Honest Hypnosis

Master Your Mind... for a Change

Empowerment Songs

A Musical Hypnosis Session for Peak Performers?

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Yeah. That’s what this is. It’s literally a hypnosis session in a song format…THIS is why they call me the “Singing Hypnotist”…

Even if this song is not your favored musical style, listen to it over and over again… or watch it over and over again… there have been days and weeks when I just had it playing softly in the background. Your unconscious mind hears EVERYTHING. So USE that. Let this get stuck in your head. “Ear Worms” don’t have to be annoying they can be powerful tools to keep you on track without you having to consciously THINK about it.

 

Also, remember that most performance issues are based on some pattern or habit of anxious thinking. Anxiety is thinking about what you do NOT want to have happen and your body responding to that powerful suggestion with all the same fight or flight chemistry that real bad events would cause if they were actually happening…  to learn more about how you can take charge of your own “head trash” and DUMP it, check out my best selling online hypnosis course, “How to CRUSH anxiety NOW!”

Got questions? Contact me.

“Thunk!” Sudden Realizations That Change Your Thinking Forever

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The past couple of weeks I’ve been a bit scarce around here…

I’ve been working on a lot of different levels… reflecting back on this 90 Day Transformational Challenge (it’s day #74 BTW).

So much has come together Since the start of the new year that I’m kind of stunned… by… the… simplicity and downright OBVIOUSNESS of my own big SHIFT.

What’s happened is I’ve had one of those “DUH!” moments. You know the kind, when you have

Powerful Insights That Change Your Thinking About What is POSSIBLE…

For years I’ve struggled with the fundamental challenge of having all these songs that I just didn’t seem to be able to “get out” into the world in a significant enough way for it to be self supporting financially.

  • When I attempted to be “Folk Singer” I was told my music was too “rock”.
  • When I attempted to be a “Rock” singer, I was told I was too “folk”.
  • When I tried being a “Christian Songwriter” I was told I wasn’t “Christian enough”.
  • When I tried just doing Kids songs and storytelling assemblies I missed my “grown up” music.
  • When I tried being a “new thought” songwriter at Unity I got frustrated at only being able to use  1 or 2 songs a week… and I didn’t get to share much of my message…
  • When I tried to just focus on being a hypnotherapist or an NLP Practitioner and Trainer… I missed doing my music…
  • And even when I attempted to focus on my music, I missed my NLP and Hypnosis work…
  • Sheesh!

And still this compulsion to write songs about EVERYTHING… just kept pushing at me and nudging at me and “torturing” me with “if only” thinking and “what if” thinking… not to mention VICTIM THINKING… and outright whining!

For most of my 40 years of banging my head against this “wall” my music was just an expense… A VERY EXPENSIVE HOBBY.

There was no record company. I WAS the record company. And a poorly run one at that.

I paid to record and duplicate CD’s… I paid to enter songwriting contests…  my Posi Award cost me well over $2,000 just in travel and hotel expenses… and hasn’t done much to support me financially even though “Together We Can Change the World” is literally being sung all over the globe.

Last year, I spent over $6,000 recording songs specifically for the Posi Awards and I didn’t even get NOMINATED.

It goes on and on this spending of moo-lah…

For example, I pay a monthly fee to BandCamp to “host” my songs so people can download them… etc. I think I’ve generated over $130 in download fees… and it only costs $15.00 per month for that service… Do the math.

See what I mean? THIS is why parents tremble with fear when their kids tell them they want to be musicians when they grow up! LOL

And all these years all this “investment” and effort and yearning to “somehow get my music out” just created a trickle of money in return. Please understand this is not a gripe or a complaint. I’m the main reason it’s been a trickle down theory. My Limiting beliefs and “head trash”. Blech!

To date I’ve recorded well over 18 CD’s, MOST of which have never recouped the thousands and thousands of dollars I’ve “invested” in them. But I’m totally glad I recorded them. I’d do it all over in a heartbeat… and I’ll tell you why in a moment. Hang with me here cuz this is actually about both me and YOU.

