The problem is not the problem

“The problem is not the problem, the problem is your attitude about the problem”

So said Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean, and I was reminded of this quote when I attended my first training session to qualify as a hypnotherapist. 

I’m so excited to be doing this training - I actually can’t qualify fast enough but you’ll have to wait 10 whole months before I can offer it as a service to you - it’s not a Mickey Mouse certificate because I wanted to train with the best provider I could find. 

(However, part of my training involves submitting case studies for assessment, so I’ll be on the hunt for volunteers to practise on in a few month’s time!)

Now, sadly I’m not qualifying to become a stage hypnotist like Paul McKenna or Derren Brown. It’s an entirely different skill that, although could be entertaining, would be entirely useless in helping my clients. 

(I still have a deep desire to hypnotise Kev into thinking he’s a chicken, though…) 

I’m more interested in clinical hypnotherapy, which is used for things like anxiety reduction, depression, weight-loss, smoking cessation etc. 

In very basic terms it’s a process that reprogrammes your thought processes, which is the sort of thing I do with clients already in coaching sessions, but I’m on a mission to speed up the process for people who want great results faster. 

I love the way everything I’m learning on the course fits so well with coaching work. 

The Jack Sparrow quote was used to illustrate the point that problems just “are”, but it’s our attitude towards the problem that makes it either a minor inconvenience and learning opportunity, or a huge fecking catastrophe. 

It’s exactly what I preach to all my clients already. 

Viewing situations from different perspectives is vital when you’re finding people or situations difficult to deal with. 

You do all the damage internally when you view things in a negative way. 

I often hear clients talk about people in their lives who have upset them, and they’re still reliving the rage months if not years after they’ve parted company. 

It’s not the person who’s still upsetting them, it’s their thoughts about the person - the person who most likely doesn't have more than a passing thought about them any more. 

If you’re doing this, it’s like you’re repeatedly leaving angry answerphone messages on a wrong number. 

A pointless waste of time and energy. 

You’re better off working out what you want to do with your future rather than stewing over the past. 

Have the attitude of what’s done is done, and move on to better things. 

That applies to both personal and professional people and situations

Anyway, I’ve gotta go - need to put some corn on the floor for Kev to see if he’s pecking yet…