Psycho Cybernetics (a video book) – 15 chapter 4 – cure your inferiority complex
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
This mental exercise is my kind of exercise! Love it, the feeling like concrete held together with strings. I have found that this is a Great place to start the movie in my mind… in this relaxed, peaceful state.
just sayin’
Here’s the text from today’s reading:
You Can Cure Your Inferiority Complex
At least 95% of the people have their lives blighted by feelings of inferiority to some extent, and to millions this same feeling of inferiority is a serious handicap to success and happiness.
Every person on the face of the earth is inferior to some other
persons or person. I know that I cannot beat Jack Nicklaus on the links, throw a football as straight and far as any NFL pro quarterback, and
the list goes on. Even though I have appeared as a speaker in front of a nUlnber of large audiences, I know there’s a long list of people who are
more polished and stylish and charismatic on the platform. I know this, but it does not induce feelings of inferiority within me and blight my
life, simply because I do not compare myself unfavorably with them and do not feel that I am no good merely because I cannot do certain
things as skillfully or as well as they. I also know that in certain areas, every person I meet, from the newsboy on the corner, to the president
of the bank, is superior to me in certain respects. But neither can any of these people repair a scarred face or do any number of other things as well as I. And I am sure they do not feel Inferior because of it.Feelings of inferiority originate not so much from facts or experiences, but from our conclusions regarding facts and our evaluation
of experiences. For example, the fact is that I am an inferior golfer to Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer. This does not, however, make me an
inferior person. Arnold Palmer’s inability to perform surgery makes him an inferior surgeon, but not an inferior person. It all depends on
what and whose norms we measure ourselves by.It is not knowledge of actual inferiority in skill or knowledge that
gives us an inferiority complex and interferes with our living. It is the feeling of inferiority that does this.And this feeling of inferiority comes about for just one reason:
We judge ourselves, and measure ourselves not against our own norm
or par but against some other individual’s norm. When we do this, we always, without exception, come out second best. But because we
think, and believe and assume that we should measure up to some other person’s norm, we feel miserable and second-rate, and conclude that
there is something wrong with us. The next logical conclusion in this cockeyed reasoning process is to conclude that we are not “worthy,”
that we do not deserve success and happiness, and that it would be out of place for us to fully express our own abilities and talents, whatever
they might be, without apology, or without feeling guilty about it.All this comes about because we have allowed ourselves to be
hypnotized by the entirely erroneous idea that “I should be like so and so” or “I should be like everybody else.” The fallacy of the second
idea can be readily seen through, if analyzed, for in truth there are no fixed standards common to everybody else. “Everybody else” is composed
of individuals, no two of whom are alike.Neither a New Nose or New Shoes Guarantee Success
Consider the famous advertising campaign constructed around
Michael Jordan with the slogan “I Want To Be Like Mike.” The blunt truth is that very few young men have the physical talent to replicate
Michael Jordan’s performance, even if they replicated his remarkable discipline, commitment, work ethic, and competitive spirit. If this ad
campaign harmlessly sells shoes and clothing, so be it. For some; it will serve as positive stimulus and motivation to strive to achieve, and that
is constructive. For others, however, sadly, it will serve only to set up an impossible ideal to compare to or, worse, send young people away
from the core to the circumference of being, guaranteed disappointment when they discover that a new pair of shoes has no more magic
than a new nose provided by my scalpel.The more mature, intelligent observer of Michael and of this ad
campaign can choose not to be adversely hypnotized by it, but to be motivated by it, and look past it, more thoughtfully at the characteristics
and behavior (other than innate, exceptional physical talent) that
have contributed most to Michael Jordan’s success, that may be uncovered in oneself, strengthened, even emulated. It is even true that a basketball
player less innately, physically gifted than Jordan could
replicate or even surpass his success in the sport and do so, in part, thanks to Jordan as inspiration.The person with an inferiority · complex invariably compounds
the error by striving for superiority. Her feelings spring from the false
premise that she is inferior. From this false premise, a whole structure of “logical thought” and feeling is built. If she feels bad because she is
inferior, the cure is to make herself as good as everybody else, and the way to feel really good is to make herself superior. This striving for
superio ity gets her into more trouble, causes more frustration, and sometimes brings about a neurosis where none existed before.She becomes more miserable than ever, and “the harder she tries,” the more miserable she becomes.
Inferiority and superiority are reverse sides of the same coin. The
cure lies in realizing that the coin itself is spurious.The truth about you is this:
You are not “inferior.”
You are not “superior.”
You are simply “you.”“You” as a personality are not in competition with any other personality simply because there is not another person on the face of the earth like you or in your particular class. You are an individual.
You are unique. You are not “like” any other person and can never become ”like” any other person~ You are not supposed to be like any other person
and no other person is supposed to be like you.God did not create a standard person and in some way label that
person by saying, “This is it.” He made every human being individual and unique just as He made every snowflake individual and unique.God created short people and tall people, large people and small
people, skinny people and fat people, black, yellow, red and white people.
