Confidence

I’ve started reading a self-hypnosis book. I suggested to Robbie a couple of weeks ago that she might try hypnosis as another tool for dealing with her severe tinnitus. It turns out that one of the authors, Kevin Hogan, lives in nearby Eagan where I grew up and has a whole book and a section of his website devoted to tinnitus, which he suffers from, too. She’s trying to get into see him.

The book, Through the Open Door: Secrets of Self Hypnosis, is a how-to for a number of problems typically treated by hypnosis, including weight problems, smoking, lack of exercise, and Uncategorized phobias. It’s a little too filled with hype lingo for my taste, as evidenced by the number exclamation points!!! But they deal with a few more generic problems, and two caught my eye: procrastination and self-confidence. I’ve realized that my self-confidence often goes out the window whenever I’m competing in sports against someone who’s at or above my ability level. There are other times, too – some public-speaking situations, some business meetings. Their description of a self-hypnotic technique has some appeal, ie, easy to learn and devoid of new-agey lingo. I started practicing it yesterday and as soon as my fucking back allows me to start playing racquetball again, I’ll try it. I may take a whack at the procrastination technique, too, as soon as I get a Round Tuit.