Are you one of the millions of people who saw the movie, The Secret?

I’ll bet you’ve been diligently wishing for your new life ever since.

Maybe you’re sitting in your recliner with your hands on an imaginary steering wheel trying to attract a new car.

Perhaps you’re going to your mailbox wholly expecting with heart and mind to find piles of money in the form of checks, rather than bills.

Or maybe you’re changing the paintings in your home to attract that passionate romantic lover you’ve been waiting a lifetime for.

The fact is, none of that works.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble.  The Secret is an amazing movie, and it’s incredibly inspirational, but they left out one, big, important step…

How To Actually Attract The Life You Want!

You see, wishing simply isn’t going to cut it.

I’m a firm believer in the Law of Attraction.  We routinely tell our students, “You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want!”

But instead of just wishing, you need to learn to take action.

You need to learn to use your heart and mind in different ways.

Ways that automatically attract what you want to you, and attract you to what you want.

We are entering difficult times.  Unfortunately, the idea of stability that most people have come to understand is crumbling away in your fingers.

No longer can you count on your job or your government to take care of you.

With the rapid decline of our economy and corporate structure, the only way to excel and prosper in the next few years is to learn how to take control of your own destiny and shape your future the way you want it.

But simply watching The Secret isn’t going to help.  You need top-notch mental and emotional tools to help you overcome the mediocrity embraced by our society, turn off your autopilot and soar to new heights you’ve only dreamed of.

I’m not talking about fluffy, feel good, new-age, concepts. I’m talking about real, tangible, tools and techniques you can use now to leap out of the downward spiral and blaze your own trail toward health, happiness and abundance.

Whether you want to start your own business, work with others, improve your own life, or just help your friends and family, with Neuro-Linguistic Programming, you’ll have the ultimate collection of tools you need right now, before it’s too late.

Most NLP Practitioner trainings run $3,000 - $4,000 dollars and take as much as 10 - 21 days to complete.

But our Intro to NLP training is on sale right now, and you’ll learn techniques that will bring you tangible results in just one weekend.

Click the following link to read more and enroll at this special price:

Intro to NLP Workshop
December 12 - 14, Fountain Valley, CA

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Normally: $400

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Click here to continue to read more and enroll now at this special rate.

Soon, these seats will be sold out.  Make sure you’re in one of them before that happens!

To your success,
-Michael

Unfortunately, I missed all but about five minutes of the veep debate.  Realizing that I’m busy teaching a new group of Master Practitioners right now, one of my Prac graduates decided to help out with the blog by sending me this post about NLP use in the debate.  Thanks Todd!  -Michael

Like many Americans you probably sat in front of your TV and watched Senator Joe Bidden spar with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the first and only Vice Presidential debate. Even if you didn’t see the debate you have likely seen clips on the news or heard about how the Governor dominated their exchange.

From an NLP standpoint there can be no doubt that Sarah Palin is trained, at minimum in hypnotic language, and more likely in NLP. She was so masterful in this exchange that it felt like old Milton was right there sitting on her shoulder and telling her what to say.

From the outset Governor Palin simply dominated the debate. She and Senator Bidden walked out on stage from opposite sides, and with her microphone on and a big genuine smile, she walked straight up to him and greeted him with a firm handshake and asked “Would it be ok if I call you Joe?”.

Bidden was so stunned that he fumbled over his words as he said yes. This is the exact point at which Sarah began building rapport not only with the Senator Bidden, the Moderator, the live studio audience but also the American people.

At first she came across nervous and Bidden had a air of over-confidence about him. Quickly however, she began to win the debate. Her language was peppered with imbedded commands as her tonality shifter ever so slightly on the command words and phrases. She also made a point to use common American catch phrases such as “hockey mom” and “Joe six pack”. She further made certain that she separated herself from Bidden the millionaire, as she coolly educated the American people that she has always been just middle class.

This was quite a contrast to Bidden who was wearing an expensive suit and didn’t use any phrases to try to connect with the audience. His agenda was to win the debate while Palin’s agenda was to build rapport and win the hearts and minds of the viewing population!

Palin did an excellent job of staring directly at the camera when she answered the moderator’s questions making certain to establish eye contact with the viewing millions. In contrast Bidden’s eyes were squinty and shifting. Most of the time there was a split screen so that you could see the response of the one candidate as the other had the floor. When Bidden answered questions Palin looked down at her notes and acted somewhat disassociated but in complete control. Bidden missed this lesson and when Palin spoke he watched her intently. You could easily read his reactions both good and bad.

