Psycho-Cybernetics - See Yourself at Your Best

Matt Furey's Super Human Success Blog

The Media’s Role Reversed

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Yesterday I drove up to Gainesville, about two hours away, to use the sauna at Gainesville Health and Fitness, a gym that recently re-opened.

My friend, Steve, met me at the front door, and let me enter as his guest.

What a relief.

I haven’t been in a sauna in a couple months, and I sure did miss it. On top of the sauna, this gym also has a cold water plunge pool that is set at about 55 degrees. Most excellent.

Anyway, on the way to Gainesville, I listened to some ancient records of Dr. Wayne Dyer, who revealed in his final book, I Can See Clearly Now, how he utilized the teachings and principles of Psycho-Cybernetics.

As I listened to Dr. Dyer’s talk, I thought about how he would respond to the situation we find ourselves in today. I also thought about how Dr. Maxwell Maltz would respond. And Napoleon Hill.

And I’m pretty doggone sure it wouldn’t be the norm we are seeing today.

None of them would give in to the fear, the panic or the hysteria. None would have allowed the media to tell them what to think.

To summarize, all three of these men believed the outside world is a reflection of our inner world.

Things don’t just happen.

We might think “things just happen” but that’s incorrect.

Everything begins as a thought – and thought is activated by emotion.

The world was created with thought by a Creator who breathed life into it.

This Creator formed you in his image and fortified you with the power to think thoughts, imagine, visualize and breathe life into things.

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill wrote about calling off the media during an “epidemic.” Here’s what he wrote:

During the “flu” epidemic which broke out during the world war, the mayor of New York City took drastic steps to check the damage which people were doing themselves through their inherent fear of ill health. He called in the newspaper men and said to them, “Gentlemen, I feel it necessary to ask you not to publish any scare headlines concerning the ‘flu’ epidemic. Unless you cooperate with me, we will have a situation which we cannot control.” The newspapers quit publishing stories about the “flu,” and within one month the epidemic had been successfully checked.

How about that?

To simplify, instead of starting and ending each day with “Oh my god, that’s terrible,” begin each day reflecting upon God, and what is good.

Yes, the sauna is good. The cold plunge is good. A two-hour drive to use a sauna is good. A two-hour drive home is good.

And I look forward to going back to Gainesville for another round.

But there’s more good news: Gyms in Tampa open tomorrow, and the one I go to has a sauna.

Yes.

See it. Feel it. Be it.

Matt Furey

Visualization Mistakes

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I remember asking a client, “Do you take the time each day to picture a result you want to create for that day?”

“I’m a man of action,” he responded. “I just get up and get going.”

I questioned, “How’s that working out for you?”

“Well, I’m getting decent results, but I think I could do a lot better,”

Truism.

Taking the time to visualize what you want to see happen before you jump into action may appear, at first, to be an unnecessary step, but there’s a reason that elite athletes, executives and top professionals around the world “picture it first.”

To visualize is to realize.

Oddly enough, many people don’t understand “the mechanics” of visualization. They get hung up or stuck on a number of hurdles.

For example, a man closes his eyes to visualize a goal and cannot see it. When he asks other experts about this, he is told that he’s “not visual.”

Not true.

A lady once told me that she can see the idea of what she wants to visualize, but gets upset when she can’t “see it clearly.”

“Define clearly.”

“Well, I should be able to picture it as clearly as everything in this room, or as clearly as an outdoor scene,” she replies.

“Says who?” I question.

Another sticking point is the idea that you must be able to focus on a single image or goal for long periods of time. If a person’s focus waivers at all, the person thinks he is doing something wrong.

Again, not true.

Assuming that visualization is purely visual and that you must see everything crystal clear are common mistakes.

Visualization is also about feeling, hearing, smelling, tasting and so on.

Yes, and so on….

The other day, a friend asked, “In Theatre of the Mind you mentioned that you need to add emotion to your visualization to make it work.”

“True,” I interjected.

“Well, I’m not sure how you do that?” he asked.

At this point something dawned on me. It’s time to create a monthly group coaching program based upon Psycho-Cybernetics, Theatre of the Mind, Zero Resistance Living and other knowledge I have gathered over the decades, such as martial arts breathing exercises.

And that’s what I intend to do.

If this is something you are interested in, send me an email to state what you want to learn.

More information forthcoming.

In the interim, make sure you are invested in at least two of the programs I’ve mentioned above, as they will probably be prerequisites.

See it. Feel it. Be it.

Matt Furey

How Dare You Not Be Afraid!

