A simple fun process / game to adjust and optimize your fixed thinking patterns. The 7 steps are:

• 1. Awareness: Realize, observe, gain insight and reveal. This with limited beliefs, misconceptions, disadvantageous suggestions, judgments, etc.
• 2. Challenge, investigate and adjust Find out what is true and what is false in the here and now
• 3. Make a clear choice to change your (fixed) thinking patterns and turn them around literally and figuratively. You make a clear choice to change your thinking patterns and turn your focus around, from what you don’t want to what you do want.
• 4. Focus on what I do want Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. Where attention flows energy goes!
• 5. Discover new possibility’s by asking solution-oriented questions Discover new possibilities by asking the right solution-oriented questions
• 6. Confirm, emphasize and make concrete. Become aware of what is important to you and make your new beneficial thinking concrete
• 7. Take action straight away! Theory is nice but is also very weak without action. Realize your new reality by taking the right actions! And continue to strengthen your new fixed thinking patterns in the physical world.

If you’re stuck in life or just want to reprogram your fixed thinking patterns by adjusting and optimizing them, you can use this fun, practical, powerful game to free yourself from the mental prison of the past.

A fun, practical and powerful game to adjust and optimize your fixed thinking patterns (here are the questions in a simple structure, an extensive explanation comes after this)

To play this game you will need these things:

• Empty sheets of paper for writing on both sides.
• A pen
• Fixed thinking patterns you want to adjust and optimize. For example: Limited belief(s)
• The sincere intention to adjust and optimize your fixed thinking patterns to free yourself from old limitations.
• Curiosity, playfulness and enthusiasm!

Preparation:
On one side of an empty piece of paper write down:

• ‘The problem side’ (and underneath)
• ‘Focus on what I DONT want’

On the other side write down:

• ‘The solution side’ (and underneath)
• ‘Focus on what I DO want’

If you have already discovered a limited belief and/or negative mindset, you can start with step 2. Challenge, investigate and adjust.

If you don’t have this yet, start with a ‘Awareness meditation’ and find out what comes up in terms of negative thinking patterns and limited beliefs.

Here is a simple summary of the steps and questions. If you would like a more detailed explanation, you can click on the blue link next to the step / question to go there directly. You can use the blue link there to return back to the summary.

Or you can click here to go straight to the beginning of the detailed explanation

It is recommended that you go through the detailed explanation at least once. Have fun and enjoy!

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The 7 steps and a summary of the hypnotic questions

AWARENESS MEDITATION

Realizing and observing what is happening in your (fixed) thinking processes. Ask the question:

• “What is happening in my thinking here and now?” and realize what is happening.
• If you discover a limited belief/negative thought write it down on the paper.

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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CHALLENGE, INVESTIGATE AND ADJUST

On ‘the problem’ side of the card / paper, write down a limited belief.

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If necessary ask “because?” If necessary ask “because?” to reveal the second part of the limited belief, and then write down the whole limited belief.

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Ask the question: “How do I know for sure that this is really true now?” If necessary for each answer you get, repeat the question again to be sure if it is TRUE NOW.

“How would I know if this wasn’t true?” “What would be my proof that this belief isn’t true now”

Ask this question to create the opposite reality in your imagination and just pretend for a moment that this is true now to gain more valuable insights.

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Discover a counter example: Find and discover a counter-example to prove that the mindset / limited belief is not (entirely) correct.

Ask the question:

• “In which situations is this not correct?”
• “When/Where/With Who doesn’t it happen?”
• “When/Where/With Who does it happen?”

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Recognize ‘black and white’ thinking Words such as:

• Never
• Always
• Nobody
• Everybody
• All
• Nothing
• None

Use words such as: “sometimes, some, maybe, might, possibly, could” Correct it and write it down!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Become aware of the consequences: With the limited belief, ask the question:

• “What would happen if I kept believing this?”
• And then ask the question: “Is this what I want?”

Realize and remember:

• You always have a choice if you want to keep believing something or not.
• A belief is a suggestion that is not (sufficiently) proven.
• Because it was a fact yesterday does not mean that it is a fact today.

Ask the question:

• “Is this belief helpful or not?”
• “Do I still want to believe this?”

If not, release it because you always have a choice to believe what you want to believe!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Identity or behaviour? “I am?” or “I do?” – Identity or feeling? “I am?” or “I feel?”

• Ask the question: “Is this what I really am, or is this something I do?” Correct it and write it down!
• Ask the question: “Is this what I really am, or is this how I feel?” Correct it and write it down!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Use past tense language Realize that a limited belief is made of your past experiences.

• You are the here and now, not the past!
• Your real ‘I’ is the here and now. This is your ‘Authentic I’
• Your imaginary ‘I’ is the past or the future I. This is your ‘mental I’
• Correct it and write it down in past tense language!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Till now. Not yet. Everything that has already happened is now a thing of the past. Emphasize this with:

• “Till now” or “Not yet”

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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‘When’ or ‘Where’ does this happen exactly? (in which situations?) Be specific to reveal deceptive generalizations!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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‘May’ / ‘Can’ or ‘Must’ / ‘Have to’ “Must” / “Have to” is tense energy, limited and closed. “May” / “Can” is relaxed energy, flexible and open.

Take the pressure of with:

• “I may, I don’t have to”
• “I can, I don’t have to”
• “I must / have to” change to “I may” or “I can”
• Correct it and write it down!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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MAKE A CLEAR CHOICE TO CHANGE THE FIXED THINKING PATTERN AND TURN IT AROUND FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY

Make a clear choice to free yourself from the old thought patterns / limited beliefs and turn it around by asking this magical question:

• “What do I want instead of this?” and then also turn the paper over!

