If you asked random people on the street, most would tell you either they have never been hypnotized, or that they can't be hypnotized. Nothing could be further from fact. We have all allowed people to hypnotize us all our lives, and we continue to allow it on a daily basis.

Hypnosis can be defined as communicating directly with the subconscious mind to effect a change or install or reinforce a thought or behavior.

Probably the best hypnotists you have had are your parents. You have seen stage hypnotists snap their fingers and shout sleep, and the subjects go directly into a trance. How many of us have can remember one of their parents saying sternly "Stop that at once!" only to find yourself instantly comply and ceasing the behavior. Every child instantly recognizes "the look" a mother can give from the other side of the room, that had better instantly change their behavior. Instant anchoring!

Here is an experiment for you. Find two children. Let the first one know daily that they can do or be anything they wish. They are attractive. They are smart. They are funny. How proud of them you are. Shower the second with constant ridicule and criticism. Tell them they are worthless. Show them you don't care about them. Tell them they are too dumb for that. Tell them no one likes them because they are fat, ugly, or their eyes are the wrong color. Then observe how they turn out in 18 years.

If you don't want to wait, you can get the results quicker. Visit a prison and interview the inmates. Which group did they belong to? Stop by a medical school and ask the students which one they were. I have no doubt a noticeable trend will emerge.

Whenever we hear something enough times, our subconscious accepts it as truth and we act accordingly. The good news is these bad programs can be changed quite effectively with direct purposeful hypnosis.

Advertisers use hypnosis in every ad they produce. They force your subconscious mind to associate their product with what they portray in the ad. Alcohol commercials are a good example. The commercial is shot in a well lit bar people are having the time of their life, surrounded by their friends. Your subconscious makes the connection good times with friends equals "Billy Beer."

Have you ever seen a car commercial with the car surrounded by stop and go traffic at 8:30 in the morning, or do you see the car pulling up to valet parking and well dressed people getting out? The message, escape the rat race and enjoy freedom. Advertisers also want you to associate the item with their brand name. If I tell you to Google something or pass me a Kleenex, you know instantly what I want. Because these name brands have been pounded into our subconscious, we instantly recognize them as synonyms.

Now for the moral. Everyone has been hypnotized. Everyone has been in a trance (think daydream). The problem is they don't realize it. Hypnosis is not only something done by a shaman in a third world country, or a man with a swinging watch and a cape. It has been used since the beginning of time. Isn't it time to start using such a powerful tool with purpose and intent as opposed to going through our everyday lives completely oblivious that something fantastic lies mere inches beneath the surface?