WEBVTT

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About a year ago,
I had a reoccurring dream.

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I would dream I was walking
into a forest with a guide,

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and the guide would bend over,
he'd pluck a flower out of the ground,

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and he'd say, "This is poison."

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He then would point clear
across the forest at another plant,

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and he'd say, "But there is the antidote,
there is the remedy to this poison."

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He then shared with me
a very simple truth.

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He said, "In nature,
wherever there is a poison,

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the remedy often grows nearby."

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This is true in nature:
wherever there is a poison,

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the antidote or the remedy
often does grow in the same environment.

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I believe this to be true
in our minds, as well.

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So whenever we have a negativity
or a poison in our minds,

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the antidote can often be found nearby.

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But the human mind is far more difficult
to navigate than the forest,

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especially without the proper tools,
and especially without the proper guide.

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Around the same time, about a year ago,

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I began to see a hypnosis client;
we'll call him Martin.

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Martin was a compulsive spender.

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So, as soon as he got any money,
even if he had debts and bills to pay,

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he would just spend it immediately.

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Martin had been seeing a therapist
consistently for years on this issue

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to no [avail.]

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Martin's spending problem
stemmed from a limiting belief,

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a negative belief,

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a belief which told him
he did not deserve that money.

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So as soon as he got it, he spent it.

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We all have beliefs like this:
we believe we can't change,

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we believe we can't accomplish
a goal or learn a new skill.

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These negative beliefs
manifest themselves into negative habits,

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habits like giving up before we even try

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or fearing failure so much
we never even try.

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These are our poisons.

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But the antidote is nearby.

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Most just never bothered to look.

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But in order to understand
how to overcome these negative beliefs,

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we must first understand
what forms our beliefs.

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This is what I found.

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What you focus on
influences what you believe,

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and what you believe
influences your reality.

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All of our realities
are completely subjective.

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They're influenced
by what we choose to see in the world.

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So if I were to ask
every single one of you,

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every day for a year,

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to make a list of everything in your life

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that made you unhappy,
that made you depressed or miserable,

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and I asked you at the end of that year

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what you believe
the quality of your life to be,

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most of you would say, "Terrible!",

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and of course, you would, because all
you're doing is focusing on the terrible,

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beginning to believe the terrible,

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and your reality
will manifest in that way.

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So, our beliefs are also our habits:

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what you focus on turns into your beliefs,
what you believe turns into your habits,

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and what your habits are
turns into your reality.

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In this way, our realities are
entirely under our control.

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But so often our beliefs and our habits
become so deeply ingrained in us,

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it becomes nearly impossible
to rewrite them,

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nearly impossible to change.

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This is where I believe
hypnosis can come in.

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Hypnosis allows us to quickly
and easily change our focus,

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change our beliefs, change our habits,

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and in turn, change our realities.

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Hypnosis allows our realities to work
like clay in our hands to mold,

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to fit any mold that we wish to see.

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It's an incredible space.

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But what is hypnosis even?

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How does it work?

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I'm glad you asked.

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Hypnosis is an altered state
of consciousness.

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It dances that fine line
between being awake and being asleep.

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You're not quite awake,
but you're not fully asleep.

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You experience it
almost every single night.

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In scientific and medical studies
of hypnosis, they've found

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there are two parts of the brain
that are active during hypnosis:

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the part that controls
intense concentration

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and the part that controls
intense relaxation.

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In further studies, they found
the left hemisphere of the brain,

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the part of the brain that controls
critical and analytical thinking

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is less active;

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and the right hemisphere of the brain,

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the part of the brain that controls
creativity, fluidity of thought,

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subconscious mind,
and dreaming is more active.

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So what does this mean?

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It means that hypnosis is a space
where you're largely unhindered,

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you're relaxed, you're focused,

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you have creativity
and fluidity of thought.

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So knowing all this, let's bring it
back to Martin and his spending problem.

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Martin's problem stemmed from
a negative association with money,

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an association with money.

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So now, whenever he gets money,
he has a negative feeling attached to it.

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So it's very difficult
to remove associations,

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it's far easier to add associations.

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You associate the feeling of comfort
with your mom's chocolate-chip cookies.

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But if I were to stand up here
on stage and set off fireworks

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while eating chocolate-chip cookies,
you'd have a new association to cookies.

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But what about your mom?

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Would still be there
but you'd have a new one.

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So it's much easier to add associations.
That's what we did with Martin.

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Under the state of hypnosis,
I added a third association for Martin;

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I added this: a clockwise spin -
really, really simple, literally this.

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All we had to do is to give him
the proper hypnotic suggestions

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and do this: reverse the spin.

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Literally, by reversing the spin
and given the proper hypnotic suggestions,

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we reverse-engineered
the emotion for Martin

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and literally, reversed the emotion,
reversed the feeling.

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So by adding a third association,
and then reversing the third association,

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we reverse the feeling.

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So now Martin associates
money with good feelings.

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This is a very small, simple change,

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but it led to many bigger changes
and many new beginnings in Martin's life.

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This is a very profoundly simple
but incredibly effective technique.

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But it's just the tip
of the iceberg with hypnosis.

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We're all taught from such a young age,

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that our minds are too complex,
too convoluted to navigate.

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But that simply isn't true.

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Hypnosis allows our minds
to be simple, open, and adjustable.

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Hypnosis allows us
and gives us the proper tools -

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the psychological Swiss Army knife -

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to not only survive
but to navigate the forest of our mind

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and find the remedies to our own poisons.

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The quality of this life is determined
by how well we control our own thoughts.

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I implore you to not only
understand, but to know

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that any negative belief, or habit,
or state of being you may be in

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can be completely changed,
can be overcome,

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utilizing the powers of your own mind.

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All you need to do is find
the proper tools and the proper guide.

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(Applause)