World Sleep Day ... Thanks but here are some useful tips instead!

Hey everyone did you know yesterday was world sleep day? No me neither. I must have forgot to set my alarm for that one. But just in case you don't know what 'world sleep day' is, here is their website's description;

World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving. It is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders.

A celebration of sleep indeed, but a confusing and rather unhelpful one at that. I looked through the main website of the WASM and the connected World Sleep society, but frankly for an organisation that is designed to raise awareness it doesn't give out too much advice. It does make you aware that there are different levels of membership you can subscribe to for different organisations and events, but pretty much bugger all else. You certainly have to do some sifting through the menus and sub menus before encountering any kind of advice or 'raised awareness'.

If you want to see for yourself and learn a little more about what they actually do and what the organisers and this special day achieve, the link is http://worldsleepday.org.

Or you can go out for a walk in the fresh or do something else much more constructive instead.

Don't get me wrong, I do think people need to be informed a lot more on the do's and dont's when it comes to sleeping and as an ex-insomniac, cured using a combination of hypnosis (obviously!) and my boss confiscating my reuters pager, I understand how distressing suffering from a lack of sleep can be. But if your mission statement is to 'lessen the burden of sleep problems' then a few tips wouldn't go amiss.

Fittingly I saw a former insomnia client yesterday who apparently now 'sleeps like a log' and though hypnosis was at the core of the work we did together, she would have benefitted from some of the points below that I shared with her.

So here are tips*** for improving your chances of a good night sleep, as well as potentially helping you deal with other sleep related problems:

*Tablets and phones emit blue light so avoid taking them to bed or being near you. Obviously you may need to be on call, but when this is not the case, use a traditional alarm clock. It amazes me the number of people who are texting or posting at three o'clock in the morning that they can't sleep (and clearly can't make the connection!).

*Stick to a sleep schedule and practise a relaxing bedtime ritual…this helps to regulate your body clock and separates sleep time from more active time.

*Evaluate your room and the quality of mattresses and pillows…Temperature should be on the cooler side (60-65 degrees), make sure you are comfortable and supported and free from distractions (including noisy partners).

*Avoid stimulants, alcohol and heavy meals in the evening…this will include caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol and spicy or large portioned meals.

*Practise progressive, active muscular relaxation….listen to the one that accompanies this book or even better teach yourself how to systematically tense and relax your muscle groups.

*If you want to feel sleepy when you go to bed….Try wearing glasses with amber tinted lenses tor a few hours before you go to bed. These will block the blue light that stimulates your brain (see tablets and phones)

*If you want to feel refreshed in the morning….Decide when you want to wake up and count back in 90 minute blocks (one sleep cycle) to discover the best time to get your head down.

*If you want to fall asleep quickly….Use positive imagery; Imagine yourself in a very pleasant scenario. Make the scenario as detailed as possible but avoid anything that is too exciting, perhaps planning a holiday.

*Or try the paradox principle – try to stay awake! Forcing yourself to remain awake is one of the best ways of falling asleep.

*If you lie in bed feeling worried make a list of all the things you have to do the next day. If it is about something specific, jot that down too and try to allow the thought to drift through your mind rather than focusing on it.

*If you wake up in the middle of the night…You might be experiencing a perfectly natural phenomenon known as ‘segmented sleep’, where people sleep in two long blocks. However, if you lie awake for more than twenty minutes, get up and do something non-stimulating for a few minutes, such as a jigsaw puzzle.

*If you want to learn in your sleep….don’t stay up late trying to cram information into your brain. Instead study during the day, remind yourself about key points just before you nod off and get lots of sleep at night.

*If you want to boost your brain power during the day….Taking a catnap will help you to become more alert and productive. Neuro napping involves listening to music when you are studying or brainstorming and then playing the same music when you nap. Napping boosts memory and creativity by around 60 percent.

*If you are experiencing a recurring nightmare, or bad dream….Imagery rehearsal therapy: Spend some time during the day describing your nightmare or bad dream, creating a different ending of the episode and then imagining the new and improved ending. Studies show that this simple technique stops nightmares 90 percent of the time.

