Hey Friend!

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrases:

“What goes around, comes around.”
“Treat others how you’d like to be treated.”
“Judge not lest you be judged.”
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“The karma bus always arrives on time.”

Lately, I’ve been contemplating the spiritual idea/natural law of karma, trying to understand how best to navigate my life to create more balance, joy and peace.

In his phenomenal book, The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav, suggests, “When you choose wisely and responsibly while you are angry, judgmental, etc., you enter into the evolution of your soul consciously…Karma is not a moral dynamic. Morality is a human creation. The universe does not judge. The law of karma governs the balancing of energy within our system of morality and within those of our neighbors. It serves humanity as an impersonal and universal teacher of responsibility.”

For example, someone “that takes advantage of others creates an imbalance of energy that must be righted by the experience of being taken advantage by others.”

Looking at karma as energy that needs to be balanced, offers a clear way of understanding the idea that what we put out into the world comes back to us; Zukav writes, “the soul must balance its energy. It must experience the effects that it has caused.”

Therefore, every choice to be more compassionate, accepting or loving, provides the karmic exchange of positive energy. And, of course, every cruel, selfish and hateful choice provides the karmic exchange of negative energy that needs to be balanced.

Zukav offers 3 ways to become more consciously aware of your karmic exchanges:
1. Journal on these questions: How many times this last week did I feel angry, resentful, betrayed, superior, inferior, etc. and acted on that emotion? Have I ever said, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Write down examples. How many times have I felt hurt and wanted to hurt the person I felt was responsible? When something doesn’t go my way, do I look for the lesson or do I play the victim?

2. Implement a monthly Week of Kindness: Go out of your way to see how you can be friendly and kind to people that you encounter during the week. Extend this kindness to people you talk to on the phone, email, or write. Then notice how you feel and what effects you notice in your life.

3. Practice non-judgmental justice: When we judge, we create negative karma. Non-judgmental justice is a perception that allows you to see everything in life, but does not engage your negative emotions. Non-judgmental justice relieves you of the self-appointed job of judge and jury because you know that everything is being seen–nothing escapes the law of karma–and this brings forth understanding and compassion. So, practice seeing what you see and experiencing what you experience without responding negatively.

These exercises help us become more aware of our responses to life, and they remind us that everything we say and do carry consequences for ourselves and others.

To help you further, here’s a quick Hypnosis Recording on Karma and practicing non-judgmental perception. Grab your headphones and listen below:
Conscious of Karma

Every moment is an opportunity to consciously be more of the change we’d like to see in the world. A keen awareness of karma calls us to be more responsible and compassionate, for as Zukav writes, “when you understand that your experiences are karmic necessities, you are less likely to take them personally–to react with anger, righteous outrage, judgment, etc…creating fewer painful and more joyful experiences for yourself.”

Much love and happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

As a screenwriter, a hypnotherapist, an educator with a Master’s degree, and even as a mom, I’ve experienced intense moments of insecurity and self-doubt, commonly referred to as “imposter syndrome.” At these times, I’m inundated with thoughts like:

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’m not that smart.”

“She’s better at this than me.”

“I’m going to fail at this; how embarrassing.”

“I need more training.”

“I’m not good enough.”

The psychological pattern Imposter Syndrome or Fraud Syndrome was first recognized by Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes in a 1978 research paper. It can be defined as “internally believing that you are not as competent and intelligent as others are…you fail to take credit for your success.”

Here are the range of symptoms Clance and Imes identified with imposter syndrome:

– Feeling inadequate
– Self-doubt
– Negative self-talk
– Sabotaging your own success
– Setting unrealistic goals and feeling like a failure when they can’t be achieved
– Anxiety
– Constantly comparing yourself to others
– Extreme lack of confidence
– Failure to trust your own intuition

Furthermore, in his article “Imposter Syndrome and Hypnotherapy Tools,” psychologist, NLP practitioner and hypnotherapist, William Horton describes personality types that can be prone to imposter syndrome:

The Perfectionist
These types are not satisfied with what they have done and they always feel that their work could be better. Instead of focusing on strengths, they stress over smaller mistakes. This constant tension can lead to depression and self-sabotage.

The Expert
These types are not satisfied with their ocean of knowledge, skills or certificates and always want to learn more and more. They pass up projects if they don’t feel they have 100% of the skills needed to complete that project successfully. This tension can lead to stagnant career advancement, as they always underrate their expertise.

