Hi, I am here with Norman Plotkin, He is Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist with a medical emphasis as well as cancer wellness and recovery as an integrative medicine modality. Also certified for hypnotherapy in pre- and post-surgery, pain management, PTSD, smoking cessation, sleep, stress, anxiety and more. How I can help you: Cancer Recovery; Surgery Preparation, Smoking Addiction, Drug Free, Pain Free, Emotional Release, PTSD Therapy. here is the full episode hope you enjoy. Listen in your favorite podcast app.

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Ari Gronich 0:00  

Has it occurred to you that the systems we live by are not designed to get results? We pay for procedures instead of outcomes, focusing on emergencies rather than preventing disease and living a healthy lifestyle. For over 25 years, I've taken care of Olympians Paralympians a list actors in fortune 1000 companies, if I do not get results, they do not get results. I realized that while powerful people who control the system want to keep the status quo, if I were to educate the masses, you would demand change. So I'm taking the gloves off and going after the systems as they are. Join me on my mission to create a new tomorrow as I chat with industry experts, elite athletes, thought leaders and government officials about how we activate our vision for a better world. We may agree and we may disagree, but I'm not backing down. I'm Ari Gornich. And this is create a new tomorrow podcast.

Welcome back, everybody. This is Ari Gronich with create a new tomorrow. We are here today with Norman Plotkin. He is a hypnotherapist and author, a coach. He's been a health committee consultant for the California Legislature representing California physicians, his own private lobbying firms in nation states. And this is something I really want to talk to him about because I love government so much, as you all know. So I just wanted to put that out there that he has been one of the evil ones. Maybe we'll see lobbying in our nation's capital. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what that that tells us. So Norman, why don't you tell us a little bit deeper about who you are, why you became who you are. And and this journey of going from a legislature and consultant to transitioning into clinical hypnotherapy? I mean, this is crazy. It's crazy talk, you know, what most people would consider. So let's let's just get into it. Norman. Tell us about yourself and how you became who you are.

Norman Plotkin 2:13  

Yeah, a long strange trip. It's been right. So I, you know, I grew up on a ranch and I didn't go to college right away, I went in the Marine Corps. And then I got out of the Marine Corps, and I worked in the oil fields and rock plant where I made little rocks out of big rocks, like Fred Flintstone and, and then I was doing construction line work, climbing telephone poles thinking that the world looked up the linemen, and to some extent they do, but I ran into an experience. My brother was killed in a car accident, and I reevaluated everything, and I shut down what I was doing then and went back to college. And I was in a hurry, because now I'm 25 and feeling behind. And so I went to community college, I did speech and debate and Student Government transfer to university and graduated in three years, with a bunch of internship credits. And because I, you know, went to school in Sacramento, where the capital was and, and galis internships, the government chair, on my exit interview, looked at the number of 18 units of internships that that'll never happen again, you know, I said, Well, this doesn't everybody is not why you come to Sacramento, right? So, at any rate, I got within the first semester, I got a job as a clerk in the state assembly, and from clerk to consultant, I ran campaigns, I became a committee consultant. Then I was hired by the Medical Association to lobby to lobby doing that for several years, and then and then struck out on my own and had my own lobbying firm. And I love the strategy. You know, as a Marine, former Marine, I've loved the strategy. I love the politics, I love, but not so much the politics, but you have to understand the politics to understand how to get to the policy. I love the strategy and the, you know, the development of public policy. So I did that. And it was a lot of fun. It was intense at times, the money and the politics, it's just, it's the unsavory part that in the end, when I had my own firm, I represented oil, automotive and energy, but it was small oil. You know, I had the California independent Petroleum Association, and it wasn't big oil. And I had, you know, the automotive aftermarket And oftentimes, we fought with the big car companies right and, and energy at the energy service providers against the monopoly utility. So so on, you know, on its face, it looked like I had all of the old you know, the the The power industries and whatnot, but it was really the underdog, guys. But at any rate, after 25 years of that it made me sick, the stress the the dirty politics, you know, that I tried to stay away from but it's, it's ever present. And so I had cancer, I had papillary carcinoma, and I had a radical thyroidectomy and lymph node resection, and that, you know, I just wanted to get back to normal. And I didn't realize at the time that normal my normal was what made me sick. And so that began what's been eight, nine years spiritual journey and awakening. And so what after it came back six months later, I had to have another round of radiation. I began to reevaluate a friend of mine had gotten out of politics and opened a yoga studio, she took me through therapeutic yoga for cancer. She taught me how to meditate, which, you know, the, the, the tools, the gifts, I was, given my mind, you know, the, my analytical mind was great for the things I've been doing. But it's very difficult to get past in order to, you know, to do real meditation. And so, I have a, I