So every time I attempted to think of making a living as a singer/songwriter/storyteller/hypnotherapist/NLP trainer… I would get tangled up in trying to decide what I should focus on… If I focus only on the music I bang my head on how to make a living at it… and “doing just music” doesn’t even feel right because I don’t want to just be a living juke box… I want to continue creating… and if I only focus on music I lose the personal transformation stuff and vice versa…

Why Urban Farming is a Significant Factor

It wasn’t until I found this cool dude on Youtube, Curtis Stone, an “urban farmer” who makes $100,000 plus on 1/3 of an acre in his suburban neighborhood that it got me to consider treating my music, storytelling my NLP/Hypnosis practice AND my quest for health and high energy AND my paintings as simply “crops” on my “farm.”

Each crop has a season. Each plot of land has times and moments in the day, week, month, year where more attention needs to be paid to a particular area.

Before Curtis Stone, It seemed as “IMPOSSIBLE” in my mind that a farmer could grow enough food on 1/3 of an acre to make a plentiful living as it seemed that I could somehow make a living doing the kinds of music and healing and transformational work that I actually wanted to do with all my heart and all my soul.

And all of a sudden it began to feel POSSIBLE. If guys like Curtis Stone and others can break our preconceptions of what’s possible in farming, maybe, just maybe I could break my own limited thinking about what’s possible for integrating my Music, my Storytelling, my Healing, Hypnosis, Personal Development, and Transformation all into “one thing” that  I can sustainably earn a living at…

And what emerged out of this reflection and intention and examination of limiting patterns and beliefs in myself… was that…

  • My music IS hypnosis.
  • My paintings ARE hypnosis.
  • My performances ARE hypnosis.

Everything I do is all about communicating personal transformation and self mastery.

“Change your mind and change your life, set aside the fear and strife… Together we can change the world…”

The music. The visual stuff like paintings and videos, even the pics I pick for my blog posts are all about healing, transformation and the process of learning to live our lives with deeper and more ecological satisfaction and joy.

DUH!!!!!

So as I bring my own 90 Day Transformational Challenge #4 to a close I feel ready to move towards the next step…

Authentically, lovingly, setting out to share my music and message in multiple mediums OUT into EARS, EYES, HEARTS AND SOULS right here in Albany NY and right there wherever YOU are in the world… And along the way part of my “job” is to help YOU heal, harmonize and honor who YOU most long to be in the world as well…

So there. THAT’S what’s been lovingly ‘GOB SMACKING’ me for the last couple of weeks…

Your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is to think of all the things you love to do and IMAGINE being able to do them in a way that is even BETTER than you have been able to imagine so far… Better for YOU, better for other people and better for the planet.

Why IS that POSSIBLE?
Don’t concern yourself on HOW to turn it into a way to make a living. Just ask yourself “Why is it possible?” over and over again today… and see what happens.

In my case when it all came together it was in a flow state of simple good feelings and a clear sense of a healthy bottom line…

So what seems to be gearing up during my NEXT 90 day challenge is to start performing more Sound Healing Hypnosis “Song Baths” both locally and wherever there may be a need for multi-disciplinary programming.

As part of my own inner work, I’m going to be creating a kick ass course on ERADICATING the old limiting beliefs and thought patterns that seem to keep us locking into lives of frustration and quiet desperation…

So more about all that soon!!!

in the meantime, here’s a little musical support for today:
“Why Is It Possible?”

Got questions? Contact me!

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Day 9 ANOTHER New Hypnosis Song

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Hey My Beloved Transformation Tribe,

It’s day #9 of 90 Day Transformation Challenge #4!

Today I’m taking it a little easy because I finally caught this cold that everyone’s been attempting to share with me for the last few weeks. LOL.

But it’s awl good… I made this video YESTERDAY! Before my voice got all “gronky”.

