What is the most profitable work you do each and every day? Regardless of your profession, I can tell you with certainty that it is thinking. Your thoughts guide your actions, shape your perceptions, and determine the course of your life.

Have you ever noticed that people who think earn more than people who labor? That’s no accident. Everybody has hundreds of words flying through their head every minute but very few people have learned how to manage that internal monologue to work for them instead of against them. It’s the difference between self-sabatogue and self-actualiztion.

In my book “The Weight Loss Hypnosis Solution” I share a self-esteem boosting exercise based on thinking of yourself with unconditional love and acceptance. That’s because the more positively you think of yourself the higher your expectations for your own behaviors will be. The higher your expectations are the better results you’ll create. It’s all based on that first kernel of thought and everything else evolves from there.

Focusing your thoughts on positive outcomes is also why I constantly tell people to turn off the news. The news is just a perpetual cycle of stress inducing conflict that you have no power to control. The more you focus your thoughts on other people’s problems the fewer solutions you’ll find for yourself.

In my time management program “Take Action Now” I devote an entire module to focusing your mind for success at key points throughout the day. Procrastination, feelings of overwhelm, and disorganization can all be easily eliminated once you learn and practice success oriented thinking.

Wisely directing your thinking toward the outcomes you desire is the basis for all self improvement. In fact, just about every self help book out there today is based to some degree on the classic text “As A Man Thinketh”, which was written by James Allen way back in 1902.

You’ve probably heard of this book but have you ever actually sat down and read it? It’s not very long but it has changed countless lives. It lays out a foundational principle without which personal development is not possible… that we become what we think about.

Since this title is over 100 years old and in the public domain, I’ve taken the liberty of making an audio recording it for you so you can listen to it while you’re having your morning coffee or during your next work break.

Take a few minutes for yourself today and let me read you this story. It’s a great investment of your time and it’s my gift to you, no cost no strings attached. Just go to www.7weightlossgifts.com where you can listen to the entire recording online or download it as an MP3 if you’d like to keep a copy.

I wish you health, I wish you wealth, and happiness in abundance.

Your friend,

Joshua Seth

Well, one of the consequences of being on tour over 300 days a year is that there is no time for those little things things like dentistry… so they end up turning into big things!

When I finally went back to get my fillings yesterday I told my dentist that I didn’t want any Novacaine or pain killers and that I would be putting myself under using my new Pain Control Hypnosis CD (on my iPod).

He was hesitant to let me do this, saying that because I’d waited so long he would have to do quite a bit of drilling. 

I told him that I’d used this techneque successfully on other people before, including on a small child in my first Japanese TV Special a couple of years ago.

What I didn’t tell him was that I’d NEVER used dental hypnosis on myself! 

I had an important meeting that afternoon though and didn’t want to show up with my mouth numb, slurring my words like I’d just lost a fight. So I put on my headphones, took a couple of slow, deep breaths, and listened…

The next thing I knew, Dr. Bob was waking me up. It was over. 

He told me he drilled for 12 minutes, deep into the center of the tooth, and that I didn’t move an inch. 

He was amazed at how effective hypnosis was at completely knocking me out. In fact, he now wants my new Hypnotic Pain Control CDs for the patients in his office who are dental phobic.

I know that the idea of having your teeth drilled under hypnosis may seem impossible to some of you, so I’ve included a recording of the call my dentist made to me after I left his office.

Click this link to listen: Voicemail Message from my Dentist

Many of you have asked me to create a Hypnosis Pain Relief CD. Many of you suffer from chronic pain and seek natural, drug free relief. Some of you are afriad of doctors and dentists. Some of you simply don’t like needles. 

Although personal results will vary, I can say from personal experience that this CD works. My dentist drilled two teeth for over 12 minutes and I felt absolutely nothing!

If you or someone you know would like to reduce the pain in their lives, you can now order my brand new Hypnosis Pain Control CD here:Pain Control CD

I had thought I’d use the Pain Control Hypnosis CD that I have on my iPhone. I used this recording to have my teeth drilled with no novocain the last time I was at the dentist.

