Step 3 – When your brain rebels from self-hypnosis suggestions

You know the kind of tantrum you get with a three-year-old when you try to take their favorite toy away. Well, your brain can have a tantrum too.  All the parts of you that support a behavior that you now want to change can get bent-out-of shape and rebel as well.  That’s why as you start with your self-hypnosis suggestions you may think nothing is changing.

If you’re a real pizza lover, giving your brain the self-hypnosis suggestion of one pizza slice a week with a salad might actually turn into rebellion by eating 2-3-4 slices and a partially eaten salad. The idea here is not that that your self-hypnosis suggestions won’t work, it just means that you are meeting a deeply embedded behavior pattern that is initially resistant to any change.

That’s why continuing to monitor not only the results that are occurring but monitoring what your beliefs, feelings and attitudes that are coming up at the same time will tell you more about yourself than anything else.

Let’s say, you go out for pizza on Friday night. After one slice you find yourself reaching for the second and then the third slice and you’re thinking this self-hypnosis stuff doesn’t really work.

Now, let’s look a little deeper at what else is going on in that brain of yours. Well, your brain is also working with your beliefs, feelings and attitudes at the same time.

What if your belief is “it was rough week and I deserve to treat myself.”

What if your feelings are “pizza makes me feel good; it reminds me of all the good times I had in college with my roommate.”

What if your attitude is “I like pizza and I would hate to give it up.”

See how beliefs, feelings and attitudes can conspire against your success.

Here’s where you stop and revise your self-hypnosis program by adding some new result producing suggestions.

… I give myself permission to treat myself when I have a rough week with a decadent piece of organic chocolate.

… I always feel good after having great conversations with my friends, the same way I did with my roommate in college.

… I’m surprised how healthy, delicious and filling one slice of organic pizza is.

The way to get back on track to achieving your goal is to recognize that there is going to be some resistance. Then check out what beliefs, feelings and attitudes you hold around changing your behavior in order to achieve your goal.

Next, revise with some additional self-hypnosis suggestions.  The additional suggestions, as you can see from the examples, still acknowledge the part that is most important but substitutes a different kind of reward. For belief it’s a piece of organic chocolate, for feelings it’s great conversation not the food, and for attitude it’s still liking pizza but in a healthier version.

By monitoring your progress and revising your program with new suggestions it gives you more flexibility to adjust to any resistance. At the same time you also increase the impact of your suggestions, because you have been able to reduce or eliminate the resistance.

Get ready for Step 4.