Self-hypnosis can be a powerful tool and ally in personal development but it must be used correctly. The points and tips provided in this section can help you get off to a good start and avoid many common pitfalls.

What's all this about "practice"?

The term "practice" is commonly used when referring to doing self-hypnosis. "Practice" correctly implies a never-ending process, one in which you continually get better the more you do it; self-hypnosis is a process with a continuing dynamic.

"Practice" is also easier to say than something like "hypnose." "Don't bother me for a while, honey, I'm going to go hypnose." Not very elegant. Besides, casual eavesdroppers don't need to know what you're up to; "practice" is a nice generic term that tells others nothing unless they are in on it.

(Don't be misled by the use of "practice." Some people on first hearing the term think they are going to have to practice for some indefinite period of time before they can actually do it. Not so. When you are practicing, you are doing it.)

Bad News, Good News

First, there is no magic by which any of us, without effort, can in one fell swoop fix everything that is wrong with us. I know this fact can be deflating because I remember the grandiose expectations I had when I first discovered hypnosis. I figured hypnosis was going make me strong, good looking, irresistible to girls, a world-class athlete, and a genius. (I was just 14 at the time.)

It was not long before I discovered it was not going to work that way.

So that's the bad news. However -- if you'll forgive the semantic jumble -- I'm happy to say that the bad news is not nearly as bad as the good news is good.

The fact is that self-hypnosis eventually becomes everything (well, almost everything) anyone could reasonably expect. You just have to work at it a little. It has been my experience that most people will actually work pretty hard if they believe it will be worthwhile. And believe me, self-hypnosis will repay you for your effort. In spades, as the expression goes. It is a great way to do anything that depends on your own efforts. For example:

• Quit smoking. Willpower won't work here for lots of people, and self-hypnosis is the best way to do it.
• Improve friendships and your relations with spouse and others. Get to know people who are more interesting and exciting than you (and get away with it).
• Sleep better (alone and otherwise, if you know what I mean). Gain control over dreams, especially alternate reality dreams (I cover this in some detail in my latest book). Learn more about the book here.
• Lose weight and keep it off, even if you have gone way over the edge. [For a different and more interesting look at weight control, take a look at Bugs, Yooneese and the 'Goners]
• Develop a better attitude. Control doldrums, snits, and generally crappy moods.
• Control jealousy.
• Perform better at sports.
• Improve memory and concentration. Take a look at this Bad-to-Good Memory Story.
• Improve career success. Self-hypnosis is great for improving your prospects in life.
• Develop greater sales ability. We are all selling, in one way or another, so improvement in this skill can't hurt. Especially if you get your subliminals working for you (for details on this topic you'll have to see my new book). You might also find this instructive: From Onions to Lamborghinis.
• Raise academic performance and grades. From Fs to Ph.D.
• Overcome shyness, stage fright and other fears.
• Experiment with age- and past-life regression. Whether or not such things exist is a matter of controversy, but what you can do with self-hypnosis can be pretty convincing.
• Be more creative. Like salesmanship, we could all use more creativity.

If you are not interested in at least one of these topics you either have one doozy of an application in mind (and I'd like to hear about it) or you are in the wrong place. The good news is that all of these achievements are within the reach of just about everyone. All that is required is the willingness to put in a little effort to learn the skills of self-hypnosis and how to use suggestions.

Self-hypnosis is a skill. I keep yammering on about this skill business because I know what has become of us as a people. We have come to expect instant fixes from medicine or science, instant gratification through raised credit card limits, and instant solutions from TV dramas and sitcoms and all those stupid little commercials that turn your brain to jelly.

C'mon, folks, that is not the way life is on this planet! Nothing worthwhile is easy, there ain't no free lunch, the piper eventually has to be paid, and anyone who spends his life looking for the holy grail or a magic bullet or the fountain of youth or any other chimera is going to waste his life.

Self-hypnosis is like, and just as demanding as, a musical instrument. Once you have mastered it you can use it to make beautiful music, and you will make it look easy. But you will know that you worked at it, because like any skill it requires the development of correct technique. You have to do it right to get the most out of it and that comes only with practice. And in a way self-hypnosis is a little harder because it is all in your mind! Unfortunately the Western cultures of Europe and America (all of the Americas) -- I do not presume to speak for those of you raised in the East -- prepare us to work primarily with our muscles and only marginally with our minds. So it sometimes takes a little getting used to the concept of achieving something without moving a muscle. (And please don't throw reading up to me, as in reading textbooks in school or reading this text on your monitor. Reading requires lots of muscles in the eyes, and the transfer is from the writer to the reader via a physical medium.)

It is true that you can be hypnotized by someone else, and that you can use pre-recorded tapes to talk you into a hypnotic state. But you still, at bottom, are doing it yourself. I take the position that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. So even as helpful as the presence of a hypnotist or a taped induction can be, you are actually engaged in other-directed self-hypnosis.

You can be sure, though, that the work it takes to be able to use self-hypnosis is a heckuva lot easier than trying to achieve something without it.

So the bad news, while not all the bad, is that it takes some work. The good news is that, once you begin to develop the skills of self-hypnosis, it really doesn't feel like work at all. And it does seem to work like magic. (It isn't, but it still seems that way.)