Dear Matt,

I’ve been suffering with an addiction known as PMO. Each time I engage in it I feel horrible afterward. I tell myself I’m not going to do it again, then the urge becomes overpowering and I fall victim to it again. Any suggestions?

A.

Dear A.

This is where you can begin to exercise your “won’t power.”

You do the opposite of the Nike slogan and… “Just Don’t Do It.”

It’s one thing to have positive goals that you pursue; goals where you want to be able to say, “Look what I created.”

It’s another to feel subject to default goals that you didn’t formally declare. Although you’ve been exercising your will power to overcome this addiction, will power is no match for won’t power.

You exercise won’t power by seeing and declaring what you WON’T do anymore. You see yourself walking away from the screen and the fakery. You forgive yourself and recognize that a much Higher Power loves you and forgives you, too.

Begin with a one day goal, as in, “I won’t do XXX today.”

Don’t just say it, either. Picture yourself NOT doing and keep score of your progress by recording how many days in a row you’ve exercised your “Just Don’t Do It” power.

Replace the old habit with a new one. Do something else with your hands. Keep them engaged in reading, writing, drawing, cooking, cleaning, gardening and so on.

I would also encourage you to read today’s entry (June 19) in Psycho-Cybernetics 365 – which is about “being used” by an addiction. Read a page each morning when you get up. At the top of each page is a quote from Dr. Maltz, followed by my commentary.

I read a page each day myself, and I wrote the book. What does that tell you?

Keep me posted on your “won’t power” progress.

And remember, Just Don’t Do It!

Matt Furey

It came as a surprise to me.

For much of my life I thought people were the only living beings who thought in pictures. But the more I got around people who have horses, the more I learned.

You may think the idea of an animal thinking in pictures is crazy, but there are plenty of horse, dog and cat owners who will tell you that they do.

Now, this does not mean that animals have the same level of ability to create that people do. Animals can dig dens and build dams. Birds can make nests. This is part of their survival mechanism.

But I don’t see any animals building cathedrals, writing books or creating documentaries in the fore-see-able future, nor do they need to because they’ve been giving us plenty of material to work with since the dawn of existence.

More importantly, though, what can we learn from the animals?

If they are thinking in pictures, isn’t it a good idea to ramp our ability to do so as well? For this is how we get the Creative Mechanism working in our favor.

Picture positive – get positive results.

Matt Furey

Links to our best-selling products:

Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded

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Zero Resistance Living

Theatre of the Mind Audiobook

Dear Matt,

I was reading a book in which a term, the subtle energy field, was addressed. Do you know anything about subtle energy and how would you explain it?

Tyson Knotts

Dear Tyson,

People who practice Tai Chi and other types of energetic exercises often refer to this “subtle energy field.” Even so, anyone who pays attention can get a feel for it.

Here’s a simple way: With your eyes open or closed, put your awareness in front of your heart center or in the space around your head. Be still for a minute and notice if you can feel something that you were never aware of before.

That is the subtle energy field.

Matt,

I’ve been reading a book by Wallace Wattles and he refers to there being a type of “thinking stuff” in the air. I’m lost on this concept. Any ideas to help me understand this or is it all buncombe?

A.B.

A.B.,

Thinking stuff is somewhat of a weird term, then again, is it only weird because we’re making it harder than it is with our thinking?

When you picture a goal, this goal isn’t confined to only your brain and nervous system. Your brain sends out a signal, one that other people can pick up on. This happens when you pick up the phone you say, “Now that’s strange, I was just thinking about you.”

In a different context, when you picture a goal, you don’t just activate the energy within you. The energy from the goal goes outward in the form of passion or enthusiasm.

The goal picture then reorganizes itself and becomes a stronger force. When the goal is pictured frequently it gathers momentum outside and inside of you. People can show up out of the blue to help you accomplish it or an idea comes to you that you’ve never considered before. Or you find information that was always available to you, that you either ignored or knew nothing about.

This may be a stretch for you, but if you see the air around you as having an infinite amount of tiny brains that are picking up on your mental pictures and thoughts, you’ll never again struggle with the idea of there being “thinking stuff.”

Also, consider how we measure the DPI (dots per inch) of photographs taken today. The more dots there are, the more our brain recognizes what is going on in the photo. Each dot is a sort of “thinking stuff” that is part of the bigger picture.

Matt Furey

Good morning,

Here’s today’s question about practicing the exercises in Psycho-Cybernetics:

Dear Matt,

In the 3rd chapter you told about training with your imagination and in the 4th talk about using the relaxation as a tool…

Both for 30 minutes, but I want to know if it’s done at the same 30 minutes or separate, can I do both at the same time or one after the other for better results?

Emanuel

Dear Emanuel,

The relaxation exercises help you get started with visualization in a way that you can “imagine and feel” your body letting go of unnecessary tension. Choose one for each day and start with five minutes instead of 30. You can go longer than five minutes but this is a zero resistance time frame. As you get better at it you will be able to do it anytime, anywhere, with your eyes open or closed.

Same goes for the other visualization exercises. Start with five minutes. Do the relaxation exercises first so that the goal picture is absorbed by your mind much more easily.

The reason for the shorter time frame than suggested in the book is because you avoid the “I don’t have an hour” time trap. Once you get the hang of it and are feeling the positive results of the practice, the amount of time involved will naturally go up. In fact, you may find yourself doing the exercises twice per day: when you get up and before bed.

Matt Furey

P.S. I also recommend my book, Psycho-Cybernetics 365, because I chunk the process down for you and give essential details one day at a time.