Have an Open Mind
In order to benefit from hypnosis you must have an open mind. In other words, you must want to be affected by hypnosis in order for anything to take place. During the process of hypnosis, nothing happens by itself. It is not a mysterious outside force overtaking your mind and making you do strange things that you have no control over. It is entirely based on suggestion.
Acceptance
How open to suggestion are you? The more open that you are, the more accepting you are of suggestion, the stronger the effect will be. It is similar to having a doctor standing on the front steps of your house. In order for her to help you, you must open the door and let her in. Unless you do that, she will remain on the front doorstep completely useless. She cannot help you unless you allow her to.
Degree of Acceptance
What is your degree of suggestibility? Are you 100 percent open or is there a small degree of resistance hiding somewhere that you do not want to face? People are often open to suggestion; however, there is some resistance that holds them back from being helped with their situation.
Imagine you are a civil servant and you need to pass an exam to get a better paying job. Even though the job pays better than what you are making now, you enjoy your present job and have reservations about whether you will enjoy the promotion. Although all of the information needed to pass the test is stored within your subconscious mind, you still fail the test because there is a degree of resistance that will not allow you to recover that information. You failed the test because on a subconscious level that is what you really wanted.
How much of a commitment should someone have to change?
On a scale of one to ten, one being the least amount of commitment as if it really didn't matter and ten being the highest amount as if you believed it was your last possible resort, where would you put your commitment or desire to change? If you cannot say seven or above, then you may not be committed enough.
Resistance to Change
This resistance can be seen oftentimes with people who have a desire to quit smoking. They go to the hypnotherapist saying that they are 100 percent committed to quitting; however, when the hypnotherapist asks them to turn in all of their cigarettes and cigarette-related paraphernalia, their faces turn pale. All of a sudden the reality hits them that they are there to quit smoking permanently.
At this point the wall of resistance begins to show itself.
It is important to realize that resistance is in opposition to suggestibility. Before choosing to hypnotize yourself, for whatever topic, be sure that you are 100 percent open to make the change. Is there any resistance, fear, or rebellion keeping you from obtaining this goal? If there is, you may want to take some time to address these issues and eliminate them.