More explanation and examples? Click here!!

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FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU DONT WANT

On ’the solution side’ of the piece of paper

Focus on what I want! This is very important and speaks for itself! With regard to the pattern or thought / the limited conviction ask the magic question:

• “What do I want instead of this?” and write down the answer!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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DISCOVER NEW POSSIBILITYS BY ASKING SOLUTION ORIENTED QUESTIONS

Ask solution oriented questions:

• How?
• What?
• Where?
• Who?

Ask solution-oriented questions such as “How? What? Where? Who?” that focus on what you do want and create new opportunities. A “How?” Or “What?” question can be used more often. All these questions are relaxed energy and are therefore open and flexible. Write the “How? What? Where? Who?” questions and then answers.

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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CONFIRM, EMPHASIZE AND MAKE CONCREATE BY ASKING THE “WHY?” QUESTION 

With the answers you received from the solution-oriented questions (How? What? Where? Who?) ask the question:

• “Why is this so important to me?”
• Write down the answer and if necessary ask the question again.
• Keep repeating until you have enough answers.

***Please note***
Ask “Why” questions preferably in positive and beneficial situations. For example: Each time you realize that something has changed positively or you have been given an insight, you can ask a why question such as:

• “Why is this better?”
• “Why is this important?”

Other good “Why” questions could be:

• “Why do I feel so good?” (when your feeling good)
• “Why is this so funny? (in funny situations)”
• “Why is this so enjoyable?” (in enjoyable situations)
• with positive or / and beneficial events Etc.

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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TAKE ACTION STRAIGHT AWAY AND DO IT!

It is very good to gain insights, to adapt old beliefs and to discover new ideas, but without action it is still theory. If you really want to make these new thinking patterns concrete, take action right away in the physical world! Without real action, nothing much happens!

So realize what you’ve already discovered from your hypnotic investigation and ask the question:

• “What would happen if I were to carry out these actions now?”
• And then, “Is this what I want?”
• If so, “Why do I want this?”
• Ask the question: “Is this helping me?”
• If so, “Why is this helping me?”

Now you’ve created clarity and you know what your motivation is and why you want it. So go for it, take the right actions straight away and enjoy the positive transformations you’ve made in your own life!

More explanation and examples? Click here!

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Here is a detailed explanation of what is behind this method and several examples to show you how to play this fun game

Language hypnotizes you!

A limited conviction is a belief, and a belief is a suggestion that is not (fully) proven

A limited conviction is a belief, and a belief is a suggestion that is not (fully) proven. That is why it is called a belief rather than a fact. Even if it really is a fact, it is often subjective. In other words, it’s just how you look at it.

Basically all the suggestions you experience are hypnotic suggestions because they can all hypnotize you and therefore they can also influence your subjective reality. A suggestion can come in the form of many things like: A picture, symbol, sound, emotion, sensation, thought, memory, fantasy, perception, conviction, etc.

Language hypnotizes you!

So this also applies to language. Language is a series of hypnotic suggestions in a row and can have a huge impact on your subjective reality.

This means that every conversation you have contains hypnotic elements, including and especially the mental conversations you have with yourself in your own head! 

For example. Imagine sitting in the park on a warm, pleasant day. The sun is shining, people are laughing and there is a good feeling everywhere. Normally you would really enjoy it because it is so nice, but this time you think of a situation in the past that makes you unhappy, or you are imaging a problem that might happen in the future and that’s why you feel bad.

So ‘outside’ your thinking it is pleasurable, fun and nice but ‘within’ your mental world its negative, annoying and unpleasant. If you could leave your mental world, all the misery would vanish right away. You would also feel better because all the misery you are experiencing at that moment is imaginary, while in the outside world everything is fine. The misery is only happening in your thinking or, in other words, in your imagination.

This is a perfect example of what I call “negative hypnosis”

Now imagine that these kind of thought patterns have become normal for you because you are constantly in an imaginary future or past with your attention, which could mean that it does not really matter what is happening in the outside world in the here and now.

This is because you’re constantly in your head with your attention, and you’ll experience a constant series of negative thinking patterns. These negative thinking patterns create fixed structures that can stop you from being happy and make you feel like you’re getting stuck in your life. We can call this kind of thought pattern: A limited belief.

The mental prison of the imaginary past (or a possible future)

This means that such limited beliefs can not only hypnotize you, but they can then hold you into a mental prison of negative thought patterns. Therefore, if you never challenge and examine these limited beliefs, they can hold you in an imaginary past. This is often recognizable when someone says something like: “I am stuck in my life” or “I feel that I’m blocked” or “I cant move on”

Realize: Hypnosis is constantly happening all the time

To better understand how negative thought processes / limited beliefs can hypnotize you, it is useful to realize when and how hypnosis happens in our daily lives.

Hypnosis is a natural phenomenon that happens regularly throughout the day. It’s actually just as natural as breathing. We can say that part of you is always in hypnosis because part of you are always open to suggestion.

One standard definition of hypnosis is:

Hypnosis is an increased receptivity to suggestions, but I would say:

Hypnosis IS receptivity for suggestions, and hypnotic processes, techniques and methods ensure that this natural receptivity is increased.

You can understand it like this:

•    Trance (focus of attention)
• + Suggestion (perceived information)
• = Hypnosis (the programming of your biological computer and the experience it creates)

Or in other words:

•    Focus van attention (trance)
• + Perceived information (suggestion)
• = The programming your biological computer and the experience that it creates (hypnosis)

For example, if you have a limited belief such as: “I’m stupid” you can understand it this way.

