About Taking Action
“There is no action someone can take that is not preceded by a stimulating mental image. When a forceful mental image is present, action is automatic.”
Matt Furey
Psycho-Cybernetics - See Yourself at Your Best
Matt Furey's Super Human Success Blog
by Matt Furey
About Taking Action
“There is no action someone can take that is not preceded by a stimulating mental image. When a forceful mental image is present, action is automatic.”
Matt Furey
by Matt Furey
Extreme Focus
Last week I was hyper-focused. More than I usually am. A lot more.
I had a book to write.
It’s not a 100,000-word book, but it is long enough to deliver a riveting, powerful and soul-stirring message.
I began on Sunday afternoon with the introduction.
On Monday I wrote the first two chapters.
Followed by the next two on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, two more. Then another two on Thursday.
On Friday I thought I would write the conclusion, but I sensed another chapter was necessary, so I cranked that out. And I was finished.
With the first draft, that is.
Currently this book, Goal Getting, is 22,000 words. The second draft will probably kick it up to 25,000. The third may knock it down a bit.
Regardless, the lion’s share of heavy lifting is done. And man, does it feel good. When you’re creating something new each day, it’s hard to imagine that can get any better.
When you’re in the flow, time ceases to exist. Hours are mere minutes. You lose track of what day or week it is.
One of the highlights, after finishing the first draft, was a surprise testimonial that was posted on my Theatre of the Mind Facebook group, confirming one of the many messages in the book.
John Rugh, 62, took up the guitar last October. And by using my Goal Getting™ method, he is already playing November Rain, a classic from Guns N Roses.
To achieve his goal, John focused on a daily goal of “getting” five notes of the song down.
He said that after six months of lessons, most people, regardless of age, are stuck on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” while he’s doing something much more difficult.
The secret to John’s success is focusing on what is easy via a daily goal that is achievable, realistic, repeatable and sustainable; a goal that may even seem ridiculously easy.
Congratulations, John. I’m happy for you, and I’m proud of you.
As I often say, “When you focus on the small you can have it all; when you focus on the big you stumble on every twig.”
Matt Furey
P.S. I’m currently deciding upon whether to have another Goal Getting™ Intensive in April… or one on Defeating the Failure Mechanism. You’re welcome to let me know your preference by emailing me at mattfurey@mac.com
by Matt Furey
March 13
“There is no wrong way to relax, except the use of chemicals.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D.
Here’s a snippet from my forthcoming book, Psycho-Cybernetics 365, which will be published in August.
Sleeping, napping, relaxing on your sofa or on a chair at the beach, all of these are valid forms of relaxation.
So is driving around in a car, pedaling a bicycle, going for a walk in the woods, practicing martial arts or your favorite sport, painting, gardening, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle.
Now, you might look at some of these activities and think that’s no way to relax. But for someone else, the activity gets the job done. Anything that slows you down and allows your thoughts to run freely is of benefit as our subconscious mind does a great deal of creative work when we focus on something else.
One of the many activities I have engaged in to relax more deeply is the sport of bowling. When I stand before the line, I have learned to organize my physical structure so that I am energized. Then I tune into my breathing as I visualize throwing a strike, or pitching the ball to the ideal arrow that will give me a good result.
I have done the same on the basketball court, where I stand on the free throw line and shoot, using the tools of relaxing, breathing, and visualizing.
Of course, as suggested in Psycho-Cybernetics, you can sit in a chair or lie on your bed to practice the art of relaxation, and I recommend you do.
Likewise, I also advise the use of many other relaxation tools, so you learn to let go of unnecessary tension at any time, with your eyes open or closed.
Matt Furey
by Matt Furey
“It is no exaggeration to say that every human being is hypnotized to some extent, either by ideas he has uncritically accepted from others, or ideas he has repeated to himself or convinced himself are true.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D.Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded
Before going to bed last night, I flipped open Psycho-Cybernetics to see what page it would land on. This is a great practice that allows you to tune in to exactly what you need to read, not what you think you should be reading.
On page 60, the words, “Is Everyone Hypnotized?” jumped off the page.
I pulled out my Montblanc pen and a blank index card and copied the quote. When you do this before bed, it will open the gates for you to gain additional insights while dreaming.
