DAY FIVE.

 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BELIEF.

It is the mind that maketh good or evil.
That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.

EDMUND BURKE.

   

Have you ever watched the TV program - The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna - where people under hypnotism seem to do the most extraordinary things and yet they seem to be fully awake? Have you ever wondered what is happening here?  How does the hypnotist get people to act like this ?   The POWER OF BELIEFS Basically it is all very simple.  By inducing a deep state of relaxation, the hypnotist has managed to plant a suggestion or a belief in the person's subconscious which that person has fully accepted as true. 'Beliefs' keep us locked into this  terrible prison.   That person will then act in accordance with that belief whenever it is suggested to him. The extent of his 'obedience' will depend on the level of relaxation induced in the subject and the extent of his suggestibility to hypnotic influence. So, for example if a subject is told that when he hears a certain tune, or sees a certain object, he will act in a certain way -- that is what he will do. He has been hypnotized so that whenever this stimulus is present, he will react in the prescribed way.     A more concrete example: Let us suppose our client has been told that whenever he hears a loud laugh, he will act like a crazy clown and the client's subconscious accepts this suggestion. Our client will  then proceed to behave like this whenever this stimulus is present. From TV, we all know how funny and crazy this can be "Look at that person. Look at what he is doing. He really believes he is a clown."  And he is doing all that...... because his subconscious has accepted the belief that whenever he hears a loud laugh he is a clown.   Although this is only a belief in the client's mind, look how powerful it is in determining and controlling his behavior at certain times.   At the end of the show, how does the hypnotist stop him from behaving in this way in the future?  He simply tells him to close his eyes, to relax and then he proceeds to remove the belief - the suggestion in the person's mind that when he hears a loud laugh, he will act like a clown. He doesn't start giving out to him or telling him he is crazy or lose his temper with him does he ?  No.    To change his behavior - how he feels  and acts - he simply removes  the belief.   Right now, you are probably saying this is all very interesting and all but what has it got to do with my smoking addiction ? Everything.  We are using the above only as an example to show you the nature and importance of belief, and how it can totally affect how you think and feel about life.   KEY IDEA   Your deepest-beliefs determine how you think, feel and act.   Do you know what a belief is ?  It is simply a strong emotional state of certainty that you hold about people, things or experiences in life. We all hold beliefs about virtually everything in life - whether we are AWARE of them or not. And it is these beliefs that determine how we react to these things in our life. In fact the more we learn about human behavior, the more we discover the extraordinary power beliefs exert over all aspects of our lives.  Do you believe that ?