Welcome to reThink Your Perspective’s blog. To listen to this episode as a Podcast, click here!
This blog is dedicated to finding, sharing and discussing a variety of topics around the struggles our clients and audience go through. Each episode we will discuss a key concept that many humans struggle with and give you a variety of perspectives for you to see the concept through so you can find one that makes it feel easier to deal with.
We hope that you get some benefit from these blog posts, and we would love to hear your thoughts! Don’t hesitate to like, share and comment at the links.
This instalment features a book which was first suggested to me in several of the ‘Thinking Into Results’* lessons created by Bob Proctor and Sandy Gallagher at the Proctor Gallagher Institute, as well as in many of the live calls, mentoring sessions and other videos I have been watching during my journey and is one that I highly recommend on all of my own live sessions.
It is a truly revolutionary book.
Considering it was first published in 1960, it is astounding to me that it has not become a key text in schools around the world as the information contained within would make every single human a better and more productive person. Not only for the good of our species but for them as individuals as well.
The book is available in most good book shops, online and in person, and I highly recommend you get yourself a copy if my write ups resonate with you. I hope they do the book justice but they are only small snippets.
This is the last in this sequence of chapter reviews of Psycho-Cybernetics as I re-populate and update these blog posts which were originally written in 2022. My version of the book has space for reflection on each of the chapters so I have included my thoughts at the bottom of each of the chapter summaries.
* – Thinking Into Results is a life altering program that opens your mind to the limitless possibilities you have within you. Using 12 lessons ranging from adjusting your self-image, through leadership qualities and praxis, to the knowing-doing gap, this program is designed and proven to change your life in every way in your relationships, finances, careers, wellbeing and many other areas of your life. Get in touch if you want to know more about this program!
Chapter 15 – More Years Of Life And More Life In Your Years.
Chapter 15 of “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz is all about how we can live longer and have a more fulfilling life. Imagine your brain as a powerful computer that can help you achieve your goals and dreams.
In this chapter, Maltz explains that by changing our thoughts and beliefs, we can improve our health and happiness.
This chapter on life force starts by asking:
Does every human being have a built-in fountain of youth?
Can the success mechanism keep you young?
Does the failure mechanism accelerate the aging process?
Medical science doesn’t have an answer to these questions. But there is lots of evidence to these questions having positive answers! Scientific research is only possible if the scientist first has an assumption, a hypothesis, and a faith in that assumption. He or she is then able to conduct scientific experiments to prove the hypothesis true or false.
A Life Force That Creates More Life In Your Years?
Our physical body, brain and nervous system are machine like. Composed of numerous smaller mechanisms, all goal directed. The essence of mankind is that which animates this machine.
The essence of humanity is extra-physical.
Individual scientists have suspected that there is some sort of energy than runs the human machine. This energy is universally available to all, but we each use it differently. This could explain why some humans are more resistant to disease than others. Why some people age faster than others, or why some can snap back from a major operation faster than others.
People who are constantly striving towards a goal are the ones with the strongest constitution. They have something to live for as they always aiming to reach something. Any situation you find yourself in that you don’t overly like can be overcome. It is as simple as finding the silver lining. The one thing that makes it worthwhile.
Science Discovers The Life Force
Dr. Seyle of the University of Montreal was able to establish life force as a scientific fact.
Through his study of stress, he discovered what he called “Adaptive Energy”. Throughout life we have to adapt to stress situations. He found that the human body contains various defence mechanisms which defend against stress.
This stress can be anything that requires adaptation; extreme heat or cold, invasion by disease, or even the aging process.
“Adaptive energy has been coined for that which is consumed during continued adaptive work, to indicate that it is something different from the caloric energy we receive from food, but it is only a name, and we still have no precise concept of what this energy might be. Further research along these lines would seem to hold great promise, since here we appear to touch upon the fundamentals of aging.”
Dr. Hans Seyle
The body is equipped to maintain itself in health. To cure itself of disease. Drugs, surgery, and various therapies work largely by either stimulating the body’s own defence mechanism or toning it down. The adaption energy itself is what finally overcomes the disease, heals the wound, or wins out over other stressors.
