Chapter 5

The First Step to Mental Freedom: Taking Responsibility for Your Actions

Melodee was a talker. Whenever she was asked about her day, she would go on for ages, describing every little detail, every thought, every person she interacted with, and every possible outcome of every scenario. She meant well, and her friends loved her spontaneous and bubbly personality, but to get a word in edgewise during a conversation, they’d have to time it to when Melodee took a breath. At her first hypnotherapy session, her answer to “What brings you here today?” was a perfect reflection of the frenzy going on inside her mind.

“Well, my friend used hypnosis to quit smoking, so I figured I’d give it a shot because I’ve been in therapy for ten years. And I feel like it helped in some ways, and in other ways, I’m just getting worse. Like, I’m ten pounds heavier than I was last year, I’ve been single for longer than most of my friends, and I really thought I’d be further along in my career than I am now. I mean, honestly, I think I thought I’d have my boss’s boss’s job by now. I have some really great friends, but they’re starting to get married and have babies, and even though I totally don’t want or need those things right now, I definitely want them within the next three to five years. So, I guess I’m starting to panic a little because that basically means I need to meet Mr. or Ms. Right, like, right now. I just keep going on Tinder dates, and I’m always so excited about them beforehand. And afterward, I’m so depressed about the state of dating in New York City that I just eat for a bunch of hours while watching TV. There’s one guy I’ve been out with a few times, but I’m really not sure what I’m still doing with him. Then again, the other night, he did cook me dinner, and he remembered I love quinoa with almonds and cayenne pepper. I mean, I think that’s pretty specific, so if he remembered that, he must have been thinking about me. I think I always assume every guy is going to turn out like the last one, so I never give them a chance. But then, I do give them a chance, and they end up being exactly like the last one! So, I guess I shouldn’t give anybody a chance! I don’t know. I don’t understand why this keeps happening, but if I had to guess, I would say it has something to do with my boss because I swear she just doesn’t understand my potential. She doesn’t understand all of the things I could bring to the company, so she never asks me for help.”

At this point, the hypnotherapist gently cleared her throat. In a kind way, she said, “Melodee, thank you so much. I’m sure there’s so much more you could tell me, but in the interest of time so that you can get the most out of your session, I do want to point out that hypnotherapy is quite different from regular talk therapy. We actually don’t give much weight to what the conscious mind has to say or even what it thinks. This is because the conscious mind is simply a record player stuck on the same song. Your conscious words and thoughts are revealing your subconscious programming—a story that was told and retold until it became your belief system about the world you live in and your role in it. If we want to change the things we say or do or feel, we have to start seeing those undesirable thoughts, feelings, and actions as nothing more than a story. That’s it—a story. If you want to change your life, you have to change the story. And if you keep telling the same story, it’s like pedaling backward up a hill, totally futile because you strengthen the story every time you repeat it. So, go ahead and close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let me know in a word or two if this makes sense.”

“Yes, it makes so much sense,” Melodee responded. She continued at a slower pace than before. “So, every time I complained to my therapist or girlfriends about the jerk I went out with last night, instead of it relieving stress, like I thought it was, it was just making it worse?”

The hypnotherapist smiled and said, “It was strengthening the patterns of whatever was being repeated, so it sounds like it was repeating the patterns of complaining, feeling stress, feeling let down, and the expectation that all men are the same. Our expectations tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies because we make decisions that are in alignment with our worldview.”

Melodee took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before saying, “So, by complaining about men and my boss, I’ve been attracting bad relationships. It’s why I keep getting passed over for a raise?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But imagine if you expected every guy you met to be genuinely kind, perhaps not perfect for you, but kind. Could that potentially change the types of people you swipe right for on Tinder? If you assumed your boss knew all of your best qualities and that she wanted what is best for you, do you think you would perform better or worse at work? Do you think it might change how you interact with her and that it might improve her view of you and your abilities?”

“Oh my god! Do you know how many brunches with bottomless mimosas and hours of bitching to my girlfriends I’ve had in my life? I think I may have been strengthening all of the wrong things pretty much forever.”

As Melodee’s eyes began to well up with tears, the hypnotherapist said, “What a wonderful thing that you’ve learned this now and will know the deep peace that comes from writing your own story, instead of perpetuating the one that was written for you by your parents, society, and advertising companies.”

Melodee laughed and said, “Wow, if they wrote my story, no wonder I’m such a mess.”