The knowledge that can come to you this way is out of this world and is one of the reasons that “priming the pump” before bedtime was and is used by so many successful creators, scientists, researchers, writers and so on.
Read for a while, write for a while.
What you write doesn’t have to be much… just enough to prime your subconscious mind and effortlessly put it to work for you.
You can also write a question, such as, “Is there something I have been hypnotized to believe that is simply not true?”
As you’re sleeping, don’t be surprised when your subconscious mind gives you the answer. That’s how this practice works, automatically, on command.
Upon receiving the answer, put a hook through it (as though it’s a slippery fish) by writing it down.
This method can also be used prior to taking an afternoon nap, something many people are hypnotized to believe is “a bad thing.”
Fortunately, I grew up in a home where afternoon naps were championed.
In fact, while getting mentally ready for my championship bout in the national finals (way back in 1985), I fell asleep. And while seemingly “out cold,” I dreamt about what I needed to do to win that match. When I woke up, I was ready to go. I put what was revealed to me in my dream into action, and the result was another victory.
Play around with this idea. Have fun with it. You’ll be amazed with the results.
Matt Furey
P.S. The next Psycho-Cybernetics Intensive is on March 19 at 7 PM EST. It will be a “closed door” event for Platinum Goal Getters only, where I teach how to dehypnotize yourself from ideas you’ve bought into that are not helping you climb the ladder of success. Interested in being a part of this private coaching group? Then email me: goals@psycho-cybernetics.com
by Matt Furey
“Thoughts are mental pictures that you turn into things through action.” – el Furecat
Today is the last day you can enroll in my Theatre of the Mind Intensive at the current ridiculously low fee.
In fact, only eight seat remain before the fee doubles, which is going to happen before midnight tonight.
The depth and scope (microscope and telescope) of material I am covering during this 3-hour intensive is unmatched and unparalleled.
You can travel the world, going to live workshops, talking to gurus, even getting certified in various self-development systems, and yet, you still won’t have the “ultimate keys” to either turning your life around, for the better, or climbing further up the ladder of success.
You can balk at the fee for this event, thinking it is too expensive, or you can realize that it is FAR MORE expensive to NOT know how to take control of your mind and your destiny, and as a result, not live the life that you truly desire.
Only eight spots remain at the current fee of $247 and they are going to be taken by someone. Will one of them be YOU?
Once these spots are taken, anyone else who wants to enroll will pay double.
The race is on!
Matt Furey
P.S. To get the link to enroll, email me at goals@psycho-cybernetics.com
P.P.S. I don’t reply to everyone who writes me as I only want people who are truly interested in the teachings.
by Matt Furey
The opportunity of a lifetime is approaching at the speed of light.
In less than two days you will no longer be able to register for the Theatre of the Mind™ Intensive I am hosting on Wednesday, February 19, at 7 PM EST).
Those who are registered can participate in the LIVE event as well as get the recording to watch afterward. This is going to be HUGE!
Sometime in the future, I may release the recording to those not currently registered, but it will be much more expensive, probably in the neighborhood of $997.00.
So this is your last shot to get in at the current fee of $247.00.
The Theatre of the Mind™ Intensive will be a three-hour presentation, with QnA woven throughout. No matter how long the event, one thing is for certain: The information I am providing will begin to change your life the second you do what I am teaching.
If you want in, contact me now.
Yes, I am vetting everyone who contacts me about the event. This means that I do not reply to everyone as some people who write me aren’t truly serious.
Interested? Contact me NOW by sending an email to goals@psycho-cybernetics.com
After I hear from you, and if you are a fit, I will send you the link to register.
The doors are slamming shut very soon.
Matt Furey
P.S. Theatre of the Mind is the ultimate visualization technique that Dr. Maltz taught. With it, you “get your goals” while enjoying the journey toward them. When you use this technique on a regular basis, you accomplish far more, far faster, and do so with a feeling of confident calmness all along the way. I break this technique down step-by-step, making it simple and easy for you to learn.
by Matt Furey
Hey Matt,
I’m Dr Serena – but call me Serena – I’m a dentist from Sydney, Australia and I came across Psycho-Cybernetics.
It’s changed my life and I’m not even 21 days in.
So thank you!
If you’re ever in Sydney, look me up!
