There are many books available on the market and all with various merits. The book I really enjoyed reading was Deeper and Deeper: The Secrets of Stage Hypnosis by Jonathan Chase.

This book is certainly written for anyone interested in hypnosis. With its no-nonsense explanations of the psycology of hypnosis and the authors use of humour it really will help you get to grips with this fascinating subject and keep you interested all at the same time. It takes a direct approach to creating the hypnotic trance and describes various methods that can be used to do this. It takes you through the steps in creating a show, from testing potential subjects to putting routines together.

I cannot guarantee this will turn you into a hypnotist, but it certainly is a fun and informative approach to hypnosis and stage hypnosis. A very funny read. Deeper and Deeper: The Secrets of Stage Hypnosis

Best Wishes

Andy

• Your body releases endorphins, a hormone that makes you feel good.
• According to BUPA Health Information Team (March 2005), laughing causes the endothelium or walls of the artery to expand keeping them fit and well, maintaining good blood flow.
• It can boost your immune system.
• You can attend laughter groups to learn how to laugh.
  
• Lowers stress hormones like cortisol.
• Increases your oxygen levels.
• Laughter is used by hypnotherapists in some of their therapy sessions.
  
• According to research completed by Maciej S. Buchowski, PhD, a 15 minute laughter session can burn 40 calories.
• There are three types of laughs, chuckle (low intensity), giggle (medium intensity) and belly laugh (high intensity). I made this fact up, but it sounds good!
• Belachew Girma from Ethiopia broke his own world record by laughing for 2 hours 14 min. I wish my jokes were that funny!
  
• Laughter releases tension in you & others. Let's face it, laughing is contagious.

• Comic Relief has raised over half a billion pounds with £420 million raised through 11 Red Nose Days.
• 60% of this money has been spent in Africa and 40% in the UK.
• 1600 projects across Africa have received funding.
• Red Nose Day this year will focus on mental health issues, education, malaria and maternal health.
• £1 could pay for a personal attack alarm for a women to prevent her from being attacked.
• £2 could pay for a day's food for a child who has lost their parents due to AIDS/HIV.
• £5 could pay for a school uniform for a child living in Africa's largest urban slum.
• £10 could pay for a volunteer to travel to visit an isolated older person in the UK
• 1 in 4 people in the UK will suffer from mental health problems sometime in their life.
• Every 30 seconds a child in Africa will die from malaria- a disease that can be prevented and treated.
  

Jill Bolte Taylor's powerful stroke of insight

Dr Blasiotto from the University of Chicago conducted research into the effect that visualization has in enhancing performance. He tested thirty athletes on their ability to throw a basketball into a net.

Completely at random he split these people up into 3 groups. Group1 were told to forget about basketball and do absolutely no practicing. Group 2 went to the gym everyday to practice throwing the basketball into the net. Finally, the third group went to the gym but instead of practicing they visualized themselves successfully throwing the ball into the net.

After thirty days the groups were then tested to see how successful they would be at shooting the ball into the net.

Which group do you think were the most successful?

Actually, group 2 who practiced shooting got 24% of the balls into the net. Group 3 who visualised, successfully getting the ball into the net came second with 23%. Finally group 1 who did nothing came last with 0%.

What does this tell you?

Well, with visualisation alone you will have a level of success. Include practice and some knowledge you will be more successful. Do nothing and you will get absolutely nothing.

Visualisation is about painting a picture in your mind. Some people believe that they are not visual people. This is normally based on the fact they think they cannot draw or confuse this with a preferred way of receiving information. Some people believe, for example, "visual" people prefer to see things rather than hear them. Actually visualisation is about imagining or pretending an action is happening before it does happens. Everyone can do this and you don't have to see it in your minds eye, just pretend you can see it there.

Think about an event you have experienced, it could be eating a meal, going to the gym, having a drink or something else? You don't just see it, you smell it, hear it, feel it and occasionally taste it. To make your visualisations really powerful link other sensory experiences to your visualisations. Your 'creative mind' will believe your event has happened and therefore make it happen again and again.

How do you eat an elephant? And, you're asking me "Why would I want to eat an elephant?" Maybe if I ask it another way: How do you eat a 1,000 pound marshmallow? Is that a little more palatable? Either way, the answer is the same: One bite at a time!

Now, I doubt that you want to eat either an elephant or a 1,000 pound marshmallow. But, do you have a big goal? Does it seem overwhelming but yet something you really want to accomplish? Is the goal so big that you just can't figure out how to "just do it"?

This is more normal than abnormal. Most of us have some big goals, things we want to accomplish that will take concentrated effort over a long period of time. We each have our own version of the 1,000 pound marshmallow and we'll each have to figure out how to eat it one bite at a time! How can we do that?

Step 1: Analyze

The first step is to examine your goal and determine what smaller, more managable goals will lead to the accomplishment of the large goal. Years ago I was working for a computer company that had its own huge goal. (In fact, that's the first time I had heard the question "How do you eat a 1000 pound marshmallow"!) We were going to develop a brand new computer with all new hardware, all new software, all new everything!

Step 1 was very important because we had to know what all the pieces would be before we could plan how to put them together. Your big goal is like that too. What are all the "pieces" that you'll need to accomplish in and of themselves before you can bring everything together to achieve your goal? This is an important part of the process, so do the analysis carefully and get help if you can't answer all the questions yourself.