•    Focus of attention (Trance)  
• + “I’m stupid” (Suggestion)
• = The experience that you are stupid (Hypnosis)

While you are in the trance of: “I am stupid” the opposite idea “I am not stupid” is ignored, rejected or blocked. This is how a trance works. Everything that agrees with the suggestion that is being focused on and is already accepted as ‘the truth’ is also accepted and everything that disagrees with it is ignored, blocked and filtered out.

This is because your focus of attention creates a filter system and this filter system can be called ‘a trance’. Other names of a trance are: Focus of attention. Tunnel vision. A connection between two points, between the observer (you) and the observed (a suggestion / information) 

This trance (focus of attention) allows certain information through and blocks other information. This is the purpose of a trance because it creates a practical, neat filter system so that we can save energy and therefore only focus on the information that is relevant to us at that time.

Telephone metaphor

Think about your phone for a moment. You could call any number in the world, but you dial one number and call it. That way you create a trance because you have chosen one out of all the hundreds of thousands of options you could have chosen. Your focus of attention goes to one option, so you create a connection between two points. The two points are you, and the other person who is called. In other words, between the observer and the observed.

Once the connection is made, you can have a conversation with the other person that can affect her or his reality because you communicate certain information in the form of language.

So in this example:

• The connection between the two telephones is the trance.
• The conversation contains the suggestions.
• The experience that is then created is the hypnosis.

You can say something nice and you get a nice reaction. You can say something nasty and you get a nasty reaction. In both cases, hypnosis has happened because you have influenced the subjective reality of the other person and vice versa.

We therefore have:

• The perceiver (you)
• and the perceived (that with which your attention is focused on)
• and the connection between the two points ’the trance’ (focus of attention, or the connection between two points that create a tunnel vision)

So that to which your attention is focused, determines the quality of that trance.

Hypnosis is then created from the programming (the information exchanged) and the experience of the programming within that particular trance.

That’s why it’s so important to focus your attention on what you want instead of what you don’t want!

The mechanism of hypnosis is neutral. What do you choose for? Advantageous hypnosis or disadvantageous hypnosis?

Beliefs are often not hard facts

Often it seems that a (limited) conviction is a fact, but further investigation often shows that it is not (entirely) true.

This is the purpose of this hypnotic investigation / game.

Because every suggestion you experience is a hypnotic suggestion and can therefore influence your subjective reality.

The question is:

• “Is this suggestion helping or not?”
• “Is this conviction helping or not?”
• “Is this hypnosis helping or not?”

So with this hypnotic investigation you can find out what is true and what is not true in the fixed structures of your thinking patterns. So be a ruthless researcher and don’t just believe everything what thinking says and suggests.

Use a hypnotic investigation to go behind the scenes to discover what’s really going on in your system! Be playful, curious, enthusiastic and experiment with your own style and develop and optimize your own approach.

Challenge, check, investigate and adjust thinking patterns, and enjoy this process because it’s fun to discover new insights so you can keep your fixed thinking patterns up to date so they automatically work for your benefit.

When you do this regularly, you begin to observe more cracks, holes and spaces in these limited beliefs or even create them yourself, you can then realize they are not as concrete as you might have thought.

Past experiences create fixed patterns of thought and if these patterns of thought are helpful and useful, great keep them that way!

But if these thinking patterns are not useful or helpful because they restrict you from being who you are NOW or who you want to be, then it is certainly time to start a hypnotic investigation to check what’s helping and what’s not helping NOW.

Rebuild your fixed mental thinking structures by reprogramming them

These patterns of thought create inner structures and it is really advisable to constantly adjust these fixed thinking structures (if necessary) and therefore keep them up to date. Often people don’t do this and because of this they get stuck and remain in an imaginary past. It doesn’t have to be this way!

These fixed thinking patterns create mental structures that are made from your past experiences. It is literally and figuratively your inner fixed programming. If you haven’t checked for a while how these patterns of thought are set up it can really be disadvantageous to you.

Therefore, it is important to keep these thinking patterns up to date so that they align with who you are NOW because they function automatically.

And that is why it is also good to keep checking them now and again, and adjust them if necessary. Perhaps they are, for example, working to your disadvantage, no longer applicable or simply do not match who you are NOW.

Would you continue to listen to music that you no longer like when you don’t have to?

If the thinking patterns no longer match who you are NOW and are now unhelpful, it’s like listening to an old music playlist but not enjoying the music anymore because this music no longer matches with who you are NOW. You can customize that playlist whenever you want, if you know how to do it. This is also the case with your fixed mental thinking patterns. You can customize them whenever you want.

So if your mental structures are not structured to your advantage, it’s definitely time for a big renovation! You have to do this yourself because no one else can do it for you, or will do it for you. People can help you, but you are the boss of your own inner mental structures. You decide how these are structured.

What you actually want is that these inner structures block everything that is disadvantageous to you, and allow everything that is beneficial to you. You can consider it as a second house (mental house)

Live in your heart instead of you head

Your heart is of course your real home because it is much more fun, better and easier to live in your heart so that you are authentic and stay authentic. This instead of living in your head which costs much more energy because you have to constantly adjust things to fit into your mental identity.

So you really want the fixed mental structures to fit with who you are NOW so that they positively stimulate, support and improve the quality of your life completely automatically in a natural way.

This is what this hypnotic investigation / game is meant for. And because these fixed mental structures are all built up with suggestions, ideas and language patterns, we can take them apart with language patterns in the form of targeted questions to create new patterns in the here and now because YOU are the here and now.