But… when they took me back to do the LASIK procedure they said I couldn’t take the iPhone with me! For a moment I thought about taking the Valium anyway, but then realized it’s not even a painkiller, just an anxiety suppressant. Why take a pill for either anxiety or pain when self hypnosis works without any side effects? A deep level of trance isn’t even necessary in order to manage pain or do any kind of change work. So I refused the pills and started doing deep breathing exercises.

People always ask me after my hypnosis shows if such and such a person was really “under” because their eyes opened at a certain point or they didn’t follow a particular suggestion. The answer is, there are many levels of trance, 50 of them according to one commonly used scale. You only need to be in a very light level of trance in order for thoughts to affect you physiologically.

Our minds are very powerful, they can create pain (both physical and emotional) and remove it as well. All I did was to give myself repeated suggestions that I am becoming more and more relaxed and that every sound I hear sends me down deeper (because the LASIK machine makes a mechanized clicking sound and I wanted to incorporate that into the hypnotic process).

Throughout the entire procedure I did a deep breathing technique called Ujjayi. I teach this technique on my weight loss hypnosis tele-seminar. Basically it’s a deep breathing technique that focuses your attention inward and can calm the mind and the body chemistry easily. It worked great.

I was conscious enough to be aware when the doctor was peeling the flap back on my eye (and doing other uncomfortable sounding things), but I was not conscious of any pain, nervousness, or tension. Even though I have been hypnotizing people for years and have seen amazing results I’m always astounded when I experience those results for myself.

It makes me glad to know how to harness the power of my own subconscious mind for the benefit of myself and others and sad for people who go through life living with pain or relying on a pill to do what a little deep breathing and well-chosen suggestions can achieve just as effectively.

Now I don’t have to worry about getting medication out of my system or feeling drowsy or woozy or having any of the other side effects that I could be experiencing if I had gone the medicated route.

Many times the best medicine is in your own mind.

If you are interested in my ”Pain Control Hypnosis” CD you can now get it on MP3 for $10.

Joshua Seth - Backstage at TV taping

“But I have a valid US Passport and a photocopy of my driver’s license. That proves that I am who I say I am right?”

No go.

Apparently I could have forged the photocopy. And here I thought I’d been pretty forward-thinking to even carry back-up copies of all my important documents with me.

“Listen, why don’t you just have the airport police call the DMV in California and verify that I do in fact have a valid driver’s license by reading them the info that is on this copy.”

Not gonna happen. Turns out it’s illegal to rent a car in the great state of Massachusetts without a physical driver’s license. Game over. Next please!

I was left standing at the rental car counter at the Boston-Logan International Airport, passport in hand, slowly realizing that there was no way I was going to be able to rent a car today. I’d just flown in and was supposed to drive to a college in Vermont to perform my hypnosis show that night but suddenly my license was gone, just disappeared. No idea what happened to it and no amount of searching through my bags turned up anything more useful than the dog-eared, folded up photocopy I was now holding uselessly in my hands.

It was Labor Day. There were about a million other people swarming around me. And it was suddenly very, very hot.Time to call my agent.

When you travel as much as I do, about 300 days a year, you get used to life’s constant little surprises. You learn to just roll with them. As I say in my Seminars, there’s very little in life that we have control over other than our own thoughts and our own responses to external stimuli; so rather than worry about the control we don’t have we can all lead happier lives by embracing the unknown and accepting every new situation as an opportunity to learn and grow.

If you can do something about it, great, take action. If not, then resolve to enjoy the ride and when you see where it’s taking you… then paddle like hell to get where you want to go. Worrying solves nothing.

I was about to be given a chance to put this philosophy to the test. I already knew I was stranded, what I didn’t know was that I was stranded in the wrong city!

“What are you doing in Boston?” asked my agent, “That gig was postponed for three weeks from now. Didn’t you get the email?”

pause…

pause becoming longer pause…

“Uh, no. I got up at 6am. I got on a plane and flew 1,000 miles. But no, I didn’t get an email telling me that I had the day off.” Ugh!