The Doctor doesn’t heal, we heal ourselves. Medicinal practices just help support our body as it heals.
The Elixir Of Youth
When our adaptive energy is at its optimum all our organs function better, we feel good.
Wounds heal faster, we are more resistant to disease.
We feel and act younger.
It is therefore possible to correlate that whatever works to make more of this life force available to us, helps us all over.
People today are trying to mimic this life force through human growth hormone injections. Through diet, exercise, certain herbal and nutritional supplements. Medically we have made huge strides in extending physical life, but we are less successful when regarding quality of life.
When experimenting on wound healing, it was shown in mice that there was no difference between healing times of specific wounds using specific treatments. However, in humans, the healing times can vary greatly. But mice do not worry or become frustrated…
We can actually substantially impact our healing times with our minds. If we think positive and keep ourselves in a relaxed state, we heal faster. When we allow ourselves to worry, get frustrated, think negatively, our healing time increases.
If our adaptive energy is used up naturally as we age, then indulging ourselves in worry and frustration can speed up the aging process. We can become old before our time by worrying and creating emotional stress within us.
What Is The Secret?
Optimism!
Patients who were optimistic, cheerful, positive thinkers who expected to get well in a hurry because they had a reason or need to, got better quicker. They had something to look forward to, something to live for, something to get well for.
“I’ve got to get out of here to accomplish my goal!”
They did not stress or worry that they would not get better quicker. Simply expected to get better quicker, and they did. They optimised their success mechanism. Mental attitudes can influence the body’s healing mechanisms. This is why placebos work so well!
Do We Think Ourselves Into Old Age?
We seem to unconsciously expect to get old at a certain age. A study of people between 40 and 50 years old found that some begin to both look and act old, while others continue to act and look young. The older looking people thought of themselves as middle-aged, past their prime, over the hill. The younger looking ones still thought of themselves as being this side of middle aged.
In expecting to grow old we unconsciously set up a negative goal image for our creative mechanism to accomplish. By expecting and fearing old age, we may unwittingly do those things necessary to bring it about. We start to cut out physical activity, losing flexibility in our joints, curtailing blood flow through our muscles. This literally dries up our capillaries and restricts their ability to remove waste. So we start to physically age faster.
Six Basic Needs Humans Have
If a person can be convinced that physical and mental activity was dangerous and futile. Induced to give up on all his dreams and sit in a chair all day, with no interest in the future or ideas. Get him to think he is worthless and washed up, unimportant and non-productive. That he must sit rather than stand and do no exercise or his body will break. Then you will create an old man out of a physically young one.
If you remove any of a human’s six basic needs, then there is no desire for life and the mind will slowly shut the body down by aging it prematurely.
These six are the need for:
- Love
- Security
- Creative Expression
- Recognition
- New Experiences
- Self-Esteem
The author also adds the need for More Life. The need to look forward to tomorrow and the future with gladness and anticipation.
Look Forward And Live
Life itself is adaptive. Polar bears for example, need a thick white fur coat to blend into their surroundings and keep them warm. Without it, they would not be able to hunt prey or keep warm so would essentially die out. The life force acts as a “means” to these ends, providing the polar bear with its thick, white fur coat.
So is it not reasonable to assume that if we place ourselves in a goal-situation where more life is needed, that we will receive more life? If we think of man as a goal-striver, then life force (adaption energy) is the energy needed to drive him to his goal. We establish this need by looking forward with anticipation and joy. We expect to enjoy tomorrow because we have something important (to us) to do.
Creativity is a characteristic of the life force. Creative people live longer and remain productive longer than non-creative people.
Develop a nostalgia for the future!
An enthusiasm for life, create a need for more life, and you will receive more life.
The need is the time and ability to get done those goals you are striving towards!
“We age, not by years, but by events and our emotional reactions to them.”
Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker
Faith, courage, interest, optimism, looking forward brings us new life and more life. Futility, pessimism, frustration, or living in the past are not just characteristics of “old age”, they also contribute to it. Develop other interests when you retire rather than feeling that your active, productive life is done.