• You are not the past.
• You are the here and now because the past is imaginary.
• Where is the past now?
• The past is nowhere to found because it is an illusion in your imagination. Realize this now, because its important to realize it so that you can free yourself from the mental past!

That’s why it’s a great idea to keep all your fixed thinking patterns up-to-date so that they work to your advantage rather than to your disadvantage.

So to emphasize it again, realize what’s true and not true in your fixed mental thinking patterns by setting up a simple hypnotic investigation with the right questions and make a fun game of it!

Challenge, investigate and adjust disadvantageous beliefs, suggestions, thinking patterns as needed.

As a hypnotic investigator, we are looking for cracks, weaknesses, holes and openings in these fixed mental limited beliefs. This is because these beliefs seem to be ‘concrete’ and fixed, but often that is not true at all.

Our positive intention is: Find out what is true and not true in my fixed thinking patterns here and now.

Pay attention to limited beliefs / beliefs / thoughts / suggestions that try to block, stop or hold you in an imaginary past or create a false reflection of one possible imaginary future / etc.

Beliefs are made up of what we have already experienced from the past. Perhaps they were true at the time but not any longer. That’s why you set up a fun, important investigation to discover the truth NOW.

You are the here and now, not the past. So set up a hypnotic investigation to find out what’s true here and now!

Use one or more of these hypnotic investigation questions for this purpose.

Some questions might work very well and some might not work so well. That’s why you can experiment with different questions to find out which one works the best with that belief or mindset.

You might consider the questions as different tools in your hypnotic toolbox. So find the right tools for every job! For some jobs, you can apply multiple tools, with others you cannot.

Be curious, playful, enthusiastic and experiment and realize what’s really true for you.

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HYPNOTIC INVESTIGATION: A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE STEPS AND QUESTIONS WITH EXAMPLES

AWARENESS: REALIZE, OBSERVE, GAIN INSIGHTS AND REVEAL

Become regularly aware of the patterns of thinking, thoughts, suggestions, beliefs, etc. that are happening in your fixed mental programming. You can use an Awareness meditation for this. An Awareness meditation is simply: The realization and perception of what is happening in the here and now.

In this case of what is happening in your thinking in terms of fixed thinking patterns.

• You are then just ’the observer’ of what happens
• You don’t have to ‘do’ anything for this
• An Awareness meditation is not a ‘doing’ it is a ‘being’ and that’s why you cant fail with it.
• You are not the ‘doer’ you are the ‘observer’ and observing what happens doesn’t cost any effort
• You cant get any better or worse at this sort of mediation.
• It is also not done so that you feel better or worse, or to change anything or make anything better. We have self-hypnosis and hypnotherapy for that!
• It is ‘done’ to realize and observe what is happening. This way you can get clear insights. In this case of what is happening in your thinking in terms of fixed thinking patterns:

To use Awareness meditation, you can ask yourself this question:

• “What is happening here and now?” and realize what happens.

If the meditation is directed toward your thinking, you can ask:

• “What is happening in my thinking here and now?” and realize what is happening in your thinking.

And during the mediation

• Allow everything to come.
• Allow everything to go.
• Allow everything to be just as it already is.
• It doesn’t matter what happens because everything that happens just becomes part of the meditation (thoughts, emotions, sensations. images, sounds, events etc.)
• So relax, do nothing and be the observer of what is happening and enjoy the show! It’s as simple as that 🙂

More info? Click here: Awareness meditation

***Important note***
It could be due to the investigation questions that follow that you experience an unpleasant, intense or uncomfortable feeling like a heavy emotion that comes up. This is fine and also normal.

If this happens, it is advisable to stop asking questions so that you can focus your attention fully on the feeling. Then let go of the mental story and focus only on the feeling.

The mental story is usually: “I feel (emotion) because….. “

For example, “I feel sad because I have lost something that is important to me”

So simply put, FEEL instead of thinking!

Don’t try to get rid or to change the feeling and despite the fact that it is uncomfortable consider it NOT as a problem because it is not a problem.

It is a signal, a communication and it wants your full attention so that it can communicate what it wants to say so that it can then leave by itself.

But be aware, it wont leave when you want it to leave. It will only leave when it is ready to leave.

Consider this signal as an invitation to get to know yourself better, as an opportunity to gain insights and as an opportunity to allow a part of yourself to heal because this is what it actually is.

We can say that these parts of you are made from two basic elements:

Mental and Feeling.

Or in other words:

Thinking patterns/Thoughts and Emotions/Sensations.

If this part of you speaks in language to express itself, then of course you will understand that in words. But if this part wants to communicate with feelings to express itself then you can understand this in emotions and sensations in your body without language. It could also be a bit of both.

So if you experience a strong feeling in the form of emotions or sensations in your body you can recognize this as a request to communicate and therefore it is a good idea to make a clear connection with this feeling. Because this feeling is most likely a younger version of yourself that feels like this.

For example, if it is a feeling of shame, it is most likely a younger version of yourself that is still ashamed of something. What that is actually, is not so important. The fact that it has come up to be seen, heard or felt is important. So give it your full attention so that it can express itself and therefore heal!

Approach this feeling with unconditional love. This means: Recognize, respect and accept it without judgment, without censorship, without limitation. Be curious about it. Get to know it. You can also say to it:

• “You are allowed to be just as you are”
• “You are welcome in my body”
• “You are okay just as you are”

Be friendly, nice and welcoming because it’s part of you. This is self-love rather than self-rejection!

Here you can use the Awareness meditation for but then focus on the feeling.

