Self-talk is what you say to yourself in the privacy of your mind. Self-talk propels you forward or holds you back. Motivational speakers and positive-thinking gurus have made a meal of this – a banquet, really – for many years. I don’t doubt that a lot of people have been helped by them but there are also a lot of people who were fleeced by them. You’ve met them. I’ve met them. These people paid and paid and paid and listened and listened and listened and never received any benefit.
Do you want to know why most of us receive limited benefit from the traditional motivational speaker? It’s because we’re too honest. Seriously, I’m not making this up. The motivational guru tells you to look in the mirror and say to yourself, “I can do it! I’m a winner! People admire me and look up to me and wish they were me! I’m special!” But the honest part of your mind shakes it’s head back and forth, saying, “That’s not true and you know it.”
All of this was proven in 2009 by Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick in Canada. Their conclusions were so fascinating they were published in Time magazine.
But none of this surprised Wizard Academy alumnus Noah St. John. In fact, Noah danced around the room when he read what those researchers had proven. Because for nearly a decade, Noah had been teaching that the key to positive change wasn’t to be found in making untrue statements to yourself, but in asking yourself the right questions.
It’s a good technique for rescuing yourself from yourself.
The wizard has done something similar to this for more than 40 years. When faced with a difficult decision, he asks, “When I look back at this moment 10 years from now, what will I be glad I decided?” This technique of moving his mind into the future and then asking a question about the present is sort of similar to what Noah is teaching.
I’ll see you next week.
– Indiana Beagle