Something isn’t working in your life.

What do you do?

Well, the first thing you should do is clasp your hands and bow your head. Surrender your problem to the Lord.

That’ll help most of the time.

If it doesn’t?

Maybe your needs are simpler, not requiring quite as much divine intervention.

You could just be hungry, sleep deprived or coming down with something.

Your environment matters too. I’ve struggled to concentrate today and my kitchen is a mess – both for the first time in weeks. What’s the relationship there? Well, if I can’t concentrate, I’m not going to clean up, right?

Maybe. Or maybe I can’t concentrate because I have dirty dishes stacked in the sink.

You can fix a lot by doing some simple things. A broom and some sunshine will fix a lot of issues.

“You’re being ablest!” I would be if I said that fixed all issues. Besides, if you get hostile in the face of helpful advice, then you’re not qualified to complain about anything.

Here’s some more good advice to get mad at:

Follow this link and have a read. What you find there might come in handy, oh, every hour or so for the rest of your life.

(Depending on your lifestyle, that is.)

Here it is:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

Here’s a handy guideline.

I don’t know if it’s always accurate, but it works in a shocking number of cases:

If the woke claim something, then they’re not only wrong but the opposite is true. Their relationship to the truth isn’t random like a stupid person’s, but inverted like some diabolical.

Some examples?

They say Ukraine is winning the war for democracy. It’s losing the war in the name of tyranny.

They say capitalism is the most exploitative economic system, when it’s the least – the least that can be scaled up to civilisations, I mean. Maybe tribal systems are less exploitative. Then again, maybe not.

“EVs are better for the environment!” Enough said.

They said sanctions would hurt the Russian economy while not affecting the US economy too badly. No and no.

Safe? Nope. Effective? Not so much.

They say Trump was involved in an insurrection. He wasn’t involved and it wasn’t an insurrection.

“The West is so xenophobic!” they say about a civilisation that admires, embraces and accepts other cultures. Other cultures that aren’t so accepting of our ways in return.

They say they promote diversity while also promoting censorship.

They see themselves as innocent victims of a system hey now control and are actively bringing down around them.

I could go on – for pages and pages.

But I’ll add just one more:

When Trump won the 2016 election, they started using the phrase “post-truth era”. In total ignorance of all of human history, they thought a politician exaggerating things (and saying things they didn’t like) represented some significant change.

Before Trump, politicians told the truth, you see.

But I didn’t recognise their talent for inversion.

I thought they were being ridiculous. I didn’t realise they were right – we do in fact live in a post-truth era.

They should know – they’re the ones lying about elections, biology, abortions and medicine.

But that was all lying to achieve their goals.

Now, they lie even for the sake of it.

You might have read the recent article talking about how true conspiracy theories are a threat to democracy. See, if a conspiracy theory is true, then people will believe it. And that would be bad, you see.

Woke logic at its finest – counternarrative truths are obviously wicked in their eyes.

Well, so be it.

They’re free to wallow in their own lies.

We can be over here making honest mistakes and getting closer to the Truth.

And a tool that’ll help on that journey?

It looks a little something like this:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

Sometimes, you make a simple change and you get clear results.

Like when I cut sugar from my diet and lost a bunch of weight, slimmed down, slept better and regained control of my appetite.

It was a huge improvement.

Even so, it was far from the most impressive change I’ve enjoyed.

Real change doesn’t affect just a few parts of your life – like your appearance or energy levels. No, it changes everything.

You might be able to relate if you converted to Christianity as an adult.

Or if you were only going through the motions, only to suddenly start taking prayer seriously.

What changed for you?

If you’re like many people, it’s hard to put into words. After some time though – maybe weeks, maybe years – you look back and you don’t recognise your old life.

You’re probably happier, healthier and saner now.

But it’s hard to pinpoint an exact cause and effect, unlike with me quitting sugar and then feeling better. With a robust prayer life, you might find yourself feeling more gratitude throughout your day… but how does that explain the peace you feel, the people you attract, the focus you have and the wins you achieve?

Sometimes change happens deep.