The highlight of the debate was when Governor Palin referred to the Senator as “O’Bidden”. She said it so smoothly and without hesitation or apology that you knew she did it on purpose. This was an obvious auditory anchor to get the American people to associate Bidden with Osama Bin Laden!

Palin used other NLP techniques as well. Anytime that Palin had the first opportunity to speak, she immediately framed Bidden’s response so that it was positive for the McCain/Palin Ticket. For example she would say things like “I applaud Senator Bidden, because we know that he voted with John McCain on the …”. It was a masterful use of NLP that kept Bidden on his toes leaving him little room to contradict his own voting record.

Throughout the debates, the Senator, time and again, noticed that Palin was gaining the upper-hand and could do nothing more than smile at her responses as his forehead glistened and his lower lip shrunk in size. If you watched Bidden, he showed all the classic signs of becoming more and more agitated. As Palin went from nervous to confident the exact opposite happened to Bidden and at one point his voice began to waver as he tried to quickly regain his emotional balance.

It is fair to say that regardless of what was said, Palin used so many NLP techniques that Bidden came across looking as though he lost. She truly used the 93% of communication that is non-verbal to her advantage.

Regardless of your politics, you have to appreciate the masterful display of NLP skills that Palin displayed. It will be very interesting to see if this will have any outcome on the feelings of the American people towards the McCain/Palin ticket!

Todd Ruehs
Certified Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, TIME Techniques and Hypnosis

Wouldn’t it be great to own a crystal ball?

I mean, what if you could look into a crystal ball and predict the way people would react in these situations:

• Friendships and Relationships
• Business management
• Negotiation
• Sales
• Education
• Family life

Of course, everyone knows that crystal balls don’t exist, right?  Or do they…

The NLP Crystal Ball

Actually, we’ve got something that’s almost as good.  They’re called Meta Programs in NLP.

I know, it’s another meta word in NLP.  Big surprise.

Meta Programs are very similar to programs on the computer.   Computers are very predictable.  You click on a program, and it runs - the same way every time.

Well, the same thing is true in certain respects with we humans.

I’m going to share with you five automatic programs people run that can help you to predict people’s behavior and preferences, and to use it all to be more influential and persuasive.

Read the rest of this entry »

September 11, 2001 was a terrible, sad, gruesome day.

Was.

It has been a full seven years now.

Our great country was attacked, shocked, appauled, sad, angry, hurt… No collection of words can accurately describe the sentiment that day.

Everybody grieves differently, and for different periods of time.

But, too many people want to keep us focused on the 9/11 disaster, rather than focusing on how America can continue to grow and thrive and be a shining beacon for freedom and the pursuit of happiness around the world.

The time for mourning is over.

If we focus only on the negative events of our past, how could we expect to create anything different?

It’s time to focus on creating our future.

-Michael

People always ask me, “Hey, Michael, you’re a master hypnotist. Do you know a way that I can be hypnotic so people listen to everything I say carefully?”

Of course I do!

I remember when I was in NLP Trainer’s Training. We covered nested loops quite a bit. It was amazing. I know you’ve been in a situation where everything that’s said is of the utmost importance, and you focus your attention on just one thing. Me, I know this stuff is riveting. And, as we continued sitting in our chairs, wondering about nested loops, soaking all this up, the most amazing thing happened.

It kind of reminds me of the time, when I was a kid… you can remember that, can’t you? Having those childhood memories… thoughts, emotions, curiosities. Everybody can… I always liked being outside, but this time I decided to just go inside. I came across the most amazing thing in the basement. I’m not suggesting that you have to go all the way down in the basement to find the amazing things, inside… but sometimes it’s fun.

Like, the learnings that they get when they go into the pyramids. They see all kinds of things that are so much better, so much more interesting, inside. The jewels and other treasures are calling out, saying, “Come in, deeper, and find out the wonders we have embedded within us.”

I found a fly embedded in something once… what was that called? Oh, yes. Amber. The fly was embedded in amber. It must have been there for… how many years? Probably. And, do you know what the fly said to me?

Nested loops (also called embedded metaphors) are a simple way of putting the folks you’re communicating with into a nice light trance, such that your message is better accepted by the unconscious mind, rather than being analyzed, criticized and possibly rejected by the conscious mind, by opening loops (incomplete stories) and then not finishing them until you have delivered your message.

If this subject really intrigues you, you’ll want to take one of our NLP trainings. You could also look into our Free NLP Guide for Milton Erickson patterns.  There are many writings about his use of loops, both in print and on the internet.

