The Positive Intention - Exercise

For this exercise, I’d like you to either pick a behaviour that you’d like to change,
or a psychological issue you’ve been experiencing. The main purpose of this exer-
cise is to let you see – and get a sense of – the positive intention behind the ‘seem-
ingly’ destructive behavior/issue.

Here are the steps for the exercise:

1 Context for Change: Pick a behaviour you’d like to change – this can also be
a psychological issue that you are currently facing. Write down this behavior/
issue in the box below:

2 Step in: step into this behaviour/issue a little. Do this just long enough to get
a sense of it; how it affects you.

3 Reflect: reflect on the following questions. Don’t analyze it or try to ‘figure

out the right answer’. Just ask the questions and notice what answers come
naturally from within. Then write down your thoughts and feeling in the box
provided:
• What are you REALLY attempting to get here?
• What are you attempting to get that’s positive here?
• What are you attempting to preserve by having this problem?
• If there was a driving force behind this behaviour/issue that was pushing
you towards something useful, what would that useful thing be?

Self Hypnosis Mastery

 The Positive Intention - Exercise

3 Summarize: Looking at your outcome and the intentions/greater purposes

that exist behind it, start to summarize what it is that you want. First if all,
condense it into a single sentence. What single sentence would represent all
of what you’ve explored? Then summarize it further into a single word/phrase
or symbol – don’t agonize over this! Just do your best, it will act as a trigger for
all of your explorations. Write down your thoughts in the box below:

4 Write down word on a piece of paper: You’ll be using this piece of paper –
with the word on it – when you’re doing the hypnotic process

Self Hypnosis Mastery