So, in Step 1 you need to analyze where you are right now. You really need to understand how big the project is going to be before you can start working toward it. What, exactly, is the goal you want to achieve? Do you need additional skills or education? How much time and effort will you be able to apply on a regular basis? Are you going to need someone guiding you along the way, or can you create your plan on your own? If you have a big goal, you need to do a thorough analysis of what needs to be done before you start.

Here's a tip. Do this step carefully and thoroughly and you will save yourself a lot time as you get further down the road. The time you spend analyzing and planning the achievement of your goal is not time spent, it's time invested and it will pay great dividends as time passes!

So, step 1 is where you really examine the marshmallow and figure out how you will divide it into bite-sized pieces so you can eat the whole thing!

Step 2: Plan Your Work

Now that you've analyzed your goal and how you can achieve it you can begin planning how and when you're going to accomplish each bite-sized piece. From your analysis, you know what the pieces are and whether there's a particular order in which they should be accomplished.

You need to create a plan that's broken down into those "bite-sized" pieces. By doing this, you will be identifying the incremental steps you will be achieving on your path to the goal. Be sure that each step provides meaningful progress toward your goal, but don't make them so large that they seem insurmountable. If you do this right, you will move from one step to the next with a good attitude because you have accomplished something significant (in the step you just completed); and you will have no problem believing that you can accomplish the next one as well.

As you develop your plan, you'll find Some things will have to be done in a chronological order while others can be done in parallel. When you can work items in parallel, you reduce the total time it will take to reach your goal.

Remember that computer project I told you about? We didn't need to wait for the processor to be completely built and running before we started developing the software. These things could be done at the same time. But, they both had to be done before we could do any testing of the complete product. That step had to wait for the right time in the project before it could be attempted.

How does this apply to your goals? Perhaps you have a career goal that will require additional education but also require that you to obtain specific job experience. It's very likely that you could be gaining the job experience during the day at your job while you attend college classes at night. You can work on these steps concurrently. By doing so, your job experience and your education will both be recent and relavent when you are ready for the next step.

Step 2 is another high-return investment that you are making in your goal achievement. Be sure to give it the time and concentration it deserves.

Step 3: Work Your Plan

Now it's time to start eating that marshmallow! You are now ready to work your plan. You know you have a good plan and that it will take you to your goal. If you've done your plan carefully you will have milestones (or checkpoints) built in that will demonstrate your progress and give you the positive feedback you'll need to keep going.

Remember that marshmallow? Basically, you've marked it up so you'll know how big the pieces need to be as you cut them. If you cut them too large, they'll be too hard to chew. (Can you imagine putting too much marshmallow in your mouth and having to deal with it?) But, if you cut the pieces too small, you'll munch away and never seem to be making any progress.

As you progress according to your plan, you will probably find yourself more motivated at each step. Why? Because you are experiencing the good feelings of accomplishment, and you are showing yourself more and more that you really can achieve your goal. As you do this, you are actually increasing your motivation AND your momentum!

So, work your plan, track your progress, and reward yourself as you accomplish significant pieces of your plan.

Go ahead, eat that marshmallow! Just remember what your mother taught you about not putting too much food in your mouth at once and to chew each bite thoroughly before swallowing. Next thing you know, your "meal" will be finished, and you'll be looking for the next one. (whatever happened to that elephant...maybe you're ready for it next!)

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Dale Stuemke has learned that dreams and goals are achieved with a good plan, focused effort, good mentorship, and commitment. Humans are designed to be achievers. Visualizing the future and setting goals is uniquely human! Receive Dale's FREE 29-page report entitled 6 Letters to Launch Your Goals: CHANGE http://www.launchyourgoals.com/change/register.htm

I remember when my son was born and he was laid their looking at this brand new world. Imagine the shock for him as he left his warm and secure place for this whole new experience. Like any father would, I started waving and my son waved back. Some friends thought it was probably an involuntary movement. Believe it or not, one person said it was wind! How fascinating would it be if this was the early stages of building rapport?

Think about all the times you were with someone you met for the first time and instantly got on like a “house on fire”. I bet at that time, it wasn’t forced after the initial uncomfortable feelings and been overcome. I reckon it was as natural as eating 5 a day.

For those who have learnt to drive or developed a new skill. Trying it out feels really uncomfortable, initially. You really have to concentrate hard to get it right. You are consciously aware of everything around you and everything you are doing. It’s certainly not natural. The more you practice the better you become at it and eventually you become a natural. Learning hypnosis is like that, the more you practice the better you become. I believe rapport is different. If you think to hard, then you are actually doing the opposite to building rapport. You can certainly learn the knowledge, practice and eventually become an expert with trial and error. If you draw on your natural abilities to build rapport it will come to you so much easier. I wonder maybe hypnosis is also a natural ability!

So here is my suggestion. Think about all the times when you met someone for the first time and got on like a “house on fire”. How did you feel? What did you see? What were you saying and what did you hear? What did you smell? Smell is really important here. Use this to get yourself in a state, where you are ready to build natural rapport.

There is another trick in building natural rapport. Forget you exist, that’s right, you do not exist. Think, “It’s all about them not me”, well for at least a moment. Anyone who has gone on a date with someone they were really attracted to will do this naturally and you probably received the outcome that you both wanted!

Andy Mitchell

Your Hypnotist

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