As you’re probably aware, almost two months ago, my father passed away at the age of 97. Even though I realized his departure from this earth was imminent, when the finality of the news hit, it definitely shook me up.
Thankfully, I had a number of healing routines I could follow. I could pray. I could meditate. And I could practice Theatre of the Mind.
But there was something else I did every single evening, and it cleared away the negative emotions, without any effort whatsoever. What I practiced every night is a type of moving meditation called Dao Zou, I learned more than 15 years ago.
When I first learned this system, I had no idea that one day I would be using it and teaching it to help people overcome negative emotions, including the emotions of grief and sadness. But I’m sure glad I had this knowledge in my tool box because it made a huge shift in my emotional state whenever the seemingly unshakeable feelings would surface.
Each night when I began, I didn’t feel up to the challenge, but I recognized how to overcome my own resistance to the routine by focusing on taking small steps. Not big ones. Nothing major. Just a few steps in reverse.
After a few steps I would tell myself, “Just give me 100 steps.” When I had almost reached 100 steps I was eager for another 100, and so on.
At 500 steps I felt so good I could have stopped, but the urge to keep going, the internal impetus to transcend and rise above it all was telling me to keep going.
Keep going, I did, until I reached 2,000 steps. Then I jumped in the sauna for at least 20 minutes.
The sauna alone is great for toughening yourself up mentally – but I don’t recommend doing it before purging the grief and sadness from your system.
Each evening, after Dao Zou and the sauna, I would go to bed feeling so much better. But the next day, at some point, another layer of grief would emerge.
What to do now?
How about the same thing you did yesterday?
How about you rinse and repeat what works, realizing there is no “one time fixes all” approach in the self-development or spiritual world.
Brush your teeth daily. Shower daily. And clean your mind daily with some form of meditation, prayer or visualization – or all of the above, if necessary.
After 10 evenings of daily Dao Zou, I woke up one morning with an unmistakable feeling of inner peace about my father’s passing. What a glorious moment.
The results I got this time around, proved to me once again, that Dao Zou is much more than a health and fitness program. It’s a healing program that emphasizes moving, instead of trying to sit your way to feeling better, which doesn’t work.
Dao Zou can help clear the mind-body of sadness and grief, as well as worry, self-doubt and fear.
It can also help you learn other skills faster than anything I have ever seen or witnessed. It truly is the Ultimate in Moving Meditation as it catapults you into an incredibly vibrant state of consciousness.
Now you can claim your copy of Dao Zou at a ridiculously low amount. And if you prefer, you can download it digitally and begin practicing almost immediately, giving you instant proof of what I’m writing about.
Discover the power of moving meditation NOW.
Claim your copy of Dao Zou.
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
Kicking IS the Habit
The old commercials in the 1960’s and 70’s spoke about “kicking the habit” when it came to cigarette smoking.
Framed positively, I think of kicking AS the daily habit I want in my life.
Instead of kicking a bad habit, though, I picture kicking a GOOD habit into high gear. And kicking, in and of itself, is superb exercise for brain and body.
’tis part of the reason that I love kicking. Lots and lots of kicking.
Kicking footballs, soccer balls… even basketballs.
Kicking heavy bags. Kicking weeds.
All are good, but kicking into an imaginary scenario that I’m picturing in the air, that’s my favorite.
Last night I knocked out 100 kicks. That’s the goal I set for “light” days. But once I get going, even on easy training days, it can be hard to stop because once the dopamine and serotonin kick in, it’s a different world, one where time ceases to exist.
I take plenty of short rest breaks when I’m kicking. I don’t just kick until I’m done. It’s not uncommon for me to begin with kicks in sets of 10. I do them in super slow motion, slow motion, at a fair clip as well as at lightning fast. The variances make it easy to get my work in and make the training invigorating.
I start small so I can tackle it all.
The way I look at it, 10 kicks a day, without missing, is better than thinking I should do 1,000, but I never start because I’ve set a goal so big that I’m resisting going after it.
And that’s one of the previously unrevealed truths about setting all those big, hairy goals. Some of those hairs get stuck on your tongue and in the back of your throat. They make you resist and rebel against the very thing you supposedly decided upon.
Small daily goals remove the emotional resistance you may have to “doing the work.” If you don’t turn something into a “chore,” then your mind is free to have fun and enjoy what you’re doing. It’s also free to go way beyond the initial goal you set. Way, way beyond.
Kick your habits into high gear, one swat at a time.