*If you want to gain insights into your concerns and worries….Dream work: Describe a striking dream in detail, look for ways in which it applies to your life. Research shows that around 80percent of people find that this yields an important insight into their concerns.

*If you want to achieve a goal….The power of pre-sleep suggestion: Just before you fall asleep imagine doing whatever you need to do to achieve your goal. As you drift off tell yourself you want these images to appear in your dreams.

The above illustrates techniques used by health professionals. If you believe that you or your child have a psychological problem, please consult a professional.

***Some of these methods were taken from the highly recommended Night School by Richard Wiseman© which I would recommend ahead of going the World Association of Sleep Medicine!

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In addition, I always encourage my clients to use my preferred breathing method and one that has been acknowledged for helping thousands get a good night sleep.

4-7-8 or ‘Relaxing Breath’ Exercise (see demo included)

The tip of your tongue needs to be against the ridge of tissue just behind your top front teeth. You will inhale through the nostrils and exhale from your mouth around your tongue. As you begin the below:
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

This should be repeated for a total of four times.

Night, Night!

It Is So Great To See People Transform In Therapy AND In The Classroom

If you work as a therapist or coach, the most rewarding aspect of the job is to see people grow and transform before your very eyes, sometimes very quickly and virtually always much quicker and more profoundly than they ever believed was possible.
When you teach people as well, as I do, you will recognise similar qualities of transformation in your students over the course of their studies.
They come to you maybe a little nervous and unsure and as in therapy, you immediately begin to work on raising their expectations as to what is and will be possible and be achieved as you work together.
You build their confidence in you and even more importantly work on building their confidence in themselves until that belief is there and when the therapy or training you are doing is 'OMNI Hypnosis' based, that belief will take root very quickly indeed.
On Sunday the first ever live UK based OMNI hypnosis certification class (I am currently the only OMNI trainer on our green and pleasant land) came to an end and it is fair to say that I am sure the ladies I had the pleasure in teaching, underwent their own transformations over our seven days together.
If they were reticent when they began the course, they finished it confident and competent hypnotherapists, keen to share their new found knowledge and skills with the world.
I could not have been any prouder of the level of commitment and effort the students put in throughout and they exemplify exactly why OMNI Hypnosis training is the best.
When, on the first day I told them that by the third day they would be ahead of many current working  hypnotherapists in many respects they looked at me as if I was pulling their leg. But when the time came and with all progressive relaxations well and truly exiled and all paper prompts removed, they were able to put one another into a nice, deep working level of somnambulism, the belief and expectation was firmly cemented.
When, on the first day I handed them their manuals and back up patter scripts and then began to explain to them that if it ever came to my attention in the future that they were relying on either of them, I would find them and I would kill them (think Liam Neeson but fatter and balder), they knew I was joking, but they also knew I wasn't. Very quickly they understood why. Very quickly they had made the decision themselves that they didn't want to be that kind of hypnotherapist either.
And when, on the first day I told them that by the seventh day (or sooner) they would be sitting in front of me unwavering in their own belief that they could help most people with most issues to some degree, they looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes as if to say 'right now he's totally lost it'. But at the end, as we sat drinking champagne and toasting their hard work and successful graduations, I have no doubt whatsoever that that is exactly what had crossed their mind too.

When people are taught correctly, there should always be that moment of awakening within them and I saw it in my students last week. When therapy is done correctly that moment of awakening is to be expected too, even if it is just the realisation that they are no longer defined by their problem, or that it simply does not exist at all.
In fact all therapy is training, or for want of a better expression, reprogramming. In seven days an OMNI instructor can programme belief, knowledge, understanding, enthusiasm and confidence into their students and often in one session an OMNI hypnotist can programme a similar level of change into a therapy client.

It really is a privilege when you can do both.

Do you want to be one of the privileged few?

Our next training will be in the Executive Boardroom of the Hilton, Canary Wharf, commencing on Sunday 15th May and running over the course of the following three weekends, for those that cannot afford to miss work (7days total).

