The Power of Words

Written by: Debbie

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”` Rudyard Kipling

This week, sponsored by the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, celebrates words and their importance.

We grew up believing the children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Yet, at some point, you realized that was completely untrue and that words could hurt. Words can change our relationships, our demeanor, our entire system of beliefs, and even our businesses. Words have a dramatic effect on what we know, how we interact with people and the decisions we ultimately make. Words can influence us, inspire us or just as easily bring us to tears.

As we grow up, the words we hear from parents, coaches, teachers and authority figures help to shape our beliefs in ourselves. We begin an inner dialogue that can be incredibly supportive (I am smart enough to figure this out) or terribly discouraging (I always screw things up!). Our self-talk can be terribly sabotaging when we are working towards a goal. For example, when you tell yourself that you will gain weight by even looking at a donut, the subconscious mind is a willing participant. It will begin the process of holding on to fat whenever you look at a donut.

When we begin to recognize this, we can shift our thinking and our words. “I have the strength to keep running until I reach my goal”. Think about the story of The Little Engine That Could. The opening sentence is, “She was a happy little train.” The familiar refrain from the story is “I think I can, I think I can” as she chugged up the steep hill. Indeed, she did!

Are you replaying old tapes in your head of all the reasons, excuses you will fall short? Are your words setting you up for failure? What if you began to think you can? How might you be different? What would change in your attitude, in your behavior and in your words?

5 Tips For Forgetting Regret

Written by: Debbie

Forget the past, watch the present and create the future!

We all have regrets, here are a few quick tips to forgetting yours!

Monday Morning Musing….

Written by: Debbie

This week is shaping up to be a wonderful week. I have the opportunity to speak at the WIN Symposium tomorrow evening. The Symposium is an annual event, held by Women In Networking, where women can network, attend workshops and visit a variety of exhibitors to find ways of improving their opportunities. Net proceeds benefit the Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas County and The American Cancer Society. It promises to be quite interesting, I have certainly enjoyed it in years past.

Now, I was with a group of friends on Saturday night and mentioned the Symposium. One of the gentlemen told me to “break a leg”. This made us all laugh, but it also helped to remind me that part of this month’s theme is superstitions. So, I want to reassure you that I will not be carrying a rabbits foot with me, wearing any lucky charms or keep salt in my pocket during the talk. I will however, look into the eyes of my audience, speak to them from my heart and have a wonderful time sharing what I have to offer, in the hopes that my information will help someone walk away feeling just a little bit better about themselves.

As I always do, I will use a little bit of self-hypnosis to calm and center myself before I speak. I hope to have audience participation, it is more fun that way. When they leave, I hope that new affirmations have been created by each attendee, that will take them through the next few days, weeks and months into a journey of fun and discovery. It is my goal that each person feels more self empowered as well. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Monday Morning Musing….

Written by: Debbie

I belong to a networking group that meets on Fridays. Each meeting, we stand up and introduce ourselves. Each week, three different businesses share a short (5 minute) talk about what the business is about. To better know about the businesses, we are encouraged to make appointments with one another for a brief personal meeting. It is a wonderful group of people, many different professions are involved and all the participants seem to be of a very high caliber.

The Friday before this last one, a woman (I will call her Brenda) stood up to share about her business. She suffered from the single most common phobia, fear of public speaking. It is said to affect as much as 75% of the population. Public speaking is also considered one of the most valuable skills a person can have in business. Well, Brenda was unable to get through the entire 5 minutes of speaking time. She shook visibly and was near tears several times. What was amazing, was that through all of that, she had a tremendous and powerful story to tell. Her business is her passion and her goal is to benefit special needs individuals. Brenda touched my heart.

It was announced at the end of that meeting who the next week speakers were to be. I was one of the speakers. How fortuitous! Some days life just hands you solutions without even having to look. I called Brenda and she agreed to meet with me in exchange for my speech time. We met in my office and had an incredible session regarding public speaking. Brenda was open and receptive to the idea of overcoming her fear. Brenda is bright and charming. We worked together for a few hours. That’s it. One hypnosis session, we recorded. She had one opportunity to listen to the session again before Friday. Brenda left my office saying she felt self empowered.

I arrived on Friday, with great anticipation. How exciting for Brenda to be able to share everything she had told me about her dreams and goals with this group. I just knew when they heard all she hoped to do, they would love her as much as I now did. When I stood up to introduce myself, I did it using sign language as well as speaking. This was to support her upcoming talk. People weren’t sure why, but I tend to go against the norm in that group, so they played along.

I was announced as the first speaker. Brenda stood up, went into the center of the room and asked a powerful question. There were immediate responses. She played with the crowd, creating word pictures and spinning her tale. The group was mesmerized! (She was hypnotic!) Brenda went around the room, making eye contact and drawing everyone in. There was no back ground chatter, she had taken control of this crowd. When she finished her talk, the room burst into applause, giving her a standing ovation. Tears of pride and joy streamed down my face. Brenda had delivered her message and it was received. Imagine the difference for Brenda now that she has this level of confidence making her presentations for her business. Now, that she has the power to make a difference.

I was on a different plain for the rest of the day. It helped to create a great start to my weekend. Now, as I sit here this morning, I wonder, how many opportunities I will be offered this week to experience such amazing change. How many opportunities will you encounter for personal change? Will you take advantage of them the way Brenda did?

Hypnosis on Stage

Written by: Debbie

In my profession there seems to be a divide between those who do stage hypnosis and those who don’t. Because stage hypnosis seems to include comedy and because movies have portrayed hypnosis as mind control, it seems that there are those of my colleagues who avoid the stage or any connection to it. There are even those who will use an abundance of terms to describe hypnosis, but never, ever will they admit it is what they do. That seems silly. How will we ever educate people if we obsfucate?

When I began my practice, I soley did “clinical” work. I worked in a Rehab facility and in private practice. I gave talks about hypnosis to educate others, but refused any requests to do stage work. Well, my son made a point in discussing his future that rang true with me. He wants to study medicine, to become a medical researcher. His comment was, “Doctors can help one patient at a time heal, but how many did Jonas Salk help?” This seemed to make sense at a deeper level with me.

I love working with my clients. It is wonderful to watch the client become self empowered. Teaching people to create healthy new thought patterns and habits is very rewarding. But, I was limiting myself by only doing single sessions. In August at the National Guild Of Hypnostists annual convention, I met a wonderful couple. They were a comedy team, who does stage hypnosis. When I spoke with Beth (Mrs. Hypnotist) I learned of her passion for helping others. Through her stage work, she has helped educate many on the value of hypnosis, rewarded show participants with improved habits and directed individuals to the help they need.

Laughter is the best medicine. I use it to change thoughts often. Through stage work, I can incorporate laughter into the lives of many. I remain respectful of any participants, after all, it is my goal to leave this world a little bit better place than when I arrived.