Matt Furey
P.S. If you’ve already read the 35 million copy best-seller, Psycho-Cybernetics, then take a gander at the advanced courses: Zero Resistance Living and Theatre of the Mind
You, are the Director
Think of your life as a major motion feature, and in this movie, you’re more than an actor. You’re also the director, the producer, the editor, as well as the audience.
When you begin to see yourself from this vantage point, you gain an advantage, a sense of well being and control, over every aspect of your life.
Instead of doubting whether or not you can change the way you think, feel and act, you realize you CAN.
The director within says, “cut,” and has you to perform the scene again. You continue to make adjustments until the director within is pleased with the improvements.
Viewing your life from a broader perspective isn’t a one-time exercise that sticks with you forever. All improvements in life are in accord with the Law of Practice.
Visualization practice is similar to a daily shower. If you practice showering once a week, you will look, smell and feel better for one day. If you shower daily, you are better off each and every day.
Practice, or the lack of it, makes you or breaks you
Participating in a consistent visualization practice will benefit you in seen and unseen ways. To reap the rewards, make sure you’re reading and listening to the truisms that are available at Psycho-Cybernetics.
And when you are ready to go to the next level with me as your coach, go here and let’s see how I can help you become the director of your own major motion feature.
See it. Feel it. Do it.
Matt Furey
When Goal Setting Isn’t Working
There are many reasons that so many goal setting methods don’t work for the majority of the people who use them.
Here are seven of those reasons:
1. The goals are too big.
2. The goals tend to create fear, panic, anxiety and nervousness.
3. The goals don’t spontaneously put you “in the zone” – and the teachers of the methods erroneously claim that ALL success comes from getting OUT of your comfort zone. This is easily refuted by observing how quickly children (and adults) learn when they are comfortable versus how difficult it is for them to learn when their nerves are rattled.
4. The goals involve too many action steps.
5. The goals are all about money, status, fame and power.
6. The goals are things you think you “should” do, be or have rather than what is best for you.
7. The goals are only about results and never cover a procedural system that will make attainment of the objective much easier.
Yes, there are people who believe the opposite of what I’ve shown above, but as I so often tell them, “Find the places in Psycho-Cybernetics where Dr. Maltz teaches you to do any of the above. And when you find that I am in error, give me the page, paragraph and line.”
I seriously doubt you’ll be able to find Dr. Maltz telling you to “set goals that scare you,” or to “get out of your comfort zone.”
Why?
Because neither of these notions helps facilitate your brain and nervous system automatically and effortlessly moving toward the targets you have in mind.
Tis true.
How about setting goals that inspire you, goals that create momentum, goals that catapult you into “the zone” where everything you do feels as though you have the magic touch?
That’s what I teach, my friend.
If you want to learn how to truly apply Psycho-Cybernetics, then check out mycoaching program, by going here.
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
What the H?
A lot of people ask the wrong questions.
“How are you going to do that? How are you going to make more, do more, be more?”
These are what I call “What the H?” questions. They are out of line, as well as out of order.
Your top priority is having your “what?” established.
A “what question” asks you to search your mind for a specific target. A “how question” tends to begin an internal debate about whether the target is within the realm of possibility.
There is a time and a place for “how questions,” but it is NOT before you ask “what questions.”
Picture what you want. Choose a specific target. After doing so, you can ask yourself how you’re going to pull it off, how you going to get it done.
Or, better yet, you can continue asking yourself what questions, such as, “What am I going to do to get this done? What am I prepared and willing to do to create this result?”
One of the biggest keys to using Psycho-Cybernetics effectively is establishing the WHAT before the HOW.
“What’s my goal for today?” causes an entirely different mindset than, “How am I going to get through today?”
What questions get you to think in terms of possibilities that can become realities. How questions keep you locked in resistance-mode over whether or not you can accomplish something.
Replace your how with a what –
and you’ll walk with a strut.
See and experience the difference –
of living life without resistance.
See it. Feel it. Become it.
Matt Furey
P.S. More on turning How into What in my best-selling Nightingale-Conant program, Theatre of the Mind.
P.P.S. For information on coaching with me, go here
Best Way to Practice Anything… and Get Good
The best way to practice something and get good is to do what almost nobody teaches.
Instead of applying more pressure during a practice or training session – you do the unthinkable: You eliminate the pressure from the equation.
As soon as you add the element of pressure to a practice, over-anxiety, over-motivation and excessive tension show up.
You can read all about this in Chapter 13 of Psycho-Cybernetics.
Each time I read this chapter, and I’ve been reading it since 1987, I get a new insight, a new idea, a different way to apply the teachings.