It’s another new hypnosis song that came out of my deep conversations with my long time friend Michael Guerin last week…

Enjoy! This will be your “Transformation Tune ” AND your Daily Mind Mastery Message for today.

Your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is to let this get stuck in your head today…

Asking yourself powerful, positive “How” and “Why” questions is just one of many practical, powerful tools you can use on a daily basis to transform your life. To discover more of my Modern Jedi Mind Mastery Methods, check out my courses and programs.

If you’re not yet a member of the Transformation Nation check out what you get when you subscribe

That’s it for today! I love you. I believe in you. You CAN do this “Life” thing. It’s not always easy but that’s just comes with the territory. You CAN THRIVE! When you apply the mind mastery tools it doesn’t automatically make you rich and famous, good looking and sexy as hell. BUT… it CAN help you get to where you want to go faster, easier, better. Thank you for taking action towards your big dream! I believe in YOU.

I will see you on the INSIDE.

– Mark

Own Your Mornings Own Your Life

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It’s Day 3 of the 90 Day Transformational Challenge.

I’ve got another spontaneously fresh video for you which I made first thing this morning as dawn was breaking, while drinking my gigantic cup of Swiss Process decaffeinated coffee… (I dumped caffeine during the last 90 day challenge)

FYI This video is actually a “wide awake, conversational hypnosis session” (which you can watch for free should you choose to accept that as your Daily Mind Mastery Assignment… ;o).

I’m not suggesting you watch all the way to the end but if you do watch all the way through to the end remember that it’s all on purpose and the suggestions I deliver for your unconscious mind’s benefit you more and more and everyone knows that everything works better for you that way if you’re ready to hear and integrate what I have to say…

 

Here’s the video:

Here’s the Transformation Tune I mentioned in the video for today’s Mind Mastery Message support song…
BONUS!!!

I made a short, reflective video at the end of a well lived day… to check in and look back over the progress made. Enjoy!

 

Any questions? Any answers? Any Stories from YOUR life about how YOU are applying the Daily Mind Mastery and Transformation Tunes? I want to hear from you!

The really important thing is just to be fully aware that you can realize the change you’re looking for…

And here’s how

Click the link below to:

Or just leave a comment below 🙂

The Singing Hypnotist

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So as part of the 90 Day tRansformation Challenge, I’m “stepping into” a new “handle” “brand” or whatever you want to call it.

My friend Ned Depew saw me at the Honest Weight Food Co-op last week and made a point of telling me, “You know Mark, I’ve been thinking, you might consider calling yourself ‘The Singing Hypnotist’.”

And it was weird because I’ve been asking myself over and over again in my meditaitons and self hypnosis talk, “How can I authentically and holistically integrate my music, my message and my methods of personal transformation in a way that people instantly can relate to and understand? How can I combine what I do into one thing, that keeps me focused and on target without constraining and limiting me?”

So I sat down last night with my guitar and proceeded to sing a phrase that I heard somewhere or read somewhere.

“Sometimes you have to be nobody before you can be somebody” It’s kind of the perfect hypnotic phrase. it’s vague enough so that whoever is hearing it can translate it into whatever works for their unconscious mind… and ultimately the 90 day challenge as well as my one on one hypnosis and NLP work is all about becoming who we really want to be isn’t it?

So here’s what happened once I turned my cameras on. (I’m continuing to experiment with 2 cameras in order to improve the “watchability” of my musical videos. But I’ve also decided to start posting these as audio only podcasts to soundcloud.) Let me know what you think.

Here’s the audio only version:

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Click the link below to:

Or just leave a comment below 🙂

Get the full lyrics for this new song over at MarkShepardSongs.com : Song # 529 Be Somebody (world premiere)

Don’t miss your daily mind mastery message and transformation Tune! Subscribe!

Questions? Comments! Drop me a line! I want to hear from you!

What’s The Point?

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What is the POINT?

SERIOUSLY. Why are we here?