The hypnotherapist laughed. “You know, I wrote a book about this, and the title was almost ‘Brainwash Yourself or Everyone Else Will’ because it’s really quite true. If we don’t take the reins of our own subconscious programming, everyone else will, without our being aware of it. Now, you’re going to see in just a moment that the difference between communication on the conscious level and communication on the subconscious level is fascinating. Once you enter into hypnosis, you’ll become aware of a resource state where problem-solving is easy and where you can reach the core of an issue very, very quickly. So, let’s choose one area of your life where, if you were to transform that, everything else would improve. What comes to mind first?”

Melodee thought about it for a moment before speaking, which was already a sign that a shift was taking place. Then, she said, “I honestly think if I didn’t hate my job, where I spend most of my life, that I wouldn’t put so much pressure on the dates to make me happy, and I wouldn’t feel so ashamed about my friends moving on with their lives with raises or promotions or weddings or babies. And I think I’d eat less if I felt proud of my work. So, let’s start with career.”

“Fabulous. It’s really helpful if you simply tell me in one sentence how you currently feel about your career. Then, tell me in one sentence how you want to feel or what habit you want to have instead.”

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed. I want to feel motivated and proud.”

“Great, let’s begin. Close your eyes.”

They both smiled as Melodee closed her eyes and took a nice, deep, letting-go breath.

The Truth (and the Lies)

In Melodee’s story, the hypnotherapist’s role was to help her shift from focusing on what I would call lies, to focusing on the Truth. The Truth is singular: You are perfect. Other ways to say it include: You are worthy. You are loved. This isn’t based in any religion, although many religions were initially based on the Truth.

Although we have discussed “reprogramming,” “transforming,” and “improving,” none of this is really true. These terms make what we’re doing easy to understand and comprehend, especially in the “self-improvement or bust” kind of world that we live in, but it doesn’t make it true. The Truth is that you are already perfect. Something that’s perfect can’t be improved upon or fixed because there’s nothing broken. The fact is that you’re not actually hypnotizing yourself; you are de-hypnotizing yourself.

A lot of spiritual teachers talk about the stories we tell ourself. I do agree that they are stories. However, to me, stories are what I heard at bedtime. They were innocuous. What we tell ourself are lies. These lies are insidious, and the world suffers terribly because of them. It’s a lie that we’re separate from one another; it’s a lie that one life is worth more than another; and it’s a lie that we’re too fat, thin, rich, or poor.

You are perfect. You are perfect. You are perfect. Say it with me: “I am perfect, I am perfect, I am perfect.”

Take a nice, deep, letting-go breath, and repeat it again: “I am perfect, I am perfect, I am perfect.” You very well may be thinking, “Seriously, Grace? After learning that my brain is firing in ways that don’t serve me, you’re now telling me I’m perfect?”

Yes! Everyone who has ever looked into the eyes of a baby knows that when we first show up on this planet, we are 100 percent perfect, and that essence is not erased over time, it is simply buried. Through the process of de-hypnosis, we are going to peel away all of those layers upon layers of conditioning and get back to the source, get back to who you truly are: perfect, whole, and complete.

This is why I love what I’ve learned from the Mind and Body Research Institute, which we discussed at length in Chapter 4. You are perfect. Through all of these years of conditioning, your brain has simply developed dark spots in certain areas, and we’re going to flip the light switch back on. You are perfect. Your brain is hardwired to believe a whole bunch of lies. You’re not to blame for them, but you’re responsible for getting rid of them. So, you’re going to scrub and wash away the layers of muck until all that’s left is the core, the Truth, which is that you are perfect.

Your Purpose

A lot of my clients come to me worried about their life’s purpose. As far as interests go, it’s a good one to have. Hypnotherapy can help you dig out the answer much faster once you’ve gotten underneath the noise of the story your conscious mind has been playing on Repeat. Imagine that you’re in a jam-packed noisy motorboat, choking on exhaust fumes as you move around searching for your life’s purpose. The boat is packed full with people telling you their opinion about what you should do, who you should be, what’s important, what will work, what won’t work, how to spend your money, and so on. That’s your conscious mind trying to figure out your life’s purpose.

Now, take a nice, deep breath, and dive into the cool, clean, calm waters. Dive deep down. You realize that the deeper you dive, the less noise you hear. The voices are fading. You no longer hear the noisy engine, and the exhaust fumes are gone. You dive down and ask the pure, clean quietness, “What is my purpose?” And all of sudden, a massive, gorgeous clamshell opens, and your life’s purpose is inscribed inside. That’s your subconscious mind figuring out your life’s purpose.

