If the Buddha was speaking at a hypnosis conference, how many of the hypnotists would try to get him to lose weight?

Regular readers of my tips know that I don’t promote a lot of other people’s stuff, but when I do it’s because I’ve actually read, listened to, or worked with them directly and I value what I experienced.

Subliminal persuasion expert Eldon Taylor has written a sort of spiritual autobiography that’s coming out this week called “What Does That Mean?”, and it’s both fascinating and thought provoking.  Eldon’s upbringing was far from typical for someone who’s helped as many people as he has through his work, and while there is much to chew on here for the spiritually-oriented, personally developing reader, I actually think this one is worth reading for the anecdotes and interstitial stories (including the one about what would happen if Jesus and the Buddha were speaking at a conference… :-)

You can order you copy of the book here and receive some special bonuses including the Myth of Happiness.

Thursday, February 25th at Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK

Debunking the Myths of Success with Barbara Sher

This week she’s REALLY coming on… :-)

For nearly forty years, Barbara Sher has been sharing her unique brand of no-nonsense coaching through her bestselling books, tapes, and seminars. This week, join Michael and Barbara as they debunk some of the most common myths of success and learn what it really takes to have more of what you want in your life!

To reach Michael live on air:

Inside the US (Toll free)
1-866-254-1579

From the UK/Outside the US
001-760-918-4300

You can listen to the show this and every Thursday – simply go to hayhouseradio.com at Noon pacific/8pm UK and click on the button marked “Listen Now”.

Did you miss our most recent live “Valentine’s” show on The Uncertainty Principle? For a limited time you can listen to it here. You can also download and listen to any of my shows at any time as part of your subscription to the new and improved Solutions Café – click here for details!

You can now listen to the show from your iPhone!
Simply go to the Apps Store to download your free Hay House Radio App and within minutes you’ll be able to listen to great shows from Wayne Dyer, Cheryl Richardson, and of course, me!

Years ago when I was fresh out of drama school in London, I was having dinner with Paul McKenna and some friends and we started joking about an idea for a TV show that we all thought would be really fun and funny.  The next morning, I stopped by Paul’s office and to my amazement, he was on the phone pitching the idea to a producer.

Although that particular show never got made, two things about the incident have always stuck with me:

1. How Paul had been able to see real value in something which I would have dismissed as inconsequential because it was “just a few guys joking around over dinner”.

2. How cool it was that less than 24 hours after coming up with an idea, it was already being made manifest in the world.

Years later, my coach Steve Hardison explained this phenomenon to me with a distinction from the world of computer programming called “event-action” – that is, where a specific event (in this case, an idea for a TV show) automatically triggers a specific action or set of actions (in this case getting on the phone with a producer to pitch the show).

While in a computer program you can specify the gap between event and action and it will happen automatically, when it comes to us human beings, we get to choose the gap each and every time – and the length of that gap can have a profound impact on how things turn out.

Here’s the rule of thumb:

The less time between event and action,
the greater the power the action will have.

I like to think of it like a countdown timer on a quiz show.  If you answer the question within 15 seconds, you get full points; 16 – 30 seconds you get 3/4 points; 31 – 45 seconds you get 1/2 points; and 45 seconds to a minute will get you 1/4 points.  After that minute is gone, you don’t get any points for that particular question even if you know the right answer.

When it comes to creating things in our lives, the gap between event and action – that is between when you get an opportunity or idea and when you act on it – is a bit “looser” but no less significant:

When you act on an idea or opportunity immediately, there is an energy around that action that is infectious, as the candle of your inspiration lights up everyone around you.  The longer you wait, the dimmer the candlelight becomes, and the less inspired the action tends to be.

That’s not to say that you have to leap before you look – your initial action may involve researching the viability or implications of the idea or opportunity that has presented itself.  But the shorter the gap between event and action, the more energy, momentum, and impact your actions will have.

Have fun, learn heaps, and the next time you get lit up by an idea or opportunity, share your light with others as soon as possible!

I got an email this week from someone who was interested in attending the most exclusive and intimate training we offer called The Life Transformation Experience. Her question was, on the face of it, a sensible one - how challenging is it to help people who can already afford a $20,000 course to improve their lives?

Here’s an excerpt from my reply:

As there is so much fear around money in our culture, particularly evident over the past 18 months or so of economic uncertainty, I wanted to use today’s tip to expand on this point.