Our parents had sex and we were conceived and born… that’s a fact. But it doesn’t answer the age old human question of

“Why am I here?”

Closely followed by…

“Now that I AM here, What’s the point of being here?”

Were we just the result of some random genetic matching and meeting on the cellular level?

Are we here to simply pass our genetic code on to another hapless generation of “accidental tourists?”

Or are we here for a purpose…

  • Are we here to experience the full pleasure attainable through our five senses?
  • Touch and sexual ecstasy?
  • The sound of a soft rain falling through spring leaves? The sound of the ocean, the sound of a symphony, a rave, a lullaby? Birdsong? The wind in the pines?
  • Are we here to see? To drink in the visual wonder all around us? The sight of snow capped mountains rising majestically above a pristine alpine lake? The sight of millions of brightly colored tulips in full bloom on a perfect May morning? Sunlight bouncing blindingly off of newly fallen snow?
  • The sight, sound and scent of flaming autumn leaves falling around us and crunching underfoot?
  • The taste of a perfectly ripe piece of fruit in season?

The pride of accomplishment? Creating or doing something that has yet to be created or done?

Are we here to gather to ourselves honor among others?

Are we here to rise to the “top” of our field, or the top of our local government or sport or academic or professional discipline or national or international leadership?

Are we here to make money? Lots and lots of money?

Are we here to make history?

Are we here to be the best parents, lovers, partners, caretakers, teachers that we can be?

SERIOUSLY!  I WANT TO KNOW!!! What the hell is the point of being here NOW?

We are here for such a short moment in the vastness of Eternity. IS THERE A POINT? OR IS IT ALL A COSMIC ROLL OF THE DICE?

And while we ask these questions we also have to ask, what’s the big deal about MONEY?

They say Money can’t buy love or happiness? But it is universally coveted. Why are we all so enamored of money? Why is money such a big deal? And why do we get pretty much ZERO training about how to create and manage wealth in our educational system?

Because ultimately money allows us to fulfill our potential… and it can serve as a self perpetuating positive reinforcement loop. And if EVERYBODY knew about money and how to create and sustain it, it might not allow the powers that run this world to have such a free rein…

Personally, I get a little bit screwed up around all of this because money doesn’t really motivate me. What motivates me is what I can do with money and what value I can contribute to other people… The challenge is that one of the things I do best, write and perform songs has an extremely nebulous “value”. What does a song really do? What’s a song actually worth? For that matter how do you come up with a value or price for Hypnosis or NLP?

How do you exchange the value in a song or in a process of transformation with the value that someone else with a different set of skills and value added abilities has?

And what’s the point of writing songs that no one hears? For me the point HAS to be more than “entertainment”.  The music HAS to be able to do more than distract a person for a few moments from their problems. I want to write songs that cause people to measurably improve their lives as a result of listening to them… but theres more to it even than that…

I keep coming back to the idea that I was born to touch the lives of millions of people with my music, my message and my methods.

But is that what I really want? Or is that what I think I’m supposed to want just because my music seems to be good enough to be paid attention to??

Here are my thoughts about this for me. What your mission and/or purpose is, is up to you. Please use my story for one example then apply this to your life ok?

My MISSION: To positively influence the lives of millions of men and women with my music, message and methods of personal transformation that allow them to improve their lives… and everything in their lives: their minds, bodies, careers, bank accounts, relationships etc.,  into something that they recognize as improvement and to facilitate an exchange of value around all of that… in a win/win/win way.

Is my mission then, my purpose? Or is my purpose something greater than that?

My purpose is to live up to my potential in every area of my life.

My purpose is to do life as well as I can possibly do life. Because it is a rare gift. Awareness is a gift. Perception is a gift. This is what has been bestowed upon us all.

This gift of awareness and perception and the ability to make choices and take action.

Whatever we get is whatever we are willing to go for.

All the old cliches pour in:

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t make.”
“Success leaves behind clues.”
“There’s room at the top.”
“Whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.”