For more information on this class click HERE.

To download a prospectus and for more information click HERE

Looking for something to give up for lent - how about negative thinking!

No sooner had dry January finished and all those who had spent the month detoxing, then spent the first week of February getting pissed and playing catch up, we were then hit with Lent.

Lent represents fasting, abstinence and penance for many christians around the world, or an excuse for everyone else to have another crack at the resolutions they ballsed up. So the chubster who couldn't give up chocolate on New Years Eve, come Lent may tell themselves that they stand a better chance this time round as they have the holy spirits approval. They wont of course (unless very devout) but it wont stop many.

I myself, along with two other friends, did a sponsored 90 days of lent a few years ago to raise money for autism, giving up booze, fast food, sweets and chocolate for the entire period and had it not been for charity I, despite being the worlds greatest hypnotherapist, probably would have failed miserably.
I'm not trying to encourage eating crap but psychologically if you deprive yourself of something that you enjoy and in small moderation isn't harmful for you, there's a good chance that you aren't going to be happier and over the long run, evidence suggests not lighter or fitter either unfortunately.
I am also not discouraging people having lifestyle changes, such as becoming teetotal, eating healthier and so on, but that isn't what Lent is about. Lent is about abstinence and we all know the saying 'Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder'. OK, that isn't the saying but there is a lot of truth in it.
The problem is that forty days is more than enough time (so is Januarys 31 days) for habits to develop and if you spend that time telling yourself how much you miss your chocolates, cakes, crisps, booze, fags, nookie* etc. and not consistently focusing on the benefits of doing without them, you are conditioning yourself to love them more when your time's up (* anyone who can abstain from this for forty days isn't doing it right!).

So here is an idea.

Stop whatever you are currently in the process of missing terribly for Lent and give up negative thinking instead?

Now that is habit forming that you will benefit from. Trust me, I have never had a client tell me they miss being a miserable, half empty kind of person and if you give up negative thinking patterns for that length of time, you really aren't going to have a longing to return to your old ways. It is so easy to do as well, I know because I was once a lot more cynical about the world than I am now and I really have no intention of going back to my old, grumpy and unproductive ways.

There are few things more rewarding than freeing a client from negative thinking patterns, it is like handing them a little key to freedom and choice and everyone has the ability to free themselves.

Here's just a few things to take a moment to consider each day, that if you consistently do for forty days, will help you give up negative thinking.

• Find at least one reason every day to be grateful
• Find at least one thing or person to aspire to
• Tell yourself three things that if people knew about you, they would like or admire
• If you are aware that you are talking to yourself in a negative way, tell yourself to STFU!
• Seeing something in a bad light, determine to find a way to reframe it or see it from another point of view or person's perspective.
• Find humour in everything and anything (within reason).
• Do something for someone or something that can't repay you as often as practically possible

Thats it. What are you going to miss by doing that? The only regret or longing you will have is that you will tell yourself that you wish you had done it much sooner, but you can reframe that too into a positive. 

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Feels like Groundhog Day

It has become an expression synonymous with the feeling of repetition and reliving the same thing over and over again, a cliche and catchphrase of modern culture that originates from the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray who is cursed to repeat the same day over and over again until he discovers the meaning of true love.
We see the term used frequently in newspapers and television and although relatively new when used in this context, many of us would have said it to ourselves or at least thought it at some point.
In fact the real meaning of groundhog day (which anyone who has seen the film we be aware of) is that of an annual ritual on 2nd February - where the onset of spring is predicted depending on whether the animal leaves its burrow or not (see HERE for more details if you are interested).

That feeling of mundane repetition and 'here we go again' can for a small number of people develop into an unhealthy habit, which very quickly can, if unchecked become self-perpetuating and slowly permeating into all areas of their life.
It is around this time of year in particular that I hear many people say it and see it manifest itself in the anxiety and poor sleeping patterns of clients. Whether it is facing another year of a job you despise, or the parent getting bored at the sound of their own voice as they try every morning to get their kids ready for school, the thought of being trapped in an unrewarding cycle is another to bring many people down. With the routine well and truly reestablished, resolutions unfulfilled and the thought of another eleven months of the same, the timing of groundhog day can seem very apt for many.
Fortunately it is just habitual thinking and this can be corrected as easily as a physical habit such as nail biting or hair pulling using hypnotherapy and coaching.