So here I am in Boston, without a license, without a gig, and without a way home. It was Labor Day and there were a few other people trying to get home too and almost all of them had planned it out a bit earlier than me.

Should I have been stressed out? Maybe. I was certainly in an unsustainable situation that was entirely outside of my control. Pretty much the definition of stress. Still, don’t know what good stressing out would have done. Probably just upset me. Instead I bought a bottle of water, found a nice spot to sit in, and called up a few friends to ask them how there holiday weekend was going. Turns out one of those friends, a magician by the pretty punny name of Justin Kredible, was in New York City preparing to shoot a segment for the Rachael Ray show. Her show was paying all his expenses for the week and had put him up in a posh hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Long story short, I bought a bus ticket to the Big Apple and a few hours later Justin and I were walking around Times Square, brainstorming ideas for his big TV appearance while enjoying a bag of hot roasted peanuts from a sidewalk vendor. Ahh, good times

As we were enjoying the neon lights of the city I was reminded of the time I chose to be homeless during college. I was a philosophy major at NYU at the time and wanted to experience what it would be like. I’d grown up pretty safe and sheltered in a small town in the MidWest and had a fear of losing that feeling of security. I lived out of a backpack and budgeted myself on a dollar a day for food. Sometimes I’d ride the subway all night. Other times I’d meet someone in class and sleep in their bathtub. I only did this for about a month, but ever since that experience I’ve been completely comfortable with the idea of losing everything and starting over. I know from experience that it won’t kill me and as they said in Blade Runner “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I got over that fear a long time ago and now getting stranded is all just a part of the amazing game of life.

Is there a lesson in this? A point perhaps? I certainly hope so. When we learn to let go of our fear of the unknown and instead embrace change and uncertainty as fuel for adventure we open ourselves up to new opportunities, new possibilities, and all kinds of new experiences. Maybe even a backstage pass to a TV show taping

As I write this, it’s a few days later and I’m flying on a plane to Jeuno, Alaska. This was totally unexpected. I do not even have a coat with me. This gig came in yesterday after the TV taping and when it was offered I said “Sure, I’ve never seen a glacier before, sounds like fun!” I’ll let you know.

The wild ride continues.

Joshua (with Stylish Spectacles) at Age 8

Today is February 29th and this day only comes around once every 4 years!

It’s a Bonus Day as far as I’m concerned. A day to live a life unlike the other 365.

It’s an opportunity to do something as different as that extra space in your calendar suggests. What will you do to make this Leap Day extraordinary? What can you do today that will improve your life for years to come?

I’ll tell you what I’m doing… I’m getting Lasik!

I’m a bit nervous about it actually. You see, I started reading at a very young age and strained my eyes so badly that I began wearing glasses when I was just two years old. I wore them until I was 8 and then I used self hypnosis and eye exercises to improve my sight enough that I didn’t have to wear them anymore.

Unfortunately, age has a way of catching up with us, and now that I’m in my 30s I’ve found myself relying upon glasses again. Every time I put them on it reminds me of my mortality and the fact that our parts eventually wear out. A pretty sobering way to start the day. So I’m doing something about it.

At 10:45 this morning I’ll be staring into a red laser shooting beams of light into my eyes. Not something I’d normally do and definitely a way to remember this leap year for a long time to come.

I’ll let you know how it went in my next post. For now though, I leave you with a question: what can you do to make today a day to remember?

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Call someone you haven’t talked to in years and tell them you’ve been thinking of them • Forgive someone you’ve held a grudge against and tell them it’s in the past • Buy lunch for a perfect stranger and don’t tell them you did it. • Open up a retirement account • Build a snowman

You’re living life on “bonus time” today… make the most of it!

NOTE: Comments are now closed. Here is what was posted…

Meliza

Wow, you’re definitely making the most of your extra day! What a great decision to make. Good for you.

