The Great Expert Blog

It’s the cause of a great deal of controversy although, you should bear in mind, there’s no shortage of experts out there who gladly employ black ops hypnosis. Put into action as therapy for emotional, mental, and physical troubles not to mention an effective communication strategy, this form of “mind control” uses the subject’s subconscious to get them to do what you’re aiming for. You can use this to do something as irrelevant as watching a specific TV episode or some light-hearted suggestion to helping to lift depression and beating various addictions. When put to use by someone experienced, there’s no real danger.

Let us turn to the Underground Hypnosis system, along with other approaches to conversational hypnosis, and consider the desired end; inducing trance. The depth to which the person descends in the trance, however, is determined by their personality, emotional status, and hypnotist’s ability. The lightest degree of trance can be detected at the moment when they initially begin to “untense” their minor muscles. As their eyelids start to weigh on the subject, lethargy will take hold to the extent that they’ll desire to fall asleep. Slip deeper and more muscles declench as well, notably the shoulders and digits — and most commonly, this doesn’t require much time.

Picture only having the ability to perceive one person. A veteran hypnotist will let you experience this with a sufficiently deep trance. When you reach this depth, hypnotic suggestion comes in, creating a direct line to the unconscious mind. The trance can deepen further until the hypnotized person becomes capable of forgetting given concepts andfind themselves unable to feel particular bodily parts through suggestion. You can carry your subject still further into a trance state, bit by bit introducing them to a hallucinatory level before reaching a level like that which the mind achieves when undergoing a full anesthetic. In fact, subjects could be ready for a medical procedure in this state without anesthetic or painkillers.

You won’t find out ways you can reach that level through Underground Hypnosis, but that kind of depth is seldom necessary. If all you want is to convince the subject to carry out what you’re asking, all that’s needed is for them to reach one of the simpler degrees of a trance state.

The best part? Anyone has a chance to study black ops hypnosis using the Underground Hypnosis program. Through devoting a short while to studying and some hours working on the things you’ve learned, you’ll quite soon become quite an excellent hypnotist — skilled enough for the common activities. It really is as easy as that — the common conceptions are wrong.

UNIVERSAL RHYTHMS: The Sea and Me I sit on warm sand, dig my toes to damp coolness Drained from the last wave’s advance on the shore. Another wave breaks, then in orgasmic relief Washes over me, then ebbs, as in a musical score. The waves come in ripples, then cascading crashes Like tinkling flute notes, then brass cymbals clashing. In rhythms incessant and bold undulant patterns, Progressing, regressing, with sunlit foam flashing. The rhythm engulfs me, and I feel I’m in rhyme With cycles, and heartbeats, and breathing in time, With the planets’ rotation, the moon’s faithful phases, With electrons filling orbits, and seasons in chime. The breadth of the ocean and its plummeting depths Shrink problems of humans to the tiniest mote– And is shrunken then further by vast cosmic space Singing soft and serene like an orchestral note. In rhythms the spheres let their music be found, Stars born and stars dying, as energy abounds– It’s all kept in measure, to keep the song going; My heart resonates in an intimated knowing. As I look to the sea, hear the sure beat of waves, I see all abiding in sublime harmony, This vast and indomitable universe sings With every tree and beast and the sea and me. By Carolyn McNeil Weaver December 13, 2006

www.originalpoetry.com

Every leader, supervisor, coach, team member and parent has been told of the value of giving positive feedback. We’ve heard reasons why. We’ve heard we don’t do it enough. We’ve learned all of the basics about giving positive feedback successfully: make it timely, make it specific, and when giving positive feedback consider sharing it publicly.

All of this is good advice, but it falls short of the mark if we want to make a long term lasting difference in the self-image, confidence, and performance of others. In short, if you want to give positive feedback, consider doing more than telling people how you feel, consider writing it down.

Why Write it Down

Here are three reasons why written feedback is so valuable.

1. It is unusual. While most of us give (and receive) far too little positive feedback to start with, receiving it in writing is even more rare. The time taken to form our thoughts and write them down demonstrates to the receiver how valuable and important the feedback is.

2. It can be preserved. Verbal feedback can be preserved, but only in the mind of the receiver. I know that I have had people tell me very nice things that I remember, and in some cases I can even take you to the exact location that they told me. But our memories can fail, and those events can just be lost among the millions of moments in our lives. Not so with something in writing. Not only can the thoughts and comments be preserved, but you can bet that in many cases they will be saved… for a very long time.

