Psychology and the Stock Market

March 4, 2009 By

The stock market and its downward motion are at the top of the news today.   Market strategists know that when the market drops it creates a psychology of fear and results in the market dropping further and creating even more fear.    Since most Americans have their savings and retirement disappearing at record rates is it any wonder that fear runs rampant today?  The problem with all this is that at some point someone or something needs to create confidence in the markets ability to grow.  The downward momentum needs to be stopped and turned around.   The stock market is a great analogy for the human mind.  When we perceive a threat we go into the "fight or flight" response.   This response is no longer needed in the same way as it was thousands of years ago. Consistently triggering this response is not only physically unhealthy but also creates Anxiety, panic attacks and sometimes even phobic reactions.  This increase in fear, increases stress hormones.  This increase in stress hormones triggers more feelings of Anxiety and fear.  Not only that but excess cortisol actually shrinks the brain.   It becomes an unhealthy downward spiral. Most readers of this article will now be ruminating on the stock market and their brains destruction. But all is not lost.  We may not be able to control the stock markets, or the world at large.  But we can control our perception of reality.  Because it is that perception that creates our world.  Every person has a different perception of reality.  One person might see the market swings as opportunity for personal growth.  While another simply gets so freaked out that they make bad decisions and make their situation even worse. Some great ways to stop the mental spiral are:

  • Take a break from the news. Unless you are going to do something with the information watching things seem to worsen only makes you feel worse.
  • Change the way you think.  By shifting negative, fearful thoughts and consciously changing them to positive you can have a huge impact on your mind set.
  • Get perspective by feeling grateful for what you have.
  • Take some action.  Well considered action will give you heightened feelings of control.
  • Laugh more.  Take the time to read or watch something funny or inspirational. 
  • Get some exercise. It’s a great way to burn off extra cortisol and you might even lose some weight.

And remember, the only thing we can control is our perception of reality.  So choose a better way of seeing things, change your thinking and you change your life.

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Goals and the Subconscious Mind

February 16, 2009 By

The problem with goal setting is most people don’t know how to set them in order to actually get them. Every year it is common practice to set goals on New Years. This is a long standing ritual. But it doesn’t work. Most people have given up by early February and have put those goals on the back burner to their everyday life. But does it have to be this way? The answer is an emphatic no! If the person has the proper motivation their goals can become a reality. So the question is how do you get that motivation? It comes from setting goals utilizing the combined power of the conscious and subconscious minds. The subconscious mind is arguably more important. All major inventors, business owners, and creative geniuses spend much more time in their subconscious mind then the average person. That is where their creativity and strength lie. If goals are written only in the conscious or thinking mind they are truly flat and uninspiring. Let’s face it. It is hard enough to achieve a worthwhile goal so why would someone put in all the effort for an uninspiring goal? hypnosis is the technology for connecting to the subconscious mind.

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What Makes a Better Salesperson?

February 11, 2009 By

There are many traits that make up someone who is the consummate salesperson.  Things like confidence, elegant communication, empathy, the closing instinct and the ability to motivate oneself without instant gratification.

So you are not a “salesperson”.  Why should you keep reading? Because anyone who is an entrepreneur or just wants to be more successful in personal relationships can benefit by being better at influencing others.  I could go into the details at length of how to be better at selling.  In fact I will go into some of those details next time.  But today I am going to tell you the one thing that sets the average sales person, entrepreneur or business person apart from those who really succeed.  That thing is the desire to constantly improve. 

Whether it’s improving your close ratio or your attitude.  The best sales people are the ones who constantly learn the techniques that will set them apart from the rest.  They don’t “try” anything.  What they do is take committed action.

 I recently conducted a sales training for a large bank.  I taught them techniques from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) which they could use to up there close ratio and also tools to keep a consistent positive attitude. Afterwards I had several account executives come to me for more info on my sales performance program. When I spoke to their national sales manager at the close of the seminar, she mentioned how it was the top reps who were interested in the program.  She wondered how to get the average reps to be more motivated.  This is a common dilemma, without the desire to learn and improve those sales reps will remain average.

So the question is do you want to be average?  If not then get up, get out and learn or do something new.  Because if you do what you have always done you will get the same results you have always gotten.

