All language subtitles for S01E03 - Beyond Belief.en

[MUSIC PLAYING]

One incident in your life
could change everything.

I was in kindergarten,
and there was

this noise outside the window.

And the teacher says, wow,
there are fire trucks outside.

And I remember I just lit
up, because I felt like they

were real-life superheroes.

I couldn't see
outside the window,

and all the kids started
grabbing their chairs.

And I grabbed my chair,
I was so excited.

And I bring it over
to the window sill.

And there's this big, iron grate
radiator dividing the window.

I remember when I finally got to
see my heroes, my face lit up.

And about a split second after
that, one of the other children

grabbed my chair, and I went
face-first, head-first, right

into the radiator.

I was bleeding, and I was
rushed to the hospital.

My mother said I was
never the same after that.

I had these learning
difficulties, very challenged

focus.

My concentration was
really compromised.

I had a very poor memory.

I couldn't retain information.

I wouldn't be able to
read like the other kids.

And then I didn't know
what was wrong with me.

It actually took me an extra
three to four years just

to learn how to
read, and I actually

taught myself how to read
by reading comic books late

at night.

And my favorite superheroes
growing up actually

were the X-Men, because
they didn't fit in.

They were the mutants.

They were the outcasts.

And I felt, growing up with
these learning challenges,

that I didn't fit in.

And I felt like I was
one of those people

without the superpowers.

I found out the X-Men
School for the Gifted run

by Professor X, Charles
Xavier, actually resided

right there in Westchester, New
York, and that's where I lived.

And so I remember,
every weekend,

when I was about eight
or nine years old,

I would ride my bicycle
around my neighborhood,

and I wanted to
find that school,

because I wanted to run away.

I wanted to run away to find my
school, to find my superpowers,

to find my super friends.

And really, I remember
a defining moment

when I was 9 years old.

I remember that a teacher
was talking to another adult,

thinking I wasn't
paying attention,

or maybe thinking that I wasn't
smart enough to understand

what she was saying.

And she pointed
right at me and said,

that is the boy with
the broken brain.

And I remember how
hard that hit me.

Children understand more than
you think that they understand,

and I remember always
referring back to that moment

all through school.

Whenever I didn't
do well I was like,

oh, it's because
I know I'm broken.

It's because I'm different.

It's because my
mind doesn't work

like everybody else's does.

So all of high school was
this-- was my struggles.

I would work so much
harder than everybody else,

and I always thought
it was unfair,

because my grades
didn't reflect that.

But I was lucky enough
to get into a university.

And I remember freshman year
I took all these classes,

ready to achieve, and
I actually did worse,

and things got even
more difficult for me.

And I was ready to quit school,
because I didn't have the money

as it was to go to
college, and I didn't want

to waste that and waste time.

And so when I told that to my
friend, my friend was like,

Jim, before you quit
school, tell your parents

that you're leaving.

Why don't you come
with me this weekend?

I'm going to visit my
family this weekend.

Just get some time away.

Get some perspective.

So I agree to go there.

And I remember,
right before dinner,

his father was walking
me around his property.

And they're pretty well-to-do.

And he asked me this
very innocent question,

which is the worst question that
you could ask me at this time.

He says, Jim, how's school?

And I just-- it just hits me.

I start crying and
bawling right in front

of this complete stranger.

And I tell him the whole story--
how I had a brain injury,

and I don't learn
like everybody else,

and I'm the boy with
the broken brain,

and school is just not for me.

And then he says, Jim,
stop for a minute.

And he looked me
right in the eyes

and asked me this question.

Says, Jim, why
are you in school?

Why are you in school?

What do you want to be?

What do you want to do?

What do you want to have?

What do you want to share?

And honestly, I never
thought about that before.

I start to answer
him, he says, stop.

And he pulls out, from
his back pocket, a diary--

like, a journal-- and he
tears out a few sheets.

And he hands them
to me, and he makes

me write down my answers--

my answers of who I want to
be, what do I want to do?

What do I want to have?

What do I want to
share with the world?

And I don't know how much time
went by, but when I was done,

I start folding up the sheets
of paper to put in my pocket.

And he grabs them
right out of my hand.

And I'm freaking out, because
I wasn't expecting anyone

to see my dreams and
my fantasies, my goals.

And he starts reading
them to himself.

When he's done-- I don't
know how much time went by.

But he looks at
me, says, Jim you

are this close to every
single thing on that list.

And I'm just thinking--
he spreads his fingers

about a foot apart.

And I'm thinking,
there's no way.

Give me 10 lifetimes, I'm
not going to crack that list.

And he takes his
fingers, and he puts them

to the side of my head--

my temple, right here--

meaning that between
my ears is the key.

It's my mind.

It's my brain.

And he walks me to
a room of his home,

and it's wall-to-wall,
ceiling-to-floor

covered in books.

And I started looking at
the title of these books,

and there are these biographies
of incredible men and women

throughout history, .

And some very early
personal growth books--

Norman Vincent Peale, "The
Power of Positive Thinking,"

"The Magic of Thinking
Big," "Psycho-Cybernetics,"

"Think and Grow Rich--"
all these books on mindset,

the power of the mind.

And he says, Jim, I want you to
read one of these books a week.

And I'm thinking, have you
not heard anything I've said?

I have all of these learning
difficulties and all

these learning problems.

I have so much schoolwork to do.

We have midterms.

And he says, stop.

He's like, Jim,
don't let school get

in the way of your education.