What makes money scary is the idea that whether or not we have it (and how much of it we have) really matters.  And if that were true, all the behaviors that most of us think of as “normal” around money would make perfect sense.  After all, if our survival, well-being, and self-worth were dependent on our bank balance:

• The majority of our time (at least 8 – 10 hours a day, 5 days a week) would be spent in the pursuit of making money
• Our education system would be designed to train children in the skills they will need to make money as adults, and higher education would be designed to prepare young adults to make even more money
• Once we had some money, we would do everything in our power to protect it from outside threat
• Those people who were unable or unwilling to succeed at the money game would drop out and blame themselves, others, or the game itself for their failure

You would also find (in a world where the amount of money you had really, REALLY mattered) that there would be a number of well-meaning people who genuinely wanted to help those who had less, and their strategies would include:

• Teaching people how to get by on less – where to get bargains and how to negotiate better deals
• Teaching people better skills for financial management and accumulation, including budgeting, saving, and investing
• Teaching people better skills for financial creation, including creating proposals, selling, and marketing

Does any of this sound familiar?  Here’s the problem – with ALL of it:

It doesn’t matter how great our strategies for success are if they’re designed to help us solve problems that don’t really exist.

The fundamental question in life is this is whether we live in an outside-in world, where what is happening in the world around us creates the thoughts and feelings we experience within us, or an inside-out world, where our experience of what we see around us is created by what’s going on inside us.  Which is the reflection and which is the light?  Which is the echo and which is the source?

If the amount of money you have (or don’t have) at the moment is genuinely the source of your well-being (or distress), everything we have talked about so far makes perfect sense.  But if money is just another shadow on the wall of Plato’s cave, then the game of money is just a game without any real stakes whatsoever.

Imagine the following scenario:

What would that actually be like?  Chances are if you were able to quadruple your money you would be excited in the moment, but at the end of the night after turning in your chips you would forget all about it.  Similarly, if you lost it all, you would likely be disappointed – until you remembered that it was all just a game and the real payoff was already in your pocket.

Now take this a step further – what would it be like to play the money game knowing that everything that really counts – your well-being, happiness, love, and self-worth – are already yours to keep?  After all, you were born with them, and the only thing that can ever take you away from them is a thought.  There is nothing of true and lasting value you can get from playing the money game that wasn’t already yours before you started playing and won’t continue to be yours after the game is done.

You are playing with the house’s money.  There is nothing real at stake.  And consequently, you can play fearlessly and with a sense of ease and fun.

That doesn’t mean you won’t take the time to learn the rules of the game and it certainly doesn’t mean you won’t get caught up from time to time and forget that it’s just a game.  But you’ll probably find yourself spending less and less time worrying about it and when you do decide to play, you’ll play with the kind of freedom from fear and greed that shifts the odds dramatically in your favor.

Have fun, learn heaps, and may all your success be fun!

With love,

If you enjoyed the UK edition of Supercoach…

Please post a review to the US Amazon site in preparation for our launch in March!

Thursday, February 11th at Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK

THE SECRET TO LOVING RELATIONSHIPS

What if there was a simple secret that allowed you to get the most out of every relationship that really matters in your life? The good news is there is! Listen live and learn to put the secret to loving relationships into practice today!

To reach Michael live on air:

Inside the US (Toll free)
1-866-254-1579

From the UK/Outside the US
001-760-918-4300

You can listen to the show this and every Thursday – simply go to hayhouseradio.com at Noon pacific/8pm UK and click on the button marked “Listen Now”.

Did you miss our most recent live show (a particularly interesting one, I thought!) on The Power of Compassion? For a limited time you can listen to it here. You can also download and listen to any of my shows at any time as part of your subscription to the new and improved Solutions Café – click here for details!

You can now listen to the show from your iPhone!
Simply go to the Apps Store to download your free Hay House Radio App and within minutes you’ll be able to listen to great shows from Wayne Dyer, Cheryl Richardson, and of course, me!

Did you know that “worry” is a verb? That is, “to worry something” is to shake it about – it is an activity, not a thing.

The kind of worrying that most of us do is with our thoughts. We take a particular thought and “worry it about” in our minds, shaking it back and forth and flipping it around until we become absolute experts on everything that could possibly go wrong.