3. It will be re-read and therefore reinforced. Verbal praise is shared and can be savored by the receiver, but I don’t think many people will stop the person giving the feedback and say, “Will you tell me that again please?” Quite the opposite for the hand written note. It will be read at least twice initially, and if the feedback is especially meaningful, perhaps several more times in the coming days - and often far beyond.

Some Ways to Do It

It really is as simple as picking up your pen and writing heartfelt, genuine comments to another human being. Here are some ways to help you get in the habit of giving people positive feedback in writing.

1. Send a letter. Writing someone a quick letter doesn’t take very long. It doesn’t need to be formal, it just needs to genuinely tell the other person how you feel. Don’t put it off, just write it.

2. I like you because. I learned this from Zig Ziglar. He used to (and perhaps still does) produce small pads that used this sentence stem to make it easier to give someone positive feedback. The was printed with “I Like You Because” then it had several lines for you to fill in your note. I have used this idea for many years in a variety of settings with great success. Create your own pad like this on your computer, or start with a blank piece of paper or index card. Using this sentence starter may help you get started (and help you look for and find) the behaviors you want to praise.

3. Thank you notes. An extension of written feedback is the hand written thank you note. Most of us could write more thank you notes than we do, and they serve as an acknowledgement of what someone did for us, but they also serve as positive feedback. Commit to writing more thank you notes, or to adding a bit more feedback to those notes you do write.

4. Send them an email. This can be a letter in email, or a quick reply to a project update, letting someone know you thought their approach was good, or you appreciate how they are handling something. While the handwritten note is hard to beat, emails will be saved and re-read too. Don’t underestimate the value of a quick three or four line email.

I could tell you stories of how meaningful written feedback has been, both to me and those I know. I could tell you stories of notes kept for years and re-read often. I could tell of people who said that some hand written encouragement buoyed their confidence and helped them through tough times and contributed mightily to their success.

You probably know of some of these stories too - which means you know my premise is right - that written praise can be extremely powerful. Since we know that it is valuable, and we know that it will be more than just appreciated, then it is our responsibility as leaders, teachers, parents, and siblings … as people … to give feedback to others in this way.

I’ll bet as you read these words you thought of at least one person you could share positive reinforcement with in writing. Since you know who it is, and what to say, and now you’ve been reminded of the impact that act could have, you have no other choice.

Write that note now.

You’ll be glad you did, and so will the recipient. And who knows, you may change another person’s life forever.

Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company. To receive a free Special Report on leadership that includes resources, ideas, and advice go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/leadership.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

I dearly love the Book of Job. The year our son died I had lost two other basic relationships, all three deaths within months of each other, and all suddenly with no time for goodbyes. I found my comfort in the Old Testament, Job and Isaiah especially. On the third reading of Job I decided that one big message is: God trusts us! We always speak of our trusting God, but it came through so clearly that God trusted Job enough to allow Satan to do his terror. What a comfort that was, to know that God trusted me to get through this time in my life when I wanted so much to wake up dead the next morning. I learned that God would hold on to my hand; that if any letting go happened, it would be on my side, not His.

I received an e-mail that really touched my heart and I’d like to share it. It’s titled GET OFF YOUR ASH: “In Job 2:8 we see a picture of a man who took an instrument to scratch his itch and sat down among the ashes … We have a choice. We can sit down on our ash, the thing we don’t like that seems painful for the moment but in the end will produce a full measure of eternity, or we can rise and walk in the newness of life He has set before us. We all have an individual ash we just can’t seem to get off of: an issue of life we can’t part with, a hurt we can’t let go of, a brother or sister we can’t forgive or a memory we can’t release. Let’s realize the Father is waiting for us to rise up and allow Him to restore to us seven fold and give us beauty for our ashes (Is. 61:3).”Healing Love Outreach Ministries, Devotional #14, Dominica and Carrie Anderson. Thank you, Dominica and Carrie!

Actually the Book of Job does not give us answers but it helps us to better understand the reasons for the anguish that eventually touches every life. The question is not the why, for that we can never answer, but the how: how do we accept and overcome it? We ask ourselves, “What is the meaning of all this?” and then we look up to the Man on the Cross. The meaning is/was found when He arose on that golden resurrection morning to give us a new translation of love and life, and a blessed hope.