Realize and perceive that it is there (be aware that it is there)

• Allow it to come.
• Allow it to go.
• Allow it be as it is without judgment, without censorship, without limitation (respect and accept that it is there)

In this way the feeling can express itself through the sensations and emotions that you feel in your body. The emotions and sensations are actually the language of your feelings. This is how they ‘talk’ and communicate with you.

And after a certain time the feeling will go away by itself but not because you want it to go.
It will leave because it has communicated what it wants to communicate. The function of the feeling is then complete and it doesn’t have to stay.

When a part of yourself is healed, the energy part is discharged (the emotion or sensation) and it leaves your body and goes back into the universe to be formless energy again.

Emotion means ‘Energy in motion’

Emotion means ‘Energy in motion’ So it is not the intention that the emotion becomes blocked in your body by the fixed mental patterns in your thinking which is what unfortunately often happens. We can call this blockage: ‘an unconscious blockage’

After the emotion has expressed itself honestly, it can leave. It’s that simple! The mental part enters into your heart to re-integrate with the whole. So it heals!

You are actually the totality of everything.

• Your heart is the focus point of the universe from out of your unique perspective and is infinitely deep.
• The rest of the universe is in all directions infinitely large and wide
• Therefore you are the portal between the unrealized to the realized

• The mental part is created in your imagination and it enters into your heart.
• The feeling part goes back into the universe

So the feeling goes to the infinite outside and the mental part goes to the infinite inside.

• Heart = inner source, focus point of energy, infinitely deep
• Universe = unending, undetermined relaxed source, infinitely large and wide.

This loving way of healing different parts of yourself is very helpful in this process of reprogramming your fixed thinking patterns. So recognize every chance as a gift and accept it with self-love! Learn more about how to apply this? Click here: Apply self-love to uncomfortable feelings

When the feeling has gone completely, continue with the rest of the hypnotic investigation questions.

Back to the summary? Click here!

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CHALLENGE, INVESTIGATE AND ADJUST

If necessary, ask: “Because?” to reveal the second part of the limited belief

If necessary with a limited belief, find out what the 2de part of the conviction is by asking “because?” (the second part is often hidden and is therefore unconscious)

For example: You have a limited belief: “I’m never good enough”

(First part) “I’m never good enough”

Ask: “Because?”

(second part is revealed) “I fail at everything I do”

So it’s: “I’m never good enough because I fail at everything I do”

Back to the summary? Click here!

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“How do I know for sure that this is really true now?”

Ask for evidence that this limited belief is true NOW.

Ask the question: “How do I know for sure that this is true now?”

• “Is this really true NOW?”
• If so “How do I know that for sure?”
• “Where is the evidence for this?”

Often you don’t get an answer which proves that it is not true NOW otherwise you would get a good reason for it. If there is no evidence for it, you know it is not true. This means that there is much more space and flexibility to discover other ideas.

If you get an answer, ask the question again: “How do I know for sure that this is true now?”

For example, perhaps the answer was: “Other people always do better than me and are successful, I am not”

You can continue to ask: “How do I know for sure that this is true now?” Or you can use one of the other investigation questions to challenge this, and also the previous limited conviction and prove that it is not really true NOW.

“How would I know if this wasn’t true?” “What would be my proof that this belief isn’t true now?”

Ask this question to create the opposite reality in your imagination and just pretend for a moment that this is true now to gain insights.

A belief is a tunnel vision (a trance) and a limiting belief often makes you focus on what you don’t want. Use this question to help you focus on what you do want and then ask the question “Why is this important?” to help you discover even more valuable insights.

For example with the belief: “Other people always do better than me and are successful, I am not” 

You could ask:“How would I know if this wasn’t true?” “What would be my proof that this belief isn’t true now?” 

The answer might be: “I would be successful in what I do”

You could ask: “How would I know if I was successful, what would that look like, sound like, feel like?” 

This way you are creating a clear perception of what you do want instead of what you don’t want!

You can also after that, compare the old reality (tunnel vision / trance) with the new reality (tunnel vision / trance) and ask yourself, “Between the two, what is different about them? And what is the same about them?” to discover even more valuable insights.

Back to the summary? Click here!

Here are more investigation questions you can use:

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Discover a counter example

Discover a counter-example is very powerful and can be used in almost any situation. We often just accept limited beliefs as true, and therefore we do not seek a counter-example. To discover a counter-example, you can use questions such as:

• “In which situations is this not true?”
• “When/Where/With Who is it not true?”
• “When/Where/With Who is it true?”

Counter-examples are often easy to discover in things you do in your daily life that you take for granted. Like things you can easily do such as: Cycling, walking, talking, reading, cooking, writing, etc.

For example, “I’m never good enough because I fail at everything I do”

Ask the question:

• “When is this not true?”
• “When am I successful?”

Answer: “I can ride a bike” so this limited belief is not true.

Another example: “Other people always do better than me and are successful, I am not”

Ask the question:

• “Where is this not true?”
• “Where am I successful?” (in which situations)

Answer: “I can read, some people can’t”

So think of another situation or person where its not true. Is it true for everyone in every situation?

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Recognize ‘black and white’ thinking

Pay attention for words that reveal ‘black and white’ thinking like: Never. Always. Everyone. No one. Everything. Nothing. None. All. Etc.

Never and always: There are few things in the world that ‘never’ happen or ‘always’ happen.

Look for a counter example and ask the question:

With never:

• “When does it happen?”
• “Where does it happen?”

With always:

• “When doesn’t it happen?”
• “Where doesn’t it happen?”