But I said, that's
really good insight,

but I really can't do it.

I don't want to promise
this and break my promise.

And a very smart man--

what he does is he
reaches into his pocket

and he pulls out my goals,
my dreams, my bucket

list, if you will.

And this time, he starts reading
every single one of my goals,

all my dreams, out loud.

And something about
hearing your dreams

coming from a stranger's
voice incanted out

into the universe--

it shook my heart.

It shook my spirit, my
soul something fierce.

So I commit to reading one
book a week with that leverage

and motivation.

And fast forward--
now I'm at school,

and I have a pile of books
that I have to read for school,

and a pile of books that
I want to read that I

promised to read for my life.

I can't even keep up
with one of those piles.

And then I saw the
mug of tea, and on it

had an incredible genius
named Albert Einstein,

and it had a quote
there that said,

"The same level of thinking
that's created the problem

won't solve the problem."

And it made me ask
a new question.

It made me ask this question--

what's my problem?

And I came up with this
answer saying, well,

I'm a real slow learner.

I learn very slowly.

I have a very slow brain.

Well, how do I think
differently about it?

Well, maybe I can learn
how to learn faster,

learn how to learn.

And another part of
me woke up, thinking,

there has to be a better way.

People have seen the movie
"The Matrix," and they say, oh,

that's a science fiction movie.

And I go, no, the
matrix is a documentary.

We've all been programmed.

For 400 years, the Jesuits
have said, give me a child

until it's seven, and I
will show you the man.

What people didn't understand
they were saying is,

if I get the program
the first seven years,

I will determine the outcome
of that individual's life.

Very simple understanding--
if you go to an Apple store

and you buy an iPod and you
take it out of the store

and you push Play on
the iPod, nothing plays.

And then you're now upset
about the fact you just

spent all this money, and
your iPod doesn't work,

and then some little
seven-year-old kid next to you

looks up and goes,
hey, hey mister,

unless you download something
first, it will not work.

The idea is exactly the same.

The mind has a
conscious creative mind,

but a subconscious
programmed mind.

The conscious mind does
not go into full operation

until after age seven.

The first seven years, the
mind is in a lower vibrational

state called theta.

The relevance of
theta is that it

represents imagination, which is
what kids under seven live in.

Half the world is imagination.

The mother says,
give me the broom.

The child says, I don't know
what you're talking about.

This is a horse.

So to the child, the broom, in
the imagination state of theta,

actually is the horse.

So theta is imagination.

More important,
theta is hypnosis.

The relevance about
that is if you

think of all the rules
an individual must learn

to become a functional
member of a family

and a community,
thousands of rules.

I say, well, how do you teach
an infant thousands of rules?

And the idea is, well, you
can't give them a book,

and you can't teach
them in a school.

So basically, what we have
to understand is this--

nature created the first seven
years of download hypnosis

to observe other people--
the parents, the siblings,

and the community--

observe their behavior
and directly download

their behavior as the
foundational download

of behavior.

When we're
babies, we believe,

in our autonomic
nervous system--

the part that we can't
govern with our thoughts,

the part we can't instruct--

we believe, deeply in that
autonomic nervous system,

that love is essential
for our survival,

because as small
human babies, it is.

Someone has to care
enough about us

to give us food and
clothing and shelter.

We can't get those
things on our own.

Other Animal species can do
it from day one by themselves,

but we can't.

So it is there, in
our DNA, from the day

we are born that love is
essential for our survival.

But we know, as adults,
that a life with love in it

is delicious and
soul-nourishing,

but we can actually
live without it,

because we can obtain our own
food and clothing and shelter.

But for most people, they
live their whole life

believing that love is still
essential for survival,

and it drives their
behavior hugely.

And here's the best
way I've come to be

able to explain that so far--

when we are little, from
an emotional maturation

perspective, we are
what's called egocentric.

So you believe that
the way that people

are in your
environment-- you believe

they are the way they
are because of you.

So when they're happy, you link
it, in your mind, immediately--

not consciously; it's wired
in your nervous system

immediately--

that's because I
just told a joke.

That's because I just did a
beautiful finger painting.

And so parts of your
personality are born from that.

The observations you
make on people's faces

that light them up-- you
link it to your own behavior.

However, sadly,
the same thing also

happens when the people
in your environment

are dissatisfied or unhappy.

You link it to you.

So before the age of
seven, every single human

has created a belief in
their own deficiency.

And we do it to make
sense of our environment.

Let's say normally when
your dad comes home

from work the first thing
he does is picks you up

and plays with you.

You love it.

You look forward to it.

And then one day,
he doesn't do that,

and you're sent to your room.

And you can hear
he and your mother

having an intense
conversation in the kitchen.

There's raised voices.

There's fist-banging
on the table.

And you don't understand it,
other than that it feels yucky

in your nervous system.

Your brain, in that moment,
is looking for an explanation

for this scenario,
because it's brand new,

and it's uncomfortable for you.

And we can't look
into their world

and see that dad's behaving
with such intensity

because he was just
made redundant,

and now he doesn't
know how on Earth he's

going to pay for your education.

So the expression with
intensity is actually

out of deep love
and care for you.

You can't see that
when your egocentric.

All you know is that
it feels uncomfortable.

And the only way your brain can
make sense of what's going on

is to begin to
believe that there's

something wrong with you.

When we're children, we have
this thing in our head that I

call the meaning-making machine.

And a meaning-making
machine tries

to grant meaning to everything
that happens in our lives.