But are the shots you’re taking the ones you want to be making?
Are you on the path that will ultimately serve your greatest good and the greatest good of others?

No one can answer those questions for us.

What we CAN do is imagine our last days on this planet and reflecting back on all the things we didn’t actually give ourselves permission to totally and completely “go for”.

What is that for you?

And somewhere in there you might find your life’s purpose. And it may simply be watching your children grow up, start families of their own and seeing your grand children thrive and grow in turn…

It might be expanding some area of scientific endeavor that forever changes the world.

It might be contributing in some small or large way in solving one of the many challenges facing the human race.

It could be as simple as growing a beautiful garden.

Knitting a sweater.

Writing a poem.

Exploring the world.

Building a business.

Building a house, a sustainable farm, making the best raw milk cheddar cheese on the planet…

Whatever it is that YOU desire to have, do or be is fine. My job, perhaps my purpose, my mission, whatever, is to support YOU in your quest for YOUR purpose with my music, my message and my methods. So that you can experience what you desire, faster, easier and better, than if you didn’t have my assistance.

That is, IF you want it. If not that’s fair and fine as well. Not everybody even thinks about this stuff. But for me, personally, as well as for the clients and NLP students I’ve taught since 2003, thinking about this stuff is EXHILERATING. And YOU are who I’m writing for today. People like YOU who are willing to ask these big questions and willing to do the work to actually put these ideas into practice in your life.

My message today is this: Whatever you think your purpose for being here on this planet is, you are right. Because your purpose is what YOU DECIDE it is. No one else can dictate that for you. And your purpose can be developed over time. And it can change. And you can have more than one. But the bottom line is that with a clear purpose you can make daily decisions that take you closer to the place where you are increasingly and then consistently living “ON PURPOSE”.

Why? Because it FEELS really, really good. And we get what we focus on. So have a little faith my eager Padawans… You ARE here for a reason…

Your assignment today, should you choose to accept it, is to DECIDE what that reason is. It doesn’t have to be a final decision. But just give this a try for today.

Live the entire rest of your day AS IF, you are “on purpose.”
Live today as if you were born for something special.
Live this entire day as if all of your thoughts, intentions and actions were for something worth the investment of your time, energy and attention.

And see how it feels. Let me know ok?

What if you were truly born for a purpose greater than taking up space and watching certain TV shows?

What if you were here for a reason and you get to decide the reason?

The cool thing is no one gets to tell you otherwise. This is YOUR ride. You decide what it means and where it’s headed.

My “Method” today is to suggest to you that you take a few moments to breathe, ground yourself and imagine today unfolding magically in ways that confirm your purpose. Create a vivid mental movie of what it is that you most desire to have, do or be. Then go all IMAX with it! Make it huge and compelling. Turn up the volume! Tune up the colors! Sharpen up the focus! Play with slow motion and fast motion. Play with your imaginary ZOOM lenses… pull back the camera so you can see the big picture, zoom in to see the inspiring details… pull back the camera so you can see yourself in the picture… then step back in and look through your own eyes… make if vivid and compelling. Repeat as necessary.

If doubt creeps in simply shrink the doubt pics down and move them off your mental movie screen and pull up the DESIRED image/movie again and again and again… all day. Just keep holding your vision in your mind’s eye. Turn down the volume of the “doubt voices” and the internalized “dream thieves”.

And to support you musically,

Here’s a transformation tune (the final encore, and the last raw live recording from the “Last Concert of Mark Shepard and the Rogue Mystics” on November 19th.

Enjoy!

Peace and groovyness!

– Mark

p.s. Tomorrow? I just may have the first video from the Concert… I just got to see a rough edit and I literally got chills as the Rogue Mystics filled all the nooks and crannies around my vocal and guitar with stunning musical brilliance… and my son Andrew, who is doing the editing reports that the song is causing some very positive, inspirational things to happen inside HIM as he’s gotten it deeply embedded in his psyche…

If you are ready and would like to go deeper with me… here’s how

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