When people use the expression 'groundhog day' to describe their life they are actually just describing the meaning they are giving to their life and nothing more. People should realise they have a choice as to how they want to feel in any situation and they also have a number of options in how they respond or resolve negative or repetitive thinking patterns.

I would also go so far to suggest that by making a few small adjustments and reframes to how they see the world and the things they fill their day with, they can correct this destructive way of thinking easily and effortlessly.

Here are my tips and suggestions for changing that 'groundhog' mentality:

• If your life seems to be lacking variety, a keep need in all of us, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT - take up a hobby, sport, exercise regime, anything that adds a different dimension to your weekly timetable.
• Be mindful of unhelpful patterns developing; negative self talk, behaviours that don't seem to work such as screaming at the kids, wallowing, binge eating, the ritualistic large glass of wine in the evening!
• Focus on positives and what you CAN do and do have a CHOICE in, then ask yourself, can the things you feel frustrated about benefit from this same positive focus.
• Change your posture. Be aware of your body language and the body language of others who are feeling defeated by life and monotony - chances are you will notice disempowering body language. If you do - change it - sit up, stand up, big breaths etc.
• Change your environment. Being a housewife or stay at home mum (or househusband or dad) can be incredibly stressful as it seems there is no escape from your job, less variety etc. Plan a number of trips, even short ones to get a change of scenery.
• Exercise gratitude. Whatever your situation, the chances are there will be a person who would willingly swap places with you - people who can't have children, the person who can't find work or has just been made redundant, the lonely person, the cripplingly shy person etc.
• Ask yourself - 'has my life always been like this or is this just a moment in a bigger story?' or 'what would i need to not feel trapped in this negative cycle?'.

There are plenty more ways you can interrupt and correct negative thinking patterns, but the key to understand doing so, is realising that you are often trapping yourself physically and emotionally or the things you are choosing to focus on and the meaning you give them.

If not a few sessions of constructive hypnosis and coaching will show you how.

Less Than A Month To Go

In less than one months time I will be proudly beginning the first live OMNI Basic-Advanced Certification Class ever to be held in the UK. 

I received a lovely message from a nice gentleman via Linkedin last week who expressed his regret that he had not discovered Jerry Kein's training years ago, instead at the time choosing to enrol on one of the more popular and heavily marketed hypnotherapy courses here in the UK - as he put it 'hindsight is a wonderful thing!'. 

Fortunately now OMNI Hypnosis has its first designated trainer in myself and the first live training provider in Advanced Hypnosis Training - The OMNI Hypnosis Training Center® of London (based in the London Borough of Bexley). Future students can now have the benefit of foresight and the opportunity to join one of the classes I have planned for 2016, starting with the first one at the end of next month.

The quality of the training and the experience and knowledge that lay at its core are just one aspect of the benefits of training with OMNI, another additional benefit, the continuing post graduation support 

was being showcased in Switzerland over the last few weeks when OMNI Hypnosis laid on Regression to Cause Masterclass Workshops for over three hundred of the OMNI trained hypnotists in Switzerland and beyond.

This really highlights the commitment that OMNI has to its students beyond the day they graduate and the event was such as success that it aims to emulate the event around the world going forward.

Already classes are filling up for 2016 in countries as far afield as Brasil and China and once the name of OMNI penetrates the crowded UK market, we are very confident that it will elevate itself above the competition to be the first choice certification course for the serious prospective hypnotherapists.

If you want to be the first on board then click the link HERE to register your interest, signing before 31st January will entitle you to TWO discounts totalling £200.

Strap Yourself in Everyone - It's Blue Monday

Today the 18th January is 'officially' Blue Monday - the day when many Co of us will struggle to get out of bed on what is purported to be the most depressing day of the year.

