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Clear Thinking

Like it or not (most do not), we are in the midst of the political season. For some of us in the so called battleground states, it has been in progress for a long time. You cannot turn on the TV without being bombarded with political ads. Most of them are of the negative persuasion.

Thank the gods for the mute button on the remote control. Unless you only watch Showtime or HBO, you cannot get away from them, but you can silence them. That is a start. Takes on one of the brain “channels.”

Virtually all the ads are made to appeal to the emotions. Emotions cloud judgment. Decisions made while in a “cloudy” state may not be the best for you.

If you do find yourself getting sucked into one of the ads, you can do a few different things. One is check the facts.  Not hard to do, really, with all the online resources available. That will take care of the intellect.

But what about the emotions? A little introspection may give you some surprising answers. If a political ad pushes your buttons, then there is probably some underlying issue (one inside your head) that you should take a look at.

When you find it, you have the NLP tools to take care of it.  In the meantime, just keep telling yourself it all ends  the first Tuesday in November.

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Shifting Perspective

A small shift in perspective can mean so many things. Often it means the difference between success and failure. Or, it can mean the difference between joy and burnout. From an NLP point of view, perspective is the context that we choose to put events into.

Right now, I am writing on a laptop in a hotel about 2,000 miles from home. I am having a ball even though there have been all sorts of “problems” on the trip. Why am I so happy? I got away from the daily routine—really, the first time in about 2 years. I had been away from home three or four other times in that time period, but those trips involved care of family problems. Such things happen when you have a parent approaching 90. I think I had become almost numb to life.

This is a ski trip. Want to know the kicker? Doctors orders: no skiing for me. But my wife can, and this was her trip. To tell you the truth, before we left I didn’t care whether we came on the trip or not. I would have been just as happy to cancel it. When people asked me what I would do while she skied, I would tell them, “I’ll sit in the hotel room and watch porn.” It always got a laugh–I was showing my lack of really wanting to go on the trip in a harmless way.

Or so I thought, until we sailed through security at the airport. My spirits lifted, and I started having fun—even flying Delta Airlines, the worst airline in the world. To be fair, all of the airlines are the worst airline in the world.

Over booked, uncomfortable seating, and four hours of nonsense. Oh, did I mention that the flight seemed to be full of small children and infants. Who the hell takes an infant skiing???? The only two kids that I have ever liked being around were my own. They really weren’t all that much different than other kids, but they were, well, they were my obnoxious little rats. Somehow, that made it different. Back to the flight.

Did I mention that the only book I brought with me on the plane turned out to be one that I had read a few months back—it wasn’t that good the first time, either. I don’t drink. And Delta does not offer any hallucinogenics on the little cart they push up and down the isle. Somehow, the stewardess did not seem to like my suggestion that they should start selling them. I’m sure the revenue would be more than enough to get rid of the idiotic baggage fees and such. And the passengers would be so much happier, no matter what atrocity Delta committed.

What to do for the next four hours of my life? I watched the “moving map” on the video display on the seat back in front of me. It was fascinating—and it would have been even more so with a little acid! And there was Mick Jagger and the early Stones on the MP3 player. All-in-all, a very enjoyable trip in spite of Delta’s best efforts to maim and cripple me for life.

I am having a ball on this trip despite not doing any of the normal stuff that you do on a ski trip. Why? Because I choose to look at the funny things that are going on around me. Sure, I would like to be up on the mountain sliding around on a couple of boards, but the Doc says that is not a good idea. So, I walk around and look at the skiers who are walking around in their ski boots. Ski boots were invented in a French dungeon in the Middle Ages as a hideous torture device. I do not have to wear ski boots this time—plain old sneakers!!!!

We choose our perspective. Choose the one that works the best for you.

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Waking Up From The Illusion

In the original Star Trek series, Kirk and crew beam down to a planet. Strange things begin to happen (as always in Star Trek). Anything a person thinks of suddenly appears. Good, bad, frightening, whatever. Eventually, they find out it is a super advanced recreation park. Nothing is real. Thoughts are simply manifested for recreation.

We share one thing (at least) in common with that planet–nothing is “real.” Not in the Newtonian sense of the word, anyway. In 1904 Max Planck and his buddies begat the discipline that has come to be known as Quantum Physics or Sub-Atomic Physics. Later on Planck got the Nobel prize for physics. Not exactly a slacker.

In his most famous speech, Planck made this blunt statement: “There is no such thing as matter.” What he was telling the world is that what we perceive as “things” is really just a field of energy that is modulated with intelligence. All this and more has been proven in physics labs over and over again.

Newtonian physics is the physics of the illusion. But what is taught in high schools and colleges around our globe? Newtonian physics. I think that has contributed to us being stuck in a world  view that was appropriate 120 years ago.

So, if it is not real, why do we continue to put some much effort into maintaining the illusion. Why do we attach so much importance to it? If what we experience today is not real, then what we experienced as children is not real either. As a species we tend to let our childhood dominate our adult lives. Why?

