How to defeat the “rule of 10,000″

February 6th, 2009 by Joshua

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ve already seen part of this article: simply scroll down and pick up where you left off. 

I know you haven’t heard from me in a bit, and I apologize for that. I’ve had a lot going on. I’m getting married later this year, taking on some new responsibilities in a big project with Wendi Friesen (more on that later), etc. However, I do have something for you right now.

The rule of 10,000.

In a recent blog post I read, the author talked about how to combine your brain and willpower to break the pattern of average results. 

He discusses forming new habits, studying people who do what you want to do, etc. All of which is very important, but he forgot one thing.

This is a rule that’s well-known in several circles: music, sports, etc. And it’s a rule discussed in Malcom Gladwell’s newest book, Outliers. It’s a rule that can make or break your efforts at success.

The rule, simply, is this: it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert.

It’s not completely ironclad; there are some geniuses who can shave a few hours off that, but for the most part it takes 10,000 hours of intentional practice to become an expert. Regardless of initial talent.

Now, talent does play a part, don’t get me wrong; someone innately gifted with musical talent will be better at the end of that 10,000 hours than someone innately ungifted musically. But even that ungifted person will be better, perhaps even achieving a pro level.

The problem with knowing this rule is, well, it’s daunting. 10,000 hours works out to roughly three and a half years, going eight hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Given that most of us work eight hours a day, then have families to spend time with and take care of, five years or more is much more likely (interesting side note here: how long does it take to earn a Master’s degree? Coincidence?). No wonder most of us never progress beyond adequacy.

There is a solution, however. and given the nature of this website and blog, I’m sure you can guess what I’m going to say next. Yep. Hypnosis.

It has been proven in several studies that mental rehearsal helps you to improve at sports. And imagining exercise has similar (though not as pronounced) results as actual exercise. While I can’t guarantee using hypnosis and mental rehearsal will take 10,000 hours and turn it into only 500, it will help you learn whatever it is you’re learning more quickly and easily.

Here’s a simple process for doing just that:

1. Get into a comfortable position, in a comfortable spot. While you can do hypnosis anywhere and anytime, it’s best to take the time to be comfortable. No point in giving yourself a cramp just to experience hypnosis.
2. Close your eyes–not yet! Wait till you’ve read through the instructions!–and take a few deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth. This relaxes you further and helps ready you for the relaxed mental focus you need. Let any distracting thoughts fade out as you continue to breathe and relax.
3. Imagine, visualize or just know that you’re at the top of a staircase, with a door at the bottom. Every step you take down the stairs takes you twice as deep into the trance. When you reach the bottom (tenth step), you’ll be at the basement of relaxation and at the perfect level for really effective mental rehearsal.
4. Go through the door and find yourself doing what it is you’re learning to do. If you’re learning a martial art, you’re in the dojo, or perhaps you might be in your back yard using a practice dummy. If you’re learning a musical instrument, perhaps you’re in the band room practicing. Or maybe you’re performing at a concert. Whatever your activity is, whatever form of practicing you’re doing, notice how you get everything right. All the notes come out perfectly, all the moves are perfectly timed, and you feel great and confident doing it. Focus on performing it effortlessly and perfectly. Everything just flows out smoothly.
5. Take the time to play with this a bit. Slow things down and go through the activity in slow motion, noticing every detail and muscle movement, every nuance of the thought processes needed to get this just right, and flowing so perfectly. Then go through it at double speed, triple speed or even 100 times faster. 
6. Thank your unconscious mind for helping and ask it to keep running the practicing in the back of your mind, when you’re sleeping, when you’re daydreaming, etc. 
7. Count from one to five and reorient yourself to the here and now, stretching if needed, and returning to a normal state of awareness.

And that’s it. Do that on a regular basis, and it will help you get better faster and with less effort. You may have noticed that I kept emphasizing “perfect” and “just right.” That’s not to apply pressure; that’s because the beauty of mental rehearsal is you can do it perfectly. No need to program in the mistakes you’ve made while practicing “for real.” Practice doesn’t make perfect, after all; practice makes permanent. 

Because practicing wrong makes permanent the wrong move, perfect practice makes perfect. Always imagine doing it right the first time, effortlessly and easily.

Posted in How to, Hypnosis, Informational, NLP || 2 Comments

I have a dream

January 18th, 2008 by Joshua

I have a dream. And so do you. Now, you may not know what that dream is consciously anymore–maybe you’ve suppressed it for so long that you no longer have it, or maybe you just have a formless longing for something more now. I don’t know. But I do know this time of year is when many people get depressed and hopeless about ever changing, about ever fulfilling their dreams.

How many times have you resolved to change? How many times have you failed? That takes a toll on your dreams, doesn’t it?