Our mom or our dad yell at
us or send us to a corner,

and we may not necessarily
get the meaning that they

are trying to install on us.

They may simply be trying
to make us more disciplined.

We may take on our own meanings.

Mom wants me in a corner because
I'm not important to her.

Dad asks me to be quiet
because he doesn't

want to hear what I have
to say, because what I say

isn't important.

Mom doesn't want
to talk to me today

because she doesn't love me.

See, kids don't
have adult brains.

They are children.

But this meaning-making
machine creates these meanings

that stick with them,
infuse into them,

and stay with them
into adulthood.

Some of the most common
meanings, according

to psychologists and therapists
like Marissa Pierre or Shelly

Lefkoe are the ideas that
I am not good enough.

I am not important.

I am not loved.

What I have to say
is not important.

And these things
hold us back in life.

But the trick is is that
we're not taught to see

our brain as a meaning-maker.

We're not taught to see
that nothing in the world

has meaning unless
we give it meaning.

So because we don't
understand that

and we're not aware that we've
just created a belief, what

then happens is you go looking
for evidence of your beliefs

everywhere.

There's a part of our brain
called the reticular activating

system that hunts
those things down.

So if you think that
people can't be trusted,

you will look for evidence of
how that is true everywhere,

and you'll miss all the
examples of how it's not true.

If you believe that there
aren't enough hours in the day,

that will be your experience.

You'll live your life
with such intensity,

there aren't enough hours in
the day, whereas the person who

sits at the desk beside you--

they might have 50 more things
on their to-do list each day,

but they cruise through the
day, and they get more done,

and that's because they believe
that the important things

always get done.

So your beliefs create
your experience.

The hardest part about the
programming is it occurs before

your mind actually enters
into consciousness.

So the question
becomes, very seriously,

what are my programs?

And why it becomes
a question is you

were not even conscious when
the programs are downloaded.

So you say, well, I don't
know what my programs are.

I don't know what I learned
when I was one-year-old.

So the exciting part
about it is that science

has recognized that
95% of our life

comes from
subconscious programs.

So a simple truth is this--

you look at your life, and it
is a printout of your programs.

So it's simple.

You don't have to know who
said what, who did what.

That's blaming the
messenger over the message.

The message is, what
did you learn-- program?

And I say, yeah, but
the program is what

you're playing 95% of the time.

So therefore, look at your
life, and it comes down simple.

It goes like this.

The things that you like
that come into your life

come in because you have
programs to accept those.

The other part,
though, is anything

that you work hard at,
struggle over, sweat over, what

you put a lot of effort into--

question-- why are
you working so hard

to make these things manifest?

The answer, inevitably, is your
programs in your subconscious

do not support that end.

So the simple point is you
want to know your programming?

Look at your life.

So when it comes to
understanding whether or not we

have limiting beliefs,
one clue is to see

if there's a recurring
pattern in your life,

if there's something that
you say that you want,

but it's not a reality for you
and it's been true for years

and years and years, or even
months and months and months

and you've been working on it.

That's probably
a clue that there

could be a limiting belief
under there that you

need to investigate, and then
consciously work on changing.

So I think, when it comes
to limiting beliefs,

if there's any area in your
life that consistently creates

a lot of pain, a lot of stress,
a lot of struggle or anxiety,

a good place to
peek around is say,

what do I believe about this?

Do I believe that it's
possible to resolve?

Do I believe I'm worthy
of having this resolved?

I think investigating it on that
level from a place of curiosity

is step 1, because if you're
not aware of the belief,

it's hard to change it.

For me, where it really
showed up was my learning.

I had these learning
difficulties.

So I think, how am I going
to learn how to learn?

Well, maybe schools.

I pick up a course bulletin,
looking at all the classes

for next semester.

And I look at all these hundreds
of classes, and all of them

are classes on what's learned--

math, history, and
science, and Spanish.

But there were
zero classes on how

to learn, how to think for
yourself, how to be creative,

how to solve problems,
how to actively listen,

how to concentrate and
focus, how to read faster,

how to remember things.

Socrates says, "There is no
learning without remembering."

So I put my studies aside, and
I make studying my studies.

I wanted to really
solve this riddle

about how does my brain work?

So I could work my brain.

How does my memory work?

So I could work my memory.

And I just started studying
positive psychology and adult

learning theory and
multiple intelligences--

anything I can get my hands
on on how to unlock this gift.

And an amazing thing
happened-- about two months

in this process, a
light switch flipped on,

and I started to understand
things in a different way.

I started to have better
focus, better concentration.

I started to read faster.

I started to be able
to think more clearly.

I had this new life inside of
my mind, and my grades improved.

But not only that, but my life
started to elevate and improve.

And at that moment,
I realized something.

I realized that if
knowledge is power,

learning is your superpower.

I talk about superheroes--
going back to the comic books

and my reading
disability-- but really,

modern-day superheroes--

I'm not talking about
super powers that

allow you to leap tall
buildings and shoot lasers out

of your eyes.

I mean modern-day
superpowers like your ability

to think clearly, your ability
to have a proper mindset,

and your ability to
engineer your habits,

your ability to manage your
own attitude, your ability

to learn faster, to
focus, to concentrate.

Those are the things that I
really get excited about--

that when people step into a
better version of themselves,

the version that they know
to be inside of them--

I want to decode that.

So when people want
to make a change,

or they want to create a
transformation in their life,

most people look at
this level of behavior--

the behavior.

