Written by Eugene Morgan How resistant are we for change? When we’re presented with new ideas or new changes, we find ourselves resisting them. Resistance can be a good thing but not so good a thing, depending on the context of the situation. If someone is trying to indoctrinate us into a belief system that […]
Month: August 2011
What Do You See
Written by Eugene Morgan When we look at ourselves in the mirror, most of us will find something we dislike about ourselves. We have a certain image in our minds of how we should look. Body image was one of the major themes in Milton Erickson’s work. He wanted to know just how his subjects […]
We see in part
Written by Eugene Morgan Life is a sword that wounds, but cannot wound itself; like an eye that see, but cannot see itself,” Zen Master We cannot see the entire picture, we can only see in part. We see through our own unique perspective. It’s good to learn different perspectives other than our own. Learning other perspectives […]
Our Life is a Story
Written by Eugene Morgan Our life is a story; we all have a story to tell. There is usually a repeated theme that plays out in our lives. Having a repeated theme suggest we still need to learn something from it. Although some things will always repeat because life is a cycle, it’s not linear. During […]
Dream it into Reality
Written by Eugene Morgan Let our dreams become a reality. We have all the resources at our disposal, if we access them. Our dreams don’t have to be grand or big for them to become a reality. Let us first start with smaller dreams. It’s okay to think big. But thinking big can be overwhelming […]
A Shared Experience
Written by Eugene Morgan Yesterday many of us experienced an earthquake or an aftershock of an earthquake. It rocked our world. It’s interesting how we react to something we don’t know when our minds are trying to make sense of what’s happening. Our first question to ourselves, “is it me?” While the shaking continues, we […]
Build on Your Strengths
Written by Eugene Morgan Milton Erickson uses anything and everything that a person brings to the office. Whenever someone walks in Erickson’s office, Erickson would always look for something in that person to use to aid change. What someone saw as a liability, Erickson saw as an asset that’s useful to aid change. Erickson never stops […]
Change equals Constant
Written by Eugene Morgan “The only thing is constant is change.” We all develop patterns. It takes practice to develop patterns. Patterns developed through repeated behaviors to produce a desired outcome. If circumstances change, then the patterns of behavior need an adjustment. An example of circumstances of change is when we’re required to drive a car with a […]
Values Make Our Decisions
Written by Eugene Morgan The things that are important to us are what we value. Values are the gatekeepers; it helps us make decisions. Our decisions are based on a set of values on what kind of friendship we have, what kind of car we drive, what kind clothes we wear, and etc. We like […]
Self-discovery
Written by Eugene Morgan ”The person that has the most to do with what happens to you is you. It’s not somebody else.” Dr. Ben Carson This quote above falls in line with Milton Erickson’s philosophy in that we have the power within ourselves to improve our situation, if we choose to. We have it […]
Curiosity Saves The Cat
Written by Eugene Morgan Milton Erickson uses curiosity as a carrot stick to lure the conscious mind away. His goal is to bypass the conscious mind to get to the unconscious mind. He tells his subjects interesting facts or stories to create curiosity and suspense to keep the conscious mind attended. Erickson understands that the […]
We all have different Speeds
Written by Eugene Morgan “Slow and steady wins the race.” We have different speeds. Some of us are faster than others. Some of us are slower than others. It depends on our speed. We ought not to rush things. Instead, slow and steady is enough at least for learning. Some things need speed. Some things […]
The Life we Live
Written by Eugene Morgan “Life isn’t something you can give an answer to today,” Milton Erickson We don’t know the ultimate question about why we are here. But since we’re here we might as well enjoy it, learn from it and experience it thoroughly. Then we can pass down our experiences to the next generation. […]
Surprise, Shock and Barriers
Written by Eugene Morgan Milton Erickson often uses surprise and shock to break up the barriers of the conscious mind. Surprises are meant to be delivered unexpectedly to the person. In life when we’re presented with something unexpectedly, our conscious mind is temporarily off-balance. This unbalance of the conscious mind awakens the unconscious mind. This […]
On Being Flexible
Written by Eugene Morgan Erickson was always trying to find a way to help someone be flexible. Flexibility is like a branch that’s not easily broken by the wind. The branch moves in the same direction of the wind. Or it’s like a runner who stretches before a race to prevent an injury. Or it’s like […]
Getting Back to Riddles & Puzzles
Written by Eugene Morgan Riddles and puzzles’ function are to stretch our minds. Riddles and puzzles are a good exercise for the mind. Riddles and puzzles are not designed to give up answers easily. We have to work for them. Sometimes, we give up too soon and get upset with ourselves, only to kick ourselves […]
Make A Detour In Life
Written by Eugene Morgan “It is the experience of reassociating and reorganizing his own experiential life that eventuates in a cure,” Milton Erickson We can’t make a change if we’re insisting on thinking of the problem the same way. We need another way of thinking, or a new frame of reference to reorganize our experiential life. It’s like […]
What Greater Joy!
Written by Eugene Morgan “And what greater joy is there than doing what you want to do?” Milton Erickson We all want joy in our lives. When we think back on what made us joyful, we feel a sense of freedom; that we have forgotten about; that’s sometimes lacking in our present lives. We have an […]
Desire to Meet Life’s Goals
Written by Eugene Morgan We all have desires to meet life’s goals in our lives. There are some goals that’s left undone. Unmet goals equal a feeling of regrets. Regrets only remind us of our incomplete projects, our procrastination, our idleness, and our indecision. But to meet our life’s goals, we must learn to complete […]
Goodness is based on Respect for the Self
Written by Eugene Morgan “That sense of goodness and adequacy is not to be based upon a sense of superiority of one’s own attributes, but upon a respect for the self.” Milton Erickson What is so important in humanity and the animal kingdom, is respect. When our self-respect gets depleted, our anxiety and hostility level […]