Judy Lavine

Hey Joshua, I hope you’ll let me know how this goes for you. I will “be with you” in my way. P.S. You looked adorable in glasses! Love, Judy keith

good luck and best wishes for you!! Carol

I can see… all the time… without glasses!

My Leap Day Lasik surgery went great and I’m typing away on my laptop right now without glasses and without the headache that would usually ensue if I weren’t wearing them.

Thanks to everybody who added a comment to my previous post. I read all of your comments right before I left for the surgery and it gave me a big boost

I was pretty out of it when I returned home, but I didn’t feel like going to sleep, so I dictated the following post:

“I am dictating this blog post because I don’t feel like opening up my eyes. I had lasik about an hour ago and now it feels like I have a scratched cornea. This is one of the most unusual experiences I have ever had and that’s saying a lot because I have led a very unusual life.

Ever see the movie “Clockwork Orange”? Remember the scene where he’s strapped to a chair with his eyelids held open while forced to stare at flashing images? This was a bit reminiscent of that scene. They put a suction cup over my eye that forcibly held the lids open and told me to stare into the laser light. Usually a laser is something I would look away from if it’s pointed directly into my eyeball!

Actually, staring into the red light wasn’t that bad. The unnerving thing was a seeing a hand wiping some sort of an instrument directly across my eye. The hand would wipe and my vision would go blurry. Wipe again and my vision would become restored. A machine had cut a flap in my eye moments before and I assume each wiping motion was moving it around, resulting in the abrupt changes in vision quality. That is an extremely strange sensation.

Now I didn’t see any smoke, like some people had told me to expect. I also didn’t smell anything burning, as people also told me I would. I was glad for that.

The procedure went very quickly. A few minutes at most. Now that it’s over, I’m excited to see how much my vision has improved but I feel disinclined to open my eyes. I am supposed to be resting but I’d rather work. Is that so wrong?

I could get used to dictating these blogs All in all I’m glad I did it, but I wouldn’t want to go through it again. Very strange, very unusual. Glad I won’t ever have to deliver a baby.”

NOTE: Comments are now closed. Here is what was posted…

bobbi

I’m glad your surgery went well. I wish you luck with you new “eyes”. Audrey

Congrats, but – Oh no! Why did you tell me that? I want to have it done, but the procedure itself sounds so scary. Please tell more about what got you through those freaky minutes – how were you able to tolerate it? And why are you out of it? I want to have it done, but I’m scared. Janelle

its great that it went well…now i wanna get eye surgery but I don’t know describing what you went through I guess I would get a little freaked too…lol Carol

Glad to hear that everything went so well! Judy

Hey Joshua Seth, glad that is over with. Brave, very brave ~ and sounds so worth it. You’re a better “man” than me! ••• with love, judy keith

congratulations!! glad to hear that it went well!! I guess you can now say you are looking at the world with new eyes!!! enjoy the view! Eric

Why is this? Why do people vow to drop those extra pounds, even go so far as joining a gym, and then never do anything about it? 

I believe it’s because of three reasons: disorganization, fear, and a lack of support.

Whatever your New Year’s resolution is, do the following three things right now and you’ll find it much easier to achieve than ever before:

1. Get Organized

Write down your goal. 

Write it down in detail. 

State it clearly in the present tense. 

Thoughts take on added power when we write them down, but we must write them down in specific ways if we want them to manifest as real in our lives.

For instance, don’t simply write down “I want to try to lose some weight this year”. That’s almost as pointless as not writing your goals down at all. 

First of all “try” is a negative conditioning word. It allows you an excuse when you don’t reach your goal, because on a subconscious level you know that you did what you said you would (“Oh well, at least I tried“). 

Also, it’s not specific. How much weight will you lose? When will you lose it by?

Finally, it’ not a statement. There’s no commitment in the phrase and therefore no driving force to achieve the goal. If you make a New Year’s resolution like this, even if you write it down, you will fail because you didn’t hold yourself to any kind of a standard.

