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Monday, November 7, 2016

Election Decisions

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Tomorrow, November 8, 2016, Americans will elect their next Commander-in-Chief. This election cycle has been especially tough for the candidates and voters, alike. For today’s blog I have selected some quotes which, hopefully, will motivate and reassure you when you head out to the polls tomorrow to exercise your right to help choose our next President of the United States.

“I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.” – Maya Angelou

“Snap decisions usually need a better fastener.” – Rick Polad

“You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” – Michelle Obama

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” – Amelia Earhart

“Leaders have a bias toward action. Make a decision. Do something.” – Dan V. Forbes

“One of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make is when to stay put or when to move on.” – Lolly Daskal

“Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm, no matter how raging the whirlwind. Remind yourself: ‘This, too, shall pass.’” – T.D. Jakes

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Gail Devers

“Indecision is the thief of opportunity.” – Jim Rohn

“The hard part isn't making the decision. It's living with it.” – Jonas Cantrell, Law Abiding Citizen

“It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.” – Roy E. Disney

“Be decisive. A wrong decision is generally less disastrous than indecision.” – Bernhard Langer

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.” – Anthony Robbins

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Thoughts of the Day

Photo by Sara Fogan

Every now and then I like (and need) to take a few moments and remind myself about what is really important to me, in my life. If you follow me on my Calminsense Hypnotherapy Facebook page you may have seen some of these quotes before on this page, or will in the future. Many of these Quotes of the Day are beautiful examples and illustrations of the work I do as a hypnotherapist, so I will probably draw on them in future essays.

“If life doesn't offer a game worth playing, then invent a new one.” – Anthony D’Angelo

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis

“All things are ready, if our minds be so.” – William Shakespeare

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence in how you react. If you’re not in control, they're in control.” – Tom Landry

“We become what we think about most of the time, and that's the strangest secret.” – Earl Nightingale

“The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.”– Ramakrishna

“Stop looking for someone who makes you happy and be someone who makes you happy!” – Bruce Van Horn

“To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer thousands in a battle.” – Buddha

“No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you.” – Wayne Dyer

“Being happy is a choice, but it takes constant effort to make it happen.” – Lolly Daskal

Thursday, November 3, 2016

World Series Champions (Again) at Last

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

History was made last night.

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in the tenth inning of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series to take the title in one of the hardest fought titles I have ever seen. Like so many other people who are not necessarily Cubs fans, I was curious to see how the team would fare. Despite the team’s best efforts over the years to clinch another World Series title, the infamous “Billy Goat curse” had haunted the ball club since their last World Series appearance in 1945. The last time they won a World Series was 108 years ago, in 1908. Why should this year be any different?

Needless to say, my interest in how this team would fare had less to do with being a fan of baseball compared to how they would deal with the pressure of such high-octane competition and a particular subconscious mental script. A curse like the one bestowed on the Chicago Cubs all those years ago is particularly insidious because its effectiveness is derived from people’s belief in it. Apparently, a local bar owner named Bill “Billy Goat” Sianis promised that the team would stop winning games because he wasn’t allowed to bring his pet goat in to watch Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field. (The goat reportedly had a ticket, too.) The curse seemed to have worked because the Cubs didn’t make it back into these championship games until this year. Generations of baseball fans and even baseball players that compose this and other baseball clubs may or may not believe/believed in the curse. And regardless of their belief in it, the very idea of a curse was certainly a convenient explanation (defense mechanism) for why the team couldn’t win, let alone get into, another World Series.

My question is this: Was that curse really so powerful and effective to undermine the post-season success of this team all these years? Other teams have had long “droughts” between winning and even entering the World Series, and they don’t carry the burden of a curse to explain/excuse their post-season performances.

The fact that such a negative proclamation even existed likely helped to undermine fans’ and even the players’ own confidence and belief in the Cubs ability to win a championship. If you don’t believe me, consider how much better teams/athletes generally fare when they have a home-field advantage. Just like in Jack Norworth’s iconic song, “Take Me out to the Ball Game,” local fans generally do “root, root, root for the home team.” The positive energy that comes from an excited, supportive crowd cheering, whistling and chanting for their home team cannot be dismissed; athletes truly seem buoyed by the home advantage. Similarly, the negative energy and disdain this crowd projects when the visiting team scores or prevents the local heroes from scoring or ultimately winning, is palpable. (I will address that phenomenon in a future essay.) Of course, this is exactly what the Chicago Cubs did last night.

As I reflect on the excitement and, yes, anxiety-inducing action that took place during the 2016 World Series Games, I do not doubt the power the curse might have had over the team and their fans over the years. Their belief systems and the negative chatter/subconscious mental scripts that fueled and reinforced those beliefs were obviously very powerful. But let’s turn this scenario around for a moment. What if it had simply taken all these years for a World Series-caliber Chicago Cubs team to come into being?

Now that we all know this baseball team is capable of winning a world championship, hopefully the athletes, future team members, coaches, club owners and fans can store this memory and experience as a new subconscious “known.” The Chicago Cubs played fabulous baseball this season and the cooperation and talent of each player proved once and for all that this is a championship team. I think these past seven (game) days prove that their curse is finally, officially lifted/exorcised/over. So, no more excuses…. Just play world championship-caliber baseball!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Why Is Hypnosis So Effective?

Photo by Rick Hustead

Hypnotherapy (hypnosis) is so effective because it enables direct access to the subconscious mind to change the client’s unwanted beliefs and behaviors, thus facilitating achievement of the stated vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. During hypnosis, your mind and physical body are completely relaxed. Hypnosis bypasses the critical area of the mind, which serves a sentinel role to effectively “protect” the subconscious mind’s interests: i.e., the subconscious life script that dictates so much of our behavior. No matter how much you consciously want to make that change—lose weight, stop smoking, overcome performance anxiety, let go of an unsuccessful relationship—the SCM is too invested in the current behavior to just let it go.

It is the critical mind’s job to immediately reject any thought or behavior that threatens the current status quo. The critical mind is so good at this job that we often don’t realize this is going on. Even if we do, there is always a logical or convenient (conscious) reason not to make the change, anyway.

The most powerful aspect of hypnotherapy is that I (or another certified hypnotherapist) can talk directly to the client’s subconscious mind to motivate the desired behavior change. Since we are all most suggestible to ourselves, it makes sense that the subconscious mind will also be more amenable to making those desired behavior changes when your words/phrases are incorporated in the hypnotic script. The subconscious mind is much more likely to accept these suggestions that are presented in language (metaphor or direct instruction) it understands using phrases or terms (the client’s ow) it recognizes.

Added benefits of hypnotherapy to help achieve these self-improvement goals are: hypnosis is natural, safe and drug-free. In addition, hypnosis cannot “make” a person say or do anything that he or she would not say or do in an alert state. For more information about hypnosis and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals, go to the Hypnosis Facts page on my website or call me at (661) 433-9430.