Bruce Anderson

Bruce has retired from the corporate world to work at his passion - making the world a better place by helping the people in it become better people.

His primary focus is athletes and other high performers like musicians.

He's written a book on getting Beyond Good Enough and loves showing his clients how they can be all that they can be.

Winning is 80% Mindset

By the time any Athlete gets seriously competitive, they know the physical side of their sport. The difference between simply "good" and outstanding is almost always mindset. Direction, Attitude, Positive Thinking and Focus are the essential ingredients in the Attitude of a Champion. To be a Champion, you have to start by walking, talking, standing, thinking like a Champion.

Hypnosis ??!!

Do a search for "Athletes who use hypnosis" or something similar. If you're wondering why the word "hypnosis" appears here, next to Attitude of a Champion and Peak Performance, consider that perhaps these famous athletes and teams know something. In other words, they all use it because it gives them what they need!

Hollywood and stage hypnotists have done a great disservice to legitimate hypnosis by conflating it with "mind control". They work hard to create the illusion that the hypnotist takes control of their client's mind. Not so - in fact, hypnosis for athletes actually gives the athlete more control over himself or herself. Most issues that athletes deal with (self-confidence, negative thoughts, lack of focus, etc.) are rooted in emotions. Emotions are rooted in the unconscious mind and hypnosis is the way to align the unconscious mind with conscious goals.

Hypnotherapy is something different - hypnotherapy is like any other clinical therapy - it's used to deal with psychiatric issues. Sports performance that can be improved upon is is simply not a psychiatric issue.

What's Hypnosis Like?

Hypnosis is a totally normal process. All of us go in and out of trance states many times each day. Totally focused on a book or a movie or a video game is a trance state. Being in "flow" or "In the Zone" for a sport is a trance state that athletes strive for. In other words, we don't realize that we're in a trance state because we haven't been trained in how to recognize trance states.

"Hetero-hypnosis" (normally just called hypnosis) is when a hypnotist guides a client into a trance state. Self-hypnosis is when the athlete does it by themselves. The most important aspect of a trance state is the the conscious mind is willing to step aside and allow interaction directly with the unconscious mind. Emotions, beliefs, limitations, negativity all reside in the unconscious mind and working with that mind is the best way to manage them. Notice that I did not say "control" or "eliminate" them.

Everyone's experience of hypnosis is different and may be different for different trance states (e.g. relaxed and open versus intensely focused). It may feel relaxed or floaty or heavy. It may feel happy; it may feel relieved that most of the monkey chatter of the conscious mind fades away. You're awake and alert. You'll remember as much as you would from a normal conversation.