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Yesterday’s email was met with a thunderclap of applause, based on the number of positive responses I received.

Yet, I would be remiss to overlook the fact that some folks didn’t agree with my main point, which was… enough of the fear porn.

One person wrote an “orange man bad,” diatribe. I deleted him.

A doctor friend presented some startling “anecdotal evidence” about why I should be afraid. What was it? His 90-year old grandmother in-law has “never seen anything like this.”

el Furecat replied: “My 97-year old father says he’s been through a lot worse.”

Indeed, he has.

In no way shape or configuration am I saying you should throw all caution to the wind.

My point is simple: Enough of the fear porn.

Fear weakens your energetic field, taxes your internal organs, compromises your immune system, puts you into a cortisol-induced catabolic state, and messes with your psychological well-being.

Thankfully, I have other doctor friends who lean toward optimism. They don’t buy into the fear porn. They understand the power of sorcery and the deliberate and intentional damage it can do.

You may think that viruses have tremendous energy, and they do – but the power of words and mental imagery are far more powerful.

Words have far more creative power than a virus. Words can be used to uplift as well as destroy, they can be used to create calmness or to push panic.

Those who instill and install doom and gloom know the power of words. They understand that people hear words and turn them into mental pictures. And they know that these mental pictures create FEELINGS of positivity or negativity. They also know that people will act, react or do nothing – based upon words and how they are delivered.

You can create layer upon layer of fear by telling people the following: Even if we get through this round of the virus, which is probably going to kill a minimum of X people, it will come back in the fall, and it will be even stronger than it was, and those who think they are immune to it will find out they aren’t, and they will get this virus again, and this time it will probably kill X people, and it will keep coming back, probably two or three times a year, for the next 18-24 years, and it will strip all of us of our DNA, RNA, T-cells, our grandparents, then our parents, then our siblings, then our children and their children’s children, and so on. After this it will attack your cats and dogs. In fact, it may kill your dog this fall, and your cat soon afterward. If you have more than one dog or cat, I suggest you euthanize all of them NOW because you don’t want to go through the horror of losing all your pets. And if you have other types of pets besides cats and dogs, they’re going to get hit, too. They might miss the first or second wave, but without a doubt they will get hit. And there won’t be anything you can do about it. So please, I beg of you, wash your hands, don’t touch your face and wait for the vaccine.

If you think the paragraph above is far-fetched, ask yourself if, six months ago, you would have believed the “far-fetched” narrative we’re hearing and living in today.

What people need now is the same thing they needed six months ago, a year ago, 100 years ago. And what is that: a reason to believe.

Here is what I believe, i.e. my prediction: I believe this virus will come and go the same way all other viruses come and go, regardless of how it was created or where it originated. At the end of this year, the common flu will still be responsible for far more deaths worldwide. Same goes for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and auto accidents. I believe we will also discover that the  predictions on the number of deaths won”t be even close to the eventual actuality. And lastly, the drugs that will cure this virus will be the ones that certain people have been saying are either dangerous or won’t work. 

That’s my Zen-atative super-intuitive prediction on this situation. 

Last of all, should you stay at home? Yes.

Should you practice social distancing? Yes.

Should you wash your hands? Always.

But when you do all of the above, do them with optimism, with faith and with confidence – instead of in a state of fear and panic.

You are stronger than this and every other type of virus.

Here endeth the lesson.

Matt Furey

[By the way, if you’re looking to use your time wisely, be sure to grab some of my products at the links shown above. Use this time to improve yourself above and beyond what you previously thought possible.]

Imagination Trumps Massive Action

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Yesterday, I put up a meme with the phrase, “Imagination Trumps Massive Action.”

Oddly enough, some people don’t believe this is true.

Why?

Because they think, erroneously, that imagination is completely separate from action. It’s not.

Imagination comes first, then there’s the laying of the egg. They are connected.

Show me a goal setter or a person who plans his or her day, and I’ll show you someone who uses his imagination regularly. You cannot conceive of a goal and put it on a card or slip of paper without imagining the goal first.

Similarly, you cannot take action without seeing yourself doing so first. You may delude yourself into believing that you never imagine anything, that you look at your goal and “just do it” – but no one just does anything. All action is preceded by thought.

What do you think a person is doing when he or she looks at a written goal? He isn’t just reading words. He’s reading words and those words trigger mental images.

Some people think they aren’t picturing anything before they “just do it” because they do it so quickly they’re not consciously aware of doing so, yet they are. If they slowed their process down a bit, this truth would become clear to them.