A much more effective way to state this goal would be to write “I have lost 20 pounds by March 15th, 2009” and then sign your name to that declaration and post it where you can see it every day. 

Even better, post it where everyone else in your home can see it every day. That will really create some serious social pressure to see the process through.

 2. Turn Fear into Power

Fear can be quite debilitating. You can know you need to make a change on a logical, conscious level (ie “I need to stop smoking because my doctor told me I’m at risk”) but still be resistant on a subconscious level because of fear (ie “smoking is a social activity and I may lose my friends”).

In order to make any real changes in our lives we need to align both our conscious and subconscious attitudes and beliefs. When we really believe we can accomplish our goals that’s when we’ve successfully turned fear into power and used it to motivate ourselves into action.

But how do we do that? Well, I’ve found hypnosis to be amazing effective at turning fear into power, inaction into action. 

If you’ve got my self hypnosis CDs, then now is the perfect time to use them.

Take a look at the New Year’s resolution that you just wrote down. Read it back to yourself three times, out loud and with positive emotion. State your resolution more confidently and passionately each time. 

Now, listen to your self hypnosis CD. Go on, do it now, it only takes 20 minutes and it’s important to do this so you can inspire your subconcious mind to really believe that you can accomplish this goal. 

I’ll wait right here ’til you come back…

Good. I’m proud of you

I’m on an airplane right now, thinking about a conversation I had after my stress seminar this morning.

A man came up to me and asked all sorts of questions about whether I thought my self-hypnosis CD “Unlimited Confidence” could help him with his own lack of confidence.

It seems that every time he has to give a presentation in front of a group he dreads screwing it up (therefore all but insuring that he will) and then obsesses over it for days afterward, feeling miserable the entire time.

I reassured him that this is exactly the kind of issue that this CD is meant to address, but he still seemed hesitant. “But I’ve had this problem for such a long time.” he moaned, “It’s so entrenched.” My answer to him is what I offer you now…

First of all, there is no such thing as time. Time is a fabrication we construct to make our lives seem more linear and therefore more in control. Dwelling on what we perceive to be past mistakes only exacerbates their hold over us. You can do NOTHING about whatever has happened in the past. It is done. There is only now. There is only to decide and to do in the here and now. There is no “entrenched”. There is no “been going on so long”. There is now and only now. Decision. Action. Or nothing.

When I was a philosophy major at one point in my long and winding college career, we were often asked the big questions in life “Who are we? Where are we going? Why are we here?” There are no right or wrong answers to these things, but it is very easy to get caught in the trap of ruminating about them.

“Are people basically good or evil” is another one of these eternal questions. I thought it was very easy to answer. I just asked myself “What’s in it for me?”If I decide that I think that people are basically evil, then I will naturally begin to withdraw from them, isolating myself from those I think might seek to do me harm, eventually becoming a surly curmudgeon with few friends and limited opportunities.

On the other hand, if I decide that people are basically good then I will seek them out and attract more of them into my life. I will expand my circle of friends and invite limitless opportunities. The worst that could happen would be to be taken advantage of from time to time via my Pollyanna naiveté. But it would be a choice, and a price worth paying when weighed against all of the good that would come from seeing the best in people.

Now as is usually the case, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But truth is what we decide it to be for ourselves; and for me, my truth, the truth that I live, is that people are basically good and so I chose to see the best in them whenever possible.

We all chose what to believe either by conscious action or by default. Whatever was true for us in the past need not be in the future if we simply decide that another point of view is in our best interest in the here and now.

Perhaps believing in yourself, in your own ability to change and grow and embrace new opportunities for personal fulfillment might serve you better than choosing to believe that you are limited by your past experiences. Just a thought.

He just stood there. Sweating a little.

What will you chose to believe about yourself today? Are you going to allow yourself to be limited by your past, or are you going to believe that you have an unlimited future?

The choice is yours and you can make it right now.

Look into the mirror and confidently, with genuine feeling, tell yourself what you’ve decided that you believe to be true.

Now go out and have an awesome day!