You will begin to realise why this exercise is called the Dickens Pattern (with reference to the ghost showing Scrooge some different futures) as you notice that the idea of this exercise is to hypnotize yourself to be aware of two very real possibilities for your future. Two distinct pathways that you could take for your life this very day.
Have a think about something that you do that you are maybe not motivated to change about yourself. Prior to running through this technique, just have a think about something that you know you need to be doing, but are not. Then with that thing in mind, follow these simple steps.
Step One: Get yourself nice and relaxed and settled. Concentrate on your breathing, https://www.michaeljemery.com/
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engage in the moment and spend some time being still, quiet and drift inside of your own mind. Hypnotize yourself here.
Step two: Use your imagination to imagine walking down the path of your life.
Ok, I know that some of you just cried out “but I can’t visualise!” First up, if you believe you can’t then of course you can’t. Second up, just imagine these things. They do not have to be in cinema screen perfect detail. You can remember what colour what your front door is, right? You can remember what your childhood bedroom is like, right? That is your imagination doing that. You know the sound that your feet make when you walk across gravel don’t you? You can imagine it, but you are not hearing it in your ears, are you? Just imagine these things as best as you can. Failing that, pretend that you are imagining them and that will do the trick.
So, as you imagine walking along the path of your life, notice that every step forwards is a minute, an hour or a day into your future. If you look back, you will notice that your past is there; everything you have ever done or experienced is behind you.
Become aware of the temperature, the sights, the sounds and enjoy walking along the path of your life. Make it sensory rich and get comfortable with the idea. Imagine the feeling of your feet walking along the path and the sound they make. Engage with the idea of really being there.
Step Three: Imagine that a few more steps ahead there is a place where the path splits, where is goes off to the left and off to the right. Pause here for a few moments and have a think. Here, there are two different pathways, two possibilities, two ways that you could choose to go.
If you were to choose the path to the left, life is pretty much the same as it is. You carry on doing the same things, living the same way an