watch tHe skies

Saw an advert last night for Samuel L. Jackson’s “Snakes On A Plane”. It is clear from the trailer that the title of this movie “does exactly what it says on the tin”, as the Ronseal adverts say. That is, the title is no clever metaphor for the theme of the movie - it really is about snakes on a plane. This has the advantage for a thriller that the potential customer can immediately visualise the concept and decide then and there whether the images that they conjure up appeal to them or not.

So it made me wonder what other movie titles could benefit from the Ronseal treatment…. (more…)

So my trip to Edinburgh wasn’t quite as painful as I had expected. Moments before we went airside, Birmingham Airport relaxed the rules on electronic devices, which meant that I could take my phone and avoid getting withdrawal symptoms spending a day out of the office incommunicado.

Security was still tight - every car entering Birmingham Airport was being questioned as to the passenger’s intentions on the airport. At the security check we had to remove belts, shoes and jackets, but to be honest the queue wasn’t that much longer than the week before. What was good to see was that the security staff were being very open and polite to passengers, who, in return, were compliant and helpful (aah Cialdini’s first principle of influence in full effect). (more…)

Thanks to Andy for this. Comedy.

Well if you aren’t subscribing to Adam Eason’s blog by now then you simply aren’t paying attention! In the first in a series of interviews with prominent figures in the fields of hypnotism, NLP and self-improvement, Adam has bagged an interview with the creator of hypnotic writing, Joe “Mr Fire” Vitale. This hour-long interview gives a fascinating insight in to hypnotic writing and its use as a marketing, and even a novel-writing tool. Be sure to check out the podcast here.

Adam Eason’s website is full of interesting books and CDs for learning hypnosis and a bunch of other useful tools, so check it out. You might want to think about looking at Joe Vitale’s website too, to learn what all of the fuss is about.

Man alive, it comes to something when the atrocities in Lebanon and the enormous typhoon ripping in to China are incidentals on the BBC news.

On wednesday I flew to Edinburgh and back on BA flights. No hold baggage, just a briefcase with my iPod, a book, a couple of documents, my phone and my keys. Based on the current rules, that briefcase will have to go in to hold, meaning a 4am start on monday and an extra hour or so added to my day waiting around for my briefcase to arrive at a carousel. All because a bunch of so-called Brits wanted to martyr themselves by killing hundreds of innocent people?

I remember that being a kid involved scrapes with lots of other kids, creating enemies and getting in to fights, until our respective parents told us off, smacked us and made us say sorry to each other. After that we more often than not ended up best friends.

So it seems to me that this is exactly what the human race needs, someone to come along and make us be friends. After all, we all have to live together, and we will never achieve Gene Roddenberry’s vision of humanity unless we all stop trying to kill each other. However it must be noted that in his vision, we did go through a third world war before realising the error of our ways. It should also be noted that having a “parent” to make us all be friends could perhaps be called a dictatorship, something that Anakin Skywalker never got his head around until he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

Now i’m sure some of you (assuming that the readership is more than me) are bound to be saying “yes Matt, but we have been fighting each other for hundreds, maybe thousands of years”, and to that I say yes, indeed, but is it healthy to have any habit that long? Surely it’s time to break the habit and all be friends, to be nice to each other and all go on a picnic or something. Religious hatred, when you think about it, is a bit daft considering that nobody knows who is actually right, i mean who can be sure that the omnipotent one is buddha, allah, god or Dennis Bergakamp?

Back to my original point or thread. Thank you to the security services for averting such an evil plot to kill more innocent people. Even though my trip to Edinburgh on monday will be an even longer day than it was going to be, I am happy knowing that there are people out there protecting me from nastiness.

I’m currently reading Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. An oft referenced book in NLP circles, Cialdini has researched the field of influenced and presents his conclusions in the book, detailing the six principles of influence.

One of the subjects discussed before delving in to the principles in detail, is how easily we humans (yes I am one of you whatever you think. From a different dimension of course, but certainly human in origin) are influenced. An example is presented from the work of Ellen Langer (her book, Mindfulness is on my list of “to read”s). A well-known principle of human behaviour is that when we ask someone to do us a favour, we will be more successful if we provide a reason. (more…)

So i’ve recently read Shad Helmstetter’s “What to say when you talk to your self”, recommended to me by NLP Trainer Jamie Smart. The book works on the premise that your unconscious is directed by what it hears, both internally, by that little voice we all have, and externally, by what we say and what others say to us.

The main point is that for most of us, we hear more criticism and self-limiting statements than anything else. These messages osmose in to our unconscious, which works 24/7 to make sense of and realise the goals that are being heard. (more…)

This is a book that I’ve had on my shelf for a long time, and that I have finally gotten around to reading thanks to, er, well I said I wouldn’t mention it again.

Anyways the book, by Paul Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger, is one of a number that they have written around the subject of personality type, specifically the Myers-Briggs type indicator. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test designed to assist a person in identifying some significant personality preferences. Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers developed the test during World War II, and its criteria follow from Carl Jung’s theories in his work Psychological Types. MBTI is a very well known system that many companies charge a fortune to train you to use. And even when you’ve had the training, you need to give the subject a questionnaire to fill in and then find half an hour to score it. (more…)

Been lacking motivation to go to the gym recently? In this ridiculously hot weather I know I have. However I’ve noticed that the kind people over at the excellent site, mindchanginghypnosis have made available a self-hynosis script recording to help you get yourself up and on to the treadmill, whatever the excuse!

Attended an IoD networking breakfast this morning. The speaker was Gary Outrageous, someone I have been looking forward to listening to. A professional hypnotic speaker, Gary has worked with some very large clients to help them break away from traditional and cultural business limitations, and do that little bit extra that it takes to beat the other guy.

He spoke for about half an hour, not long really, given that he is a very funny and charismatic speaker - I could have listened to him for hours. Anyhoo he gave us little hints and tips about how to get ahead of the other guy. His view is that most companies are ok, if a little bit crap, and so there’s no need to aim for excellence, when in fact if you manage to be good, every day, then that beats most. (more…)