They want to be able
to stop smoking,

or they want to be
able to meditate,

or they want to be able to
journal, and make it a habit.

And not self-sabotage,
or not put it off, or not

procrastinate.

Usually, though,
they try to force it

on the behavioral level, but
there are other levels also.

It's this level of
beliefs and values.

And what is that?

That basically says
that if you want

to do this behavior
of, let's say,

remembering people's names--
because a lot of people

have trouble remembering names.

Yes, maybe you have
the capabilities,

but if you don't have the
belief that you could do it--

maybe you have a belief
like you're too old.

Maybe you have a belief like,
oh, I'm not smart enough,

or a belief that I'm just not
good at remembering names.

That would keep you
from doing the behavior.

The other part of it is--
besides belief, my values.

These are the values.

These are the things that
you hold most important.

And if you don't think that it's
important to remember people's

names, the value will keep you
from doing the actual behavior.

Now, above beliefs and
values is another level.

This is the level of identity.

And the level of identity
is the level of I am.

They say these are the
most powerful two words

in the language, because
anything that comes after that

becomes your destiny.

And here's the thing-- someone
could create a behavior

and say, I want to stop smoking.

I want to stop smoking.

But if their identity
is that of a smoker,

they won't make that change.

Somebody here could
say, oh, I want

to be able to remember
things better.

That's the behavior.

But their identity is,
I'm a forgetful person.

That will keep them from
making that transformation.

I always tell people this--

is that if you fight
for your limitations,

you get to keep them.

I remember one day our office
gets a call from 20th Century

Fox, and they wanted
me to be this very

special training for
the chairman of Fox

and the executive team.

And I remember going there,
and I was so excited,

because when I was going through
the hallway to the boardroom,

all these movie
posters were there--

like "Star Wars" and "Avatar,"
and all the classics.

And it made me feel like
I was a child again--

that nine-year-old boy.

And I gave one of my
very best trainings

for their executive team,
and then when I was done,

the chairman of Fox said,
"Jim, thank you so much,"

and he gave me this wonderful
tour of the Fox lot.

And I remember
going on this tour,

and out of the
corner of my eyes,

I see this "Wolverine" poster.

And I am such a big Hugh Jackman
"Wolverine" fan, and I said,

I can't wait for that
movie to come out!

And the chairman
picked up his phone,

and then five minutes later,
I'm in The Fox Theater watching

Wolverine fight all
these super ninjas.

It was the best
Friday afternoon ever.

And when he comes to
get me afterwards,

he says, how is the movie?

And because I'm still
in that childlike mode,

I just say, oh, you
don't know this?

I tell him my whole story.

He's like, Jim, I didn't
know you like superheroes.

How would you like to go on set?

I was like, what do you mean?

He's like, we have
another 30 days

of filming the new
X-Men movie in Montreal.

How would you like to go?

And I had never been
on a film set before,

and I'm still acting like I'm
9 years old and think, yeah,

I want to--

yes, I want to go.

Please take me.

And I was like, what
can I do for you?

And he says, Jim, do the
same thing you did for us.

Share with them
your superpowers.

Teach them how to
speed-read scripts,

how to memorize their lines,
how to be focused on set.

And I said I could
absolutely do that.

So the next morning, we're
on what they call the X-Jet,

waiting on the plane as the
entire cast of "X-Men--"

I mean, I just flip out.

I mean, Hugh Jackman,
Patrick Stewart.

And I don't even see Hugh
Jackman and Patrick Stewart.

I see Wolverine and
Professor X. And I'm

sitting in between Jennifer
Lawrence and Halle Berry,

and I'm sharing
them my brain tips

for learning faster
and achieving more.

And when we get on set,
it's incredible coincidence

that the scene that
they were filming

takes place in the X-Men
School for the Gifted.

And I'm there, as a
nine-year-old boy,

seeing my superheroes come
to life right in front of me.

When I go home, there's
a package waiting for me,

and it's the size
of a television set.

And I open it up, and
it's this photograph of me

and the entire
cast of the X-Men.

But even better than that is
the note from the chairman.

It says this.

"Jim, thank you so much for
sharing your superpowers

with all of us.

I know you've been looking
for superhero school

since you were a child.

Here's your class photo."

You know, as I look at my
life from where it began--

from immigrant parents,
to having my head injury,

to being made fun of, to go
through all the bullying,

to feel like I'm not enough,
to not knowing how to read,

to searching for my
superhero school as a child,

to being labeled the boy
with the broken brain--

when we take responsibility
for our lot in life,

we have great power to change
our lives and the lives

of everyone around us.

Change our brain,
we change our life.

Change our brain, we
could change the world.

Biology's been telling us
for 100 years about the power

of the mind.

It's called the placebo effect.

It's fascinating that you
can give someone a sugar pill,

a saline injection, or
perform some false surgery

or treatment, and a certain
percentage of those people will

accept, believe, and
surrender to the thought--

without any analysis--
that they're

getting the real
substance or treatment,

and they begin to program
their autonomic nervous system

to make the exact
pharmacy of chemicals

equal to the
substance or treatment

they think they're getting.

So the fundamental question
is, is it the inert substance--

the placebo--

that's doing the healing, or is
it the body's innate capacity

to heal by thought alone?

Blue pills work
better than red pills.

If you name a drug something
that a person can't pronounce,

they'll give their
power away to the drug,

and it'll work even better.

They'll be intimidated by it.

If you charge more
for a medication,

it will work better.

