How much time should you spend each day practicing the exercises in Psycho-Cybernetics?
If your answer is based upon what Dr. Maltz advised, you’ll probably think you should be practicing for at least “one hour per day.”
Yesterday I spoke with a gentleman who was trying to do just that; an hour per day of practice, and he figured something was wrong with him because he couldn’t stick to the routine.
Nothing wrong with the gentleman at all. He just needed a revised approach.
In the updated and expanded edition of Psycho-Cybernetics, you may have noticed that I advised you to begin with five minutes.
Why did I write something that contradicted Dr. Maltz?
I did so because of what Maltz wrote in his final book.
What was it that he wrote?
I believe the title, 5 Minutes to Happiness, gives it away.
Begin by practicing the mental exercises each day for five minutes, and you’re on your way to happiness… and success. Begin by challenging yourself to invest five minutes each day, whether you feel up to it or not.
Don’t give yourself a big daily performance goal of practicing for an hour. You may hang in there for a day or two, but eventually, you’ll probably say to yourself, “I can’t do it today. I don’t have an hour.”
And this excuse takes hold of you the next day, and the next and the next. Your grand intentions went out the window almost as soon as you started.
Dr. Maltz figured this out after Psycho-Cybernetics came out and that’s why he adjusted the time frame in his final book.
It’s not an “Hour of Power” that you need to get rolling. It’s five minutes.
Set aside five minutes and do this everyday without missing for 30 days. Challenge yourself. And track yourself.
Keep a journal or make an X on a wall calendar. Do something where you can see that you challenged yourself to do something each day, and you are doing it.
If you take the five-minute challenge, and you never miss a day for 30 days, I can explain to you in advance what is bound to happen. Do you want to hear what that is?
Here tis:
1. The five minutes you are investing each day to meet the challenge will make you feel better.
2. When you meet the challenge each day, your good feelings will expand.
3. The expansion of good feelings will lead to momentum.
4. The momentum will lead to a natural upgrade, i.e. without any pressure on yourself to do more, you will probably double, triple or quintuple the amount of time you are taking for yourself.
5. And within six months to a year, because the exercises are making a profound difference in your life, you are spending an hour each day doing them.
Can you see how different the model I’ve show you is from the “get out of your comfort zone” and “take massive action” notions?
One model is the fire method. You light yourself on fire to get things done, totally unaware that fire burns. Burn out is an example of the nervous system being fried from the “fire method.”
The model I am proposing is the water method. You give yourself enough water to wade in, to tread water in, to swim in – but not so much that you’re drowning.
Begin with five minutes each day – not an hour. This is the way to make sure you meet the challenge, build momentum and succeed.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
