As I said in my previous post about Fort Worth, excluding an entire class of people is a slippery slope. Who’s the next group to exclude? Though I don’t smoke, I recognize that smoking is a legal right. And in my opinion, it’s a dangerous idea to limit employment to only non-smokers. The full story is below.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/30/us/pennsylvania-nicotine-testing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

What do you think? Am I being paranoid, or is this possibly the start of a disturbing trend?

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Fort-Worth-to-consider-tobacco-ban-for-new-employees-147649255.html

In my opinion, if the city adopts this policy, it’d be a dangerous idea, as it would be tempting to start excluding other groups from the hiring pool. No one’s happy about people being hooked on cigarettes, but if Fort Worth wants to reduce insurance costs, the city could create a more positive and supportive approach. For example, they could refer current employees to various smoking cessation resources, including local hypnotherapists. They could do more to encourage gym membership and healthy eating habits.

Bottom line: smoking is legal, and if you start banning smokers from applying for a city job, it’s a slippery slope. Who’s the next banned group?

- New York psychologist, Dr. Jeanne Safer, has a rare form of leukemia. Hypnosis helped her relax before biopsies, MRIs and surgeries. She calls it an “excellent self-management technique,” and uses it with her patients.

- “We can teach people how to manage pain and anxiety, ” says Dr. David Spiegel. He’s a psychiatrist and director of the Center for Health and Stress at Stanford University; he’s studied hypnosis for 40 years.

- Scientific evidence is mounting that hypnosis can be effective in a variety of medical situations, from easing migraine headaches, reducing hot flashes, alleviating chemotherapy side effects, and controlling asthma attacks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577333751488988824.html

I’ve included two links. The first is to CNN’s article, and the second is to the CDC’s section of videos.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/health/feds-tobacco-ads/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/stories

I have mixed feelings about the CDC’s approach. On one hand, I’m glad that they want to reduce smoking. On the other, shocking people into quitting by showing amputated limbs, scars, etc., may not be the best approach.

What would I do if I could write their ads? I’d talk about hypnosis (big surprise, right?), how it’s effective for people serious about quitting smoking, and how the client has little to zero craving for a cigarette.

Question: How would you write an ad for the CDC? Would you go for the negative or the positive, or combine the two? Please post your thoughts below.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/12/SPR81NJIS8.DTL

To me, that shows the incredible power of smoking. A report like this is both frustrating and inspiring. Frustrating because so many of these people would’ve succeeded if only they’d used hypnosis. Inspiring because it makes me want to do more to spread the word about smoking and hypnosis.

Most smokers try to quit without getting help. If you know someone like that, please mention that hypnosis can greatly reduce their withdrawal symptoms, including the intense craving. Hypnosis simply makes quitting much more pleasant and peaceful.

To see a summary of the CDC’s results, see the Wall Street Journal’s take.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/11/10/most-smokers-want-to-quit-only-a-fraction-actually-do/?KEYWORDS=smoking

Here’s the more complex version from the CDC.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6044a2.htm?s_cid=mm6044a2_w

Eureka! When I was a teen, Men at Work was a popular band from Australia. Their big hit, “Down Under,” had a line about a vegemite sandwich. I used to wonder, “What’s a vegemite sandwich?”

Fast forward about 30 years, and here’s a jar of vegemite. Question: out of all the items on that food shelf, why did I notice vegemite? Perhaps because my brain’s been wondering about vegemite for 30 years. And when you ask your brain a question, it keeps searching for an answer. More specifically, your subconscious mind keeps searching. Sometimes it finds the true answer, but sometimes it makes up a fake answer as Jane’s about to find out…

Jane’s life is pretty good by most standards, but not to hers. After her promotion at the hedge fund, instead of celebrating, she thinks, “Took them long enough. And only a $150,000 raise?” When her friends threw her a surprise birthday party, she thought, “I wish I’d known so I could’ve dressed up.” When her young children served her breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day, she thought, “These pancakes aren’t as good as mine. I should tell them to redo it.”

