When my wife recently had home improvements done, the changes were upsetting because I run my hypnotherapy practice from home.

I make sure everywhere in a client’s sightlines is tidy. Coincidentally, my first client of the day had found that doing things by rote is a problem.

It also is an issue for me. I am unable to follow my daily routine, which leaves me feeling uncomfortable.

Both my client and I perform our tasks the same way every time. She is a pilot, and for her it was the pre-flight checks she is mandated to do.

For me, I conduct hypnosis the same way each time, a by-rote procedure.

I tell clients that many daily activities are routine, done without thinking. Anything done outside the norm stands out and immediately is noticed.

Seeing Is Believing?

To prove this, I ask them how many cars they remember seeing on the way to my office. “I don’t remember a single car,” is a common response. Unless they saw an ambulance, a fire engine, a police car.

They are driving by rote, unaware until they see something out of the ordinary.  They were virtually hypnotized.

I knew a restaurant manager who would stand in a spot out of everybody’s way. Rocking from foot to foot, eyes half- closed, the moment anything happened out of the norm, he would immediately resolve it.

My point: When we live by rote, we miss a large part of our lives. Stimulation with new ideas leads us into productive lives. People entrenched in routine miss the fullness life has to offer.

Try where possible to vary your activities. Take different routes to work. Visit new sights. Become aware of more of your world.

Finally, if you put your keys in the same place every day, try a new location for the next 21 days. If you usually drop your keys randomly, find a new spot. Stay with it every day.

Notice your reaction. It is not as easy as it sounds. Often people forget. Don’t. Observe how you make the change. That will illustrate how you generally deal with changes.

The Key to Change

One gentleman had a problem with authority. I asked him to change the location of his keys. The first and second days he moved them.  On the third day he cursed me and stopped. At his second session he told me what had happened. The light bulb went off. He saw he was not doing what was asked because he considered me an authority figure to be defied. This realization was the catalyst for his life changes.

You, too, can heighten awareness of your everyday actions and make changes.

Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net