He has never indicated any preference for anyone size, shape, or
color. Abraham Lincoln once said, “God must have loved the common
people for he made so many of them.” He was wrong. There is no
“common man”-no standardized, common pattern. Lincoln would
have been nearer the truth had he said, “God must have loved uncommon people for he made so many of them.”An inferiority complex, and its accompanying deterioration in
performance can be made to order in the psychological laboratory. All
you need to do is to set up a “norm” or “average,” then convince your subject he does not measure up. In my original book, I reported on a
psychologist who wanted to find out how feelings of inferiority
affected the ability to solve problems. He gave his students· a set of routine tests. “But then he solemnly announced that the average person
could complete the test in about one-fifth the time it would really
take. When in the course of the test a bell would ring, indicating that the ‘average man’s’ time was up, some of the brightest subjects became
very jittery and incompetent indeed, thinking themselves to be
morons.” (“What’s on Your Mind?”, Science Digest, February 1952)Imagine, if you didn’t know any better, being taken to the golf
course for the first time, shown the basics of the game, and told that the average new player hit 80. If you were convinced this was true,
how would you feel at the conclusion of your first round of golf?
Or imagine if you didn’t know better, if you were to enter the
How would you feel
at the conclusion of the first month? The second?Consider also the dangers of measuring yourself against a very
unfair apples-to-oranges standard. For example, if I were to measure my worth as an author by comparing my book’s number of copies sold
to novelist Tom Clancy or Stephen King, I would be comparing apples to oranges.Stop measuring yourself against “their” standards. You . are not
“them” and can never measure up. Neither can “they” measure up to yours-nor should they. .As you utilize Psycho-Cybernetics to communicate with your selfimage, your objective should not be to feel superior to others, nor should
you continue permitting feelings of inferiority to others. Your objective is to develop your own unique personality and accomplishments.How to Use Relaxation to Dehypnotize Yourself
Physical relaxation plays a key role in the dehypnotization process.
Our currently held beliefs, whether good or bad, true or false, were formed without effort, with no sense of strain, and without the exercise
of willpower. Our habits, whether good or bad, were formed in the same way. It follows that we must employ the same process in forming new beliefs or new habits, that is, in a relaxed condition.
Physical relaxation, when practiced daily, brings about an acompanying
“mental relaxation” and a “relaxed attitude,” which enables us
to better consciously control our automatic mechanism. Physical
relaxation also, in itself, has a powerful influence in dehypnotizing us from negative attitudes and reaction patterns.MENTAL TRAINING EXERCISE
(To be practiced for at least 30 minutes daily)
Seat yourself comfortably in an easy chair or lie down on your back.
Consciously “let go” the various muscle groups as much as possible without
making too much of an effort of it. Just consciously pay attention to the various parts of your body and let go a little. You will find that you can always voluntarily relax to a certain degree. You can stop frowning and let your forehead relax. You can ease up a little on the tension in your jaws. You can let your hands, your arms, your shoulders, your legs become a little
more relaxed than they are, Spend about five minutes on this and then stop paying any attention to your muscles. This is as far as you are going to try
to go by conscious control. From here on you will relax more and more by using your creative mechanism to automatically bring about a relaxed condition.In short, you are going to use “goal pictures,” held in your imagination and let your automatic mechanism realize those goals for you.
Mental Picture 1
In your mind’s eye see yourself lying stretched out upon the bed. Form a picture of your legs as they would look if made of concrete. See yourself lying there with two very heavy concrete legs. See these very heavy concrete legs sinking far down into the mattress from their sheer weight. Now picture your arms and hands as made of concrete. They alsp are very heavy
and are sinking down into the bed and exerting tremendous pressure against the bed. In your mind’s eye see a friend come into the room and attempt to lift your heavy concrete legs. He takes hold of your feet and attempts to lift them. But they are too heavy for him. He cannot do it.Repeat this process with your arms, neck, etc.
Mental Picture 2
Your body is a big marionette doll. Your hands are tied loosely to your wrists by strings. Your forearm is connected loosely by a string to your upper arm. Your upper arm is connected very loosely by a string to your shoulder. Your feet, calves, thighs are also connected together with a single string. Your neck consists of one very limp string. The strings that control your jaw and hold your lips together have slackened and stretched to such
an extent that your chin has dropped down loosely against your chest. All the various strings connecting the various parts of your body are loose and limp, and your body is just sprawled loosely across the bed.Mental Picture 3
Many people will find this the most relaxing of all. Just go back in memory to some relaxing and pleasant scene from your past. There is always some time in every one’s life when he felt relaxed, at ease, and at peace with the world. Pick out your own relaxing picture from your past and call up detailed memory images. Yours may be a peaceful scene at a mountain lake
where you went fishing. If so, pay particular attention to the little incidental things in the environment. Remember the quiet ripples on the water.What sounds were present? Did you hear the quiet rustling of the leaves?
Maybe you remember sitting perfectly relaxed and somewhat drowsy before an open fireplace long ago. Did the logs crackle and spark? What other sights and sounds were present? Maybe you choose to remember relaxing in the sun on a beach. How did the sand feel against your body? Could you feel the warm relaxing sun, touching your body, almost as a physical thing? Was there a breeze blowing? Were there gulls on the beach?The more of these incidental details you can remember and picture to yourself, the more successful you will be.
Daily practice will bring these mental pictures or memories clearer and clearer. The effect of learning will also be cumulative. Practice will strengthen the tie-in between mental image and physical sensation. You will become more and more proficient in relaxation, and this in itself will be “remembered” in future practice sessions.
And, with this, we conclude chapter 4… I feel better already, how about you? Please feel free to leave a comment below and share (remember, you are not alone…).
Interested in your own copy? Get it here
And with that, we will meet again next time with chapter 5 How to Succeed with the Power of Rational Thinking.
And, always keep smiling with love and light,
Nancy Holtzen
Skype: nancy.holtzen
Work With Prosperity Team – Your Opportunity
p.s. why I joined the Empower Network (listen here)
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