You can get results by writing out lists and making plans and reviewing them daily.

But here’s the situation: If you’re struggling and you’ve been taking “massive action” – I recommend ramping up your imagination even more BEFORE you act. Imagining MORE often leads to getting a job done quicker and with a lot less strain. It also leads to breakthroughs that are stunning.

For example, I was working on a martial arts movement the other day that involved a number of quick twists and pivots. I practiced the move poorly a few times, followed by some repetitions that were so-so.

In the midst of my frustration, I reminded myself to stop, close my eyes and picture the result I wanted. I saw the move being completely with ease. I pictured the move and the result I wanted for less than a minute, then I performed the move again.

BANG.

On the next repetition, I nailed the move with ease.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened in my life. Tis why I “reminded myself” to slow it down, close my eyes, and picture the result I wanted. And this is why I say, “Imagination Trumps Massive Action.”

I can work and work and work and work and work on the move, and I have. Working on something physically is important. But you’d be amazed how much ramping up your imagination will change the outcome.

What I’ve described here is simple and profound, yet, many people aren’t willing to stop taking massive action long enough to witness the results.

We’re using our imagination all the time whether we realize it or not. When I was not doing the martial arts maneuver well, whether I want to acknowledge it or not, I was seeing myself doing the move poorly.

By stopping the physical activity to engage in mental imagery, I gave myself a psychological break and a fresh opportunity. Yes, I gave my mind a break by stopping the action. When I took the time to imagine what I wanted before beginning again, my brain, nervous system and muscles got it.

You have many available instances, all day long, where you can play this same sort of scenario and see what happens.

Will you?

Imagination Trumps Massive Action.

Matt Furey

P.S. I’m picturing a Theatre of the Mind seminar in May of this year. Get ready. More details coming soon.

Best Time of Day to Visualize

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Is there a best time of day to visualize your goals?

Yes.

When is it?

NOW.

That’s correct. Begin NOW. Don’t wait until tomorrow or next week or next month. Begin at once.

And then, when you open your eyes tomorrow morning, do so again. Make the first minutes of your day the second best time to visualize – but don’t wait until then to begin.

Here endeth today’s lesson.

See it. Feel it. Be it.

Matt Furey

The Day Everything Flowed

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Remember that day when everything flowed into place. Everything seemed so easy.

You woke up in a great mood. You had that winning feeling in your bones.

You just knew something good was going to happen to you today.

And it did.

Yes!

Want more of those days? Want to experience those same type of feelings on a regular basis?

You can and you will when you practice Psycho-Cybernetics on a daily basis.

It’s so simple and easy to do. And it works.

If you already have the book, read it again. Make sure you have the latest version, Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded, available at amazon.com

And if you have the audio of Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded, the one available through audible.com, make sure you give it another listen. Listen to it at normal speed, then at 1.5x and 2x speed. You’ll find you can take in the information as you “speed listen.”

If you already have these two products, then consider adding Theatre of the Mind and Zero Resistance Living to your library.

The more books you have to listen to,
the better you get at whatever you do. 

See it. Feel it. Be it.

Matt Furey

How to Get Stuff Done Faster

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Several years ago, I watched my friend, Tony, an elite speed coach, work with a group of teenagers who wanted to run faster.

Tony was the man for the job.

He and his two sons played college football. He and his two boys earned scholarships. All of them ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 – 4.4 seconds.

One of the takeaways I learned from Coach Tony is the same as what I tell aspiring writers.

When you’re in the middle of a sprint and you want to arrive faster – then focus on the finish line. See yourself already there. This alone will cause you to run faster.

Keep in mind we’re only talking about a task that takes four to five seconds, unless you’re slow as molasses.

If you’re working on a marathon project, such as writing a book, the approach is different. If you only focus on the finish, you may end up discouraged.

Writing a best-selling book takes more time than writing an email or a meme you post on social media.

But it doesn’t take forever. Most books can be hammered out in a few weeks or months. That’s more than enough time to complete this type of “marathon.”

If you write 2,000 words a day – or even 1,000 – you can get your book done in what most people would think of as quantum speed, even though it isn’t.

You can eat the Marathon candy bar a bite at a time. One thousand to two thousand words per day is not difficult. It’s a matter of focus. It’s a matter of focusing on the finish. The daily finish.

And those daily finishes add up to far more words than most books require.

1,000 words a day for 90 days is 90,000 words.

2,000 words a day for 90 days is 180,000 words.

