My Most Astonished Client - Grasshopper

Back in 2002, I was in Yakima, Washington, leading a stop-smoking seminar. Everything was going smoothly–until I noticed a young woman in the front row.

She had an involuntary movement in her arm. If you remember the late British singer Joe Cocker, it looked a lot like his on-stage motions. Her arm seemed to have a mind of its own–jerky, spastic movements she clearly couldn’t control.

Now, I had 120 people in that room who came to quit smoking. That was my job. But I couldn’t get my mind off her. I had this hunch I might be able to help. The question was–how?

So, I did something on the fly. I told the group a little story I made up right there.

“This morning I went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast around 7:30. All the tables were full, so I sat at the counter. A man came in, wedged himself between me and another customer, and waved down the waitress.

Now, I thought that was an odd choice for breakfast–but hey, to each his own. So the waitress tossed some ice cream, milk, and chocolate syrup into a stainless steel tumbler, stuck it on the mixer, and let it go.

Well, the machine shook so hard that the milkshake started splashing over the sides. The guy who ordered it looked right at the mixer and shouted, ‘Stop shaking now!’

And guess what? The machine instantly stopped shaking. Too bad he didn’t say, ‘Stop smoking now!’”

The audience laughed, and we went on with the seminar. But something remarkable happened. That woman’s arm stopped shaking. Completely.

Now, here’s the thing: that was my secret intent. But I didn’t call her out or direct it at her. I just let the story do the work.

There’s actually a technique behind this–it comes from NLP and hypnosis. It’s called “talking in quotes.” You tell an unrelated story, but you slip in the suggestion you want as I did with–“stop shaking now.”

After the seminar, she walked up to me beaming. She said, “I don’t know what you did, but my arm stopped shaking. That hasn’t happened in 15 years.”

I down played it and said something like, “Maybe your arm just got tired of doing that.” But inside, I was was having a party. Because up until that night, I only knew the theory. But that night, it became real. And I’ve used that same technique successfully many times since.

Now, here’s why I’m telling you this. You have resources inside you that you may not even know exist. Strengths, abilities, creativity–all waiting to be tapped.

Just knowing those resources are there puts you ahead of someone who thinks they’re stuck with no hope.

And there’s more than hope–there are countless options inside you, waiting for an invitation.

The best way to reach them? Get quiet. Learn meditation, or simply find a way to let your thoughts settle down. When your mind quiets down, your inner creativity bubbles up.

That’s because you’re more than your thoughts. There’s a deep well of ideas and solutions already in you. You just need to give them a little space to speak.