And if the doctor's
enthusiastic about it,

it'll work even better.

There's some amazing studies
that have come out about

the power of belief.

And they've come out
from the oddest place,

and that is from
pharmaceutical companies

using placebos and trying to
beat the placebo for whatever

drug they had.

And what they're finding is
not how powerful their drug is,

but how powerful beliefs are.

For example, there
have been studies

where they're testing
the effectiveness

of an antidepressant.

Now, the antidepressant
is supposed

to raise dopamine levels.

So they have one
group where they're

given the antidepressant,
and another group

where that's not--

it's a placebo.

It means that they're
just given a sugar pill.

Not only are those people
no longer depressed,

their dopamine levels raise.

In other words, they
actually thought--

just from the power
of belief, they

thought a specific
neurotransmitter would

get elevated, and they
were able to elevate

a specific
neurotransmitter simply

by the power of their belief.

There was another study
with chemotherapy.

They were trying to test the
effectiveness of chemotherapy,

and one group had
the chemotherapy,

another group thought they
were getting chemotherapy,

but weren't.

The group that thought they
were getting chemotherapy--

30% of them lost their hair.

They lost their hair
because they thought

they were getting chemotherapy.

With the power of
our beliefs, we

have the power to
lose hair simply

because we think that
we're supposed to.

We have the power to
raise dopamine levels,

to heal surgery.

All of these
different things, we

can do with the
power of our mind.

So the belief, I'm going
to get cured, led to the cure.

Now, people understand
that, and they go, yes, I

understand placebo effect.

That's positive thinking.

And I go, well, that's actually
what it is-- positive result.

What I need people understand,
more importantly, is this--

we don't talk about what is the
concept of negative thinking?

Negative thinking is equally
powerful in controlling

your biology as
positive thinking,

but it works in the
opposite direction.

While a positive-thinking
placebo effect

can cure you of disease,
a negative belief,

called the nocebo effect,
can cause disease.

So the fact is we
are very powerful.

It's only our belief that
is undermining our biology.

I think, for some
of us to wake up,

we need a wake up call.

And in 1986, I got the call.

I was in a triathlon in
Palm Springs, California.

And I was on the biking
portion of the race,

and I was making a
turn, and there was

a police officer on the corner.

And he was pointing to
me to make the turn,

but he had his back to
the oncoming traffic.

So I was passing two
cyclists on the corner,

and when I made the turn,
a four-wheel drive vehicle

going pretty fast catapulted
me out of my bike.

When I landed, I broke
six vertebrae in my spine,

and the arch that the
spinal cord passed through

had broken like a pretzel.

So I had multiple
compression fractures.

I had bone fragments
on the spinal cord,

and I was in a little
bit of trouble.

And I had four opinions
from four leading surgeons

in Southern California.

They told me that I'd
probably never walk again.

They told me that I
would have to live

in a body cast for
a year, and that I'd

be handicapped in some way.

Typical surgery for
that type of injury

is called the
Harrington rod surgery.

In my case, it was from
the base of my neck

to the base of my spine.

They were going to
fuse my entire spine.

I wasn't so quick to
make that decision,

because I thought that
I would be spending

the rest of my life in pain,
or at least on medications,

or partially handicapped.

I decided against the surgery.

And of course, when you go
against convention like that,

you're always considered
foolhardy and insane.

But I was willing
to weigh what I knew

and see if I could heal
myself without having

any surgical intervention.

Of course, they thought I had
post-traumatic stress disorder,

I hit my head, and that I
was not making any sense,

or I wasn't being reasonable.

But I just had this thought--

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm not doing anything.

I'm laying face down.

And I just thought,
the power that

made the body heals the body.

Maybe I could give it a
plan, give it a template,

give it a design.

And when I was happy
with that design,

I knew that I couldn't
do the healing,

so I would surrender my
creation to a greater mind

and just see what the autonomic
nervous system could do.

So it sounds really
easy, but I think

that when we're in
crisis or trauma,

we tend to focus on what we
don't want to have happen

instead of what we do
want to have happen.

So I made a deal
with myself that I

was going to reconstruct
my entire spine,

and I wasn't going to let any
thought slip by my awareness

that I didn't want
to experience.

And so I went through about six
or seven weeks of total hell,

because I couldn't get my mind
to do what I wanted it to do.

I'd start off reconstructing
the vertebrae in my spine,

and then the next
thing you know,

I'd be thinking about
living the rest of my life

in a wheelchair.

And I become conscious
that I was focusing

on what I didn't
want to have happen

instead of what I did
want to have happen.

Then I'd start from the
very beginning again,

and I'd reconstruct my spine,
and then I'd be thinking about,

should I sell my home?

Should I sell my practice?

And all the people
in my life were

telling me to sell everything.

But if I accepted the
belief on some level

that I would be
able to walk again,

I should never sell
my home, and shouldn't

sell my practice, and so--

What we're thinking about
when we're trapped in fear is

this statement-- what if,
followed by a negative

statement, right?

What if I lose respect?

What if people make fun of me?

What if I fail?

What if it's not as
good as I promise?

So it's always what if, followed
by a negative statement.

And you have to teach people--

well, first, pursue that.

Ask the question, and
really consider it.

What happens if those things?

What's the worst-case scenario?

But then we have to
teach them to flip it

and say, well, what if, followed
by a positive statement.

What if you don't lose anything,
but you gain the things

you really want in your life?

What if the process doesn't
terrorize you and make

you awful?

What if you could
enjoy the process?

