Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
“According to an ancient legend, there was a time when ordinary people had access to all the knowledge of the gods. Yet time and again, they ignored this wisdom. One day, the gods grew tired of so freely giving a gift the people didn’t use, so they decided to hide this precious wisdom where only the most committed of seekers would discover it. They believed that if people had to work to find this wisdom, they would use it more carefully. One of the gods suggested that they bury it deep in the earth. No, the others said—too many people could easily dig down and find it. “Let’s put it in the deepest ocean,” suggested one of the gods, but that idea was also rejected. They knew that people would one day learn to dive and thus would find it too easily. One of the gods suggested hiding it on the highest mountaintop, but it was quickly agreed that people could climb mountains. Finally, one of the wisest gods suggested, “Let’s hide it deep inside the people themselves. They’ll never think to look in there.” And so it came to be—and so it continues today.”
When I read this great story recently in the excellent book The Success Principles (1) by Jack Canfield, I was reminded at how often I meet people who think the answers to their problems are outside of themselves, to be found in more money, more possessions, or different relationships.
During our work together on The MINDMASTER Method™ we quickly get to accessing the subconscious mind as the answers that can guide you to what you need to do, know or ask are already there. We often start this process with what I call The Amazing Miracle Scenario, to open up through powerful visualisation an imaginary scene where all in your life is as you want it. It’s a wonderfully creative way of connecting with the answers deep within that can then serve as a guiding light to what needs to happen next.
So, your turn. Experience The Amazing Miracle Scenario yourself now and see what gems you are able to access from your unconscious mind through the power of your creative imagination.
Take 10 -15 minutes where you’ll be undisturbed to enter into the process.
Imagine now that tomorrow morning something amazing happens. Tonight you go to sleep, wake up, and in the morning notice that during your sleep, something incredible has occurred, a miracle. The problem you have been experiencing has completely and totally disappeared. Completely gone, like it never happened, ever!
Take a few moments to imagine how that will be ….
Now, answer the following questions:
1. What is the first thing you notice that tells you that problem has permanently gone, forever?
2. What are you able to do now, that you couldn’t do before, that tells you definitively that that problem has completely gone?
3. Imagine the rest of your day, as you go through your day, totally free of that problem. What happens as you get out of bed, have breakfast, go to work, take lunch, finish work, travel home, eat your evening meal and eventually go to bed?
4. Begin to be aware of not only your reaction to these situations, but also to who else notices that you are totally free of that problem. Imagine people seeing you completely free of that problem. What tells them that this amazing change has happened?
Again, take a few moment to imagine your life like this, totally free of the problem you once experienced, but which has now completely disappeared from your life.
Until you have some tangible idea of what it will be like to live without that problem, you’ll struggle to get anywhere. It is often the most difficult part of the change process, but the most essential.
The questions above all come from a mistaken belief that you will never be free of the problem. It’s a maybe, a possible, a perhaps, but what you really need is to know exactly how it will be when the problem has gone. No maybe, possibly, or perhaps, but a real sense of what, how, and when you will have changed and how it will be.
This will begin to connect you at a deep level to how life can really be. The answers are all inside, within your unconscious mind. The sooner you start to ask the right questions, the quicker you’ll get the answers.
Let me know below what the experience was like for you.
Keep mastering,
Tom.
Dr Tom Barber is a #1 bestselling author, integrative and existential psychotherapist and coach, supervisor, researcher, speaker, and co-founder of Self Help School. His work has spanned nearing 30 years, in which he has focussed on helping people all over the world to improve their knowledge and understanding of their psychological worlds. Tom regularly delivers courses and lectures in the UK, USA, Canada, Mexico, and across Europe. In addition, he maintains a private therapy and coaching consultancy from his base in Essex, and online.