Ari Gronich 6:21  

actually, I'm gonna interrupt you for a second, I have a question about that. You are a marine. And now you're learning meditation. Where did those two things combined? Because I know a lot of Marines I know a lot of Navy SEALs. And they're meditating constantly during during conflict. I mean, that's how they get through the conflict. Did you find that there is any correlation there between the meditating and and your experience in Marines?

Norman Plotkin 6:52  

Well, they're the power of the mind. And the things that let me get, you know, help me get through my experience as a marine was the kind of things that led me to hypnotherapy. It wasn't until later that when I learned how to meditate, that I realized I was using breathing techniques. Before you know, the navy seals, teach box breathing, you know, five seconds in five seconds out five seconds in five seconds out building a box. And I know that now, but when you're in it, I didn't understand it at that time. What I needed to do was get control of my overactive mind. I was faced with, you know, a life threatening disease and it's never just about the cancer in my marriage didn't survive it. You know, all the things I've worked so hard for my big house, my fast cars, all these things that I thought were important really weren't. But it's in that transition where you think you've losing the things that were important to you. That make that makes it difficult. So I learned to breathe and learn to meditate. I learned air Aveda and my dosha and how to eat for my dosha and I learned a lot about myself. And then teachers began to appear. I read Wayne Dyer, the power of intention, Carolyn meese anatomy, the spirit, Deepak Chopra's quantum healing Joe dispenza. So many just began to appear my interest moved in that direction. And I had really the power of intention when Wayne Dyer, I saw him speak in Pasadena in 2015. Very powerful saw Carolyn meese at the same time, Joe dispenza. And I really wanted to put myself into the service of others, it became a serious thing. And so I walked away from the lobbying thing, I shut down the firm I moved to LA. And, and initially, I had taken a job as a as executive director of a trade association, which was akin to what I've been doing. And after a year of that, it, you know, I just I didn't renew the contract. And I began to look in a new direction that I was led, I was led to. I was looking at coaching and I saw this one program where the psychologists they said, Well, you need to get an edge add hypnosis to your coaching program. I said to myself, well, I thought that was a fairly interesting thing, but I wasn't gonna go to a one week deal. So it turns out, the nationally accredited college of hypnotherapy is right there in Los Angeles. I was in Burbank, and it's in Tarzana. And I met somebody who'd gone and I signed up. And so it was really the power of the mind, my interest in the power of the mind, but from early on, as a marine and even before that, you know, on the ranch, working with large animals and whatnot, and then and then my desire to put myself into the service of others. So this this was the crossroads of the power of the mind and service to others, which led me to to want to open up my hypnotherapy for

Ari Gronich 9:59  

you I noticed as I stated to you before we started recording I saw you and I went to hypnosis motivation Institute at both went there and got our clinical hypnotherapy, certificates and so on. And it's a great school. This was the This was the first school for hypnotherapy in the country. Now there's, you know, tons of them, I don't think any of them are, are quite as good as as HDMI. But tell me something, when when you were deciding to transition into coaching and deciding to transition into the consulting, you know, you've authored three books. What did you decide? Was the point of the three books? Like, each one, I'm sure has its own point. But how did you how did you decide the passion that you would put into those that content into those words, because a lot of people want to write a book, but they don't know if that book is going to sell, they don't know if it's going to be read, they just are passionate about putting their brain onto paper. And so out of the enormous amount of experience that you have, how did you decide those? Because I think all three of those made number one bestseller? Is that correct?

Norman Plotkin 11:28  

Two of them are bestsellers, the other was brand new, so

Ari Gronich 11:31  

Okay, two of them are our bestsellers. So, you know, tell us a little bit about the content of the books and what it is that you're trying to teach people?