One reason is the emotion that is attached to our stored memories. No one has ever shown us how to get rid of the emotions. If they are bad emotions, it is to your mind what never taking the garbage out would be to your kitchen!

NLP offers tools to get rid of the emotions that haunt you. In my Basic NLP course, I teach you eight separate tools to help you rid yourself of garbage emotions. (http://success-is-easy.com/nlp-courses/getting-started/)

Isn’t it time to clean the crap out of your mind? None of it is real, anyway. Lighten up!

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Goodbye 2010–Hello 2011

I was going to write this note a few days ago, but then I could not think of one thing from 2010 that I wanted to write about—2010 is right up there with 2005 in terms of SUCKING. But things got much better today, so I do have something pleasant to write about.
First, I went to the dentist—it had been a while, and I figured I was going to be following this visit with a series of visits over the next couple of months. Nope. No cavities. Other than having to use a sand blaster to get my teeth clean, it was a real good visit.
When I finished with the dentist, I went to my mailbox and then to Fresh Market (a yuppy supermarket). As I wandered around the store, I stumbled across one of those little “coffee dispensers” that they use to give away coffee samples. Except this one had eggnog in it, not coffee. For me, this was incredibly good fortune.
You see, every year at this time, I feel compelled to buy a bottle of eggnog and drink it. I suppose this is a nod to my mother. Mom was a horrible cook. The only person who ever said that they liked her cooking was my Dad, and I am pretty sure that his taste buds were shot off in WWII by Nazi snipers. Or,  it may have had something to do with him getting his “husbandly needs” filled. I’m not sure.  But there were a handful of things that Mom made that were really very tasty.
Eggnog was one of them, but probably not the very best. She made really good chocolate-chip cookies, as a bunch of my high school friends can attest to. I’ve never found pumpkin pie any better than hers. Probably, the best, though, was blackberry cobbler. My memory may be distorted on the cobbler. No “store bought” berries for her. Nope. She went to the berry patch and picked fresh blackberries. That meant I went to the berry patch and “helped.” Truth is, I ate more than went in the bucket.
You could identify the blackberry patch real easy—it was surrounded by shrubs with razor-sharp, one-inch thorns  and infested with all sorts of venomous snakes—rattlers, copperheads, and the occasional king cobra. After an hour or two of  terror in the berry patch, we would go home with a bucket of fresh blackberries. Then she would bake the cobbler while I was hidden away in my bedroom, down on my knees thanking God that I was still alive and had 3/4ths or so of my blood left. I’d make all sorts of outrageous promises like going to church every Sunday and not making sarcastic remarks under my breath when the preacher said something really stupid. Terror does that to you.
Before too long, she would yell to me to come and get a piece of the cobbler. This was a “West Virginia farm hand” size portion in a bowl with cream and sugar. It was heaven—of course, most things probably taste better when you have just faced death and won. Fortunately, she never gave me liver and onions after one of these escapades.
So, I have some fond memories now. That little bit of eggnog made me realize how great I have it. Well, for one thing, if I want blackberries, I just go to the store and buy them. I don’t have to risk life and limb for the damned things!
To a great 2011.

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NLP Training Gets Easier & Cheaper

When I first became aware of NLP, the training was incredibly  expensive and ridiculously time consuming.  A typical training might have cost $4000 or more and lasted for over a month. Even if you could afford the price, who could take that much time away from daily life?

Things have advanced considerably since then. By 1995, “young turks” in the NLP world had figured out that you could teach the same material in four days (very intense, boot camp experience). With that advance, down came the price to something reasonable (under $1000), and the time away would not “kill” you.

Technology keeps moving forward. We are now offering complete recordings of the four-day boot camp class (approximately 15 hours of digitally recorded audio) and the manual on a single CD. The recordings are in standard MP3 format and the manual is a PDF.  And the total investment is only $249 for the whole package. (Through Dec 31, it is only $199!)

If you want to learn NLP in the privacy of your own home from a Master NLP Trainer, you cannot beat this price.  Check it out at:

<http://success-is-easy.com/nlp-courses/getting-started/>

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The Lights Are On, But Nobody Is Home

Hypnotists (and a lot of other professions that may not own up to it) rely on the power of suggestion. There is anecdotal evidence of deadly diseases being cured by suggestion. These stories usually cause the medical establishment (especially the drug companies) to turn green, foam at the mouth, wail, and in some cases, the liver falls out. Often, they mumble something about “the placebo effect.” If you are experiencing any of these symptoms now, please stop reading this post and consult a local drug company representative–you will find them delivering food and goodies to your doctor’s office every day.

On the other hand, there is evidence that the power of suggestion can be used to harm people, even cause them to die. If doing good with the power of  suggestion is a placebo, then this process is more of a “nocebo.”