Yes, you can crank out a book even faster than the above.

The first edition of Combat Conditioning was 15,000 words. I wrote it in a week.

Along with Eddie Baran (who wrote the technical portion), we wrote Gama Fitness in a weekend. That was nuts.

And on Easter Sunday, 2008, I wrote 101 Ways to Magnetize Money… in Any Economy. The first draft was 12,000 words. I finished it the same day. I began by writing the idea on an index card around 7 AM. I stopped writing and called it a day at 6 PM.

That’s 11 hours total.

Was I writing the entire time?

No.

I wrote, walked, showered, shaved, swam, visualized, walked some more… and so on.

If all I did was write I would have gone coo-coo.

How’d the book do?

It kicked AZZ.

I sold out of the first printing super fast because many people were buying it by the case.

Years later, Nightingale-Conant published the book as an audio program. You can download and listen by going to Audible.com

My point here is simple: Most people who want to write a book have a mental image in their minds that is faulty. They focus on all the wrong things. They focus on the pain, the agony, the time it will take, the editing, the sales, the “who am I?” factor, and so on.

None of these images are helpful whatsoever.  Nor are they advisable from a Psycho-Cybernetics vantage point.

All of these images create a dark cloud overhead – as well as a dark energy standing between you and your goal of being a writer/published author.

Coach Tony helped his sons and many others he coached run faster by teaching them what to focus on. What they focused on lightened their loads and brightened their lives.

I’ve done the same as a coach for writers, email copywriters, fitness fanatics and people who want to lose a lot of weight.

If you aspire to be a writer, you can avail yourself of my knowledge by getting my programs at knockoutmarketing.com – or you can send me an email inquiring about having me be your personal coach, guiding you through the forest on the way to the castle.

In the interim, remember this, “When you really, really want it – you’ll find a way to get it.”

Matt Furey

P.S. My coaching is NOT cheap and it’s NOT for people who want to be coddled. It’s also NOT for those who want to compare this and that. This means you don’t want to write me unless you WANT ME to be YOUR Coach.

Psychological Warfare

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One of the keys to gaining a competitive advantage over an opponent is…

PRAISE.

Yes, you read that correctly.

When you’re playing a game against someone who is “on fire,” start telling the person how good he or she is, then stand back and observe.

“Man, you’re awesome.”

“You’re the best I’ve ever seen.”

“Your form is perfect.”

“You’ve got this game down to an art form.”

“You haven’t missed a single shot.”

“You’re a natural.”

“You’re so talented.”

Now, let me switch gears.

The above isn’t just the way to gain a competitive advantage in sports, it’s also the way that many well-meaning parents (and teachers) undermine children.

Praise is a trickster.

What you intend to accomplish with praise can and often does backfire.

Why?

Because it puts focus on WHO instead of WHAT.

When a person focuses inwardly in a psychological way, when a person starts thinking about WHO instead of WHAT, it is easy to lose the feel for what was working.

This is why, as a general rule, I believe you are better off acknowledging praise with one of the following:
a. silence
b. a blank stare into the distance
c. a neutral nod.

Yes, you can also say or write “thank you” – but do so with a sense of neutrality.

Does this mean praise is out and criticism is in?

Not at all.

Constructive criticism is over-rated as well (to be covered in a future lesson).

But when you praise, make it about the tangibles that a person can latch onto. You cannot latch onto “you’re a natural.” In fact, telling someone he is a natural gives the person room to rest.

Rest, by the way, is not what makes someone great.

Work, physical as well as psychological, is what makes someone good.

Work is tangible. You have to DO something.

Being told you’re a natural undermines a person because he or she is being told that the skill doesn’t come from WORK – it was given to you.

Oh, lucky me. I’m a natural. See how good I am. The coach just told me I’m the best.

Plop.

Meanwhile, someone with less talent, someone who is less natural, passes you as you’re stuck in your own head, thinking about how “blessed” you are.

If you want to be blessed, then put together an incredible work ethic; one that includes the physical, psychological and spiritual sides of the equation.

See it. Feel it. Do it.

Matt Furey

By the way, you’ll notice I never praise you for being on this list. I never write to tell you how awesome you are. I never write to say that you’re so smart because you’re one of the few who “gets it.” There are many reasons for this, a few of which are contained in today’s email. You’ll find others in Theatre of the Mind – the best-selling audio program I did with Nightingale-Conant.

How to Visualize Something for 30 Minutes Straight

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How to Visualize Something for 30 Minutes Straight

Some people believe they cannot visualize.