Miracles of the Life Force
Medical science does not pretend to know why the body performs as it does. We can describe how and what happens, but not why. No one really understands what makes the life force within us work. Or the intelligence that created the mechanisms, or how the intelligence operates them.
Medical miracles appear to be the body’s own natural healing processes, speeded up under the influence of intense faith. Intense belief and expectation to get better and heal.
Dubois, a famous French surgeon, had a sign in his operating room that stated, “The surgeon dresses the wound, God heals it”. The same could be said of any type of medication. But many people forego medical help in the belief that it is inconsistent with their faith. There is no possible conflict between medical science and religious faith healing, as both come from the same intelligence. They support each other and bolster the body to heal itself.
Everyone’s real goal is more life. To experience happiness as you experience more life.
There is but one life, one ultimate source. But it has many channels of expression and manifests itself in many forms. To get more living out of life, we must not limit the channels through which more life might come to us. Be it science, religion, psychology, other people or whatnot.
Don’t be too proud to accept help from others or too callous to give it.
The Best Self-Image Of All
I have copied this section verbatim as it is the closing paragraphs of the book and they cannot be summarised!
“Finally, let us not limit our acceptance of life by our own feelings of unworthiness. God has offered us forgiveness and the Peace of Mind and happiness that come from self-acceptance. It is an insult to our Creator to turn our backs upon these gifts to say that his creation- man- is so “unclean” that he is not worthy or important or capable. The most adequate and realistic self-image of all is to conceive of yourself as “made in the image of God”. “You cannot believe yourself the image of God, deeply and sincerely, with full conviction, and not receive a new source of strength and power”, said Dr. Frank G. Slaughter.
The ideas and exercises in this book have helped many of my patients “get more living out of life”. It is my hope, and my belief, that they will do the same for you.”
Dr. Maxwell Maltz
How To Integrate This Chapter Into Your Own Life
One key idea in this chapter is the concept of “self-image.” This is how we see ourselves and what we believe we are capable of. Maltz suggests that by changing our self-image to be more positive and confident, we can improve our overall well-being. For example, if you believe you are a healthy and active person, you are more likely to make choices that support that belief, such as eating well and exercising regularly.
Another important point in this chapter is the idea of setting goals. Maltz encourages us to have clear goals and to visualise ourselves achieving them. By focusing on what we want to achieve and taking small steps towards our goals every day, we can create a more fulfilling life for ourselves.
To integrate the lessons from this chapter into your daily life, try the following tips:
- Start each day with positive affirmations. Tell yourself that you are capable, worthy, and deserving of a happy and healthy life.
- Set specific goals for yourself and create a plan to achieve them. Break down your goals into smaller tasks that you can work on each day.
- Practice visualisation. Close your eyes and imagine yourself living the life you desire. Picture yourself healthy, happy, and successful.
- Surround yourself with positive influences. Spend time with people who support and encourage you to be the best version of yourself.
By incorporating these tips into your daily routine, you can start to change your self-image and create a life that is filled with more years and more joy. Remember, your thoughts have the power to shape your reality, so choose to think positively and believe in yourself.
My Thoughts
Being the final official chapter in this book meant that there was no area to write my thoughts. But I thought I’d share them here regardless!
I definitely resonate with the ideas in this chapter. While I am not religious, I do believe there is something there that is bigger than humans. An energy that moves the life force of every living thing to and through us all.
I think the closest thing I’ve seen that explains how I see it is in the film Final Fantasy: The Secrets Within and their depiction of Gaia. A planetary life force that flows through everything and that our energy returns to the planet when our body dies.
It makes sense to me that it is this life force that makes our body mechanisms work. Different people call it different things and understand it in different ways. Be it religious, scientific or otherwise. But essentially it is the same thing that provides the energy for all life on Earth. As the highest forms of creation on Earth, with the ability to think, reason, perceive, accept or reject, and originate ideas, humans can use this energy consciously. It is up to us if we choose to use it positively or negatively, by the thoughts that we choose to think.
What Do You Think?
Want more information or help to get more life in your years? Please contact me to see how I can help!
Drop me a comment to let me know your thoughts!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Jaiye
PS. Have you heard about the upcoming Science of Getting Rich Summit? It might be worth you having a look…..