The Natural Genius
These types, though naturally competent and skilled in a particular area, can often feel crushed if they face a difficult task and fail on the first try. This tension can lead to easily giving up, playing it too safe, or feeling humiliated and doubting/rejecting their inherent gifts/skills.

The Soloist
These types prefer to work alone and therefore refuse help from others, as they see this as a weakness. This tension can lead to overwhelm and poor performance, which can lead to self-sabotage.

The Superman/Superwoman
These types always push themselves to work as hard as they can. They often do a good job and need to succeed in all areas, but this tension can lead to unrealistic expectations, burnout, depression and self-sabotage.

Horton notes, “Imposter syndrome is related to other psychological disorders, including stress, depression and anxiety…the feelings experienced by a person who is suffering from imposter syndrome tend to go in a rhythm. The more the person achieves, the more they feel they don’t achieve, and they don’t deserve it.”

Many people at various points in their lives will be affected by Imposter syndrome. Horton identities “situations where people interact” as breeding grounds for Imposter syndrome; situations like a challenging work environment, a new or unfamiliar environment, a social platform in which new relationships are being formed, a family setting with high expectations, and any academic environment. Also, whenever we take on new role (become a parent, get a new position, move to a new town) we may be prone to feeling like a fraud and our feelings of inadequacy may be triggered.

Imposter syndrome is rooted in a lack of self-confidence, self-worth and self-esteem. To help you avoid feeling like an imposter or to shift those feelings once they start, I recommend taking one or more of these questions into your self-hypnosis sessions:

– Am I jumping to conclusions too quickly about this situation? Do I have any facts to back up these thoughts?

– Think of someone you love, if they were in this situation, how would you motivate and encourage them?

– What can I do to change my feelings about this?

– Is there another, positive way to see this situation?

– What do I gain by playing small? What do I gain by taking a risk?

– When was a time that you were enough, when you succeeded? How did that feel? How can you feel that way about this situation?

If you’d like more guidance on this, I’ve recently changed up the format for the monthly group hypnosis sessions. Instead of meeting for a live session once a month, I’ve decided to send out a hypnosis recording on the first of the month for the group to listen to throughout that month. We then have a pop-in, group meet at the end of each month to share our successes and ask questions. My goal is to provide you with a library of self-affirming and helpful hypnosis tracks to support you throughout your life. If you’d like to be added to the list to receive monthly, free hypnosis recordings, click here or comment to this post saying “add me to the list.”

This recording was aptly called “Confidence in Strengths and Talents.” To listen to the 10 minute recording, click below.

Remember, confidence is an inside job. For most of our lives, we’ve been conditioned to believe we’re not good enough, we don’t have enough expertise, we aren’t ready for that next step, and we’re going to fail if we stretch beyond our comfort zone–but all those thoughts are just our limiting beliefs…and we can change those and find the courage to move beyond them.

The truth is you are good enough. You are worthy of a beautiful life. There is no such thing as perfect. Everyone is still learning, no one has it all figured out. You know what you know, and you deserve to be seen and heard.

Don’t play small. Don’t hide from your well-deserved praise. Call out that imposter insecurity when it tries to show up, and let hypnosis get you back on track!

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

For most of us, our beliefs about money come from our parents and our childhood experiences around wealth. As children, we soaked up and stored all that information in our subconscious minds, and that formed the foundation of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs about money. Do any of these phrases sound familiar?

“Money doesn’t grow on trees”
“Money is the root of all evil”
“Money can’t buy happiness”
“Health is better than wealth”
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”
“All that glitters is not gold”
“More money, more problems”
“A day late and a dollar short”

We encounter a lot of mixed messages about money, yet we can’t survive without it. So, it behooves us to learn our money story and get to the root of our limiting beliefs, because it turns out that money and happiness are linked.

In their book, NeuroWisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success, Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning PhD discuss how in 1974, a distinguished professor of economics at USC, Richard Easterlin, asserted that there wasn’t a strong correlation between happiness and wealth, but he was wrong. Many studies have found the opposite:

– The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, looking at 40 years of worldwide statistics between 1974 and 2010 found that of the people earning $150,000+ only 2% were dissatisfied with their lives, and of the people earning $500,000 or more 0% were dissatisfied with their lives (100% were very happy).

