making these incredibly detailed sculptures it dawned on me that doing well in school and taking tests was just like creating these sculptures. When I said this to him, he looked at me like I was crazy. So I explained to him why they were the same. Going to class and learning something new was just like study a new character he wanted to sculpt. Drawing out a picture of the sculpture in detail, was the same thing as doing your homework, making that new picture or idea clear and sharp in your mind. When he begins to take the different colored pieces of clay and mold them until they match the picture in his mind, is exactly the same thing as taking a quiz or a test. That quiz or test is simply a piece of paper or clay waiting for you to answer the questions and “mold and shape” that quiz or test into what you want, an “A” just the way you see in your mind. The same way he sees the sculpture in his mind and molds and sculpts the clay until he gets the result he wants. Jeremy gave me a confused look and then he smiled and understood. All Jeremy needed to do was make that same connection at a deep subconscious level of mind, realizing that they really were the same and “this is just like that”. It really is that simple. Jeremy is an honor student and as of the publishing of this book is graduating high school and it getting ready for college. The world could use more incredible people like Jeremy.

Jimmy agreed to let me put him a deep meditative hypnotic state. In this hypnotic state I had Jimmy relive one of his great poker games where he was big winner. I had him notice each skill and resource he had and used that made him a winner at poker and I also had him notice where he stored all those resources in his mind. Then using my voice as a guide Jimmy was able to begin to use those resources and skills he had as a great poker player and move them over into the other areas of his life. Jimmy was also able to realize that these other areas of his life, like school were critical to his future success, the same way you would study another poker player so you could ultimately win the game. Once Jimmy made that connection in his mind that school and poker were the same thing, he was able to become and great student.

We have to be careful in the words we use and the labels we give people. The moment Jimmy was given a diagnosis of ADD and ADHD; it became a reason and an excuse for his poor performance and behavior in school. His parents had an excuse as if to say, his behavior is not his fault or our fault he has a “disease”. Once Jimmy’s heard his parents using his diagnosis as an excuse for his poor behavior and performance in school over and over, Jimmy accepted it as being true about himself and then he accepted his poor behavior and school performance as his reality. When Jimmy realized that when he played poker he was using the resources and skills he thought he didn’t have and he was using them very well, he was able to change is reality and his outcomes. Be careful what you say to yourself and to your children and in front of them. If you say enough times to yourself or in front of or to your children, it can and will become yours and theirs reality.

Where is Jimmy now? As of this book being published, Jimmy just graduated high school and was getting ready to go away to college in the fall. Needless to say Jimmy’s future has no limits.