The Suggestion of Power

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplashed

         As I prepared to get ready for bed a few nights ago, a whimsical thought occurred to me that it would be nice to write for Forbes Magazine. Early the following morning, a fuzzy dream settled over the balance of my sleep. I awoke to the dream that I was actually a contributing writer for Forbes. Was that a coincidence?
 
            For a long time, I’ve known that thinking and writing down something before you go to sleep will seep into your subconscious and you may dream about it and even manifest it. The seminal book on this subject in particular is “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind,” by Dr. Joseph Murphy who writes about this exact thing.
 
        “You can bring into your life more power, more wealth, more health, more happiness, and more joy by learning to contact and release the hidden power of your subconscious mind. You need not acquire this power; you already possess it. But, you want to learn how to use it; you want to understand it so that you can apply it in all departments of your life.”
 
            As an example, Dr. Murphy states that if you want more wealth, just repeat quietly to yourself as you fall asleep, “wealth.” Say it quietly, and say it over and over. If you want to write for Forbes, imagine this scenario in your mind as you drift off to sleep.
 
            I once took this advice to heart and wrote a large number on a piece of paper. That was the amount I wanted to make by selling the company where I was a partner at the time. Shortly thereafter, my partners and I received an offer for the company. It was a solid offer. My partner wanted to accept it, but it was only half of the number that I had written down only several months before. I held my breath and told my partner to respond to the offer by doubling it. Yes, doubling it. He said that he would do so. He did it right then and there by contacting the prospective buyer via email. We were prepared to wait, as the offer came from a time zone that was 16 hours ahead. Almost immediately, we got a reply with a, “Yes.”
 
            It took some time, but the deal closed and we received exactly the number written down on that piece of paper. I still have it.
 
            The name of this technique is called the Power of Suggestion. Hypnosis works using this same concept. Recently, I thought, what if we applied this to our children? What if we gave our children a suggestion as they were drifting off to sleep. What if we just said simply and quietly, “You are powerful.” Because children often feel powerless. To imbue them with the suggestion of power would be so, well, powerful for them.
 
            When he was young. my son had developed a skin condition on his hands. It was growing and spreading. We tried everything. We put medicine on it, night after night and nothing was working. A friend had just received his certificate in hypnosis. I asked him if he could hypnotize my son to make the condition go away. He told me that hypnosis would work really well for just this thing, but unfortunately, my son was probably too young and too hyperactive for it to work properly and have a successful outcome. He suggested that he write down a hypnotic suggestion and that I read it to him when he was in the sleep stage 1, non-REM, transition between wakefulness and sleep, which lasts about five to ten minutes.
 
            I did exactly that and within one week his condition was healed. It completely disappeared.
 
Do kids feel powerless today?
           
            According to Kid’s Help Phone, kids start to feel powerless when the pressures in their lives build. This can be a result of anything from academic pressures, to social anxiety, to over scheduling by parents. In today’s pandemic, those feelings of powerlessness are magnified and not just for kids. Parents experience the same burdens.
 
         One of their suggestions is to help children achieve small successes and work from there. You can empower them by letting them make their own choices. You can also help them breakdown exactly what it is they are worried about.
 
          Tonight, I'm starting to say, "Health" to myself while going to sleep. Try using the power of suggestion for both your children and yourself. Let me know how it goes.