What if that process could
make you stronger and better

and capable?

What if, instead
of, oh, it's going

to turn out terrible,
what if it turns out great

and I finally get what
I've always wanted?

Most anxiety, if it's not
a physiological problem

or torment--

it's really coming
from the mind.

What if, followed by
a negative statement.

But if we start asking what
if these amazing things could

happen?

Then we start to find hope.

We start to find willpower.

We start to find motivation.

We start to find a morning
that's brighter than yesterday.

And that's why people
need to get over the idea

that fear is keeping them down.

Your mind is keeping you down.

Fear is just usually poor
management of our mind.

And that was
the switch for me,

because from that moment on,
my body started to respond

to my mind very quickly.

And I was back on my feet in
a little less than 10 weeks.

I was back training at 12 weeks.

And to this day, I really
have no pain in my spine,

and I just made a deal with
myself in those lonely nights.

I thought, if I'm ever
able to walk again,

I promise myself that I'll spend
the rest of my life studying

the mind-body connection
and mind over matter,

and that's what I've
been doing since 1986.

The whole idea that belief
is controlling us is the most

important fact of science that
we're beginning to recognize

for this simple reason--

a belief is connected
to chemistry.

The chemistry of the brain
is a translation of a belief.

And so the relevance is if
you have a negative belief,

then the chemistry that
comes from that brain

is not going to be positive
and support your health.

It's actually going to put you
in a protection mode which,

in fact, walls you
off from health.

Once you start to
recognize that,

you start to see how
powerful belief is--

it overrides the system--

and how specific the belief is.

We have to let people know
how powerful they are,

because your thoughts
are going to take

whatever that belief
is and manifest it

to become a reality.

If you believe you're
going to have cancer,

you can create cancer.

In fact, less than 10% of
cancer is based on heredity.

90% of cancer is based
on lifestyle and belief.

I think most people don't
realize that thoughts are

things, that they have
powerful impact on our biology

and our lives.

And that how you direct
your attention and your mind

determines the
course of your health

and the course of your life.

We all have fear-based
limiting belief systems that

have been ingrained in
us since childhood--

belief systems of
I'm not good enough,

or belief systems of
who am I to be great,

or who am I to earn money, or
how could I possibly do that

thing I've been dreaming of?

And these belief
systems are stifling us

and keeping us small,
and blocking us

from really living
in our highest

potential, in our
highest service,

and in our highest joy, truly.

So the first step to really
healing those belief systems

is to witness them--

to witness them without any
judgment, witness our judgment

of ourselves without
judgment, and to be

really conscious of what
are these belief systems?

How are they making us feel?

We can ask ourselves
those questions.

What is my limiting belief?

How is it making me feel?

And then going so far to say,
what experience from my past

is causing me to
believe this now?

Because all of it comes
from a root cause condition.

It comes from a moment in time
when we separated from love.

And then we have that
experience of separation,

and then we continue to build up
a world that is a false belief

system of fear, a false
belief system of inadequacy,

and feelings of not
being good enough.

I think one of the other
most powerful ways that we can

change limiting beliefs is
through finding evidence

to the contrary--

so actively looking for
what else might be true.

In the example of limiting
money beliefs, well,

if you're struggling with
money but other people aren't,

recognizing, OK, well, maybe
they figured out something

that I haven't yet,
so let me go collect

all the evidence of
other people that

disprove this limiting belief.

Could be the same
thing around health.

Actively-- proactively--
searching out and creating

a whole stack of evidence
to the contrary is, I think,

how we can also start
to begin to change

some of those negative beliefs.

The word that's used in
science is called "mental

rehearsal."

And mental rehearsal-- there's
two types of mental rehearsal.

There's what's called
internal mental imaging, which

means you're in the scene as the
first person experiencing it,

and then there's called
external mental imaging,

which is you're observing
yourself in the scene.

Turns out that when
you are actually

in the first person and
not the third person,

that action of rehearsing
what you're doing

produces this strong
biological change.

So there's been some
really cool studies with

visualization.

There's an Australian
researcher, Alan Richardson,

who took three groups
of basketball players.

One group did free throws for 20
minutes every day for 20 days.

One group imagined doing three
throws for 20 minutes every day

for 20 days.

And another group did nothing.

So the group that
did free throws

every day got 24% better.

The group that didn't,
they didn't get any better.

The group that imagined
doing free throws

got 23% better,
just by imagining.

They didn't shoot a single
hoop, and they got 23% better.

So what's the relevance?

Number 1, when
you're truly focused

and you're truly
paying attention,

your brain does not
know the difference

between what's
going on out there

and what's going on in
here, so the thought becomes

the experience.

Now, from a
biological standpoint,

our brains are a
record of the past.

They're an artifact
of everything

we've learned and
experienced to this moment.

When we prime the brain
to change its circuitry

before the experience,
now the brain

is no longer a
record of the past.

It's now a map to the future.

And so as we warm up those brain
circuits, it's more easy for us

to slip into a
supernatural behavior.

So for example,
Roger Bannister--

what did Roger
Bannister do in 1954?

He broke the four-minute mile.

Throughout human history, no one
could run a mile less than four

minutes, because
the belief back then

was the human heart
wasn't able to sustain

a sub-four-minute mile, it
would explode in your chest,

and you would die.

How do you do it now?

Yes, lengthening
his amazing stride,

this was Venice [INAUDIBLE].