It’s likely you’ll realize you already knew your life’s purpose and were headed down the right trail years ago, but you allowed the voices on the boat to throw you off the scent.

You get the answer from going inward. Deeper. You close your eyes and get free.

Remember that you get better at hypnosis over time. If you want to free dive down to get those answers, you have to learn how to train your muscles first. If the answer isn’t clear just yet, keep at it.

In the meantime, what if we just assume that your job, your life’s purpose, is to be kind to everyone you meet, and do what brings you joy? What if that was it?

Your life’s purpose: Be kind to everyone you meet, and do what brings you joy.

You’d have to be nice to the poor soul who answers the phone when you call to challenge the overdraft fee you got when your Netflix charge threw your finances into a tizzy. You’d have to be nice to the scowling people on the subway. You’d have to be nice to your mom even when she disagrees with you or tells you to clean something. Can you imagine what would happen if you were nice during all of these situations? Other people might be nice back, more often than not. Then, because of that, the next generation is raised to be that way. Eventually, if we were kind to everyone and did what brought us joy, we wouldn’t need hypnosis!

I realize that until we do a lot of work on our subconscious, this can be easier said than done. However, if you’re concerned about your life’s purpose, I welcome you to release that tight grasp on the question, “What is my purpose?” Simply allow kindness and a pursuit of what brings you long-term joy to lead the way, and allow the more refined answer to the question to reveal itself over time.

Deconstruction of the Habits You No Longer Want

Habits are built in this order:

Subconscious programming

Conscious thoughts

Conscious actions

Unfortunately, our level of awareness is in the exact opposite order. We are most aware of the actions we take first. We know we ate the bag of chips because the bag is there, deflated and empty, and our fingers are covered in salt, oil, and crumbs. There’s evidence. We’re aware of some of the thoughts we think because we “hear” some of it. But there’s a lot of chatter going on endlessly in the background, as we’re constantly thinking, thinking, thinking. There is less concrete evidence, so we’re less aware of the thoughts we think than we are of the actions we take. We have the least awareness of our subconscious programming.

Most self-help books stop at the level of the actions we take, but that isn’t enough to make lasting changes, not by a long shot. However, it’s the best place to start because we’re most aware of our actions.

The way we’re going to deconstruct your habits, to de-hypnotize you, is by moving from the greatest level of awareness to the least level of awareness. This is how you’ll be able to stay the most engaged. By tracking your success, you’ll remain motivated to continue.

The first action you notice has improved, the more excited you will become to take the trash out of your mind. We’re going to start with what you can see simply because social proof is a powerful mechanism to keep going, but we’re very quickly going to get to the root issue.

Reading self-help books and not improving can actually harm us. It can strengthen our sense of failure and weaken our resolve. Knowing more and more about our problems, but never learning how to change the root of the issue is not self-help; it’s a setup for disappointment. Do you know someone who read The Secret but, instead of manifesting their dreams, became even more anxious? Suddenly, they’re hyperaware of their negative thoughts, but they have no tools for diminishing them.

If bad habits are weeds, then knowledge is like throwing seeds on top of weeds. With hypnosis, we remove the weeds first and then plant the seeds in the newly cleaned-up fertile ground of the subconscious mind.

Actions

Remember that we discussed how your habits were primarily formed through the three E’s: Environment, Elders, and Entertainment? In this chapter, we begin to get our hands dirty with unraveling this conditioning. If you’re anything like me or the thousands of clients I’ve worked with, there’s at least one habit in your life that drives you crazy. Maybe you’ve read two or three books on the subject, attended workshops, or worked with coaches or a psychiatrist to overcome the habit. Yet it still exists in your life.

Maybe it’s negative thinking, overeating, smoking, or fear of flying. Whatever it is, I suspect there’s something in your life that you’re desperate to overcome.

Maybe you have already reached a level of excellence and peak performance, but you’ve seemed to plateau. There’s a pattern there, a habit that’s keeping you from excelling to that next level. This process will help you with that, too.

So, when you wake up in the morning, if you’re not thinking to yourself, “I’m free. Every day, I’m creating the life of my dreams. It’s so good to be awake,” then something could be better. Life is way too short to wake up feeling dread and regret. As if you haven’t accomplished your goals, and that time is going by too quickly. “I thought I’d be so much further than I am by this age,” is something I hear often from new clients.