When life gives Jane lemonade, she makes lemons. She’ll often say, “Why does my life stink?” That “why” question can be dangerous, because the subconscious will find an answer even though her question isn’t properly crafted. It’s like me asking, “What’s 10 plus blue sky?” My question isn’t properly crafted, because “blue sky” can’t be added to the number 10. It’s a bad question!

Jane’s subconscious will try its best to answer her question, “Why does her life stink?” It searches Jane’s database for bits and pieces, solves a few quadratic equations, does some calculus, performs a few chemistry experiments, and gazes through its built-in electron microscope. After all that work, her subconscious proclaims, “Jane, your life stinks, because you don’t deserve happiness.”

Now Jane feels worse. It confirms what she suspected. And for the rest of her life, she’ll ask why her life stinks. And she’ll keep getting variations on a theme: you don’t deserve happiness; your parents didn’t love you because you aren’t lovable; there are happy people and unhappy, and you just fall into the unhappy camp. Etc.

But when if she’d asked a different question, a question that actually can be answered properly, such as “What can I appreciate in my life?” Then her subconscious would help her see all the good in life, and she could start learning new habits, habits that help rather than hurt. That question change may not be all she needs, but it’s a good start. It’s better to ask questions that have an answer instead of questions where the subconscious just makes up a false answer.

About a year ago my wife Holly and I bought a real fixer upper. My recent question: “What’s the reason I’m feeling overwhelmed with the house remodeling, maintenance, and recent shopping for the bathroom remodel that I don’t care much about?” Improved question: “What’s one small step I can take this weekend to feel more relaxed about the house?” Next improved question/thought: “Hey, what’s important here? It’s not about me. I’m spending weekends looking at sinks, tiles, and fixtures, for one simple reason: it makes Holly happy. Isn’t that reason enough?”

And as I think about this revised question, my head feels lighter and more clear. Instead of thinking, “Ugh. Another bathroom showroom this weekend?”, I’m thinking of how I can be a more pleasant remodeling partner. Not because I care so much about the remodel, but because she cares about the remodel. Asking better questions = better results.

What’s a question that you ask yourself that has room for improvement? Feel free to post your question and revised question, so I and others can learn from you.

A few months ago, I attended a business networking event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco, because I felt that my networking had stagnated. Most of these events feel like drive-by-networking, with people shooting out as many business cards as possible. Not fun!

But this event had a relaxed and friendly energy. I connected easily with people here, and had a great time! I spent at least 30 minutes talking about economics and finance with one fascinating person. I worked in the financial field before, so it was nice to talk shop.

After this event, I saw networking differently. It could be fun–what a novel concept! Instead of focusing on how they could help me, I shifted my focus to connecting with the person in front of me and finding out how I could help their business.

I began attending events by asking, “What type of professional would you like to meet?” And I began building a reputation as a business matchmaker.

Prior to this, I had connected people. But this recent light bulb moment was much bigger. Connecting with random people and helping them in their business became a big joyful game. Plus I focused more on helping my existing network of business friends as well.

Now my energy’s higher, I need less sleep, and I’m more productive. In elevators and random places, I began chatting with strangers just for fun. I feel as if I’m moving through the world in a more open way, happy to connect with total strangers. Life is flowing more easily.

Oh, and here’s the kicker. Because I stopped focusing on my business as much, I’ve suddenly been getting more people offering to help my business. Funny, right? By focusing more on others, I’ve attracted more people that want to help me.

Soon I’ll share some thoughts on how you can make a breakthrough to boost your energy.

Here’s the link from the San Francisco Chronicle.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/09/SPRS1KKSUL.DTL

Well, I was a bit embarrassed that I had waited so long to post to my blog. So I emailed him back saying that I was doing well. And that I’d recently broken through a big barrier and felt energized.

One effect of that breakthrough is that I don’t need as much sleep, which has definitely made me more productive lately.

So what was the big breakthrough? And how can you get more energy with less sleep? Stay tuned, because I’ll be doing more blogging about this soon.