I don’t know exactly what your dream is, but I know how you can find it again. I know how you can restore your dream to full, glorious life. And I know that when a dream is in full bloom, nothing–nothing–can stop it. Dreams create hope and passion, and hope and passion create momentum and perseverance.

Momentum and perseverance, combined with the dreams, hope and passion, create change.

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., I will be releasing my first downloadable mp3 product, You Have a Dream, today. You can use this to discover or rediscover your dream, your passion. And then you can remind yourself of it whenever you need or want to.

Joshua

PS. Remember what it felt like when you first had that full vision of your dream? When the world seemed bright and full of colors and you were really in your body, experiencing things as they happened? It would be great to feel that again, wouldn’t it? Stay tuned; You Have a Dream will be available in just a few short hours.

Posted in Hypnosis, Informational, NLP || 2 Comments

Hypnosis in 2008

January 1st, 2008 by Joshua

It feels a bit weird saying 2008, doesn’t it? We get this way every time a new year comes along; even though there’s no real external difference, we get an upsurge of hope. We start making resolutions, determining that *this time* we’ll get it right. We’ll even get off to a great start, often: drastically changing our eating habits, tossing out all our boxes of cigarettes, making To Do Lists left and right, and shouting to the world, “This time, I will succeed!!”

Then reality kicks in. Maybe not immediately, but pretty soon, we start flagging. We eat a candy bar and just luxuriate in the forbidden glory of pure sugar mixed with chocolate (and maybe even some peanut butter). We accept a friend’s offer of a cigarette, telling ourselves it’s “just this once.” We look at that To Do List and quail at the sheer magnitude of the task we’ve given ourselves … and we go and do something else.

Why?

In part, it’s because of how we’re wording our resolutions. We usually say, “I will not sabotage myself this year.” Or, “I will not smoke ever again.” Those are great goals. Excellent goals. They’re just not worded very well. Negative wording tends to have the opposite effect than was intended. Look at little kids, for example; what happens if you tell them, “You can’t have a cookie”?

The same thing happens with our unconscious mind. It’s like a little kid, in many ways, and if you tell it “Don’t,” “Can’t” or “Won’t,” it starts thinking about the forbidden thing. It dwells on it and chews it over, repeatedly. Meanwhile, your conscious mind is thinking everything’s great, that you’ve got things under control. It has no idea of the explosion building up.

Positive wording is much better for resolutions, affirmations and other similar things. While the negative is often needed as part of a motivation strategy, we can’t rely only on that. If all you’re doing is running away, where will you end up? It reminds me of a song by Keith Green, actually:

Well you can run to the end of the highway and not find what you’re looking for,
Moving won’t make your troubles disappear.
And you can search to the end of the highway and come back no better than before.
To find yourself you’ve got to start right here.

Well I came running when I got the news that you were leaving.
Oh, I’ve gotta talk some sense to you, cause I’m your friend.
You say you want to hit the road cause life is so deceiving.
Do you think it’s different at the other end?

So you can run to the end of the highway and not find what you’re looking for.
Moving won’t make your troubles disappear.
And you can search to the end of the highway and come back no better than before.
To find yourself you’ve got to start right here.

Oh I came running when I got the news that you were crying.
Oh my friend has life been so unkind to you?
You say you want to find a place where people are not lying.
If you find a place like that I’ll go there too.

Oh, you can run to the end of the highway and not find what you’re looking for.
Moving won’t make your troubles disappear.
And you can search to the end of the highway and come back no better than before.
To find yourself you’ve got to start right here.
Yes, to find yourself, you’ve got to start right here.

You have to know where you’re going and not just run blindly. Running blindly makes you no different than the silly kids in the horror movies who trap themselves in rooms with no exits, just waiting for the monster or serial killer to come get them.

Another reason resolutions fail is, well, willpower. That’s right. You heard me. Willpower.

Willpower only works for a short while; as soon as your stamina runs out, you’re back to the problem behavior. Again, it’s like the unconscious mind is a little kid, focusing on what it can’t have, what it’s not supposed to do. You’re constantly imagining that wonderful sensation of taking a nice, long drag on that cigarette, the textures and flavor of that candy bar, the relaxed and pleasant feeling of just vegging out and watching a movie.

Hypnotists know that imagination trumps willpower.

So why not use that fact? State your resolutions in the positive and use your imagination to visualize (if you can’t visualize, don’t worry; just imagine it in whatever way you usually imagine things) the *desired* goal. Imagine yourself wearing that little black dress. Imagine yourself going for walks with your grandkids and feeling healthy and strong. Imagine having that task *done* and the good feeling of accomplishment and pride.

Just those two little changes can work wonders in your success this year.

See you next time!

Joshua

Posted in Hypnosis, Informational, NLP || 2 Comments