by Jason Linett
I now share the concepts of leveraging assets, building rituals, and shifting your perceptual position in the business world. I teach specific mental strategies to take goals out of your mind and off your paper, and, instead, into your reality. The attendees of my presentations can immediately implement these methods to enhance their business. As it is my expertise, self-hypnosis is the primary strategy I share to help people change the way they think.
My journey is one of leveraging each experience to the next one, to the next one, and, again, to the next one. My mission with this book is for you to live your entrepreneurial dream. Create something incredible. The real message of this book? If I can do these things in a profession where I have to spend time dispelling the myths and misconceptions of hypnosis, you’ve got it easier than I did. You can create your success even faster and more easily. In your line of work, hopefully, you don’t have to explain to people that you’re not going to make them cluck like a chicken. I’d honestly tell you I’ve never even seen any hypnotist ask someone to do that! Before my work can even begin, I have to inoculate against the fears people hold about hypnosis. You’re likely in a much more normal profession than I am!
You might be a real estate agent. You might be a plumber or a contractor. You could be a photographer. You don’t have to overcome the barriers I have to achieve success. If I was able to build several six-figure businesses in my unique category of work. Your opportunity is even greater. Without the challenge of helping people overcome fears, misconceptions, and myths, you can get straight to work.
Please model my story and model the story of your potential clients. What’s holding you back? What’s holding them back? The narrative you build that bridges the two stories may build your own million-dollar brand.
From my experiences, I’ve learned that hypnosis doesn’t just have to be a formal process. It can become a philosophy. Step into the result you’re ready to create and make it happen with tenacity. Become highly suggestible to your experiences as you learn along the way. A principle in hypnotic work is that “there is no failure, there is only feedback.”
It’s not just the simple suggestion to “fake it until you make it.” From my previous career working with actors, I learned a principle of improvisational acting is “act as if.” Focus your strategies and efforts on WHEN they will work for you, rather than IF. Talk about your goals as if you’ve already achieved them. Embrace the journey this becomes, like the classic video game reference I previously shared. Be honest about where you are in the process and eliminate the strategies that aren’t working.
Later in this book, I’m going to share with you a simple and direct self-hypnosis strategy I’ve taught to thousands of people. But first, I’m going to give you a bonus. Here’s self-hypnosis in just one sentence:
“Talk about what you want, rather than what you don’t want.”
In hypnosis, we make statements for positive change called hypnotic suggestions. The formula to deliver a hypnotic suggestion is simple. It’s an action followed by a result. It’s a cause followed by an effect.
Imagine that a person is ready to launch their business, yet they’re procrastinating. Through conversational and formal hypnotic methods, we get their mind working as if they were already productive. Rather than focus on the problem of procrastinating, they step into the creative solution of connecting their mind to a reality as if they were already working and already being successful. “Look into the future and remember how well you will have done” is a phrase that frames the process. Retrain the mental automatic response to step into that change as if that’s what you’ve always been doing. Rather than “fake it until you make it,” perhaps consider it as “train the neurology.”
Act as if. Step into that reality as if you’ve already achieved it. Allow your old negative thinking to atrophy and let this new pattern of thought grow stronger and become the upgraded representation within the mind.
A hypnotic suggestion is an action followed by a result.
As you start creating content to better inform your clients, you develop a greater understanding of the importance of your work. As you start receiving positive feedback from your existing clients, you realize there’s a greater need for your service worldwide. As you discover the greater opportunities to grow your business, you serve a greater good in the world around you. As you speak about what you do and feel your own voice resonating in the chambers of your body, you feel an incredibly genuine confidence growing each and every day .
Set your life in motion. It’s not just about making an affirmation of something you want. It’s about putting momentum into your life. One of the words inside of “attraction” is “action.” Put action into your words to set your goals in motion. Re-read the previous paragraph. I was using hypnotic language patterns throughout the entire sequence. As you do this, notice that. As you notice that, you find it is easier to do this. Let your actions become the hypnotic suggestion and a catalyst for change.
Get started right away. Talk about what you want, rather than about what you don’t want. It’s the classic law of concentrated attention. Set your mind toward the goal. Give yourself permission to acknowledge what you’re good at. It’s time for a self-induced pat on the back. Embrace your strengths and put them to use.
I had the advantage of growing up in a family where everyone was an entrepreneur. There was never an expectation for me to go into the family business. I went to college following one path and decided to completely abandon that industry to run off and become a hypnotist. The metaphorical equivalent would have been to run off and join the circus. Though with my brief hobby of doing magic tricks, the circus may have been a definite possibility.
I encourage you to “Be Hypnotic.” Set goals and go after them. Rather than play the game of “What if,” instead, focus on “What will I do about it.” Act with certainty and tenacity. If I decide I’m going to do something, I’m determined to make it happen. There’s a quote from Lorne Michaels, the creator and producer of Saturday Night Live: “Whether we’re ready or not, the show goes live at 11:30.”
