The article below builds upon Maltz, Maxwell (2015). Psycho-Cybernetics: updated and expanded. Penguin and expands upon a book summary by performance coach Dean Bokhari. Image by freepik.
Imagination
Imagination sets the goal picture which our automatic servo-mechanism then works on. We act or fail to act, not because of “will,” as is so commonly believed, but because of imagination. Your thoughts and actions are based on what you imagine as truth. Hypnosis is an excellent example of this in action. Your nervous system reacts appropriately to what “you” think or imagine to be true. The nervous system can’t tell the difference between reality and imagination. This also means that practicing our imagination will improve our success mechanism and prepare it to work better in a real life situation. Imagining a successful golf swing will indeed improve the actual golf swing.
Remember that your physical brain and body function as a machine which ‘You’ operate. When you practice something in your mind, you are establishing the goal to aim for. This activity is far more successful than employing willpower, or ‘trying harder’. You are able to relax, picture the process, and enjoy the journey.
You can also use this method to develop an excellent self-image. Seeing yourself differently will lead to acting differently, and improving yourself. Some have called this self-image “the strongest force within you.” Although this is only achieved when you create an honest picture of yourself (not arrogant or egotistic). Many people underrate themselves, so seek the best in yourself, and aim high!
Practice your new positive self-image
You’ve already build a self-image based on past experiences. Now you are to use the same method to build an adequate self-image that you previously used to build an inadequate one. Use 30 minutes a day to relax, close your eyes, and imagine you are watching a movie of ‘You’. Get detailed. This is your mental practice for life. View positive interactions, opportunities, responses and dreams. Don’t worry if you don’t believe it—that will come. Remember that it may take you at least 21 days of practicing this before you notice changes. Practice will lead to new, automatic responses based on the self-image you are developing.
Undo negative self-images with relaxation
But how do you undo negative self-images? In order to undo a negative belief or behavior, we need to begin by relaxing. It is difficult to be upset or think negatively when your body is relaxed. This leads to Dr. Maltz’ second practice exercise in the book—using imagination to relax. Get comfortable, and retrieve relaxing memories, e.g. when you were on vacation, completely at ease on a Sunday afternoon, or completely in the flow while working on a business project. You could also decide to construct mentally your own personal quiet room. This is a mental picture of a peaceful room where you would like to relax. What would that room look like? In what kind of activities (if any) would you be engaged? It is important that exercises of relaxation should not feel as work. Just do what you can easily do. Move through mental images of relaxation.
Undo negative self-images with rational thinking
Besides relaxing you could engage in rational thinking in order to replace negative- with positive self-images. This can concern various big or small aspects related to ‘more life‘. It can be related to future career images, leisure images, lifestyle images or simply the way you would like to carry yourself in certain situations. Think of business meetings, presentations, social gatherings, or solving any problem that frustrates you, however small it may seem (e.g. being hesitant to try that difficult level of a video game for the 10th time). Usually, each day makes you aware of a particular challenge related to your self-image and you could use these triggers to initiate working on replacing negative- with positive self-images. Again, key is to take these exercises easy, as a relaxed state mirrors a bodily state when the success mechanism often works best.
But don’t focus too much on negative images!
You do not have to unbury every negative unconscious thought in order to change your self image. Focusing too much on a mistake or guilty feeling can make these the actual goal. Instead, remember that negative experiences helped you orient better towards your goals, and then can be forgotten or ‘thrown away’. A good example is an infant learning motor skills. Picture the toddler putting a block in a puzzle box. The arm ‘zig zags’ to pick up the block and put it in the right hole in the box. The motion is one of constant error correction until the goal is hit. When the child succeeds, the servo-mechanism has learned to work properly and forgets all the mistakes made during the trial and error process. The same holds when we get older but become more conscious of this process. We should avoid becoming too conscious, meaning giving unnecessary weight to errors as opposed to successes.
Go to part 4.