– The Wharton School of Business in 2012 found no satiation point, meaning the more money one made the more happiness they experienced.

– Michael Finke at Texas Tech University found that retirees that saved over $2 million in non-housing wealth were some of the happiest people in the world.
– Cornell University professor Robert Frank found that increased yearly income is the most significant way to increase happiness.

– According to the World Happiness Report, done by the United Nations in 2015, the six most important determinants of happiness are (in order):

1. Spending power (economic capital)

2. Friends, family and community support (social capital)

3. Healthy life expectancy

4. Freedom to make decisions

5. Financial generosity to others

6. Absence of corruption in business and government

– The report also found that “well-being” was another essential quality of a happier life (well-being defined as a life filled with enjoyment and safety, without the constant burdens of anger, worry, stress, depression and pain).

The authors assert that “happiness is a momentary experience, regulated by some of the oldest structures of your brain, and every organism is neurologically programmed to seek pleasurable experiences because it increases the chances of survival…But happiness is not just about seeking momentary pleasure or putting dollars into your purse. It’s also shaped by how you choose to make those dollars and how you choose to spend them. In other words, the pleasure you get by engaging in the activity of making and spending money through work and social activities is the secret to neurological satisfaction and worldly success.”

You may be thinking, but what about GREED and the Scrooge McDuck’s of the world! They can’t be the happiest! The authors acknowledge that “there is a dark side to money. Research also shows that the more wealth you have the more it strengths narcissism and feelings of entitlement…and when people become obsessed with money their relationships deteriorate…increased material wealth causes people to become more selfish and insensitive towards others…however, when wealthy individuals engage in values-based exercises that increase self-awareness and social awareness, their egotism diminishes. These are the people that are often recognized as great leaders.”

They go on to say that, “making money increases happiness, but the way you spend it predicts long-term satisfaction…if you make experiential purchases (vacations, cultural events, etc.) you’ll be happier than if you spend it on material objects…the more you spend money on shared experiences with others, the happier you’ll be…the more people focused on materialistic wealth, the more dissatisfied they felt with their lives.”

Their book is full of exercises to help your brain cultivate more wealth and happiness, and I wanted to share with you all an exercise from the book that you can easily take through a self-hypnosis session. Use this exercise as a way to gain clarity on how you might ideally like to make money and how you’d like to consciously spend it.

EXERCISE:

Get into a deeply relaxed state and then “pay attention to the thoughts and images that come to mind as you ponder this question:

What would you do if you were the wealthiest person in the world?

Think about all the things you could do with that money, and all the people you could help. Visualize the changes you could make in your life and how you could improve the lives of the people around you. Notice how these thoughts make you feel.”

Repeat this exercise often and see what consistently comes up for you. The subconscious mind is full of creative ideas and possibilities. See what daily actions you can take to feel happier and more financially secure in your life. I’m not being dismissive about the myriad societal inequalities and impediments to wealth that many in our society face, but instead offering an idea that if the collective can create a self-aware and socially aware money story–then we can make the world better for everyone. Remember, YOU have the power to change your money story, by creating new neural pathways of thoughts and beliefs that best serve your life. Your brain is already hardwired to seek out the pleasure and satisfaction that wealth brings. So, align with that truth, and make it RAIN!

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

Do you pass up opportunities for learning, feel labeled by failure or get discouraged when something takes a lot of effort?

Or, do you take on challenges, make a point of learning from your failure, and put in the effort to master or complete something?

Whatever the answer, it gives you insight into whether or not you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, psychologist Carol Dweck Ph.D., explores how a fixed mindset can hold you back, while a growth mindset can help you truly reach your potential.

The good news is that one’s mindset can change and forming new beliefs is entirely possible. Take success for example. Instead of looking at successful people as special talents or gifted geniuses, realize the truth, that “just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training.”  Dweck’s book further challenges our assumptions of successful people by showing the reality of their dedicated processes and efforts:

“For the invention of the lightbulb, [Thomas Edison] had thirty assistants, including well-trained scientists, often working around the clock in a corporate-funded state-of-the-art laboratory…there was no single moment of invention…but a whole network of time-consuming inventions each requiring one or more chemists, mathematicians, physicists, engineers and glass-blowers…

[Charles Darwin’s] masterwork, The Origin of the Species, took years of teamwork in the field, hundreds of discussions with colleagues and mentors, several preliminary drafts, and half a lifetime of dedication…

Mozart labored for more than ten years until he produced any work that we admire today. Before then, his compositions were not that original or interesting. Actually, they were patched-together chunks taken from other composers.”