Shadowboxing is an example of how to practice without pressure. It was something I first began doing as a high school wrestler, but we called it shadow drilling.
When I used shadow drilling regularly, my results were off the charts. But because no one ever pulled me aside and told me about this “secret,” I didn’t realize until later on the correlation and connection between the victories I attained and the quiet solo workouts I had late at night when most people were sleeping.
A friend who played professional basketball and now coaches in the NBA, told me how he would get up early in the morning and shoot free throws when no one else was around. No crowd. No coach. No other players.
Zero pressure.
Did this help him improve his free throw shooting? In a big way.
Re-read Chapter 13 again. Mark it up and highlight it.
But do so in a quiet room when no one else is around.
I think you’ll find more than a few life-changers in those pages.
Matt Furey
Note: If you want to learn the details within the details of how to apply Psycho-Cybernetics and Theatre of the Mind, if you want to catapult yourself to the next level of success, then contact me about coaching.
Over-Motivation
All of us have seen people who are under-motivated, but can someone be over-motivated?
All throughout the latter chapters of Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr. Maltz refers to the dangers, not only of being overly-inhibited in word and deed, but also the pitfalls of being overly-hyped.
Yes, enthusiasm, motivation, inspiration and desire are essential qualities on a successful journey, but too much of any single quality can become a weakness. You can be so motivated to accomplish a goal that you push yourself out of contention. You have trouble relaxing and being natural because you want it sooooo bad.
There’s a fine line between having sufficient enthusiasm to accomplish an objective, and so much that you over-shoot the target.
Here are a few visuals of over-motivation:
1. Picture someone throwing wild haymakers in a fight instead of using short, quick and powerful jabs, hooks and uppercuts. As the fighter rears back with his best John Wayne impression, he gets popped several times.
2. A pitcher in softball or baseball is so determined to throw strikes that he or she cannot find the plate. Even worse, the ball sails over the catcher’s head, all the way to the backstop.
3. In a job interview, the applicant wants to be hired so badly that there is zero calmness under pressure. All the wrong answers are given for simple questions that you could easily handle if you were relaxed and at ease.
Back in my early years of business, the same client, Jack, who recommended Psycho-Cybernetics to me, told me he thought I was over-motivated. Even though I had read the book a couple times by then, I had no recall of the term “over-motivation.” The same is true of almost everyone I meet today and begin coaching.
Where is the fine line that separates having enough motivation and having too much?
That’s something you’ll discover over time, as you zig-zag your way through life. When you succeed, chances are you weren’t over-motivated. When you fail, you may have been lacking in desire. Then again, you might have had too much.
Keep in mind that a burning candle remains lit without you checking on it 24 hours a day. And so it is with a burning desire.
Check in once or twice per day to make sure your inner candle flame is still going. If it is still going, leave it alone.
Most candles don’t last a month. Most need to be replaced within a day. And so it is with your body, mind and soul. They need to be reignited on a daily basis.
When a candle is finished burning, start a new one. This is the same as practicing Theatre of the Mind. You learn to navigate, listen and feel when the light is going out, when the candle needs to be replaced. When it does, get it going. But don’t sit and watch the rest of the day to make sure it stays lit. Once the flame is going, trust the process and move through your day with the Zero Resistance Living mindset.
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
P.S. Interested in being coached by me? Then go here
Being Natural
One afternoon, many years ago, I was watching a documentary about a world famous preacher, and how he was being schooled in the art of public speaking, or what some might call, “giving a sermon.”
After numerous failed attempts to speak effectively, the teacher asked the preacher, “Do you know what you’re doing wrong?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I’m not being natural.”
“Correct,” said the teacher.
And so it goes with virtually anything we want to learn. We can get instruction from someone in order to maximize our abilities, but that instruction serves us best only when it helps us rediscover a sense of natural-ese.
We were most natural when we were infants. At that time we breathed from our lower bellies without instruction. We also moved with a spirit of relaxation. We smiled and laughed frequently. And we quickly let go of our mistakes.
Then we got educated and life became several scoops and helpings of unnecessary tension.
Getting back to being natural is what you accomplish with Psycho-Cybernetics and the Theatre of the Mind process. You stop fighting yourself and allow yourself to grow back into who you were when you were at your best. And that WHO was the person who was being natural.
It’s the you who knowingly or unknowingly, pictured what was wanted and went after it with gusto.
Rewind your mind. Become natural again.
Matt Furey
P.S. Interested in being part of my Mind Power Monthly Coaching this year. If so, drop me an email and tell me more.
When You’ve Got that Winning Feeling
I’m betting you’ve heard it said (and read), that belief is the key to living a successful life.