This mindset can change your world. You can do hypnosis, or you can “Be Hypnotic.” Make a mental decision to step into a result as if you have already achieved it. Change the pictures in your mind and focus yourself on being a person of action. Open yourself to much greater opportunities. Take ownership of your own state of mind, your communication with others, and even with yourself. Open yourself up to greater flexibility and possibility for growth.
Things will change. Many companies pivot their focus as they grow and listen to their consumers. A computer manufacturer started selling music. An online bookstore is now running your local grocery store. An actor moved into politics. I watched a funny show on stage in college that transmuted into speaking to businesses about turning goals into realities and coaching private clients.
Transmute. That’s a word you don’t often hear these days. Go back and read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill for a classic lesson on lifestyle design.
What’s that big goal of yours? Take a moment to “Be Hypnotic” as you think about what it would be like to have already reached it. Turn up that burning desire to make it happen. Shift it from a “should” to a “must.” Create your own mental state of “Hypnotic Tenacity.” Identify a goal, put action to it, and find creative solutions to dissolve the problems.
I recently achieved the goal of speaking to my biggest audience ever. Back to Kevin Pollak: “If you’re not creating, you’re waiting.” Rather than just hoping I could speak on this platform, I took massive action. I hired a team of research analysts to study the industry I wished to speak to. They helped me craft the right message to send to the right people. The speaking opportunity was soon mine, and the event was a success. More importantly, I leveraged this opportunity into the higher positioning necessary to grow in a new market.
Continue to pivot your success in the way that aligns with your personal goals. Open up your full consci
ous awareness to all the possibilities that are there. Lock onto the tenacity of “I am going to make this work.”
There’s a hypnotic word I’ve held back from explaining until now.
Trance.
My definition of trance is very simple. It’s when your internal representations carry more importance than external representations. Your inner experience becomes paramount over the external reality. Despite conscious logic, the unconscious mind can hold onto a false perception to protect you. A person flying might be creating an internal trance of fear. The public speaker may be shaking as he creates the internal trance of nervousness.
This is why I often say that I’m not really hypnotizing people to produce a change. Instead, we’re de-hypnotizing the unnecessary self-limiting beliefs and blocks that were holding you back up until now. The truth is, if you can create one trance, you can create another. Create the “working productively” trance. Create the “releasing negativity to those things I cannot control” trance. Step into the “live in the present moment” trance.
Change the “every reason I can’t do this” trance into an “it’s the right time” trance. Draw a straight line from here to where you’d like to be. Decide that it’s going to be easy. Decide that it’s going be fun.
WORK SMART and BE HYPNOTIC.
WORK SMART ACTION STEPS:
☞ Make time for yourself. Revisit the goals you’ve mapped out in the earlier action steps of this book. Enhance them. Make them bigger. Define a timeframe in which you’re going to make that happen. You might be surprised that a map to get there is clearer now than it ever was before.
☞ I met a pilot who explained that the flight-plan for an airline is perfect on paper. Yet, as soon as he leaves the gate at the airport, they constantly have to make modifications for other planes, weather, and whatever other conditions may be present. However, he always lands the plane. Embrace that you will need to make modifications and have some real learning experiences along your business journey. Look for meaning in every moment to enhance your learning and entrepreneurial strength.
☞ Commit now to make use of the self-hypnosis strategy taught later in this book. It takes less than a minute, and, through simple repetition, you can focus your mind toward better actions and outcomes.
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KEEP BALANCE
What if the lesson of a nervous actor could change the way you think about your business? What if the secret to becoming a better person involved injecting an appropriate dash of greed in your life? Imagine what could happen if you decided right now is the best time to take serious action growing your business.
I want you to have an incredible business. I want the work you do to inspire the lives of others. My real message to you is this: I want you to have a life of your own.
We’ve now built the foundation to WORK SMART in your business. It’s time, now, to create balance in your life. Together, we’re going to explore strategies to avoid burnout, build amazing relationships with loved ones, and discover the reasons beyond money to have your own business.
You picked up and are reading a book with the title WORK SMART BUSINESS . I can assume there is something you hope to achieve by reading this book. This might be your first business book. You may have already read through the classics. In The E-Myth Revisited , Michael Gerber informed you that you were working too much IN your business rather than ON your business. In Think and Grow Rich , Napoleon Hill helped you ignite a “burning desire” to change your life. I sincerely thank you for joining me. Our journey together is really just beginning. I’d like you to enjoy your WORK. I want you to be SMART about how you go from start-up to scale up. I want your BUSINESS to be something that makes the world a better place for yourself and for all of us.
Let’s get personal. To WORK SMART means to have a life outside of your business. It’s important to step away from your work. One part of life balances out the other. Strive to create the appropriate balance between life and work so you don’t burn out. Make time for friends, family, loved ones, even for vacations.
