Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has enjoyed some phenomenal success as a cartoonist. One of the secrets to his success, as he explains in "The Dilbert Future" is the technique of affirmations. Using the technique, he was able to make a killing in the stock market, pass the GMAT and earn an MBA, become a successful syndicated cartoonist, hold the Nos. 1 and 2 spot on the New York Times bestseller list and even dodge cancer.
The technique that Adams said he followed is basically this: Every day he would write, "I, SCOTT ADAMS, WILL GET / DO / ACCOMPLISH WHATEVER" 15 times. According to his instructions in "The Dilbert Future," he would stop if he didn't observe any movement toward the goal for six months. He also said you don't need any faith in the affirmations in order for them to work.
In other words, he tricked himself. Against all the odds and evidence that suggested the contrary, he wrote down goals that flew in the face of sanity. And they came to be.
Affirmations work (in theory) because they bend your brain into accepting an impossibility. The repetition of the idea creates a seed in the subconscious mind, which germinates and, like a weed, grows over other parts of your brain that might hold you back from a goal.
A skeptical, not-very-religious person like me has a lot of problems with affirmations, because it feels like I'm tricking myself. If I write, "I, Joe Hadsall, will write a first novel that will make the New York Times bestseller list," it feels like I'm taking the time to actively delude myself and engage a childish fantasy. I go through the same process when I practice magic. As I practiced the classic pass, I thought that there was no way I would ever master it. I'd think things like, "That break is obvious. There's no way I can hide that card flashing. That noise gives everything away." Yet I still practiced it, thinking all those things I saw would get better.
The other day at work, I was telling a co-worker about why I don't play poker anymore, and I performed a quick pass. My attitude was way above how I actually felt about my abilities. I felt like I was lying through my teeth. As I made the Ace of Spades jump from the middle to the top, I saw all the things that I see wrong in practice. After the move, I shrugged it off, thinking that he wasn't impressed. Then he said, "That was... I'm really freaked out right now." Made my day.
Self-confidence is critical for magic, and in life. It is so hard to gain. But the first step to gaining it comes from tricking yourself. Be realistic, but bend your sense of reality a bit from the norm. Start convincing yourself that you already are whatever you want to be.
The technique that Adams said he followed is basically this: Every day he would write, "I, SCOTT ADAMS, WILL GET / DO / ACCOMPLISH WHATEVER" 15 times. According to his instructions in "The Dilbert Future," he would stop if he didn't observe any movement toward the goal for six months. He also said you don't need any faith in the affirmations in order for them to work.
In other words, he tricked himself. Against all the odds and evidence that suggested the contrary, he wrote down goals that flew in the face of sanity. And they came to be.
Affirmations work (in theory) because they bend your brain into accepting an impossibility. The repetition of the idea creates a seed in the subconscious mind, which germinates and, like a weed, grows over other parts of your brain that might hold you back from a goal.
A skeptical, not-very-religious person like me has a lot of problems with affirmations, because it feels like I'm tricking myself. If I write, "I, Joe Hadsall, will write a first novel that will make the New York Times bestseller list," it feels like I'm taking the time to actively delude myself and engage a childish fantasy. I go through the same process when I practice magic. As I practiced the classic pass, I thought that there was no way I would ever master it. I'd think things like, "That break is obvious. There's no way I can hide that card flashing. That noise gives everything away." Yet I still practiced it, thinking all those things I saw would get better.
The other day at work, I was telling a co-worker about why I don't play poker anymore, and I performed a quick pass. My attitude was way above how I actually felt about my abilities. I felt like I was lying through my teeth. As I made the Ace of Spades jump from the middle to the top, I saw all the things that I see wrong in practice. After the move, I shrugged it off, thinking that he wasn't impressed. Then he said, "That was... I'm really freaked out right now." Made my day.
Self-confidence is critical for magic, and in life. It is so hard to gain. But the first step to gaining it comes from tricking yourself. Be realistic, but bend your sense of reality a bit from the norm. Start convincing yourself that you already are whatever you want to be.