Watch his final
300-yard dash, first

passing Chataway,
then on, battling

against unfavorable conditions,
a crosswind and a sudden track.

[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]

But the interesting thing
was he would actually visualize

himself crossing the finish
line, and in his mind,

he would see the clock,
and it says 3:59,

because he knows that it has
to happen in here before it

happens out there.

Now, that was an
interesting part.

But the other part that
I found interesting

was what happened after that.

Nobody can run a sub-four-minute
mile, all of a sudden,

one person does it.

What happens over
the next few years?

Dozens and dozens
of people start

running a sub-four-minute mile.

Now, was there a big advancement
in shoe technology, training

methodology, nutritional
supplementation?

No.

Where was the change?

A change in belief, because
all of a sudden, one person

could do it, then it gave
permission for everybody else.

It shook up that
limiting belief.

It's going to be very close--

Nine-time gold medal swimmer
Carl Lewis uses visualization.

Tiger Woods, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Muhammad Ali,

tennis legend Billie Jean
King, Michael Jordan--

all the greats in
every area of sport,

they all use visualization.

Tiger Woods' father taught
him how to use visualization.

He says that every time
before he hits the ball,

he visualizes where
he wants it to go.

Arnold Schwarzenegger--
when he was a bodybuilder,

he visualized
himself up on stage

winning the Mr. Olympia,
the Mr. Universe.

When he was an actor, he
visualized being an actor

and just crushing it.

When he was in
politics, he used it.

In everything he did,
he used visualization,

and that's why he's always
been successful at the things

that he's been focused on--
because he's using his power.

There's the
story of Jim Carrey,

where he was a starving
actor, and he wrote a check

for himself for $10 million.

He dated it three
years in the future,

and said, for acting
services rendered.

Three years later, he got
a check for $10 million

for the movie
"Dumb and Dumber--"

exactly three years to the day.

It's unbelievable.

Well, manifesting is all
about aligning with the energy

of joy.

So if a visualization
makes you feel good,

then you're manifesting.

If visualizing something that
you don't have doesn't make you

feel good-- makes you feel
lack or insecurity or as though

something's missing--

then that wouldn't
be the tool to use,

because it's all
about feeling good.

So that's why visualization
works for so many people--

because holding that image--

that makes you ignite a feeling.

And it's that feeling
that is magnetic.

It's that feeling that puts
you into alignment with God,

with the universe, with source.

In that space of
alignment, you become

what I call a super attractor.

You start to magnetize
towards you what you desire,

and you start to become
a match for the things

that you think about--

but as long as you're
in a presence of joy.

You're a match for the things
you think about even when

you're not in the
presence of joy,

but those are things
you don't want.

So if it's visualization
that makes you feel good

and it empowers you and
it lights you up to see--

I visualized myself sitting next
to Oprah Winfrey for a decade

before I did, right?

But it made me feel good.

I could feel the feeling of
being interviewed by Oprah,

or holding that baby in your
arms, or having that abundance.

So making sure that
that feels good.

If there's anything about
that visualization that

doesn't feel good, then we
want to find another tool.

So visualization is using
the language of symbols.

And to me, symbols
are the universal form

of communication.

If you want to
communicate with someone

that doesn't speak
your language,

you're going to use symbols.

For example, if you
just landed in China

and you want to know
where the bathroom is,

you're going to
look for a symbol.

You're going to look for
the symbol of the men's

room or the women's
room, and that's

how you know where
the bathroom is.

That's how you communicate
with someone that

doesn't speak your language.

And the interesting
thing about the body--

we see the body mostly as
a machine, but the body

isn't really a machine.

The body is living
consciousness.

We just don't know how
to communicate with it.

It doesn't speak English.

We can't say to it, I
want to lose weight,

because in six months, I want
to look good for my wedding.

The body doesn't
understand a wedding.

It doesn't understand
six months.

It doesn't understand English.

And one of the biggest
problems that we all

have that we don't
even know we have is we

don't know how to communicate
with our own animal

brain, our own physical,
consciousness brain.

But when you use symbols,
you're bridging that gap.

So when you make a vivid
image of exactly the way

you'd like to look, or
if you're doing sports,

a vivid image of exactly
the way you'd like your body

to perform, you're
communicating to your body,

and all the changes are taking
place-- the neuronal changes,

the hormonal changes.

Everything is changing
because you've now

been able to communicate
with your body.

At a certain point, I decided
to apply visualization

to my weight loss.

And when I did,
everything changed.

I was over 400 pounds.

I had a vivid image of
how I wanted to look.

I imagined myself with tight
skin and stomach muscles,

and looking great.

And every night, as I went to
sleep, I'd have this image,

and things started to change.

I wasn't as hungry
during the day.

I wasn't craving junk food.

I started finding people that
could help me, and programs.

Everything started
to work after that.

And over a 2 and
1/2 year period,

I lost all the
weight that I gained.

I lost 220 pounds, and
I looked exactly the way

I had imagined myself
looking, down to a T,

and that's why
visualization's so powerful.

Visualization is a
huge contributor to a lot

of the success I've
had in my life.

Becoming a four-time free
diving world champion,

I realized that you didn't
have a big impact, because it's

a very small sport.

I think the most
important message

from my free diving records is
the fact that it's a metaphor.

It's a metaphor for
a huge challenge.

You were told, you have
doubt, you're tired,

your body is going crazy,
because you can't breathe.

You go against the
strongest reflex

of life, which is breathing.

Without stress,
there is no life.

So meaning that
without resistance,

without difficulties,
there is no growth.