Also I know you’re an Iowa man but have you watched Unstoppable. It’s about Anthony Robles – if you haven’t I think you’ll enjoy it 🙂
Cheers,
Serena
Hi Serena. Glad to hear you’re benefitting from Psycho-Cybernetics. As you stated, it is profoundly life-changing.
Yes, I am familiar with Anthony Robles. What a story! Born with one leg, he got into wrestling in eighth-grade, went on to win a couple state titles, then won an NCAA title as a senior at Arizona State University. Impressive, eh?
His story goes to show that the image you have of your “self” can transcend the limitations of your body and any other circumstance.
Once you realize that the mental picture you have of yourself is reflected in the results you get in life, you are now faced with a choice. You can allow the old picture to run your life, as it has been doing, or you can install a new self-image and rise above those limitations.
All of us are limited by the mental pictures we have of ourselves. If you see having one leg as an impossible hurdle, it will be. If you observe the benefits of having only one leg, you can shake up the world.
Anthony Robles could have imagined that there are no benefits to having only one leg. This line of thought only leads to despair, to giving up before you start.
What benefits are there to having one leg?
For one, you are given an opportunity to build phenomenal grip strength via the constant use of crutches. There’s a significant correlation between grip strength and overall body strength. When you strengthen your grip physically, you also strengthen your mind.
Second, having only one leg gives your opponents less options when attacking.
Third, with only one leg, your center of gravity is higher, and this alone makes it more difficult for your opponent.
Most importantly, though, is the mindset of the athlete who makes no excuses, who gets out and competes with what he has, along with a burning desire to make something of himself.
Dr. Maltz often visited prisons to give talks, and marveled at how the inmates who “got the picture,” changed their lives for the better, finding inner peace, happiness and poise, even while incarcerated; whereas he found that those who live on the outside, often imprison themselves with images of limiting pictures of fear, doubt, frustration and worry.
Thanks again for writing, Serena, and whenever I go back to Australia, I’ll look you up.
Matt Furey
P.S. We are one week away from my next Theatre of the Mind Intensive. Being involved in this 3-hour webinar will show you how to remove any self-imposed limits or “prisons” you’ve put upon yourself. This training is an essential aspect of the Goal Getting™ process. The fee is $247 and is going up soon. Drop me an email at goals@psycho-cybernetics.com to get accepted.
by Matt Furey
“There’s a fine line between imagination and reality and no one knows for sure where that fine line begins or ends.”
I spoke the words shown above twenty years ago in a Psycho-Cybernetics training, and today I find no reason to alter them in any way.
All your goals, all your actions, all your habits, are nothing but mental pictures. At first they are nothing but imaginary ideas seen upon the invisible screen of your mind, then they become reality if you move with them.
Contrary to the saying, “Just do it,” no one ever does. Those who think they “just do” are unaware of how quickly their brains process information that is acted upon.
Some people’s minds work so fast they are convinced they take action before imagining doing so. Sorry, that’s not the way your brain works. You see it first, then you do it.
You don’t laugh, frown or cry before seeing a mental picture of something that brings forth that emotion.
You choose your vocation, your hobbies, your to do list, what you eat and where you go on vacation, based upon what you see in your imagination.
Your imagination is real and how you use it can make your or break you.
Yes, you can imagine that your imagination is only imaginary, yet even that idea is a mental picture that you are imagining to be true.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
P.S. Pure imagination is what I’ll be teaching in my next intensive on Theatre of the Mind. I imagine that it’s going to be a breakthrough experience for those who get to attend. You may be one of the fortunate few who attend. Drop me an email at goals@psycho-cybernetics.com to show your interest.
by Matt Furey
“With it (peace of mind and happiness), you have everything; without it, you have nothing.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D. author of Psycho-Cybernetics: Updated and Expanded
Everyone knows someone who supposedly “has it all,” yet is miserable.
There are the so-called “rich” people who look down their noses at everybody else; the world class athletes who cannot get enough attention, who feel the need to continually beat their chests, proclaiming they are the greatest.
There are beautiful women and handsome men who see themselves as ugly; and creative geniuses who hide their talents.
There are doctors and lawyers who, when asked, cannot recall a single success experience, ignoring the most obvious fact that they have an advanced degree that required years of dedication, discipline and focus.