It’s as if our habits, perceptions, beliefs, attitude and even our abilities run on a mental foundation. For the devout, Christianity is part of that foundation. Growing up in Australia means Aussie culture is part of mine.

But there’s more to this foundation than just that. It’s all those experiences we had while younger, all those pains we said never again to, all those times we felt the kiss of victory and decided we wanted more.

This foundation is mostly invisible to you. If you ever think about why you do what you do, the answer is usually… well… isn’t it obvious?

Some things feel right, even when we can’t explain why.

Even when we can’t understand why anyone would do things differently.

Change your foundation.

And everything else changes:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

Recently, I had to complete a multiple choice questionnaire.

The topic?

Workplace health and safety.

If you’ve ever had to do one, you know what it’s like. These are supposed tests of your knowledge, even though a brain-bruised blob of ambergris could guess their way through it:

Q: Which of the following complies with workplace health and safety laws?

(a) Selling illicit substances on every black market,

(b) Clipping your toenails while sitting on weapons-grade uranium,

(c) Opening a dimensional rift to the plasma fusion heart of a distant, alien star,

(d) Complying with workplace health and safety laws.

These quizzes are a joke. They’re a waste of time and, as an expert in psychology, I find them professionally insulting.

Asking 20 variations of that question isn’t testing anyone’s understanding of anything but English. If they know the language, they can guess the answer.

A lot of self-improvement programs are the same.

There’s a lot of emotion and hype and maybe some good advice sprinkled in there, but there’s nothing you don’t already know.

Believe, visualise, aim high, dig deep, your thoughts matter, take action…

Your Story Isn’t About You is different. Right from the title, it takes the emphasis off you.

Because if you want better results – for yourself or in serving others – then it pays to remember your story isn’t about you.

It’s about the people around you.

How well you understand them dictates how good your story is.

Your Story Isn’t About You is a guide to how you’re failing at that simple task.

So stop failing now:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

You might remember this quote from Agent Smith in The Matrix:

I’d like to share a revelation during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. 

You might remember it because it’s how so many folks think these days. The green movement frequently – and casually – says the world would be better without humans in it.

Christianity tells us that we humans are lowly, flawed sinners, but we can find redemption through following the Lord.

Meanwhile, the eco crowd tell us that we humans are lowly, flawed sinners…

…

… oh, you expected more to that? No, that’s the end. Go extinct please.

It’s funny how many of these people say society has outgrown Christianity, while their own beliefs are just a primitive, nihilistic version of it.

Anyway, we were talking about Agent Smith.

Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment has to rate as one of the all-time incorrect statements.

Rabbits don’t. They breed as much as they can, even if it means wiping out their food sources. If they’re in balance with the environment, it’s only because predators keep their numbers in check. That’s not the rabbits forming a balance – that’s nature imposing it.

Foxes don’t either. They, too, will eat and multiply to the point of ecological collapse if they can get away with it.

There’s not a single mammal that restrains itself – instead of relying on other mammals to restrain it – to keep the environment intact…

… except humans.

Yes, I know humans harm the environment. We harm it more than is excusable. But have you noticed how much less we harm it than if we stopped caring about it? We go to great lengths to rein in our industry because we, in fact, are trying to come into balance with nature.

“Great lengths? Not great enough!” Maybe, maybe not. But you want to compare humans to viruses? You want to say all we do is ravage the place and then move on? Please. If you care about nature, then you must have felt a deep connection to nature at some stage.

I mean, the entire green movement cares about the environment. And claims that humans don’t care about the environment.

Open your eyes. Things might not be perfect, but nothing out there justifies nihilism.

And if you think humanity is so bad that we should go extinct, then you need a mindset boost. You’ll get more out of this than other people will:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

Why are folks who dislike Biden so much more sensible than those who like him?

Here are two wrong answers to that question:

“Um, they aren’t???”

Of course they are – and not because they can see the obvious. But I’m not going to change anyone’s mind here, so all I’ll say is if you’re not spending time in a range of communities, you’re not qualified to disagree.

“Because we’re so much smarter!”