Here are four reasons:

1. They think, erroneously, that they must hold a crystal clear image in mind, one that is as clear as an actual movie, or real life.

2. They also think their mind should never wander as they concentrate on this mental imagery.

3. They think this non-wandering mind should be able to hold an image in perfect focus for 30 minutes or longer.

4. They think that if their mind wanders and they have trouble focusing, that this proves they cannot do it. Or that they cannot get better with daily practice.

HA.

If the above were the criteria needed to conclude whether or not you can visualize, well then, I flunked.

Visualization is far easier than people imagine it to be.

And interjecting perfectionism into the equation doesn’t help. Nor does the idea that you can either do it or you can’t.

With daily practice, virtually anyone can become a visualization virtuoso.

Yes, with practice.

Visualization is a skill you train.

Work on it everyday and you’ll continue to improve.

Most importantly, on a personal note, I have never, not one time, visualized anything clearly and completely for 30-straight minutes.

Or 20.

Or 10.

Instead of shooting for 30 minutes of intense concentration and unwavering thought control – focus on relaxing your body, getting in sync with your breathing, and then, give me 30 seconds of focus on one thought.

You read that correctly.

Instead of 30 minutes – give me 30 seconds of high vibration imagery mixed with feeling and some sound effects (self-talk), and you’re good to go.

Stop making it more difficult than it is.

See it. Feel it. Do it.

Matt Furey

By the way: Meditation is not exactly the same as visualization, even though there are some similarities. I’ll get into meditation in a future installment.

Grow Younger With Visualization

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I never tried it before. Then again, I was much younger and didn’t feel the need.

But when I got into my 50’s, I noticed some changes that I wanted to see if I could reverse with mental imagery.

I began to picture myself being younger, leaner, more flexible, quicker and stronger.

And I refused to think or tell myself or others, “I’m too old.”

Over time I noticed my interests changing.

I started practicing Chen style tai chi again. I first began training in this style in my 20’s, but left it by the wayside when I took up other martial arts and fitness programs. Chen style tai chi is quite vigorous and demanding, with very low stances, placing more stress than other styles on the hips and knees.

Yet, with each passing year I began moving better than before. I moved faster and with greater agility.

As my visualization practice continued, I decided to get leaner again. I knocked off a bunch of excess weight I’d come to justify over the years, getting back to my 1997 fighting weight at the world championships, in Beijing, China.

The other night I was in the sauna at a local gym. A man from Luoyang, China, began speaking with me.

He asked, “How old are you?”

“I am 56 years young,” I replied.

“Same age as me,” he offered.

The man then inquired about my practice. He wanted to know if I’ve ever been to the Shaolin Temple in China.

“Many times,” I told him.

He placed his hands together and crossed his legs in what he thinks of as an example of Shaolin meditation.

“Do you practice this type of meditation?” he asked.

“No, I don’t,” I said. “I visualize and meditate in different positions. Not that one.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

I stood and showed him one of the positions I use when visualizing.

“Oh, I see,” he smiled.

Then he stood up and bent his legs about two inches. He began to falter and lose balance almost immediately.

“Ugh,” he laughed. “I’m too old. I can’t.”

He opened the door to the sauna and headed for the pool.

Think of this. Two people in the same sauna. One thinks he’s old and the other thinks he’s young.

One gradually loses his ability to move – the other gradually gains ability.

And the difference starts and continues onward with the words and images each person uses on a daily basis.

Tell yourself you are getting old and you will lose energy and age much faster.

Tell yourself you are getting younger and you will gain energy and the power of momentum to achieve your objectives.

You really do become what you visualize and imagine yourself to be.

See it. Feel it. Be it.

Matt Furey

P.S. If you’ve enjoyed this email and have an interest in acquiring a similar writing skill, click here.

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Hello and welcome to Psycho-Cybernetics.com - the official site for the original (and expanded) teachings of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the 35 million copy best-seller, Psycho-Cybernetics. I’m Matt Furey, author of the best-selling Nightingale-Conant audio book, Maxwell Maltz’ Theatre of the Mind.

When you subscribe to our Psycho-Cybernetics emails, I will immediately send you an email containing a FREE PDF ($100 value) of my Theatre of the Mind Masters Newsletter called Defeating the Failure Mechanism, which also features a Dr. Maltz piece, When Positive Thinking Doesn't Work. This highly regarded newsletter will show you how to apply the suggestions contained within it into your own life… and make changes for the BETTER!

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Matt Furey
President, Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation

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