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Although using affirmations works wonderfully for many people, there are some who have not seen the results they would like. Most of us in this field have met at least one person who has repeated a good affirmation thousands of times over many months, sometimes years, without any appreciable results.

If you’ve ever had this experience, you know how frustrating it can be. I had the same problem myself, and if it had not been for a unique discovery, I would have given up and forgotten all about the power of belief.

I wish I could remember where I found this idea so I could give credit where it’s due. The idea that turned me around and gave my affirmations new life was the concept of hammering iron in a magnetic field. You see, metal responds to magnetic fields in peculiar ways. Not only is metal attracted to a magnet, but the metal itself can become a magnet in certain circumstances, such as when struck repeatedly while in a magnetic field.

When the metal is struck by a hammer, it’s atoms vibrate and realign themselves with the magnetic field. With each blow of the hammer, a few more atoms realign themselves. Eventually, if the metal remains in a fixed relationship to the magnetic field, most of

its atoms become aligned in a single direction, causing it to behave as a magnet.

When we use affirmations, it’s like we’re the metal and the affirmations are the hammer. Each time we repeat an affirmation, it’s like the metal is being struck by the hammer and a few atoms of belief are realigned. After enough repetitions, our belief takes on the alignment of the magnetic field surrounding us.

But what is the magnetic field? It’s our feelings!

Those who see results from using affirmations are those who have a strong feeling of confidence (belief) in the process, whereas those who fail to see results lack confidence in the process. Our level of belief in the process determines the response we see, just as the level of belief in a placebo. If we have a strong belief that it will fail, it will. And just as surely, if we have a strong belief that results will be forthcoming, they will be.

The same has been said about prayer for thousands of years.

In order to get results from prayer, you have to believe in the process. With our new grasp of the power belief has in our lives, this is easier to understand.

When we truly understand that it is our belief in a process which produces results, not the process itself, we are free to use any process we choose to create the desired results.

Hypnosis

One process in which millions of people have a strong belief is hypnosis. Although we could interpret this as a game we play with ourselves, it is based on two logical premises — that relaxation reduces the amount of conscious resistance to new ideas, and the use of affirmations to ‘program’ new beliefs into our inner (subconscious) mind.

This is probably a good time to explain why I tend to use the phrase ‘inner mind’ rather than ‘subconscious mind’ as many others do. Traditional psychology (and hypnotism) teaches that

the inner mind is below (or outside) our conscious awareness and is thus ‘sub-conscious’ (‘sub’, meaning ‘below’). However, it’s possible to gain awareness within the inner level of mind (such as when someone develops the ability to consciously control their heart rate or blood pressure), and therefore it is not always below the level of consciousness. Because this level of mind is not necessarily subconscious, I tend to use the phrase ‘inner mind’.

Linguistics aside, there are several techniques that fit under the heading of hypnosis. There’s self-directed hypnosis, recorded hypnosis, and operator-directed hypnosis.

Standard self-directed hypnosis (commonly called “self-hypnosis”) is a process where you relax (while sitting in a chair or lying down) and repeat affirmations to yourself. As mentioned before, relaxing helps to reduce any conscious resistance to new ideas, helping to eliminate doubts and realign the magnetic field of belief in the process.

Some people relax by first tightening up their muscles and then releasing, helping the muscles relax further with each repetition. Other people relax by suggesting to themselves that each part of their body is now relaxing, as in “My feet are relaxing, my legs are becoming more relaxed, my stomach is relaxing and letting go, my arms are relaxing and becoming limp and loose.” Use whatever method you believe will help you relax and enter into a self-hypnotic trance.

Once you feel yourself becoming disassociated from the world around you (a sure sign that you are in the hypnotic trance), the next step is to start repeating one or more affirmations to represent what you’d like to believe. The hard part of this is to remain conscious enough to hold onto your chosen affirmations, and at the same time release conscious control to your inner mind.

Within a single self-hypnosis session, work on only one or two main beliefs. Any more will diffuse your efforts. However, you can include as many supporting beliefs as required to recon-dition yourself to the major belief. For instance, in one session you can work on your beliefs about relationships, and in another

session you can work on your beliefs about money. If you can focus your hypnotic session even further, such as on your beliefs about your motivations for wanting more money, or your expectations of how others will respond to you having more freedom, you’ll see quicker results.

When creating affirmations for supporting beliefs, remember the four levels of belief we talked about earlier. Address universal beliefs, world beliefs, self-image beliefs, and surface beliefs. Use the belief archeology process I gave you in Chapter 4 to discover your specific beliefs surrounding the main issue, and create an affirmation for each one needing adjustment. Even better, create two or more for each one, phrasing each affirmation slightly differently. This gives your inner mind more ‘fiber’ to use in digesting the new material.

I’ve had lots of people ask me how long a self-hypnosis session should last. What I have found is that there are three main parts of a hypnotic session, the induction (where you relax), the conditioning (where you suggest inner changes), and the resurfacing (where you awaken to the outer world). It takes between 10 and 20 minutes to relax completely, especially when you are guiding yourself through the process. Resurfacing takes less time, usually between one and five minutes. Together, we have between 11 and 25 minutes for these stages. The condi-tioning portion is the most variable, and you can choose to spend anywhere from one minute to many hours on your mental conditioning.

Before you begin your self-hypnotic session, you may want to set a timer to awaken you. This can be as simple as an oven timer or as complex as a CD alarm clock that awakens you with a series of pre-recorded suggestions. Having a timer allows you to concentrate on the process without being concerned about spend-ing too much time in trance.

Some people prefer to record their affirmations and play the recording after they’ve relaxed completely. Others prefer to use professionally produced recordings, believing the affirmations will

be ‘better’ and spoken with more authority, and thus easier to believe. (Check out www.ChooseToBelieveBook.com/recordings for a current list of recommendations.) Either way, the general guideline is for the affirmations to be spoken slowly, clearly, and with complete confidence that they are conditioning your mind as desired.

Many people prefer to have a professional hypnotist guide them through the process. This has certain advantages over self-hypnosis, as the hypnotist can deliver the affirmations and other suggestions in a calm, confident manner that is quite effective.

Most people are able to reach deeper levels of trance. Another advantage is that the professional hypnotist can help discover beliefs you were unable to find yourself and respond to nuances needing to be addressed in the process.

When choosing a professional hypnotist, make sure to ask about their training and background, but more importantly, ask about their beliefs. If you go to a hypnotist who believes life is hard and full of disappointments, those beliefs will likely come across during the conditioning sessions. You want a hypnotist who already believes in the things you’re trying to accomplish.

Finding a compatible hypnotist is as important as finding a compatible mate.