Nah, that’s not it either.

The zeitgeist is in an interesting place right now.

It’s easy to be woke. People act like it’s so revolutionary, like it’s taking a stand against the powers that be.

Except the media, legal system, politicians and corporations are on that side. They all march in lock step and going woke means marching with them.

The defiant side takes courage to join. That’s why, when the establishment were all corporate conservatives, the interesting radicals were hippie poets.

There’s more than that, though.

When I hang out on the right, I hear from plenty of folks who say they used to follow liberal politics until liberal politics changed. The left used to endorse free speech, diversity, scepticism of power and fairness. Now, you only get that on the right.

So right wing communities have right wing lifers plus a healthy number of converts.

But I rarely see people going the other way.

You would, though, if the culture and the power swing over to the right. If that becomes the easy, endorsed option, then lots of people will follow it.

Until then, the only place you get diversity, discussion and deep dives is outside the woke spaces.

Want to know how to join communities across the political spectrum?

It gets easier when you stop demonising people.

For that, you need Your Story Isn’t About You:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

“If Christianity is all about love and forgiveness, then why aren’t Christians nicer people?”

It’s a fair question, even if it’s not always asked fairly.

CS Lewis has a good answer to that. He says of course sometimes an atheist will be kinder than a Christian. That doesn’t prove anything. The real test is if the Christian is nicer than they would otherwise be. And if the atheist grew kinder upon conversion.

I agree with all that.

But let me answer the question with a question:

How much Christianity are we talking about here?

A lot of exercise makes someone stronger. A little, though, leaves them weaker. It leaves them tired, strained and sore. Until you get used to the lactic acid, it only hurts you.

Learning a lot of philosophy makes you smarter. But a little philosophy makes you overconfident about ideas you don’t fully understand.

A lot of money makes you financially liberated. A little extra in your pocket can leave you poor, as suddenly you think you can afford more than you actually can.

Hours of discipline make you productive, while a few minutes can give you the excuse to slack off extra hard.

A high dose of some toxic metals is relatively fine, as it activates your body’s detox systems. A smaller dose can sneak in – enough to harm you without triggering a response.

Not everything is linear – that is, doubling the amount gives double the result.

In fact, few things are.

Christianity is like that. A little can make you smug, conceited, arrogant and judgemental.

A lot of Christianity, though?

That teaches you just how lowly and beloved we all are.

It’s a potent combination. Who would dare look down on his fellow man, knowing how weak, sinful and hounded by demons he is? Who would dare look down on his fellow man, knowing how much God loves that man?

Christians can – nay, must – fight against evil behaviour.

But it’s hard to judge someone when your God died for them, too.

Of course, that’s easy to say.

Not so easy to do.

I don’t have all the answers – but I do know you’ll let go of a lot of your judgements with this.

Your Story Isn’t About You is a powerful guide in humility. That’s not why I wrote it – I wrote it to show folks how they can improve their relationships. It accidentally has tremendous spiritual benefits as a side effect, though.

That’s true of all great works.

See what I mean when you read, reread and apply it here:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

I recently caught a TikTok of a woman, furious, storming down the street having just ended a date with a man.

Her completely valid and not neurotic complaint?

He said she had taught him so much during the date.

(Did he really? If true, doesn’t that mean she spent the date lecturing him? Oh I’m not asking for any reason, just curious.)

Anyway, she spends about ten seconds ranting about how women aren’t teachers and they’re not here to teach men how to be good men, and then it ends.

I was watching a reaction video. The reactor was really confused. Why was this a problem? Don’t women want men to listen to them? If not, why have they demanded that for the last few decades?

I posted this comment on the reaction video:

–

I’m not confused.

Oh, I have no idea what she means, but I get why she’s saying that:

She’s solipsistic. She literally doesn’t understand that people exist independently of her. The clues are there if you know how to spot them – and men, I recommend you get good at spotting them:

(a) She thinks her emotions match reality. “I’m angry about something he did, therefore he did something wrong!” A wise person would pause and ask themselves why this makes them angry, if it’s reasonable and if it’s their own issues. She doesn’t – it’s her anger, so it must be true.