You may have already heard it mentioned today on the radio or television, or read it in the paper on the way to a job that all of a sudden you think is a little more mundane and soul destroying than usual (apparently you are not alone, nearly two thirds of people feel depressed on their way to work today).

But don't most people have that Monday morning feeling anyway to varying degrees and I am not talking about feeling 'depressed', the most overused of expressions, just a little miffed that the weekend'd finished?

To add weight to the argument that January sucks, another study by the Co-op found that 26% of people cite this month as the worst and most isolating, well guess what thats three quarters of us that DON'T find it that bad, but then that sort of headline isn't going to help marketing and advertisers in the same way to shift package holiday's or products in the supermarkets as the miserable one will.

Because ultimately, that is what Blue Monday is about - selling - and in fact was the brain child of British Holiday company looking to give some scientific reason and basis for those in the doldrums (if they weren't in the doldrums before, they were after reading the study) to book up a holiday!

Working cleverly to get the punters to associate into the feelings of gloom, it turned out to be a popular and clever ploy to then get them to put their hands in their pockets.

Think about it. There are probably people up and down the country who feel that they are suffering from a post Christmas and year end hangover which may for them include some or all of the following; debt, disappointment, feelings of loneliness, short days, crappy weather, feelings of nothing to look forward to, failed resolutions, cold and flu and so and so forth. If they were already thinking about how crap they felt and mulling over the idea of booking a trip to look forward to, then this headline will certainly sway them further in that direction.

Blue Monday is only eleven years old, so please don't get caught up in the flimsy scientific data which stems from a 'formula' for measuring happiness, but was intended from the beginning purely to make people feel shit.

January is hard work for many people and for some the year ahead may seem an arduous task. But you don't need a scientist with a remit to tell you why or to compound your misery.

This is a busy week for a hypnotherapist. The wheels start coming off many well intended resolutions and it's true, anxiety and feelings of stress and despair do bang a little louder this time of year in the heads of many. But it's a lack of knowing how to focus and talk to yourself correctly during these times that makes people feel this way, not some scientific formula designed to flog a half board holiday to Lanzarote.

Heres some tips to perk yourself up.

• Pick five things to be grateful for.
• Put your coat on and go for a walk.
• Even better put your coat on and go for a long walk, preferably to a gym.
• If you've got your coat on, how about walking to that one friend or relative who always lifts your spirits.
• Listen to what you are saying to yourself and reject any negative thoughts or internal dialogue.
• Take five minutes to breath.
• Smile at someone or respond with a smile to someone who smiles at you.
• Do something nice and generation with your time and money while expecting nothing in return (you will get something anyway!).

Failing that book up for one of my evening workshops where you can learn to master stress, anxiety and negative emotions. Upbeat, fun and informative, you will only be expected to pay the nominal amount, feel great afterwards and wont be expected to sign up for a holiday at the end!

Details of the evening classes can be found HERE.

Lastly, think about this, if you are feeling a bit down today then take a moment to consider how great your weekend must have been and how blessed you are to have had it.

The Manipulation Of Those In Need

Have you ever heard someone use the expression 'Nothing seems to shock me anymore'? I have, because I have caught myself saying it on a number of occasions only to be inevitably proved wrong. I must have said it recently because this week a couple of incidents rendered me either speechless and mortified. One of the incidents involved the most gripping television programmes I have seen in as long as I can remember (recommended by a friend and client) and the other was something another friend and client told me during a session.

WATCH THIS!

The first is a programme available to stream on Netflix called 'Making a Murder' which if you are not aware of it already is the story of a man who having served seventeen years for a crime he did not commit, finds himself arrested for another murder he is accused of committing after being released following the original conviction being quashed.
It starts slow but boy you need to stick with it because what unravels is not only what I think is the most compelling documentary I can ever remember seeing, but a horrific account of coercion and mental manipulation of vulnerable people (and a frightening glimpse of how people in power can wilfully corrupt and hurt others).
I wont spoil it for you as I urge you to watch it, but the first four episodes have had myself and Mrs. E gobsmacked, mortified and stunned into silence at the things people, entrusted with the wellbeing and safety of others, can do.

