Do you still clean your plate because there are starving children somewhere in the world?
Since moving to Louisville, Kentucky, I’ve had to find a new source of food for Peek and Twinkie, the budgies.
Maybe you don’t know that birds are picky eaters. Sort of like toddlers. In fact, parrot-type birds have the intelligence of a three- or four-year-old human.
You might have more experience with toddlers than with birds. If so, you know what it can be like to get them to eat something.
The subconscious or nonconscious mind is kind of like a toddler. It likes things simple, uncomplicated, and routine. That’s why many people have trouble changing habits, because they approach them the way an adult would–not the way a toddler would.
I was talking to a woman who had been to a hypnotist before, and although it worked, and she lost weight and changed her eating habits, she was somewhat mystified by the process.
“He told stories and talked in a funny voice,” she said.
There are many versions of the “hypnotic voice.” It can be monotone, singsong, excited, or soothing. It can use rhyme and rhythm like poetry. It can also sound like normal speech. It sometimes sounds like the kind of thing you’d say to a toddler.
The subconscious mind speaks a different language
Certain vocal qualities and speech patterns more easily bypass the conscious mind–which is the whole purpose of hypnosis. When we bypass the conscious mind, we can communicate directly with the subconscious or nonconscious mind, which is where habits reside.
This toddler approach can get greater leverage with your nonconscious or subconscious mind, because you’re communicating in its native language.
One of my successful weight-loss clients created a suggestion that she was, “Healthy, happy, active, and attractive.” Can you hear the rhythm and rhyme in this short phrase? This suggestion worked well for her because it was from her heart, and the rhythm, rhyme, and simplicity perfectly meshed with the toddler approach.
Going back to my first question–Do you still clean your plate because children somewhere are starving?” Your conscious, rational, logical mind knows that you will never put food in someone else’s mouth by cleaning your plate, but you do it anyway because of a message you received from an adult when you were a child. These childhood messages stay with us long after they have outlived their usefulness! How do we erase these messages? By creating new messages using the same toddler language.
You can test this out for yourself by creating a short, fun, rhythmic, or rhyming message. If that sounds like a lot of work, schedule a strategy call. I have listened to clients come in with these childhood messages for more than 15,000 hours. You aren’t alone, and what worked for them could work for you. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
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