With ‘Nobody’ and ‘Everybody’:

There are about 7.7 billion people on earth. Have you met them ALL to ask their opinion or experience? That is not possible!

So it’s not about nobody or everybody. Usually it is about 1 to 5 people or events and that is a big difference compared to 7.7 billion people! Now you have much more room to discover other ideas and therefore more flexibility to make positive changes! 🙂

With ‘All’ and ‘Nothing / None’:

Everything is all! Nothing/none is nothing at all! You are then talking about everything or nothing in the universe. How can you be sure? That is not possible!

Example:

Limited belief: “I’m never good enough because I fail at everything I do”

You could ask, “Never good enough?” “Fail at everything?”

Look for a counter-example like: “I can walk” or “I can cycle”

So “never” and “everything” aren’t true!

You can then adjust the limited conviction with “sometimes” or “some” and write it down!:

Example: “Sometimes I’m not good enough because I fail with some things that I do”

Another example:

Limited belief: “Other people always do better than me and are successful, I am not”

You could ask:

• “Always better?”
• “24 hours a day better”
• Every day better?”

Look for a counter example such as:

• “I can read”
• “I can write” (some people cant!)

So “always” is not true!

Limited belief: “I’ve had no success?”

“I’m still alive, that’s success!”

You can adjust and write down the limited belief:

“Sometimes other people do better than me and are successful, sometimes not”

We often overlook many things that we can do.

To identify things you take for granted more easily, ask the question:

• “What can I do?”
• “What do I take for granted in my life?”

Often you can replace words that use black and white thinking with words such as: “sometimes, some, maybe, might, possibly, could”  which are actually much more accurate and correct. Correct it and write it down!”

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Become aware of the consequences

Ask the question with the limited belief:

• “What would happen if I keep believing this?”
• And then the question: “Is this what I want?”

For example: Limited belief:

“I am not as good as other people” because? “no one likes me”

• Ask the question: “What would happen if I continue to believe this?”
• Answer: “I will remain unhappy”
• Ask the question: “Is this what I want?”
• Answer: “No”

You DONT have to believe a limited belief. It is really a choice and we often forget this. Realize and remember! A limited belief is about the past and YOU are the here and now because you are here and now.

You can also ask:

• “Is this limited belief helpful or not?”

If not, let it go because it is not even true now!

Ask the question: “Is this helping me?”

If so, keep doing it. If not, adjust what you are doing or don’t do it at all.

In other words, realize what works and do more of this. Realize what’s not working and do less of that. This is actually one of the secrets of life!

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Identity or Behavior? “I am?” or “I do?” – Identity or Feeling? “I am” or “I feel”

This is very simple. Pay attention to limited beliefs with “I am” in the sentence!

“I am” is an identity statement.

“I am” is true but everything that comes after it is temporary and doesn’t belong to your identity unless you accept it as being so. Therefore, you can change “I am” to “I do” (or a behavior) because then it is about your behavior and not about your identity, and your behavior can be adjusted or changed much more easily.

For example:

Limited belief: “I am stupid” or “you are stupid”

Ask the question: “Is this really what I am, or is this something I do?”

• Limited belief: “I am a stupid person”
• Change to: “I do stupid things”
• Limited belief: “I am a bad person”
• Change to: “I do bad things”
• Limited belief: “I am a mean person”
• Change to: “I do mean things”

Now it’s about your behavior rather than your identity, and you can change your behavior much more easily than your identity! This also works very well with: ‘Use past tense language’ because it is about the past.

With regard to emotions, you are not the feeling. You feel it temporary.

Example:

• Limited belief: “I am unhappy” because? “I haven’t achieved anything in my life”
• Change to: “I feel unhappy because I haven’t achieved anything in my life” a feeling can be changed more easily!

Now it’s about how you feel and not who you are. A particular feeling is easier to change than your identity! You can also ask: “Haven’t achieved anything?” and think of a counter-example.

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Use past tense language

All beliefs are based on past experiences, but we often say them as if they are about NOW. That is why you can correct this mistake by putting the limited conviction back in the past where it should be.

Example: “I can’t learn anything” because? “nothing interests me”

This is about your past experiences, so it becomes: “I couldn’t learn anything because nothing interested me”

You could easily come up with a counter-example here too, such as: “I have learned to walk, that is not nothing”

More examples:

• Limited belief: “I am a stupid person”
• Change to: “I was a stupid person”
• Limited belief: “I am a bad person”
• Change to: “I was a bad person”
• Limited belief: “I am a mean person”
• Change to: “I was a mean person”

Realize and remember: You are the here and now, not the past!

• Your ‘authentic I’ is the here and now.
• Your ‘imaginary I’ is based on your past experiences.

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Till now – Not yet

Thought patterns and beliefs are built up by our past experiences. Because something has happened in the past, this does not mean that it will happen in the future. Certainly not if you are reprogramming your fixed thinking patterns!

Emphasize that it is about the past by using these phrases:

• “Till now”
• “Not yet”

Example:

• Limited belief: “I am afraid to stand up for myself because I don’t have enough self-confidence”
• Change to: “Until now I was afraid to stand up for myself because I didn’t have enough self-confidence”
• Limited belief: “I can’t learn because nothing interests me”
• Change to: “I couldn’t learn anything because I didn’t find anything yet that interests me”
• Limited belief: “I feel unhappy because I haven’t achieved anything in my life”
• Change to: “Till now I felt unhappy because I haven’t achieved anything in my life yet”

You could also use a counter-example here:

“Haven’t achieved anything?” “I can read, some people can’t do that”

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‘When’ or ‘Where’ is it happening exactly?