The second thing to stun me was something that a friend told me when she visited me in my office to ask with help on how she had been feeling recently. What I was told was something that I had heard plenty of anecdotal stories about (especially in the States) and heard happening to a lesser degree over here in the UK but still left me shocked nevertheless.
When clients come to me for help I always make a point of asking about their history, including any history or previous therapy work such as prior hypnosis experience, counselling etc. and in my friends case she responded that she had been in therapy (seeing a counsellor) 'for years', or words to that effect. When I asked her what she meant by years she replied 'about ten'. TEN YEARS! Ten years of counselling and from what I can gather counselling that was consistent and regular too.
I didn't hide the fact that I was both blown away and disgusted by it in equal measure.
I asked her at what point did she think that there was no progress being made and that it wasn't helping and she replied that she had asked both herself and the therapist the same question and the therapists response to her was that 'some people have therapy their whole lives'. What a load of bollocks. The only people who spend their whole lives in therapy are the ones with shit or manipulative therapists (there are also people who like the stigma but not in my friends case). The fact that her therapist told her that some people have therapy their whole lives (a powerful and dangerous waking suggestion) tells me she falls slack bang into the latter category.
Now my friend is a very intelligent woman and a thoughtful person, but a curse of intelligence can be overthinking and (now I am talking from personal experience) if you are not thinking or focusing in the right way when you do, you can create unnecessary anxiety and stress in your life. The curse of being thoughtful is that sometimes you don't give enough focus to your own needs. In a nutshell that is what I think my friends issues are and the main causes for her anxiety and as simplistic as the prognosis of her issues is, so to is the way to address them.
I have no doubt in my mind and happy to argue the case with anyone that not only did her therapist not help her (though I have no doubt she was led to believe she was improving, albeit slowly), she more than likely exacerbated the problems and conditioned her to use cognitive programmes that  resulted in her either automatically psychoanalysing herself at every turn or using labels and constructs that had been drummed into her over years of therapy.
I do not think for one minute my friend encouraged the relationship but was rather trusting enough to accept it. Like I say she is a very kind person and I have no doubt, if you asked her friends, a selfless and considerate friend too. She has just never been encouraged to accept it and has therefore always run off of a low level of self esteem, I can help her change that by showing her that people always have a choice and by giving her a number of simple and easy tools to put that choice into action and shift her feelings and emotions at will. By expressing gratitude and acknowledging your own qualities, most people can start the process of taking control and begin the process of nourishing ones own self esteem.
She is now the gatekeeper of her confidence as it grows and she is not allowed to focus on things or use language that is detrimental to her positivity. When you focus on good things and the positive intentions and meanings attached to them, you can teach yourself very quickly to reframe negative events in a positive way. 
With most of my clients I would slip them into a good level of hypnosis and let them lead me to the cause of their issues, but in my friends case I think a) she's super smart, certainly smart enough to get the approaches suggested, take the techniques and run with them b) so conditioned is she to psychoanalyse herself, we may have had a conflicting session. Either way as she sat there my main objective is, as it is with any client, to see what can I do to help her as quickly, easily and permanently as possible.
What the $%&^ her previous therapist was doing is anyones guess, but I am confident of two things, she was acting in her own interests AND knows she's crap to boot.

I'm not against anyone making money, I am not against anyone making shitloads of money, but I am against people who exploit and damage others to do so. Funnily enough my friend persistently tried to give me more than I asked her for at the end of the session, but the truth is because she's a good person and I know that in recent years she has run marathons and half marathons to raise a not inconsiderable amount of money to fight cancer, she was helping me by giving me the opportunity to help a good person who deserves it.

If she continues to use the simple exercises we talked about, I know one day she's going to realise she thoroughly deserves it too!

When people in positions of influence or authority abuse that trust either to preserve or further their position, there is always someone that is impacted negatively. Whether you are part of the law enforcement and judicial system in the USA or a therapist entrusted with the welfare of a client, if you are in it just for yourself you are in the wrong job. Manipulation is worse than negligence and both things that shocked me this week were in my opinion unforgivable manipulation.
Manipulation of those in need should never be tolerated.