Gifted or not, there is a clear reason why some people achieve less and others achieve more: mindset. People either believe they can do or learn it, or they don’t and quit. Dweck writes, “A growth mindset lets people–even those who are targets of negative labels (stereotypes, discrimination)–use and develop their minds fully. Their heads are not filled with limiting thoughts, a fragile sense of belonging and a belief that other people can define them.”

Here are some of Dweck’s tips to help you Grow Your Mindset:

– Think about your hero. Do you think of this person as someone with extraordinary abilities who achieved with little effort? Now go find out the truth. Find out the tremendous effort that went into their accomplishment–and admire them more.

– Is there something in your past that you think measured you? A test score? A dishonest or callous action? Being fired from a job? Being rejected? Focus on that thing. Feel all the emotions that go with it. Look honestly at your role in it, but understand that it doesn’t define your intelligence or personality. Instead, ask: What did I (or can I) learn from that experience? How can I use this as a basis for growth? Carry that with you instead.
– Think of times other people outdid you and you just assumed they were smarter or more talented. Now consider the idea that they just used better strategies, taught themselves more, practiced harder, and worked their way through obstacles. You can do that, too, if you want to.

– Think of a time you were enjoying something–doing a crossword puzzle, playing a sport, learning a new dance. Then it became hard and you wanted out. Maybe you suddenly felt tired, bored, or hungry…don’t fool yourself. It’s a fixed mindset. Picture [yourself]… as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going.

– Are there situations where you get stupid–where you disengage your intelligence? Next time you’re in one of those situations think about learning and improvement, not judgment.

– Is there something you’ve always wanted to do but were afraid you weren’t good at? Make a plan to do it.

Keep in mind that no one is perfect. At different times in our lives we may act from a fixed or growth perspective. But, being aware of our thoughts and beliefs helps us to pivot and get back in alignment with what we really want for our lives.

Since our beliefs about our abilities affect our outcomes, we can use our daily hypnosis practice as a way to encourage new thoughts and beliefs, to motivate ourselves to take action and acquire the new skills necessary to move forward. Our daily hypnosis practice can also help us to face the fear of failure and to challenge the labels that we (or other people) have placed on ourselves, allowing our subconscious to consider a more positive reality for our learning and development.

To better help you identifying the ways you might be stuck in fixed thinking, I wanted to share with you the hypnosis portion of last week’s group hypnosis session on limiting beliefs. Take 20 minutes and get some relief, motivation and insight. Click play to listen:

Happy editing,
Robin

Hey Friend!

Over the past year, I think we can all agree that life got a LOT more overwhelming. Change happened quickly, and we had to adapt to a new way of life. It was a time of anxiety, fear, tragedy, and isolation. And, we found our way, as best we could.

Now, as most of our communities begin to slowly open back up, I’ve been hearing a lot of people say we’re getting “back to normal.” Maybe. But before life starts moving forward and gaining speed, I think we should ask ourselves: Do I want back my old “normal”? If so, which parts? Many aspects of my pre-pandemic lifestyle weren’t sustainable, healthy or aligned with what I truly valued or wanted for my life.

So, for today’s newsletter, I’d like to offer you a clarity exercise from Danielle LaPorte’s The Desire Map workbook. Spend some time journaling about each question or take a question through your daily hypnosis practice and see what your subconscious wants to tell you. Here are some questions to consider:

In every area of my life, what am I grateful for?

In every area of my life, what’s not working?

What are my core desired feelings?

To generate my desired feelings, what do I want to do, experience, or have?

Other than time or money, what I want more of is _________. How can I get that?

What brings me alive, enlivens me, or reminds me of who I am? How can I experience that this week, this month and this year?

A daily hypnosis practice helps you to identify the feelings you want to feel and enables your subconscious to get on board and support the way you really want to show up for your life.

Lastly, I wanted to encourage you, if you haven’t already, to commit to a daily self-hypnosis practice as a way to combat stress. Healthy stress management is integral to your quality of life, your vibrancy and your beauty.

Happy editing,
Robin