These men and women are highly capable of achieving external goals, but when it comes to an internal goal such as “being happy,” they have no sense of direction.
This begs the question: Is it possible to be successful both internally and externally?
The answer is a resounding “YES.”
But you cannot get there without practice. There is no arriving at happiness once you’ve accomplished a goal, at least not for long. 15 minutes is about all you get.
The key to living a creatively successful life is learning how to be happy on the way to a goal, and knowing how, after you’ve achieved it, to be happy on the way to the next one.
As Cervantes, the legendary author of Don Quixote, wrote, “The road is always better than the inn.”
Are you on the road from one achieved goal to the next? Or are you stuck, blocked, and filled with self-doubt? Are you in a dark room, or one filled with light?
When you learn to savor your victories in the theater of your mind, they become the fuel that drives you to the next one. And as you’re driving toward them, instead of being in a frustrated, dark state of mind, you are filled with gusto, enthusiasm and light. Most importantly, you are happy.
If you’re expecting the future to bring you happiness, forget it. You can have it NOW, long before you reach your objective.
With happiness and peace of mind in your tank each day, you have everything. And you are truly rich.
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
P.S. The Goal Getting™ Intensive we had last week was a smashing success. I promised two hours; it went closer to four. Time flies when you’re living in the moment, in the NOW, filled with genuine appreciation for the life you get to live. Next month I’ll be hosting a Theatre of the Mind™ Intensive. Interested? Well, it’s not for everyone. Believe it or not, a lot of people resist living the good life, internally and externally. But if you’re one of those people who really wants to get more living out of life -happy living, then email me to get the link: goals@psycho-cybernetics.com.
by Matt Furey
Two young boys who grew up in the same neighborhood pick up a crayon for the first time and begin to draw.
The first boy has parents who offer encouragement, regardless of whether he colors outside the lines or draws straight lines.
Whenever they see the slightest improvement in his drawing, they make note of it and tell him he’s getting better. They live in the present with their son, giving him realistic, achievable daily pointers. They refrain from comparing him to others his age. Instead they focus on helping him be a little bit better than he was yesterday. If he isn’t, no sweat. Just keep drawing everyday, if that is what you want to do.
Forty years later, the boy is a famous artist. Asked how he got so good, he says, “I did so gradually, step by step. There was never any pressure on me to become good, so I enjoyed drawing and kept doing it. Then one day I woke up and realized I was really good.”
The other boy’s parents were quite a bit different. The first time he picked up a crayon to draw, they immediately began telling him how much talent and potential he had; they even began talking to him about how he needed to “work hard” at this if he wanted to become a famous artist; to be the next Vincent Van Gogh, or Salvador Dali.
Instead of giving easy pointers to their son, they pointed out what he was doing wrong. They showed him the drawings of other boys and girls in his age group, and point out that his drawings were not as good as theirs.
The boy retreated into a shell, thinking that he could not draw. He gave up.
Forty years later, this boy remembered the mental pictures from his past, the ones that were the supposed proof that he “cannot draw.”
For the first time in his life, he wondered if his mental pictures were wrong; he asked himself if he was taught wrong.
He decided to give himself another shot with another teacher who would take things step-by-step; one who put no pressure on him to be as good as the great ones.
One year later, the “little boy” inside this grown man is stunned because he now sees a new reality. He CAN draw. He can draw in spite of the fact that he was convinced for most of his life that he couldn’t.
Here endeth the lesson.
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
P.S. Small incremental improvements without pressure is the way to go. There’s tremendous power in the flip side of the coin; the opposite of the “think big” approach. And this includes learning how to see yourself and what you want out of life in a new way. Many people have the erroneous idea that they cannot visualize, that they’re doing it wrong. It’s the same as growing up thinking you cannot draw. Yet, learning how to visualize is no different than learning to draw. And this is why I teach a simple approach, one where you don’t compare yourself to others, or to a fictitious standard of how you’re supposed to do it. I reveal this procedural method of visualization, and much more in my Theatre of the Mind Intensive, to be held Wednesday, February 19. It will be a “level one” training, containing key elements that even the most advanced practitioners have never learned. The fee for this intensive is $247.00. Interested? Email me: goals@psycho-cybernetics.com and I will send you the link to enroll. It’s going to light you up!
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!
Best,
Matt Furey
President, Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation