Psycho-Cybernetics

Cybernetics. It’s Greek for “steersman.” Cool.

Here’s the easiest way to get what “Cybernetics” and what a “servo-mechanism” are all about: Think of how a guided missile works. First: You need to set a target (or “goal”). Then, you launch the missile (take action!). From there, the missile uses its mechanical “senses” (whether that’s radar or sonar or heat or whatever) to stay on target (they call that “positive feedback”). When it’s not on target, it gets “negative feedback” and simply adjusts its course so it’s BACK on track.

REALLY powerful stuff. And a GREAT parallel to how WE operate.

Here’s something else to consider:

Have you watched ‘The March of the Penguins’—the French documentary that tracks the march of the emperor penguins to their breeding spot in the Antarctic?

If you’re like me, you were probably shaking your head in AWE at the amazing intelligence that guide those beautiful creatures year after year after year after…

Maltz calls that their “Success Instinct.” It’s that somethin’-somethin’ that KNOWS. And, it’s not just in penguins or squirrels or other animals. It’s in ALL OF US. We have a latent drive within us that KNOWS what’s best for us.

Deepak talks about it in his Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (see Notes). It’s part of his 4th Law: The Law of Least Effort. He says: “Grass doesn’t try to grow, it just grows. Fish don’t try to swim, they just swim. Flowers don’t try to bloom, they bloom. Birds don’t try to fly, they fly. This is their intrinsic nature.”

In his classic As a Man Thinketh (see Notes), James Allen captures this intelligence in his amazing wisdom: “The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

And I even named my last business after the Dutch word for “seed” (Zaadz) because I’m so in love with this idea that there’s a force that’s much bigger than us that’s driving us to become what we’re destined to become. (In fact, that James Allen quote was on our stationery. :)

So, the point here is simple: You have a success instinct. Nature has equipped you with an intelligence that is FAR greater than your conscious/rational mind. It’s called your “subconscious mind.” And, that’s why the sub-title to the book is: “A New Technique for Using Your SUBCONSCIOUS POWER.”

OK. Now, let’s look at some of the Big Ideas on how to make all this work!

Abraham-Hicks describe this brilliantly. They like to say that “working hard” without a proper, positive mind set is kinda like going river rafting and paddling UPstream. It’s a lot of work, you don’t get too far and you’re exhausted afterwards! As they say, it’s a LOT easier if you just point yourself downstream by imagining your ideal, feeling into that and taking inspired action as you live as if that which you desire is already yours in a virtual escrow account.

As Maltz says: “Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a ‘real’ experience.”

So, his recommendation is simple: Why not imagine yourself successful?!? Maltz advises that you spend 30 minutes every day imagining yourself rockin’ it.

“Imagine how you would feel if you were already the sort of personality you want to be. If you have been shy and timid, see yourself moving among people with ease and poise—and feeling good because of it. If you have been fearful and anxious in certain situations—see yourself acting calmly and deliberately, acting with confidence and courage—and feeling expansive and confident because you are.”

He continues: “This exercise builds new ‘memories’ or stored data into your mid-brain and central nervous system. It builds a new image of self. After practicing it for a time, you will be surprised to find yourself ‘acting differently,’ more or less automatically and spontaneously—‘without trying.’”

So, get on that! Imagine your ideal self facing the challenges you have in your life. Do this consistently and you’ll find your self-image shifting and your actions more and more effortlessly aligning with this higher vision of your self.

Have you ever watched a professional hypnotist at work and seen him get people under his spell and then get ‘em to do some *wacky* stuff? It’s amazing to see.

Maltz shares a bunch of examples—from a championship weight-lifter who was hypnotized and told he was so weak he couldn’t lift a pencil off a table (and then couldn’t!) to a football player who was told his hand was stuck to the table—and, therefore, wasn’t able to lift it! He describes another set of experiments where people were POSITIVELY affected by hypnosis (e.g., simply telling people they were strong increased their strength).

Now, the fascinating thing to remember here is that their ACTUAL strength was not affected. However, the power of our subconscious mind is SO powerful that when we simply BELIEVE something, it works in mysterious ways to make those beliefs reality.

Stunning.