You can use this anywhere and also with phrases like: “I don’t have ….. “

Example:

Limited belief: “I don’t have any self-confidence” because? “I never dare to stand up for myself”

You can ask, “When exactly don’t I have self-confidence?” (this will make it clearer when it happens precisely)

If you say “no” self-confidence, it seems like you have no confidence at all, but you certainly have that in other situations in your life. These are often situations where you take the self-confidence for granted!

So you can ask:

• “When exactly do I have self-confidence?”
• For example: “Can I walk or ride a bike?”
• If so. “How much self-confidence do I have then?” Probably quite a lot!

So you do have self-confidence, but in that particular situation you may not have enough. So you can focus your attention on that particular situation in order to build more self-confidence.

Please note: You cannot actually have self-confidence because self-confidence is not a physical object. You can feel a sense of self-confidence and usually you get this feeling after you have built up enough experience.

So a sense of self-confidence comes from sufficient experience and also developing certain skills in relation to certain situations. This is a good thing to realize.

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‘May’ / ‘Can’ or ‘Must’ / ‘Have to’

The heart says “May” or “Can” (unconditional love)

‘‘May’ and ‘Can’ is relaxed energy, is open and flexible and therefore these words bring much more peace with them.

The intellect often says “must” or “have to” (conditional love)

‘‘Must’ and ‘Have to’ is tense energy, is closed and fixed and therefore these words bring much more pressure and stress! 

A helpful mindset is:

• “I may, I don’t have to” 
• “I can, I don’t have to”

Example:

Limited belief: “I have to make a lot of money to be happy”

You can change “have to” with “can” (or may) to:

• “I can make a lot of money to be happy” (so you can, but you don’t have to)
• “I may make a lot of money to be happy” (so you may but you don’t have to)

This sounds much more relaxed with much less pressure and that’s correct. It also indicates that your happiness does not depend on how much money you earn, which is, of course, true because happiness and money are two different ‘things’.

You could also ask: “How do I know for sure that this is true now?” and give a counter-example such as:

• “Are there people without money who are happy?” I think so!
• “Are there people with money who are unhappy” I think so!

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MAKE A CLEAR CHOICE TO FREE YOURSELF FROM OLD FIXED THINKING PATTERNS AND TURN YOUR FOCUS AROUND WITH THE MAGICAL QUESTION: “WHAT DO I WANT INSTEAD OF THIS?” AND TURN THE PAPER OVER TOO TO THE OTHERSIDE!

You make a clear choice to free yourself from the old thinking patterns / limited beliefs. You focus on what you do want instead of what you don’t want by asking this simple magic question:

“What do I want instead of this?” and then turn the paper over too!

This ‘turning over’ of the paper is not only a physical action but also a mental action because at the same time you turn the pattern of thinking from disadvantageous to advantageous. In other words, you shift your attention from what you don’t want to what you do want, from the old to the new.

So you literally and figuratively turn it around with action and shift your focus of attention from an unhelpful (fixed) mindset into a helpful mindset.

You change the polarity from negative to positive.

Every time you do this, you teach your subconscious to do this automatically in your thinking. It then happens metaphorically and physically at the same time and that’s why it works so powerfully and effectively!

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FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU DONT WANT!

Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. This is actually one of the most important things you can do and speaks for itself!

Suppose you think 90% of your life is negative at the moment and 10% is positive.

If you want to change this to your advantage, it is of course important that you focus on the positive things but not at the expense of the negative things. What I mean by this is that it is also important to admit that it is currently the case by facing the negative things.

But then MAKE A CLEAR CHOICE to focus your attention on the positive things and focus your energy and time on them so that the positive gets bigger and the negative gets smaller.

This is actually the purpose of this hypnotic investigation process! By simply applying this simple insight I have been able to get myself out of deep depressive phases in my life and at that time I was not able to challenge, investigate and adjust the negative thinking patterns as thoroughly as I could do now. This is because I had much less hypnotic investigation tools then than I have now in this explanation.

Its also important to connect with uncomfortable feelings by applying self-love so that these feelings are recognized, respected and accepted without judgement, without censorship, without limitations. This is self-love.

By first recognizing the negative thinking patterns, admitting that they are there and then challenge them, investigate and adjust them, you see them face-to-face, and you gain a much better understanding of what is true and what isn’t true.

Once you’ve done this, you can make a clear choice to change these fixed thinking patterns if necessary by focusing your focus on the positive things, with other words, focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want!

In order to do this easily with regard to the limited belief, ask the magic question:

“What do I want instead of this now?” and write down the answer!

You can also ask: “What do I want?” Or “What is the opposite of this?”

For example:

• Limited belief was: “I’m never good enough because I fail at everything I do”
• Corrected by investigation questions to: “I am sometimes not good enough because sometimes I fail at what I do”
• Focus on what you want by asking the question: “What do I want?”
• Answer: “I want to do things better more often”

***Please note*** It is the intention that you ask the investigation questions to prove that the limited belief is not (entirely) true, but it might not be possible to change it at all.

This is not a problem because you can still focus on what you want instead of what you don’t want and then continue this process.

For example:

Suppose the limited belief didn’t change from: “I’m never good enough because I fail at everything I do”

You could still ask, “What do I want instead of this now?” And yet still get the same answer: “I want to do things better more often”

Of course, it is much more advantageous if you have already discovered more doubts that prove that the limited conviction is not quite right, because that gives much more room and flexibility for new ideas to appear.

Simple said: The more doubts you can discover, the more space and flexibility you create, which means it becomes even easier to discover, develop and apply new ideas that will significantly improve the quality of your life.