I myself am an expert “worrier” – I seem to have been granted the ability to pick out the worst-case scenario at a puppy farm, or to imagine all the things that could go wrong at an OSHA convention.

Which is why I’ve always found it a bit curious that when I’m actually IN a difficult situation, I tend to handle it with remarkable ease and grace. Being stuck in traffic doesn’t upset me, even if I’m running late. If the recording equipment stops working at an event where I’m teaching, as it did recently, I can generally incorporate it into the proceedings without batting an eyelash, even if I had previously been worrying about the possibility.

The difference, or so it seems to me, is this:

Once something has actually happened,
whether or not it happens
is clearly no longer within my control.

And if I know that something is not within my control, I see no point in worrying about it, or more accurately, in worrying it about.

Which is why when I woke up a couple of days ago without control over the left side of my face, I was oddly calm. In fact, the only real thought my worrying mind gave me to play with was how it might affect the television pilot we’re working on, and whether or not they will be able to film me exclusively from the right side until whatever it was cleared up.

When others kindly pointed out to me all the other things I could be worrying about that might be a wee bit more important than how I looked on TV, like a brain tumor or a stroke, it did occur to me to go to the hospital, and they quickly diagnosed it as a mild case of Bell’s Palsy, a strange form of facial paralysis the explanation for which sounded completely made up, even to the doctor who diagnosed me with it.

The good thing about Bell’s Palsy is that a. Most people recover within 2 – 3 weeks and b. With the exception of a cocktail of drugs that may or may not speed recovery and that I am faithfully taking each day, there’s nothing much which can be done.

And I find that sort of behavioral helplessness incredibly comforting. Oh sure, I get that if I maintain a relatively positive mind and a relatively relaxed body, that will create an internal environment which promotes healing. And even after only a few days, I’ve discovered that ordering soup for lunch is just a bad idea. But when there’s nothing to be done about something, there’s nothing to be done about it – and that leaves our energy free to enjoy whatever it is we can do.

Twenty years ago, I remember seeing the quadriplegic motivational speaker W. Mitchell give a talk from his wheelchair. The line which burned into my memory was this:

“Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I’ve lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left.”

What we control, in my experience, is not what happens to us and not even which thoughts, positive or negative, come into our head. What we control is what we do and which thoughts we dwell on. And funnily enough, that’s more than enough control to create a magical life, regardless of whatever circumstances you happen to find yourself in.

Recently, I was watching a video of the spiritual philosopher Syd Banks and he shared an old Irish philosophy:

Have fun, learn heaps, and if you wake up with the left side of your face paralyzed, make sure they film you from the right!

Please check out the amazing work being done here and consider making a contribution: http://www.theatrewithoutborders.com

February 4th at Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern/8pm UK

THE POWER OF COMPASSION

It is often in the face of the worst circumstances that we discover the best of what lives inside us. Join Michael for an hour of compelling conversation and explore ways to access the power of compassion for yourself and others.

To get coaching and speak with me live on air, phone:

Inside the US (Toll free)
1-866-254-1579

From the UK/Outside the US
001-760-918-4300

Did you miss our most recent live show on When the Going Gets Tough, Give Up!? For a limited time you can listen to it here. You can also download and listen to any of my shows at any time as part of your subscription to the new and improved Solutions Café - click here for details!

You can now listen to the show from your iPhone!
Simply go to the Apps Store to download your free Hay House Radio App and within minutes you’ll be able to listen to great shows from Wayne Dyer, Cheryl Richardson, and of course, me!

On the week of March 16th, we will be launching my newest book Supercoach: 10 Ways to Transform Anyone’s Life in the US. There are three ways you can help support the launch and assist us in getting the ideas in this book out into the world:

1. Send an email to your mailing list recommending Supercoach during the week of March 16th. (If you would like to do this, please email Terri Carey and she will make sure you get all the info and have the chance to participate in a special thank-you teleseminar I’ll be offering!)

2. Blurb about Supercoach on your blog and/or tweet about it on your Twitter page.

3. Buy a copy of the book and if you love it, post a review to Amazon. You can pre-order a copy now or wait until it comes out in March. Either way, save your receipt as we’ll be giving away a small number of very cool gifts, including the chance to win some free coaching from me and some of the other supercoaches mentioned in the book!