Many years ago, before I became a hypnotist, I worked in equity research at an investment bank in San Francisco’s Financial District. A co-worker was leaving, and normally I would have asked, “Where are you headed next?” I would normally ask polite and socially acceptable questions.
But when I heard he was leaving, I mainly focused on asking him if his leaving meant his job was now open. As I write this, I feel myself cringe a bit at the memory.
If I could do it over again, I’d have asked a bit more about him. In other words, I wish that I’d treated him as a human being first. Instead, I was a bit too selfish, too much in a hurry to climb the corporate ladder.
I’ve done worse, but I cringe at this memory, because it reminds me of something more than just a memory. It reminds me of who I was.
Striving so hard. Climbing, exhausted, always exhausted. So focused on my career. Willing to risk my health. Risked losing Holly, my girlfriend at the time, and even a bit of myself at times.
A while after my rude question to my co-worker, Holly’s younger sisters visited and stayed at our home for a few days. During the trip, Holly said, “My sisters asked if William lived here.”
Obviously, her sisters made a joke. They knew I lived there. But the joke stung, because they’d struck a nerve.
Rather than acting as the good host, I was the good ghost.
I’d leave early in the morning, arrive at work before 6:00 AM, and I’d return home after working a 12-hour day (or longer). 60-hour weeks were normal, and now and then it would stretch to an 80-hour week.
Holly’s sisters left our home on a Sunday night. I’d been thinking for a while that Holly could leave me at any moment. Her sisters had really shown me that I really wasn’t around much. If Holly did leave me, could I really blame her?
She deserved to have a real boyfriend, not this shell of a man that I’d become. She said that even when we were together on weekends, she felt I wasn’t really there. And she was right. I was always exhausted or thinking about work.
My career ate up most of my energy, Holly got a few scraps, and I got whatever was left. Mixed metaphors, but you get the idea. I made a lot of money, but my life wasn’t really my own.
Well, that Sunday night after her sisters had left, I decided I would fix this. I couldn’t risk losing her. She deserved more from me. Heck, I deserved more of a life, too.
Next day, Monday morning, April 1st. I hand in my two weeks notice letter to my boss. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that April 1st was April Fool’s Day, the day we Americans play pranks on each other and then say, “April fools!”
It took me a good part of the morning to get my boss and co-workers to believe I was really resigning. Quitting a job had never been this tough.
Did I have a plan for what to do next? Yes. I now had valuable experience in equity research. So I would now study for the GMAT, apply to business school, get my MBA, work at a hedge fund, and then start my own hedge fund company. I’d dreamed for years of owning my own hedge fund.
Well, I soon realized I didn’t really want to get my MBA. Huh? And I decided I wasn’t going to become a hedge fund manager as I’d planned. Huh?
I had been Mr. Control, Mr. Logical, and Mr. Planner… who now transformed into Mr. Huh?, and life just got interesting.
And this hypnotic story, which may be helpful to you, will be continued in day two… of the writing challenge.
(And as always, please let me know how this hypnotic story has been for you.)
From what I can see you are no longer Mr. Huh…. I love hearing you express vulnerability. I believe it is what knits humans together. Its taken me a long time to get to this level of transparency and writing is still an effort, but here I am. After seeing the videos I was intrigued to know if you believe this “light” kind of hypnosis will work for a “light” smoker. I smoke about 2 cigarettes per night (always at night) and know its affecting my health. I smoked much heavier a few years ago and quit once for 15 years, married a smoker and found it a great way to stuff feelings. Sober for 37 years I have been exploring my inner self for quite a while, both with guides, meditation, yadda, yadda. I like your sense of humor and wonder if you could help me with this damned habit or whatever is driving it. Thanks. I look forward to reading more.
Thank you, Christine. I too am figuring what to share and what to keep private. The writing challenge I joined is helping me a lot in this.
Re: your question, the short answer is probably. With that said, the type of hypnosis I use depends a lot on you. For one client, I may use conversational hypnosis. For another client, I may take them super deep. Sometimes I’ll do multiple styles for the same client, from very conversational, to eyes wide open hypnosis, to deep hypnosis, to mechanical styles of hypnosis, to crazy styles of hypnosis. So many styles to choose from…
Can I help you? I’ll email you, and we’ll chat.
Christine, also, for being the first to post to day 1’s blog entry, you win a prize. I won’t be giving a prize every single day, but I’ll be giving quite a few during the 21 days. Please contact me to discuss your prize options.