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DISCOVER NEW POSSIBITYS WITH SOLUTION ORIENTATED QUESTIONS – HOW? WHAT? WHERE? WHO?

Ask solution-oriented questions such as “How” and “What” that focus on what you want and create new possibilities. A “How” or “What” question is relaxed energy and is therefore open and flexible. You can also ask a “Where” or a “Who” question.

Example:

“How can I do things better so things can work more often?”

“What can I change in myself so that I do things better and better?”

Now you are focused on what you want and are open to new opportunities, ideas and insights!

Another example:

• Limited belief: “Other people always do better than me and are successful, I am not”
• Corrected by investigation questions to: “Sometimes other people do better than me and are successful, sometimes not”

Focus on what you want by asking the question: “What do I want?”

Answer: “I want to do things better more often so that I have more and more success”

• “How” question: “How can I do things better more often so that I have more and more success”
• The answer is perhaps: “Learning new skills by doing appropriate training”
• “What” question: “What could help me to do things better in the future so that I have more and more success”
• The answer is perhaps: “Talk to successful people who can inform me and teach me how to be more successful”
• “Where” question: “Where can I find these people?”
• The answer’s perhaps: “On the Internet, podcasts, videos, blogs, google, social media”
• “Who” question: “Who could help me?”
• The answer may be: “(the names of known people related to what you want to learn)”

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CONFIRM, EMPHASIZE AND MAKE IT CONCRETE BY ASKING THE “WHY?” QUESTION

Ask the question: “Why is this so important to me?” when you answer the questions: “What do I want? / What do I want instead of this now?” and the solution-oriented questions (How? What? Where? Who?)

Example:

The answer to the “What do I want now?” question was: “I want to do it better more often so that I have more and more success”

So the why question is: “Why is success so important to me?”

The answer might be: “So that I have achieved something in my life”

• Ask the why question again: “Why is it important to achieve something in my life?”
• The answer may be: “So that I feel satisfied”
• Ask the why question again: “Why is it important that I feel satisfied?”
• The answer might be: “So that I am happy”

Keep asking until you get no more answers. Then you can list everything that matters to you.

For example:

• Having more success.
• Achieving things.
• Feeling satisfied.
• Being happy.

Write down your answers and create an action plan!

For example, you have changed your original (fixed) mindset / limited belief from:

(Old) “I am never good enough because I fail at everything I do “

Into:

(New) “I’m now going to find some training on the internet that would suit me so that I can feel satisfied by learning new skills and be able to do something that makes me happy”

Of the two options (old and new):

• Which one looks best?
• Which one sounds better?
• Which one feels best?
• Which one motivates you most?

***Please note***
Ask “Why” questions mostly in positive and beneficial situations!
Every time you realize that something has changed positively or you have been given an insight ask a why question.

For example:
“Why is that better?”
“Why is that more fun”
“Why is that more beneficial”
“Why is that important?”

Other good “Why” questions could be:

• “Why do I feel so good?” (in situations where you feel good)
• “Why is this so funny?” (when something funny happens)
• “Why do I like this so much?” (in enjoyable situations)
• Etc. in positive or / and beneficial situations

In case of negative and disadvantageous situations, stop analyzing and stop asking “why” questions! 

It is mandatory for your brain to answer any question you give it, even if it doesn’t know what the answer is, it will just make something up.

Therefore, in the case of negative and disadvantageous situations, it is really advisable to stop analyzing and stop asking “Why?” questions!

• A why question is tense energy and creates limited fixed structures.
• A “Why” question, seeks confirmation and assumes that the suggestion is already true.
• A why question not only seeks confirmation, but also emphasizes, strengthens and therefore makes the assumption concrete, or it creates resistance when you go against it. That is why it is recommended that you ask the why question mostly in positive advantageous situations.

For example, if you ask the question: “Why am I so stupid?” this presupposes that you are stupid and it is asking you to think of  reasons that prove that that idea is right. 

If the answer is, “I am not stupid” resistance was created because one thought says you are stupid and one does not. This can be really tiring!

Therefore, you can better use a why question in positive beneficial situations and also use solution-oriented questions such as “How” and “What” in disadvantageous situations to help you get out of them.

If you continue to ask a why question in negative and disadvantageous situations, you can always ask yourself this question immediately afterwards: (In relation to the situation)

• “What have I learned from that?”
• “And now that I know this how will I do it differently and better in future?”
• And now that I realize this, why is this better?

For example:

• “Why can’t I manage to have a good relationship?”
• Ask the question directly: “WHAT have I learned from this?” (from the relationship(s)
• Answer: “I didn’t show my real self because I was too afraid of rejection”
• Then ask the question: “And now that I know this HOW will I do things differently and better in future?”
• Answer: “I’m going to work more on myself so that I can better deal with rejection so that I can show more and more of my real self” then ask the question:
• “WHY is it better to work on myself and show my real self?”

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TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY AND DO IT

Its great to gain insights, to adapt old beliefs and to discover new ideas, but without action it is still theory. If you really want to make these new thinking patterns concrete, take action right in the physical world! Without real action, little happens!

So realize what you’ve already discovered from your hypnotic investigation and ask the question:

• “What would happen if I took these actions now?”
• And then, “Is this what I want?”
• If so, “Why do I want this?”
• Ask the question: “Is this helping me?”
• If so, “Why is this helpful to me?”

Now you’ve created clarity and you know what your motivation is and why you want it. So go for it, take the right actions right away, and enjoy making the positive transformations that will continue to improve the quality of your own life!

Empower yourself and go for it completely!

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