Goal Set and Goal Get

Have you ever set a goal and missed, and then set it again and missed again and then set it again……? How tough is it to always fall just short and have to tell yourself maybe next time?

I once set a goal twelve times over four years before I finally achieved it. My target was specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed but there was something missing that stopped me succeeding.

My personal goal was to run under 40 minutes for a 10k race. Tough yet achievable. All I really needed to do was run about 5 seconds a mile quicker – that didn’t seem like too much to ask. Yet try as I might I couldn’t ever quite deliver on race day. On one occasion I missed by goal by one second – one second too many in

Hypnotically Speaking

When I talk to people about hypnosis, one of the most common concerns they have is about a loss of control. They imagine that, for whatever reason, I would want them to enjoy a deep state of hypnosis so they can cluck like a chicken or sing like Elvis.

These misapprehensions seem to generally come from having seen or heard about stage shows where the hypnotist seemingly makes a member of the audience do silly things. Stage shows are just that – shows – those who volunteer would probably do the silly acts anyway for an audience and there are selection processes before the start as well as the social pressure to do just as the hypnotist suggests or risk ruining the entire night for everyone.

My clients tell me they love the feeling of relaxation they get from trance and are surprised to find how aware they are throughout the session.

When I ask them what hypnosis is like for them they respond with descriptions such as:

“Very relaxing – even better than a hot bath with candles!”

“I felt very relaxed and calm – my mind was clear and able to focus on what I wanted to achieve, without actually having to think about it.”

“I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want it to end.”

For me, when I

Helping Shift Weight in 2011

Life isn’t fair when it comes to weight – it’s amazingly easy to pile on the pounds but seems much harder trying to shift them again.

As a teenager I was massively overweight. And I was massively unhappy about it. But I loved crisps and cola and sweets and anything else like it. Why eat vegetables and fruit when you can eat crisps?! I also hated exercise – quite frankly when you are an overweight kid, exercise is not fun and is not encouraged.

How did I shift the weight? I went into extreme exercise mode and (in the privacy of indoors) did 10 miles on an exercise bike most nights. When I felt a bit better about myself I went out and played football every night. As I grew older I started to enjoy running - but that’s another story.

Now it seems to me that if I suggest to people that they cycle 10 miles a night for weight loss they may do it for a day or a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but it isn’t going to last and it isn’t going to get to the root of their

Back To The Beginning

Picture this: I was waiting at Birmingham train station. I’d been on a four day training course. I’d passed the assessments but I felt low. The things I was telling myself in my head weren’t good. The images I had were all the stupid things I’d done wrong. I wanted to get home as fast as I could. The negative parts of the feedback I’d been given were ringing in my ears. I wanted to be away from other people and on my own.

I wandered around WH Smith to kill time and, as often happened, found myself looking for answers amongst the self-help books. I had a library full of them at home already – I’d never finished one yet and seemed to hope that by some sort of osmosis my life would be transformed. It hadn’t worked yet but I still had hope.

I picked up a book and began to flick through the pages. Something in the content resonated with me. Still I wasn’t sure so I