Do you remember my invitation to you in Chapter 1? I shared with you that, in fact, you do have the ability to wake up and feel proud of yourself, to feel excited about the day ahead. To wake up and not be consumed by anxiety, but to feel joy and excitement. To achieve this, we need a breakthrough, and the first step to this mental freedom is going to be that breakthrough. But you have to actually follow the steps. It’s actually simple. All you need is focus and commitment. So, make a commitment to read the rest of this book, and you’ll continue to experience a profound shift.

I used the following four steps to mental freedom to overcome habits that were keeping me from living my best life. I’ve also taught these four steps to all of my individual clients, and they had the same profound, lasting results. That’s what I want for you!

The first step is taking responsibility for your actions. In the following chapters, we’ll cover the remaining three steps, which are: (2) taking responsibility for your thoughts, (3) reprogramming (transforming) your subconscious, and (4) giving back to others.

When we take responsibility for our actions, we claim a stake in power. When we blame others, we give our power away. If you say, “I had a terrible day because my colleague did this or that,” you’re giving away power to your colleague. You have put that person on a pedestal, making him or her a major player in your life. Why? Because you’ve given this individual the power to dictate how you feel.

When you put yourself in the position of the victim, there’s a subconscious belief that one of two things is happening. What the subconscious believes it is gaining by blaming others:

• You’re going to receive sympathy, and/or

• You’re going to be excused for bad behavior.

Maybe people will feel bad for you because so many terrible things are happening in your life, or it will excuse drinking more than you should, eating more than you should, or not getting work done.

The Truth is that receiving sympathy from others and hoping to have your bad behavior excused does not help you in any way. It only harms you because it robs you of your own power. The only harm that’s done is to you. In essence, by playing the victim, you victimize yourself. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your fault. It doesn’t mean you’re meant to accept blame for everything that happens in your life. But allowing others to affect the way you feel is your responsibility.

Feel the difference in the energy between these two statements: “They did this to me” and “This happened, and this is what I’m doing about it.” Read those statements again. Which one will allow you to move forward? Which will make it easier for you to live an incredible life of your own design? Which one will allow you to get free?

Now, let’s go a little deeper. I’ve had a lot of people in my lectures and workshops ask me, “How can I take responsibility for my parents’ divorce?” “How can I take responsibility for things like war and famine and terrible things that happen every day?” These are important questions.

To get the answer, let’s compare the three following phrases, feeling the energy behind each:

1. “I didn’t have anything to do with…”

2. “It’s not my fault that…”

3. “It’s my responsibility to…”

Read through each response below, and feel the energy behind them:

1. “I didn’t have anything to do with creating this war; it’s not my problem.”

2. “There’s a war, and it’s my not my fault that it exists.”

3. “There’s a war, and it’s my responsibility to make a positive difference in whatever way I can.”

Which one of these phrases inspires action? Which one inspires excellence, living life as an example of ideals and principles, and which ones inspire lethargy, procrastination, doing less than you’re capable of, or even feelings of fear?

Even if you truly believe something isn’t your fault or your problem, when you feel the energy behind these phrases of shoving off responsibility and blame onto others, it’s a feeling of stagnation, isn’t it? It happened to you. You’re completely out of control, so while you may be attempting to distance yourself from the situation, you’re telling your subconscious and the world that you have zero power. You’re claiming to be powerless.

Now, let’s make this a little more practical and feel the energy behind these three phrases:

1. “My boss is a [insert appropriate expletive].”

2. “It isn’t my fault that the systems at work are so convoluted, archaic, and horrible that I can’t do my job.”

3. “It’s my job; it’s my responsibility.”

Only one of these phrases brings power back to you, and it’s the one in which you take responsibility. How does this example carry over into the rest of your life? If you place the blame on your boss, colleagues, or the system, complaining that the meetings are too long or the clients are terrible, you’re giving your power away forty hours or more every week. Then, the complaining continues about your personal life—your house is too small, your feet hurt because of your shoes, your back hurts because of the genes you got from your grandmother, and so on. Essentially, you’re spending your life giving your power away.

We tend to believe we can blame everything on everyone else, but that we should still be able to find the strength within us on January 1 to begin going to the gym every day. But the truth is, you can’t have both. You can’t give away your power all year long and then expect to have the power it takes to form a healthy new habit overnight with sheer force of will. We weaken our resolve with every powerless thought, and then weaken it again when we can’t follow through with our goals and resolutions.