(b) She’s mad about having to explain things to men? In other words, she expects guys to already know what she knows and know what she wants. Even on a first date.

(c) She expects a fully perfected man to be interested in her. Is she a fully perfect woman? Who cares – she likely feels she deserves that so she does.

(d) She provides no context. Why would she? She already knows what happened, so everyone else understands too.

Any one of these clues is strong evidence for her being solipsistic. The fact that she crammed four into such a short video is alarming.

If you dated her, she’d struggle to see your perspective on things. In fact, she’d likely be confused about why she should. Everything would be about her. Don’t date her, don’t hire her, don’t even talk to her – there’s nothing to be gained and a lot to lose. Treat her as you’d treat an insane child.

–

Now, I’m out of line here. You can’t diagnose other people with solipsism. That requires thinking you know what they think, which is a form of solipsism anyway.

But four clues in ten seconds?

That’s strong evidence.

Want to know how to spot these clues in yourself and others?

Read, reread an apply Your Story Isn’t About You:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

Nothing I’m saying here is original.

Even so, it’s something most of us need to hear.

Fighting against sin is challenging – maybe even glorious. It can be difficult to reign in our animal instincts like lust and anger. It can be just as hard to overcome sins of the mind, like envy or vanity.

But that just makes the rewards even sweeter.

When you channel your energies into virtues and not indulgences, it’s like pumping fuel straight into your soul.

You might even feel good about yourself.

You might look around the world and smirk at how other people still struggle with –

Bam.

Just like that, you’re indulging in pride.

Pride is a sneaky sin. Do well at overcoming the others and it’s a natural response. If you embrace humility, you then have to guard against feeling proud about that.

It might be Satan’s favourite sin – one he indulges in often and is a reliable snare even for righteous men.

But how do you motivate yourself then?

If you can’t feel good about your accomplishments, then how do you stick with them? How do you avoid backsliding into some cheap and easy thrill?

As always, the answer is in the Bible.

Surrender yourself to God.

Surrender yourself to Jesus Christ.

Place all your cares and struggles into His holy hands. Trust him to carry you through your challenges.

It takes all the pressure off you, since you have the greatest being in creation on your side.

It gives you the confidence that you can do this.

And if you succeed… well, did you succeed? Or was that just divine glory working through you?

It’s hard to feel pride about an achievement you had nothing to do with.

Now, here’s the way divine glory is working through me to work through you, bringing a solution to something you struggle with, at least sometimes.

You’ll surrender to God better when you remember Your Story Isn’t About You.

Read, reread and apply it here:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay

“My dear Frodo!” exclaimed Gandalf. “Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch.”

That’s a line from The Lord of the Rings – the book and the movie.

It complements some stuff Tolkien wrote about hobbits nicely – about how all their indulgence gives them this incredible fortitude.

Yeah, Bilbo struggled.

Yeah, Frodo and Sam struggled.

But they kept going. After a lifetime of lying around, eating six meals a day and smoking, they went on a gruelling physical and mental challenge.

They became heroes – not just among their own people, but all free people.

Keep that in mind if you feel unworthy of the challenges ahead.

No one knows what’s on the horizon. Civilisation could collapse. It could slide into any number of dystopias. Even if everything stays peachy dory, your life will have challenges in it.

And you might not feel ready for it. After all, you’ve spent the last few decades falling short of the examples set by your ancestors.

They were either warriors who knew how to live of the land, or farmers who knew how to defend their lands.

Few of us could do either, let alone both.

With police and supermarkets, we’re pampered and indulgent. Compared to our ancestors, we’re as slovenly as hobbits.

That’s okay.

Maybe we’re as resilient as hobbits too.

Maybe when, when we need to, we can dig deep, cross the lands, make the hard choices and defeat evil.

I don’t know.

But if you’re like me, you want to stack the odds.

I’d start with reading, rereading and applying Your Story Isn’t About You.

To see why I’d choose that before farming, combat training and beekeeping, go here:

https://christianhypnotism.com/ysiay