Did 250 feet under ice
in Speedos, and in that,

I reached my goal of getting
the message out that breathing,

breath work, and linking
that with your mind really

can have a tremendous impact
on both your performance,

but also your daily health.

When you know how to
control your mind and use

visualization--
imagery, breath work,

eating healthy,
surrounding yourself

with people that believe
in you and support you,

you can take it
to the next level.

The most difficult thing
about holding your breath

is not lacking oxygen, but
to fight the urge to breathe.

Being uncomfortable
in life doesn't

mean that you can't
succeed, so the metaphor

is to show people that there is
light at the end of the tunnel,

I guess.

Literally, when I
dive under the ice,

you're there, but then
the light shines down

from that hole 250 feet ahead
of you, and it welcomes you.

A big part of my job is to
break those limiting beliefs.

And I guess that's
what it's all about.

When you want to
break limits, you

want to change the
mindset of people--

scientists or athletes
or everyday people,

you want to change
their mindset.

For me, holding my breath
for 22 minutes was a dream.

It was fantasy.

So before I do that, I
become the 22 minutes.

If I'm like, maybe it
can happen someday, or--

no.

It will not happen.

Until my subconscious
mind accepts

that it will become a reality--

a physical reality--

I cannot manifest this
dream I have in real life.

6, 7, 8, 9, 22 minutes.

So when I do my dives
or my performances,

it's just a manifestation of
a long journey, of a dream.

And for all the dives I do
and all the visualization,

all the work I do, I always
connect it with breath work,

because then you have
doubled up on the efficiency.

When you link the breathing
to all the positive

reinforcement-- all the
happy thoughts, basically,

all the winning thoughts--

then every time you breathe
on a more conscious level,

you ignite that
power of possibility.

And especially when the
breathing becomes, also,

on the subconscious
level, so strong that it

leads your movements,
it leads your thoughts

in that direction.

So as kids, we are
normally in this deep state--

a dream state, this alpha
and the theta state.

We get into it really easy.

And then we unlearn that,
because our teacher says,

stop dreaming, stay focused.

So we lose that.

A lot of literature, culture,
art was created in dream

states.

So for example, Mary Shelley
came up with Frankenstein

in her dreams.

Paul McCartney came up with
"Yesterday" in his dream.

Elias Howe created the
sewing machine in his dream.

The periodic table came
to a chemist in his dream.

So many times, you'll
come up with answers,

you'll come up with
solutions, you'll

come up with inventions,
works of art, in your dreams.

Learning how to get back
into that dream state is the key

to being successful
in visualization.

So the first step
in visualization

is you want to know
how to relax yourself.

So you can breathe deep, do
just a simple meditation.

At a certain point, you're
going to feel really relaxed,

and you're not
fidgeting anymore.

Then you're in a deeper state.

Maybe you're not-- your
mind's not fidgeting either.

That's the time to
do visualization.

And when you do it
then, it just imprints.

You just get it.

So then you want to
imagine, or feel.

It doesn't necessarily--
you don't have to see it--

a lot of times when you
first learn visualization,

you can't see it.

It's a skill that you get
better and better at over time.

But you can feel it.

You can feel what it feels to
run faster than the other guy,

or to have the weight
melting off of your body,

or achieve whatever
athletic performance.

You can feel what it feels like.

You can hear the crowd shouting.

You can feel the wind on your
face as you're running by.

And you can imagine
different things.

When an athlete does
visualization, the muscles,

the neurons, nerves--
they're all firing

in the exact same, coordinated
sequence as you're actually

doing the sport.

To me, visualization is the
creative principle of life.

And I think we've
just all lost that.

I think in indigenous
cultures all around the world,

they all use visualization.

And as a kid, we used dream.

We used imagination.

We used that creative faculty.

And I think it is the
creative faculty of life.

It is the way to set the
dials of the automatic pilot

if you're in a plane.

It's like setting the
dials of your life

when you visualize
where you want to be.

You're the dials down when you
visualize how you want your day

to be, how you want
to perform in sports,

how healthy you want to be.

You're using that
creative principle.

We don't know that.

We haven't tapped into
that, but it's ours.

We lost it somewhere
along the way,

but it belongs to all of us.

I compare your
life to an egg--

that if an egg is broken by
an outside force, life ends.

But if it's broken by an
inside force, life begins.

All great things
begin on the inside.

You have genius inside of you.

You have greatness
inside of you.

Now is the time to unlock it.

[MUSIC - NICK BROADHURST,
"ALWAYS YOU"]

(SINGING) Going back to
where the story all began,

do you want to hear the
journey of this man?

Some maybe, maybe, you're
gonna call me crazy, a feeling,

I know it can't be wrong.

So one day, you're
gonna be my lover.

Everybody run for cover.

The ceiling's coming down.

And one day, we're
gonna be forever.

Everybody said we'd never.

The ceiling's coming down.

So stop, I'm gonna
be there for you now.

Don't run, I'm gonna
be there for you now.

You, always you, always you.

I'll walk you through the
sunshine and the rain.

I believe that second
chances come again.

So maybe, maybe, no
longer call us crazy.

A feeling, I know
it wasn't wrong.

So one day, you're
gonna be my lover.

Everybody run for cover.

The ceiling's coming down.

And one day, we're
gonna be forever.

Everybody said we'd never.

The ceiling's coming down.

So stop, I'm gonna
be there for you now.

Don't run, I'm gonna
be there for you now.