Project 2016

Apologies that this blog is coming to you all a day later than expected, thank an apple software upgrade for that!
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and enjoyed ushering in the New Year as much as I did in the company of friends and family.
The ending of one year and the beginning of the next always gives the opportunity to reflect on what has been, be grateful for what is and plan for what is to come.
For those coming off the back of a bad year, the thought of a new one may create a feeling of dread, whilst in others present them with a fantastic opportunity to embrace the fresh and clean slate a new year symbolises. In others the start of a new calendar represents the beginning of a new challenge or objective to aim for.
It is a privilege this time of year to be a hypnotherapist and coach, helping others better themselves whether it is to shift a few pounds, quit the fags or booze, or adopt a more positive mindset to accomplish personal goals and ambitions.
I also have a number of 'plans' and the starting of 2016 is a new chapter in my own personal development. In the last few years I have brought about many changes in my life and 2015 signified for me that defining moment when I began to really feel comfortable with whom I am and what I am about - 2016 is my opportunity to refine my qualities and skills and add and development in any way I can.
To do that I had to let a few things go in the last twelve months.
From a work perspective I had to make some decisions about how thin I was spreading myself AND what did I really want to be doing one year, three years or ten years from now. So a couple of months ago I decided I would stop trading, not take a break from it as I had done in the past, but actually stop completely. I still have advisory work which I like doing in the financial markets, but no more personal risk taking or speculating. In fact the only thing I am prepared to take a punt on now is myself and so for the first time ever, the hypnotherapy, training and teaching has my undivided attention.
I am choosing to let go of trying to juggle too many things simultaneously and trying to be all things to all people. That requires giving myself a break when I put unrealistic expectations on myself and taking a break from others who ask or expect too much of me. I tell my clients one of the healthiest things they can learn to do is say 'NO' constructively - I am doing that too in the last remaining areas of my life that need it.
Finally, as I reflect on the year that has just finished the last thing I choose to let go of is anything negative that I cannot find a lesson, reframe or positive aspect in. However ingrained that negative thing may be, even if it conflicts with principles and values I have, if I can't polish it, it will just be a grubby old stone I will drag around with me and it will serve me no purpose. So I choose to let it go.
It is important to continue to grow and fulfils a human need, so I intend on making some new changes in 2016 and adding things that will benefit my own personal development.
As much as I feel I am unrecognisable from the person I was five years ago, I now really want my physical good shape to reflect the better mental and spiritual shape I have got myself in. Therefore one of the central points to 'Project 2016' is to look after myself better, eat better, eat smarter and exercise a lot more. Not just for myself, but for my kids and the missus (who looks in a lot better shape than I do!) who I intend to annoy for many years to come!
I am lucky enough to have a little sister who is embarking on a change of career and becoming a personal trainer. Her own personal transformation, energy and drive already tell me she is going to be great at it and I intend to be regular guinea pig no.1 for her as despite being my little sister, she's scary and will kick my arse into shape (and get great pleasure I am sure out of doing so!).
I am doubly lucky to have my better half, Mrs. E well into her yoga teacher training so I am going to be booking up my weekly appointments with her to make me more balanced, relaxed and flexible. As well as sharing something with her, I also get to check her out in the new yoga wardrobe I spent a fortune on at Christmas!
I also intend on revisiting my jujitsu classes which took a backseat to work commitments last year and hopefully the yoga and personal training will make me land a little softer.
Other goals for 2016 will be to continue to help others, get better at helping others, get some quality OMNI certified hypnotists in the UK and promote a conference later in the year.
I intend to laugh more than I have ever done before, finding the humour in anything and everything and spreading it around as much as I can. I intend to smile more too and encourage others to do the same at every opportunity.
I will have an additional blog up and running where I can share the progress on all of the above with others in a tongue-in-cheek but hopefully beneficial way www.nickebdon.blogspot.co.uk
I hope you all enjoy 2016 as much as I intend to.

Nick