You can also look into the Zeigarnik affect. Bluma Zeigarnik was a psychologist from Russia who discovered that when things are left incomplete, people will remain interested in what you say until those things left incomplete are completed. This is why headlines work so well which read, “Would you like to know the three words I can use to make anyone give me their money? I’ll share them with you in a moment, but first I want to talk to you about…”

Nothing. The fly said nothing. It had been dead for quite some time. But I did learn that sometimes the most profound learnings can come when very little is actually said.

Like the explorers. They enter the pyramids, not sure exactly what they’ll find. And what is it that they find? Yes, there are treasures and mummies and such, but what really interests some people are the symbols. Symbols everywhere. And as they continued to look into how they’re made, something that seemed so complex at first, turns out to be really very simple instead.

Simple things are sometimes just what the doctor ordered… In some specific order or another. See, in my basement, I found “myself.” Well, I found a diary that I had written years before and maybe forgotten about, until now. And in that diary, I told story after story after story . I would often start stories, only to finish them later, after I had said what I wanted… and I found a very special message to myself, right on the middle page, in the center of them all.

And, as I watched the NLP trainer on the stage, teaching us about metaphors and nested loops, I was amazed to find out that he was using nested loops to teach them to us! It’s an experience I will never forget and one you should experience, too.

-Michael

People are so naturally drawn to music.

Think of a song that brings up deep feelings and ask yourself, why does it do that?

Is it the individual notes played one after another in sequence? Probably not.

Is it the rhythm or the baseline? That can get you grooving, but that’s probably not it.

Is it the words themselves? Maybe, but I think it goes beyond that.

It’s something about the words that makes them so special.

They’re so hypnotic.

I found a few of these lyrics from popular songs that come right out of the Erickson handbook for ambiguity, presuppositions and Milton Model patterns.

If you’re not familiar with what these patterns are, check out our Free NLP Guide under Milton Model of Conversational Hypnosis.

Hypnotic Language in Music

“Baby Come Back.  Any kind of fool could see. There was something, in everything about you.” (by Player: Ambiguity, universal quantifiers)

“Every breath you take. Every move you make. Every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you.” (by The Police: Universal quantifiers)

“I’ve got to admit it’s getting better (Better).  A little better all the time.” (by The Beatles: Modal operator, comparative deletion, universal quantifier)

“Always something there to remind me.  I was born to love her, and I will never be free. She’ll always be a part of me.”  (by Naked Eyes: Universal quantifiers, unspecified verb)

“Jeremiah was a bullfrog.  Was a good friend of mine.  I never understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine. And he always had some mighty fine wine.” (by Three Dog Night: Selectional restriction violation, lost performative, universal quantifier, nominalization)

“There is nothing to see here people keep moving on. Slowly their necks turn and then they’re gone. No one cares when the show is done” (by She Wants Revenge: Universal quantifier, lack of referential index, presuppositional adverb)

“I’ve done everything as you say. I’ve followed your rules without question. I thought it would help me see things clearly.” (by Hoobistank: Universal quantifier, nominalization, unspecified noun, presuppositional adjective)

These are just a few examples.

As you listen to your favorite songs and drop down into that nice, light, music trance, maybe your unconscious mind will allow you to hear these patterns that seem occur in all music.

-Michael

Here’s a great example of using the Milton Model to put a subject in trance.

If you’re not familiar with the Milton Model, check out our Free NLP Guide under Milton Model, or come and take one of our Live NLP Trainings, where we’ll teach you covert conversational hypnosis.

It’s best to read this out loud to someone, or to make a recording of it for yourself…

Just lay back, relax, and let your unconscious listen. And you can relax more and more as you listen, can you not? You can just breathe deeply, letting each breath

(breathe in with them)

Take you deeper and deeper down into complete relaxation. Or, If you like, you can just breathe in

(breathe in with them)

And as you exhale, let your body relax completely now. Now, you may, or may not have already noticed that your eyes are becoming heavier with each breath you take. So will they just close, now? Or will they just remain open long enough to flutter a few times first?

That’s right…

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever read the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini, you’ll know that social proof is a concept that states that people tend to do what other people are doing.

This was illustrated in one experiment where they posted a lone man on a street corner who simply stood there and stared up at the sky.  Dozens upon dozens of people simply milled by the man, paying neither him nor the sky any attention whatsoever.

However, when they ran the experiment with two cohorts staring up at the sky, very quickly people on the street began to look up and even stop to see what the “crowd” was looking at.

This can be a very powerful persuasion technique.  You can hear it in political speeches when candidates say they are the “people’s choice,” or how “people are coming out in huge numbers to support their campaign.”