Supposedly, we have “limiting beliefs,” and they are holding us back.
Oh my, so many people think, what to do to change them?
Many people proceed to go on a rampage to get rid of or upgrade the limits in their lives. They write out various statements to change their old beliefs into new and empowering ones.
This approach misses the obvious. And the obvious is that beliefs are naturally upgraded, without effort, when you have that winning feeling, otherwise known as FAITH.
Below are a few lines that came to me recently:
Belief is skin deep; faith penetrates beyond the marrow of your bones.
Belief is easily shaken; faith conveys complete conviction.
Belief says I can do this; faith says I WILL do it.
Belief has a dimmer switch; faith shines eternal.
When you have faith, you don’t need to think a whole lot about what you believe.
With “that winning feeling” deep within your bones, you realize you have the Creator’s assistance, and the impossible is now the doable.
Matt Furey
Coach Gable Gets Medal of Freedom
An epic moment, it was.
Yesterday, President Trump became the only person in history to “pin” legendary wrestler, Dan Gable. And he accomplished the task without a struggle.
Gable, the 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist at 149.5 pounds, who won all six bouts without surrendering a single point, stood ramrod still in an emotional moment, as the President of the United States fastened The Medal of Freedom around Gable’s neck, then centered it on his chest.
It was a proud moment for Gable, for his family, and for all wrestlers who were coached by him (myself included). It was also a grand moment for anyone who has ever wrestled because Gable is the ONLY grappler to ever win the medal.
Over the years, I’ve written much about Dan Gable and the influence he had upon me. His influence began in my early teens and follows me to this day.
In high school, I read a biography, The Legend of Dan Gable – the Wrestler, by Russ L. Smith, over and over again. I followed the teachings that were spelled out in the book, as well as what intuitively came to me “through the lines.” I made up my mind that I was going to go to University of Iowa and wrestle for Gable. He was going to be my coach.
At the time I made this commitment, I was a lousy high school wrestler. Yet, each time I read the book, I improved dramatically.
Part way through my senior year in high school, after suffering a semifinal loss in a tournament I had won the year previous, I was emotionally devastated. My record was 8-4 afterward, which in most peoples’ minds, would have completely disqualified me from achieving any of my goals.
On the Monday morning after the tournament, I went to the school library and checked out the Gable biography again. Funny thing is I was the only wrestler at my school who read it, which I could clearly see on the card you signed in order to check it out.
I devoured the bio once again, eager to glean the wisdom I must have missed in previous readings. As I read, I felt something was telling me that “this reading” was going to be pivotal.
When I finished, I had my answer. Instead of three workouts per day, two of which were conditioning, I needed to be “on the mat” three times a day. I needed to practice my takedowns, throws, escapes and pinning holds until I could do them in my sleep. Yes, I still needed conditioning, but that would come AFTER practicing my techniques. They were primary.
For the last six weeks of the season, my brother, Tim, accompanied me to the local recreation center before school each morning, where I would drill and drill and drill. Immediately after school I would go to the team wrestling practice, and then around 7 PM, after having a couple steaks, I would go to the recreation center again to practice and drill the moves I wanted to master.
These moves were nothing new. They were the same moves I learned when I began in the sport at age eight. But when I committed to three workouts per day on the mat, I discovered something more within each of them. Day after day, each move became easier to execute. It became effortless. And details upon details upon details revealed themselves to me.
As a result of putting in three workouts each day “on the mat,” I won 15-straight matches, most of them by lopsided margins. As I cover in The Unbeatable Man, I qualified for the state tournament. In the quarterfinals, I got Gable’s attention when I squared off against a blue-chip recruit that he was in the audience to watch. The result of that match catapulted me from a lowly high school wrestling program to a bonafide member of the national champion University of Iowa wrestling team.
For years I swore to audiences that “three workouts per day, on the mat,” were the exact words I read in Gable’s biography.
A few weeks before Coach Gable spoke at one of my seminars, I ordered a copy of the biography so I could find the exact quote and tell him how much it helped me. I combed the book several times and could NOT find it.
The night before Gable spoke, we got together to discuss details of the seminar. I had the book with me and asked him to sign it. He did, but not before asking how much I paid for it. When I told him the price, he cringed, but didn’t say a word. The next day, in his speech, Gable brought the price tag for the book up as evidence that his work is not yet done yet.
As Gable spoke yesterday before receiving the Medal of Freedom, you could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that his work is not done yet.
Congratulations, Coach Gable.
You’re the BEST.
Matt Furey