What if you want to overcome a challenging habit or develop excellence somewhere in your life? You need power to be able to change, but your existing habit is to give your power away. The habit is to assume that everyone else has more power than you do. So, the choice is to cultivate a habit where you’re powerful and in control of your life or a habit where everyone else has the power and control. Maybe your boss really is a jerk, and maybe your systems at work really are terrible. But you have a choice to give away your power or to become more powerful by taking responsibility for what happens in your life. It’s entirely up to you.

In just a moment, I’m going to ask that you close your eyes, take a nice, deep, letting-go breath, and imagine a perfect world—a perfect utopia, the most amazing place you can possibly imagine. You’re going to imagine this for sixty seconds. Then, you’ll open your eyes and continue reading. Ready? You can begin.

How do you feel after those sixty seconds? When I do this in my courses and lectures or with my individual clients, I find that almost everyone’s perfect world looks nearly the same. It’s fascinating. It’s a place where everyone is healthy, the planet is healthy, people are nice to one another, and everyone is prosperous. Ask yourself: To create such a world, what actions would everyone in that world have to take on a daily basis, moment by moment, to make it happen? Then, more important, you have to ask yourself, “What am I creating?” Are your actions in alignment with what’s necessary to create that perfect world where you desire to live?

When we’re rude to a bank teller or a telemarketer, when we complain about how we don’t have enough money, and so on, what kind of world are we creating? Are our actions manifesting the opposite of the world that we desire to live in, or are our actions manifesting a utopia? Furthermore, do we expect that other people should act in accordance with what’s required to create this utopia but that we’re somehow separate from this responsibility? Are we creating conflict or peace? Wealth or lack? And this means 100 percent of the time. Taking responsibility for all the good, as well as all the “bad” in our lives. I put “bad” in quotes because there really is no such thing as bad. There are only misunderstood lessons that are yet to be fully absorbed. Taking responsibility for our actions is just the first step, and when we do, we gain the power necessary to drive us through the remaining three steps to mental freedom.

As a result of taking responsibility, something wonderful happens. Procrastination ceases to be a viable option, blaming others and hoping they’ll fix the world’s messes also goes away. Because we’re taking responsibility, there’s no one to blame, and with no one to blame, there’s so much less to complain about. Instead, we have room to think about how grateful we are for our incredible life.

You might be thinking, “This all sounds great, Grace, but I’ve been blaming for so long that my mind is riddled with negative thoughts. How do I go about changing this?”

Yes—reality check—this stuff can be challenging! You’re unpacking patterns that have been around for years, perhaps for a lifetime, plus your subconscious is currently 100 percent comfy with these patterns and isn’t totally stoked on the idea of change right out of the gate. At about this point in the process, a lot of my clients will say, “Grace, this is hard!” So, if you’re feeling that way, you’re in good company! But the truth is, it isn’t hard. Workers who built the transcontinental railroad by hand in the 1860s had it hard. I like this comparison because it helps us put our perceptions back in order: building a railroad is hard, plugging in our headphones and closing our eyes for twenty minutes is easy! It just takes commitment, and that is something that our Tinder, Amazon Prime, instant gratification mind is not used to anymore. But anyone who has ever taken the time to handcraft a beautiful piece of furniture, or paint a masterpiece, or practice enough to become the best player on the team, or grow a baby for nine months, will tell you that the best things in life take time and require an investment of your energy and commitment. You can do this and you’re worthy of the results. So, rather than telling yourself it is “hard,” start affirming, “I am worthy of this commitment, I can put the time in, I already am.”

That brings us to this chapter’s self-hypnosis process, in which you’ll have the opportunity to observe one area of your life where you’ve been blaming others and giving your power away. You’ll have a chance to take responsibility and face reality. In doing so, you’ll reinstate your power. Then, we’ll conclude with an exercise that helps you become aware of one action step you can take today that will allow you to reclaim responsibility for the situation.

A quick note before we move on: Do I always get this 100 percent right in my own life? Am I perfect and always floating around like a Buddhist monk with a soft smile and kind eyes, never bothered by anything? Are all of my clients living like this after working with me for a handful of sessions? Through my live streaming and YouTube videos, am I creating a world full of peaceful millennial angels? Absolutely not! We’re all human, and this conditioning goes deep. But I get better at it every day, and I’m 100 million times better than I used to be. Honestly, that’s the only reason my life is as good as it is today. In fact, the quality of my life today is a dead-on accurate barometer of just how far I’ve come in implementing this first step of taking responsibility. This has been the case for all of my private clients, too. And because you’re sticking with this process, it will be the case for you, too.

