What's do you think is the most effective way to help our clients be successful?
I believe that it's having success in the real world. This may seem obvious, but it's often easier for our clients to feel great about changes made in the hypnosis office only to have lackluster results in the real world.
This is probably something that you're aware of though and you likely have many techniques to ensure success for your clients once they leave your office. This article is all about another technique that you can start using right away because it's likely something you're already doing - at least in part.
Empowering Client Success with an Execution Plan for Upcoming Events
This technique piggy-backs on things you're probably already doing : Age Progression, or otherwise known as Future Progression or Future Pacing. It's a modified version of Age Progression that increases clients success in the real world with a few simple additional questions and tweaks.
What is Age Progression?
Age Progression, also known as Future Progression or Future Pacing is where we have our clients imagine themselves having success in a future scenario. Have them embody the change to improve the likelihood that they'll be successful in the real-world scenario.
I'll say something like this, "Now in a moment, I'm going to count to 3 and you'll be at the company business luncheon, and this time you eat healthy, enjoy the event more than the food, feel confident, and are proud of yourself. Here we go 1...2...3. There you are, at the company luncheon, feeling confident. Describe it to me..."
Why Age Progression is so Powerful
Age Progression works because we have our clients embody the change - what it looks like, feels, like, smells like, tastes, like, and sounds like. Studies on embodiment with athletes suggest a 70% increase in success when embodying the change, as opposed to simply visualizing a future event.
Clients leave with an expectation of success. Then in the real-world scenario, they're much more likely to have success since they've already planned it out.
How to know WHAT to use as an Age Progression Scenario
The most important thing to keep in mid when determining what to use as an Age Progression scenario, is to understand 2 important things :
- What your client is coming in to see you for.
- What is coming up in your clients real life in the next week. It could be a specific once-only event like a dinner party, or something they do every week - like happy hour with friends on Thursdays. The point is that it's a real-world event coming up that week in your client's life so they get to go through the experience before they see you again.
Number 2, is what we're talking about here today. This technique is most successful when your client has something in particular that is upcoming in their week that gives them an opportunity to be successful. Notice that I didn't say an upcoming challenge - because that's not how to think about it. Instead it's an opportunity for your client to have real-world success, and that is what increases success over the long-term - real-world success.
Listen to your Client in the Pre-Hypnosis Interview
Every session with a client I do what's called a Pre-Hypnosis Interview where I find out a few things :
- what worked last week, and
- what's coming up this week
If the client shares they have an opportunity for success coming up - make note of it. This is about listening to our clients. I recommend you always take advantages of these situations - it can truly be what your client needs to demonstrate to themselves how they have changed outside of the office.
The Technique
Now that you know that the technique includes a special case of Age Progression where your client has an opportunity to be successful, here's how to actually go about doing it.
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- Do your regular work with your client - I use insight generating techniques like Age Regression, Forgiveness work, and Parts Mediation Therapy that are a standard part of 5-PATH ® Hypnosis.
- Ask your client for their insight with "Put an ending on this, I've changed because now I know.....", "I've changed because now I feel".
- Perform the "Segue", the segue is simply the following "Now that you Know (fill in from step 2 above), and now that you feel (step 2 from above), you feel even more confident about your ability to be successful at the upcoming company luncheon and feel good about your food choices."
- Move to Age Progression : "In a moment I'm going to count to 3 and you're going to be at the company luncheon where you eat healthy, enjoy yourself, and feel great. Here we go, 1...2...3. There you are, describe everything to me as it happens..." Have your client describe to you every part of the scenario, then ask another very important question.
- Create the "Keys to Success" for your client : "Now that you've had this success, I want you to tell me, what are the keys to your success, so that this Friday, when you're at the company luncheon, you will do it just like this and have this type of success, and feel this good?"
- Write down their "Keys to Success" : Get ready to write things down.
- Specific Events have unique challenges and opportunities : This is what empowers your clients success. The difference between common Age Progression that can tend to be more generic in nature, for example, a time in their future when they're at a dinner party, and this type is that this particular scenario will have specific characteristics that will help your clients be successful.
- Some of the Keys to Success may be similar to suggestions you're already giving your client, but more likely they will be targeted to the event - which means they're more likely to help your client be successful.
- Create An Execution Plan : Now You, the hypnotist have an Execution Plan for your client! The client's Keys to Success turn into an Execution Plan for your client. Use this Execution plan in your closing Hypnosis Suggestion for your client.
- Clients love hearing their own ideas as hypnotic suggestions : Using what your client shares with you as their keys to success and repeating it back to them in hypnosis as a hypnotic suggestion will always be acceptable to the client - they are the ones that came up with the idea!
- Here's how to deliver the Execution Plan : "Now that you've had this experience, and you know the keys to being successful, you have a plan - an Execution Plan for success. All you need to do is execute that plan. You feel better right now knowing that you already have a plan for the company luncheon on Friday. At the luncheon you [ repeat keys to success] *.
- Remind your client that in real life, the details may change a bit, and that's OK. We don't want them expecting that events perceived in Age Progression turn out exactly the same in real life! There will be changes. They know that, and know how to deal with it. They're confident and resilient.
- *Note :very important to use "always" tense with hypnotic suggestions - NOT future tense. For example : You are feeling confident, and you drink water before you arrive to the luncheon.
That's it! I hope you recognize how these 2 little additions - the Keys to Success then transformed into an Execution Plan for your clients can help empower their success in the real world. Imagine how great it will be to see your client again after having success at the specific event!
