April 24 — Jujitsu competition, hypnosis, being a blessing, and a new research tool

Competing in Jujitsu

I have registered and will compete in a local jujitsu tournament. I’ll admit this makes me super nervous and excited, and I know I need to do this. Come watch, if you’ve got the nerve for it.

Podcast I enjoyed

Tim Ferriss recently interviewed Dr. David Spiegel, (Ep. 731) a professor of psychiatry and other titles at Stanford. He’s a renowned hypnotist.

Hypnosis got a bad rap, and it’s not congruent with what it really is or how it works. Dr. Spiegel (“Spiegel” in German, by the way, means mirror) lays out much of his experience in hypnosis and hypnotherapy, particularly his training for self-hypnosis – a technique for non-hypnotists to perform changework on themselves. Smoking being a case-in-point example of effective self-hypnosis, Dr. Spiegel has trained would-be smokers in self-hypnosis strategies to quit permanently and avoid slip ups. Other cases of hypnosis where Dr. Spiegel finds success include trauma and PTSD, debilitating phobias, and many addictions.

Hypnosis is also far more common than most realize. Public speakers train in techniques rooted in hypnosis that pace and lead an audience. Pilots and flight attendants are trained to say certain phrases and speak a certain way to elicit the right behavior from a plane full of people. Catchy songs and advertisements speak to your unconscious, while keeping your conscious mind entertained.

Dr. Spiegel also introduced Reveri, the self-hypnosis app that he founded. Reveri’s mission is “to bring the power and immediate effectiveness of self-hypnosis to millions of people.” If you try the app, I would love to hear your thoughts. I enjoyed this interview with Dr. David Spiegel and I can recommend it. Oh yeah, and Dr. Spiegel hypnotizes Tim in this podcast.

Are you blessed?

Are you blessed? The American life would have you think we need to keep chasing that next big thing. Having seen the way people live in many other parts of the world like Guatemala and Cambodia, I can say we Americans are blessed. We have it good. Our pastor Alini posed the question this past Sunday, “Are you blessed to be a blessing?”

I encourage you to aim to be a blessing to others. Not only those in need; not only those who have less than you; but to those around you. Strive to impact the lives of others that they remember you when they think back on their own lives. And if you can commit the time, go on a missions trip to another part of the world and do something there to make an impact – I promise it will change your life. But you don’t need to travel long distances to make an impact. You can do it right where you are. Find a need, lead with love and be a blessing. You’ll find it pays dividends.

Bonus: instant research

I invite you to experiment with a tool I’ve set up on my personal website.

This tool serves one purpose: to offer a brief summary on any known topic. The more specific the topic, the more useful the insight will be. Things to avoid: general topics like “exercise routines” and other vague or ambiguous topics. A better topic might be “the impact of the printing press on the English language”.

This tool creates a brief summary and a simple research outline, finds a relevant photo, then posts it to my website automatically.

I will keep this tool open for at least 24 hours from when you received this email. Just remember: you and other Whatsup Wednesday readers are all contributing here – keep it fun and PG! And your feedback will be greatly appreciated!!

Demo the research tool here

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Hi, I’m Eric, and what you just read is one of my weekly Whatsup Wednesday updates.

You can get these weekly updates in your inbox for an easy read, less than 5 minutes reading time, where I share life updates, my own thoughts, and books, videos and other media I’ve found noteworthy.

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