This technique is also used quite a bit in sales.  Ron Popeil changed his infomercials from saying, “Operators are standing by, please call now,” to “Operators are taking calls now.  If the line is busy, please call back.”

Why?  If operators are “standing by” the implication is that they’re doing nothing - nobody is calling in.  However, busy lines means that hordes of people are calling at the same time, and this implied social proof had an immediately positive impact on sales.

I found this YouTube video offering a glimpse of the power of social proof.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rciLxMnJL8

-Michael

People see the success my clients and students achieve and ask me, “What can I do to be that successful?”

The mentality is that there’s some kind of “magic bullet” that will automatically transform their life without any kind of investment or effort.

Unfortunately, there isn’t. But there is something you can do right now to jump-start your success.

Five Principle For Success

This principles come directly from Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and when you follow these steps, you’ll begin to see automatic results in your life.

1. Know Your Outcome

I often ask people, “What do you want?” and I’m always amazed at the answers I get.

They usually range from, “I don’t know,” to, “Well I don’t want X, and I hate Y.”

Most people have no idea what they really want.

One thing we know about the unconscious mind — which is the goal-getting part of your mind — is that it needs clear instructions to achieve a goal, otherwise you’re likely to get inconsistent results.

You must know what you want in detail. That doesn’t mean you have to know the exact steps to get it, yet. But you to have to have a clear internal representation of what it is.

This means you know what it will look like, sound like, and feel like, and even what you might be saying to yourself when you get that goal.

You can read more about how to set effective goals in our Free NLP Guide under the Keys To An Achievable Outcome.

2. Take Action

Someone once said, “Knowledge isn’t power. Knowledge is only potential power. Action is power.”  No truer words have been spoken.

For instance, I loved the movie The Secret. I thought it was very inspirational and entertaining.

But so many people tell me they tried it, but it “didn’t work.”

And when I asked what they did, it essentially came down to “wishing for it.”  The movie simply doesn’t put enough emphasis on taking action.

My Grandmother used to say, “Wish in one hand and crap in the other. Put them together and tell me what you’ve got.”

Wishing simply isn’t going to get the job done. You’ve got to take action. Take the first step.

So, how do you know what the first step is? Simple. Start with your future goal and work backward.

If your outcome is to have $1,000,000 net in a year, what would have to be your nine month goal to have $1M in twelve months? And what would have to be your six month goal to get the nine month goal? What would your three month goal have to be to get that six month goal?

By working out the details backwards, you can find that very crucial first step for any goal, no matter how big or small.

3. Have Sensory Acuity

Sensory acuity means, being aware of what’s going on around you. Seeing, hearing and feeling your results, and paying attention to whether or not they’re advancing you toward your outcome or not.

If you’re paying attention to the results, and they’re not what you want, then you need to…

4. Have Behavioral Flexibility

There’s a rule in NLP that basically says, he who has the most flexibility in their behavior, wins.

This means that if you are willing to do whatever it takes (obviously, within your own moral scope) to achieve your goal, you are far more likely to achieve it than if you were fixed in the way it “must be done.”

So often, people are rigidly fixed in their behavior, that success just passes them by. They keep doing the same things over and over again, expecting a different result. And we all know what Einstein said about that - insanity!

So, be willing to change your behavior in ways that you maybe didn’t expect to get results. The more flexible you can be, the easier success will come.

5. Operate From a Physiology and Psychology of Excellence

Finally, have your body and your mind 100% focused on success. This is called a physiology and psychology of excellence.

Your physiological being is essentially a machine that is designed to produce the results that you’re focusing on. It doesn’t matter if you program it with - happy or sad, thin or fat, smoker or non-smoker, rich or poor - it will act out any image, concept or idea that you are holding in your conscious and unconscious minds.

Ultimately, you get what you focus on, so focus on what you want. Not on what you don’t want.

People sometimes ask me, “But, what if I’m fooling myself?” or “If I only focus on the good stuff, I won’t be prepared if something bad happens.”

I got the answer to this way back in Jr. High, when a motivational speaker came to our school and said, “It’s better to aim at the moon and land in a pile of crap, than it is to aim at the pile of crap and hit it.”

Simply put, always set your sights high and operate from the belief - both physically and phychologically - that you will achieve it.

You’ll be amazed by the results.

-Michael

I found out about an new, secret, celebrity hypnotist today!

Dilbert creator, Scott Adams, is a trained hypnotherapist!

Who knew?!

You can read about his experience and opinions here:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/hypnosis.html

-Michael