So, Maltz makes the point that we’re ALL hypnotized to some extent or another. We’ve been conditioned by our parents, friends, television, etc. to believe certain things. The question is: Are these beliefs the ones we want running the show?

It’s time to “dehypnotize” ourselves and re-program our minds with the beliefs we WANT running the show. As Maltz so beautifully says: “Within you, whoever you may be, regardless of how big a failure you may think yourself to be, is the ability and the power to do whatever you need to do to be happy and successful. Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you change your beliefs.”

A key aspect of Psycho-Cybernetics is the idea that our subconscious mind is the dominant force in creating our ideal lives.

Maltz makes it clear that our rational/conscious mind is used as the “control knob” of our unconscious machine. Our thinking mind chooses the goals we want to go after and gets the ball rolling. From there, we take action as we release our attachments to the results!

Unfortunately, as Maltz says: “Because modern man does depend almost entirely upon his forebrain he becomes too careful, too anxious, and too fearful of ‘results,’ and the advice of Jesus to ‘take no thought for the morrow,’ or of St. Paul to be ‘careful in nothing,’ is regarded as impractical nonsense.”

Brilliant. That’s from a chapter called “Letting Your Success Mechanism Work for You.”

It’s almost *exactly* what John Eliot says in his great book Overachievement (see Notes): “To be sure, great performers are well trained, experienced, smart, and in some cases, divinely talented. But the way their brains work during a performance is a lot more like a squirrel’s than like Einstein’s. Like squirrels, the best in every business do what they have learned to do without questioning their abilities—they flat out trust their skills, which is why we call this high-performance state of mind the ‘Trusting Mindset.’ Routine access to the Trusting Mindset is what separates great performers from the rest of the pack.”

Point is simple: There’s a time to “train” (thru visualization, practice, etc.) and there’s a time to perform. When you’re out there performing, turn your conscious brain off and let your subconscious “Success Mechanism” go to work!

Habit.

Did you know the word originally meant clothes or garments?

Love the way Maltz describes our habits “fitting” our personalities.

So, how are YOUR clothes, er, habits? You rockin’ the style you wanna be seen in or are you still wearing tattered, mis-fitting hand-me-downs from a less evolved version of you?!?

Know that if you want to change your personality, the fastest way is to change your habits. Time to clean out your closet and go shopping for some new habits!

Shopping spree: What ONE new habit do you need to develop in your life?

Closet cleanse: What ONE old habit needs to go?

Genius.

So, what’s your *major* goal right now?!?

Do you have one? Are you moving toward it?

If not, imagine riding a bike. Only imagine NOT going anywhere. Try sitting on the seat, without letting your feet touch the ground and lemme know how that works out for you.

Bikes were made to MOVE and, as Maltz says: “A bicycle maintains its poise and equilibrium only so long as it is going forward towards something. You have a good bicycle. Your trouble is you are trying to maintain your balance sitting still, with no place to go. It is no wonder you feel shaky.”

Love that. If you’re feeling funky, check in and see if you have a goal that really inspires you. My hunch is, the worse you feel, the less likely you have a compelling goal. Good news is that’s EASY to change. Set a goal that inspires you—could be something as mundane as cleaning your house while listening to great music or an athletic goal like doing a triathlon or a big goal like starting a new biz or relationship. Whatever it is, go for it!

Are you afraid of making mistakes? If so, Tony Robbins, Elbert Hubbard, Thomas Edison and Napoleon Hill would like a word with you.

Robbins (see Notes) says: “Success is the result of good judgment, good judgment is a result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgment.”

Hubbard says: “The greatest mistake a man can make is to be afraid of making one.”

It took Edison 10,000 “failures” to figure out the light bulb. He said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Napoleon Hill says in Think and Grow Rich (see Notes): “If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan; if this new plan fails to work, replace it in turn with still another, and so on, until you find a plan which does work. Right here is the point at which the majority of men meet with failure, because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.”

In short: Get out there and GO FOR IT. Ready, fire, aim.

As you take action (like riding the bike from above), you naturally discover the course that’ll take you to your desired outcome. If you just sit there though… you’re in trouble!

Yayuh! :)

Hope you enjoyed this quick look at a great book.