I burned out hard while working in theatrical production management. I was behind the scenes organizing million-dollar-budget shows with dozens of actors and musicians. Sometimes, children and animals on stage were thrown into the mix. Then add a bunch of designers, moving scenery, union contracts, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and tons of time spent in the dark. Plus, for some reason, the company I worked at had a knack for picking plays where the backstage crew had to cook a full English breakfast for the actors to eat on stage, because that’s what the play called for. My level of burnout was simply remarkable.
I was on track to be promoted to what had originally been my perceived “dream job.” The Christmas holidays were rapidly approaching, and we found ourselves working until midnight. I wanted to be at home with my family. I was there alongside one of my mentors who commented, “You work like this because you love the art. That’s why you give your life to it.”
Something clicked at that moment. It was never the same after that. Hypnosis had been a hobby up until this point. Even just doing the occasional program for schools and seeing occasional clients, I was actually earning more from my part-time passion than my full-time career. It turns out that nonprofit arts are nonprofit for almost everybody involved!
It all happened sooner than I expected. The “dream job” offer was presented, and it felt like getting punched in the stomach. I could not spend my life like this anymore. I politely declined the offer, walked away, went all-in on the life of the entrepreneur, and I haven’t looked back.
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it for the rest of your life.
This is the first time I’ve shared my story in such detail. I’m still friends with many of the people I worked with in those days and, if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a thing. The lessons of balancing creative personalities prepared me for a career working with people for personal change. I’d credit most of my ability to design business systems to the experience coordinating the backstage operations of a big-budget production. My time management skills were sharpened to near-perfection by having to know the exact details and timing of every actor’s backstage costume changes and entrances. Backstage theater technicians naturally become a jack of all trades. This flexibility gave me tenacious energy to keep learning how to do new things. The artistic passion didn’t have to die, it just had to pivot. I can enjoy sitting in the audience of a good show. I don’t have to be the one backstage!
I share my origin story because some of you may just be at the dreaming stage of the entrepreneurial journey. If it’s not yet the time for you to take the leap, my advice is to start incubating. I spent my final weeks of the theater job only working a “production” schedule rather than “rehearsal.” A rehearsal schedule is basically a nine-to-five job. Production involves the running of the show, which means you’re there from about 5 p.m. to midnight. It’s a rough schedule as you have no social life, but it was the perfect scenario as I was building my websites, designing my client programs, booking more speaking opportunities, and preparing to transition immediately upon my exit. Design your exit strategy to become the perfect entrance to the next part of your entrepreneurial story.
This reminds me of a story. Whether you have experience in theater or not you’ve likely been told, when giving a presentation make sure the audience can see your face. Whether you’re thinking back to elementary school or even a boardroom meeting, you’re told to stand so people can see your face.
I was sitting behind a folding table in a rehearsal hall when an actor in his early twenties was directed to stand with his back facing the audience. This clearly caused him stress. Maybe it hurt his feelings that the audience wouldn’t see his smiling face. Maybe there was a concern as to what his friends and family would say? They were going to travel a long distance to see his performance, just to see the back of his head. Here he was at the start of his career, tens of thousands of
dollars in student loan debt, and his professional career would begin with his back to the audience.
He was not pleased, but he was polite. Like a good actor, he was also creative. “What if I stood over here?” he asked the director. He was told no. “What if I’m helping with the table,” he said, as he tried to become a part of the play’s action.
The director walked over to him and explained: “I’m giving you a gift. You have the most important line of the play in a few moments. By having your back to the audience, we’ll have you turn and face the audience just before you say that line. This will guarantee everyone in the audience will be looking directly at you. By turning around, you’re making another entrance. Every set of eyes in the room will be looking at you. This way they will all hear you. I’m allowing you to make a new entrance when you’re already on stage.”
Clearly, this appealed to the ego of the young man. The funny thing is that he then spent the rest of the rehearsal process trying to fight for more opportunities to turn his back to the audience.
I come back to this story often as it illustrates the value of stepping away. It allows you to make another introduction. The brain is like a muscle. Give it the opportunity to release focus and shift attention to other things. Your mind can come back with greater intent.
Do you like your job? Do you hate your job? Either way, step away from it. Even if it’s just for a weekend or a few hours. Even when things seem at their absolute best. Step away to release stress. Give yourself a rest to come back with greater focus.
I have to assume that you’re driven by a specific passion. If not, perhaps it’s time to review your goals and objectives. If you’re not congruent with your goals, you’re likely to fizzle out or burn out. Passion is that initial spark that drives us to gather the skills, invest the time, and become energized to make something happen.
You are the director of your own life. Sometimes you may be on other people’s schedules and job requirements. You still have a say in how you spend your life. Take the steps necessary to either find or make the balance in your life.