None of this is rocket science. It is well known. So, how do you explain this one: The US Government sponsors a web site for people who fear that they might have Lupus.  That in of itself, is probably a good thing. Lupus is a potentially deadly auto-immune disease. I have no problem with tax dollars going to help people who might be suffering from it.

My problem is with the name of the site  (and its URL): WWW. CouldIHaveLupus.com. What is the problem? Take the name out of the URL: Could I Have Lupus. Obviously a question, but it is an ambiguous question:  Does it mean “Do you think I might have Lupus?” or could it be interpreted as something similar to “Could I have a cup of coffee?” Truth is that both are equally plausible. The reader has to dip into his subconscious, and search through the possible meanings.

In NLP, we understand that this is pretty much the same as giving the person a hypnotic suggestion.  And we know that people who are stressed are more suggestible. People who are frightened are more suggestible. People who are in pain are more suggestible. People visiting this site probably fall into at least one of these categories.

It is a stupid name. The idiots ought to fix it.

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New Home

Just glancing at this web site, you may not be able to tell that there is a big difference. There is, but it is the sort of thing that would be described as being “under the hood.”

The previous incarnation of this site was hosted by Go-Daddy. It is a fine company, and they gave me good service. But we left them and moved here to servers provided and run by QTH.COM.

Why? Because Scott Neader, owner of QTH.COM gave me better service and, frankly, a better price.  If you happen to be in the market for web hosting, I would suggest you check out what Scott has to offer.

It is fine and good that I am giving Scott a bit of a plug here, but there is a real lesson, too. If you have some sort of business or service that you offer, chances are that you are up against some big guys with deep pockets. Every industry has its “Go-Daddys” out there.

How do you compete with them? I think one of the best approaches is by giving attention to each person and treating them like a friend.  That is what brought this site to these servers. Under the hood, we human beings are all pretty much the same. We like to be treated like friends.

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Is It July 4th Yet?

50% OFF All Downloads

Tired of all the snow and cold weather? So am I.  That’s why I am pretending it is July 4th until March 4th.  On the checkout page, enter JULY4TH in the coupon box and get 50% off all our download hypnosis, NLP & ham radio products. Promotion ends at midnight, March 4, 2010.

Regards,  Peter

Commercial & Disclaimer: If you follow through on anything listed below, I will make money. Is that such a bad thing?

Peter O’Dell offers hypnotherapy sessions over the phone (not all problems are compatible with this approach). Five sessions are $750. If interested, call today to see if you could qualify for this process.

Live NLP Training: March 19 – 22 in Boca Raton, FL . Regular price is $1495, but Sign up in February  & pay $895.

Downloadable programs to expand your mind and your understanding of your mind: http://success-is-easy.com/?page_id=61

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What Would It Be Like To Be In A Coma?

Have you ever thought about that? I have. My mother’s oldest sister died a terrible death. She had worked in a plastics factory where she was exposed to some pretty awful chemicals. It was one of those things that would be hell to prove in court, but the family always figured that those chemicals contributed to her health problems. The doctors did not have a clue what had happened to her.

Her body just got rigid. She could not move anything except her eyes. Couldn’t talk. Couldn’t clean herself. Couldn’t feed herself. Not so much as even lifting a finger. But her eyes moved. She would look at you. It was obvious she knew everything that was going on around her. She was a prisoner in a body that just refused to function. To me, that would be a total Hell. If there was anything good about it, she did not last long.

I suppose that would not really count as a coma. But, now, it turns out that some “vegetative state” victims may be experiencing something far closer to what my aunt experienced than the medical community would have supposed.

Somebody got the idea to hook up some sophisticated brain monitors to a bunch of these patients. Then, the researchers began to talk to the patients and tell them to think about different activities. In a “normal” brain, different parts of the brain “lights up” depending on what the person thinks about: For instance, playing tennis versus listening to a concert.

For most of the patients, asking them to think about different activities did nothing to the brain waves. But for a few (20-30%), the reaction was the same as for a “normal” brain. And in at least one case, the researchers were able to set up signals for yes and no. They asked detailed questions about his life before his head injury. He answered every question accurately. Sounds awfully close to what went on with my aunt.

The study was published in a recent New England Journal of Medicine. There is a fairly detailed article about it on the Washington Post web site. Here is the link for the article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020302887.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

It will be interesting to see where this research leads in the next few months. There could be huge breakthroughs in the treatment of these cases.

Hypnotists have been using “finger signals” for years to get yes/no answers from the subconscious and bypass the conscious mind. In fact, hypnosis is so effective largely because we communicate directly with the subconscious. At that level, it is easy to change things.

What about your life would you like to change?

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New Site Is Up & Running

For the last 10 years, www.success-is-easy.com has been hosted on a totally different platform. All content was created through HTML editors and uploaded.

This new site is powered by WordPress. There is a learning curve, and I am sure we are doing some things incorrectly, but we will get it worked out!

Welcome to a new world!!