Blame has risen to a deafening crescendo in today’s world, which means powerlessness is as an all-time high. That needs to change! I took responsibility by writing this book, and you’re taking responsibility by implementing what you learn as you read. Let’s do this!

Self-Hypnosis Process: Taking Responsibility for Our Actions

I suggest reading through the following directions two or three times before beginning so that you will be able to follow along easily. Remember, there are video tutorials and audio recordings available to you at www.CloseYourEyesGetFree.com that will help you to become a self-hypnosis pro in no time at all.

• Begin by making note of your starting stress level. 10 = a full-blown panic attack and 0 = zero stress, no stress at all, the most relaxed a person can possibly be. Remember this number.

• Sit in a comfortable chair and place your feet flat on the ground, rest your hands gently in your lap.

• With your spine straight but comfortable, take 4 deep, slow breaths, inhaling through the nose for 4 counts and exhaling out the nose for 8 counts.

• Close your eyes and imagine gentle roots growing from the bottom of your feet down into the center of the Earth, grounding you.

• Imagine a color you love flowing in through the top of your head, all the way through your body, out the bottoms of your feet, and down those roots, down into the center of the Earth.

• Bring all of your focus and awareness and attention to the palms of your hands. Perhaps you can feel your palms tingling, perhaps you can feel your heartbeat in your hands, perhaps you notice a sensation of expansion in your hands. Just notice and breathe for a few moments (you can choose whatever length of time feels best, about 30 seconds is my personal favorite).

• With your eyes closed, count down from 10 to 1, saying “I am going deeper and deeper” after each number: Ten, I am going deeper and deeper. Nine, I am going deeper and deeper. Eight, I am going deeper and deeper. Seven, I am going deeper and deeper. Six, I am going deeper and deeper. Five, I am going deeper and deeper. Four, I am going deeper and deeper. Three, I am going deeper and deeper. Two, I am going deeper and deeper. One, I am going deeper and deeper…

• With your eyes closed, repeat the following hypno-affirmations silently in your mind or out loud, 10 times: I take responsibility. I reclaim my power. My life is mine to create.

• Take another nice, deep, letting-go breath and with your eyes closed imagine feeling more powerful than you’ve ever felt. Pretend in your mind that you are replacing any negative actions with positive actions for the rest of your day until you curl up into bed tonight.

• Once you’ve spent 1–2 minutes imagining the rest of your day filled with feeling powerful and positive actions, imagine the same color as before flowing in through the top of your head, all the way through your body, out the bottoms of your feet, and down those roots into the center of the Earth.

• Put a gentle smile on your lips, open your eyes, stretch your arms over the top of your head, and say, “Yes!”

• Notice your new number on the scale (remember 0 = zero stress, the most relaxed you can be) and congratulate yourself on how quickly you improved your state!

Here is a simple summary of the process in case you need to peek your eyes open at any point for a quick reminder:

• Notice starting stress level from 0 to 10.

• Take 4 deep breaths.

• Grow roots.

• Color.

• Notice your palms.

• Count down from 10 to 1 saying, “I am going deeper and deeper” after each number.

• Repeat the hypno-affirmations, “I take responsibility. I reclaim my power. My life is mine to create” 10 times.

• Imagine feeling more powerful than ever while taking positive action for the rest of the day.

• Color.

• Smile while opening your eyes and say, “Yes!”

• Notice new number on the scale of 0 to 10.

• Congratulate yourself for improving your state so quickly!

Next Steps

Excellent! You have completed one of my favorites, the Taking Responsibility self-hypnosis process!

• Now, go ahead and visit www.CloseYourEyesGetFree .com to access this chapter’s hypnosis recording. Pop in your headphones, sit back, relax, and Close Your Eyes, Get Free.

• After you listen to the recording, please let me know how it went! Using the hashtag #CloseYourEyesGetFree on Instagram or Twitter, message me @GraceSmithTV your starting and ending numbers on the stress scale. By using the hashtag, you’ll get to see how other readers are improving right alongside you, plus I will have an opportunity to cheer you on!

• Move on to Chapter 6 and look out for all of the wonderful benefits you’re already starting to receive as a result of learning the power of hypnosis.