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Positive Thinking in Negative Times

February 7, 2009 By

Thoughts are things.  When we focus on the negative we create more negativity in our lives.  It is fact that negative is more powerful then positive.  You may have noticed this in the news media. Part of the reason seems to be that it is human nature to want to know what might go wrong, just in case it does.  Many people spend a large part of their lives focusing on “the news” or what passes for news today. It has been proven that when people spend large amounts of their time consuming the negativity of “the news” that they become more negative and depressed.  What real purpose does this serve?  Are people actually better prepared by hearing what might happen?  Actually they are not and the negativity actually creates negative behaviors and by doing so brings the very things they feared in the first place into their lives.

When life seems to turn on us many people will cope by drinking, eating or smoking more. Obviously this creates even more problems in their live.  I see this every day in my clients.  It is exactly when they need to be more focused and healthy that they become less so.  I help them using hypnosis and NLP by giving them back the power and control over their thinking and by doing so they gain more control in their lives.

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What is hypnosis?

September 26, 2008 By

  There are many misconceptions about hypnosis.  One that I hear most frequently is that you will lose control.  This is actually the opposite of what takes place in hypnosis.     hypnosis is a normal, natural state of mind and everyone spends part of their day in this mental state.   The transitional phase before you fall asleep at night is one of those times. Hypnosis gives you the same feeling of focused concentration that you feel when you are engrossed in a book or movie.  That same feeling of "flow" as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book titled "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience".  That state is very useful because when we are in it we feel totally connected and focused. Golfers and other athletes strive for this feeling. Often time flies by and we feel very refreshed.    It is in this state that we access our subconscious mind.  Approximately 88% of mental function takes place in the subconscious and yet we spend very little real effort in improving that function. It is so easy to change when you get this part of your mind aligned with your conscious goals.      If you find it difficult to change or are not achieving your goals you are probably neglecting this most powerful instrument of change.  Imagine how hard it is to delete a specific program from your computer if you don’t know how to remove it from the hard drive? The subconscious mind is basically your mental hard drive and contains everything that you have experienced in your life.  If you don’t maintain it, just like a computer drive it will become corrupted and eventually crash.

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How to Stop Smoking

August 15, 2008 By

 Helping my clients stop smoking is probably one of the easiest things that I do. Once someone has decided that they want to stop smoking or go back to being a "non-smoker" the process is quick and relatively simple. It is easier than many other issues because it is so unhealthy. No one can really dispute that fact and unlike eating, you do not need to smoke to live. The process involves working with the individual to determine the reasons behind their habit. We also reframe the "addiction" to nicotine. Then I record a powerful "stop smoking" CD while I hypnotize the client. This works incredibly well. The typical result is that the individual stops smoking that day and then comes back for at least 1 reinforcement session. For more information on addictions and habits check out my website. http://www.neuro-solutions.com/

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The Truth about Weight Loss

August 15, 2008 By

As anyone who has dieted knows, diets don’t work long term. There are literally hundreds perhaps even thousands of diets. Many of these diets offer magical results. Five and more pounds per week of weight loss is an unrealistic and in most cases an unhealthy, unsustainable amount of weight to lose. The real goal is not just to lose the weight, it is to change how you think about food and the reasons behind any negative behavior or thought about food and yourself. Unhealthy negative behaviors are the result of lifelong programming. Until denial is overcome and the emotional pain is conquered no diet will be a permanent fix. In fact if you have a problem and do nothing about it, it most certainly will become worse due to the programming effect of repetition

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Anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, oh my!

August 14, 2008 By

Anxiety is a growing problem today.   Nearly everyone I see has some Anxiety or fear.  The reasons for these fears are too numerous to begin to cover here.  Some fears are very real and others are totally irrational.    The first step to getting rid of a fear is to discover if it is an actual fear or an Anxiety or irrational fear/phobia.  It’s important to have fear.  It protects us from danger.  It is an instinct.  The problems begin when we attach the same fearful feeling we might have to being attacked, to somthing as mundane as leaving the house.  The key to changing and alleviating fear and anxiety lies in the subconscious mind.  By connecting to the seat of the emotions and changing the internal perception you change the feeling.  hypnosis and NLP are incredibly powerful techniques to make these changes.

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