Norman Plotkin 11:42  

Sure. So I always wanted to write a book. And it's getting to that focus place where what what's the story, you want to tell what what's the value to the reader. And so I tried really hard for three years to write a book about the cancer experience, and I got nowhere. So I hired a coach, I, I attended the author, incubator program, and having the ability to focus, you know, I, who knew that I was unsuccessful for three years, because I was trying to write more than one book at once, you know what I mean? So getting really clear on who my reader was. And what my message was, was the upshot of having a coach who's helped literally 1000s of people write books. And so it became the, the cathartic memoir of the cancer experience. And so I was able to organize it into the seven proven steps to healing and recovery. I was really moved on Thursday, I was getting ready to cook and family and friends and whatnot, I got an email from a from a guy who said, I want to thank you, because of your book, I'm on the fifth month of a chemo holiday. And it's really an Upshot, my, my son, who was 14, at the time saw a five star review on Amazon and my, my book and from a woman who bought it for a mother who had breast cancer, and she was it made a difference in her life. And she was very grateful. And he screenshotted and texted it to me and, and my response was, How cool is that? Now, if one person is better, because they read my book, then the whole cancer experience was worth it. Because when you go through these things, you look for meaning and why is a big question. And I no longer ask the why. And I understand the meaning. The the experience of cancer is there's a message in it and, and it whispers initially, and then it yells. And if you don't hear the yell, you get a new assignment, which is just a nice way of saying that, you know, it's it doesn't go well for you. So I I didn't hear the whisper but I heard the yell, and I reorganized my life and I put myself into the service of others. And so the first book became about my experience and then I read other books like Kathy Turner's radical remission, or Lisa Rankin, Dr. Lisa Rankin's mind over medicine. And I was fascinated that the people who survive all kind of do some of the same things, and how important is it to share, because when you're in it, it's disjointed. And that 1000 people have something to say, and you get 10 minutes with your doctor, and they don't you know, 10 o'clock when the questions really close in on you like the walls, there's no one there. And so, I gathered the seven things that I thought were super important that I did, and turns out others who have survived cancer have done and I put it into a book where, you know, take charge of your cancer. It's, it's it's pointed to men Women, you know, they gather around, they're there for each other, they, you know, they call their best friend and have a good cry men, men can feel isolated. And, you know, they don't they don't go to the doctor or women go to the doctor every year because they're a woman. Right? And so men tend not to do and they put things off until they're bad. So, so the first book was about was really about helping people who are in the middle of it. I wanted to call it the unwrapped gift. But my publisher said, you know, your readers who are in the middle of it aren't going to see it as a gift. She said, How long did it take you? I said, Yeah, it was a few years. So. So that was that was the first book in it, and it felt really good. And, and it's really about a message of hope. And that for people, when you're in the middle of it, you've got the skin in the game, and you really need to be your own captain. And that's the take charge.

Ari Gronich 15:55  

Yeah. So I want to know what that what these seven proven steps are. Because so I was people a lot of people don't know, I used to be on the advisory board for a long time of a cancer nonprofit, called marathon and miracles and we were mostly alternative health care and and we would help people get solutions that were not necessarily the chemos and the radiations. And the toxins and the and the medicines and pills, but things like Gerson you know, protocol with coffee enemas. I mean, these are the things that people don't know that they really, really want. Yeah, Doritos, herring, a juice, drinking bitter green juice, right? That was something that people don't know that they don't want. So yeah, what are the what are the seven proven techniques? And let's just go one by one and then kind of talk them out.

Norman Plotkin 16:53  

All right. I've done Gerson. I've done Granny, Granny Smith, apple juice, you know, three days, nothing but and those, those are powerful. Those are powerful methods. But the seven steps begins with radically change your diet. We have what's known today in America as the sad. Yeah, the standard American diet. And it's making people sick, processed foods, high fat, fast foods. It's really important to eat, to live and eat foods that are not processed. And so there's a whole there's a whole chapter on it, but a high level is Eat to Live and so radically change your diet.

Ari Gronich 17:40  

Right. But Americans love to live to eat. Not not Eat to Live. Yeah. And, you know, they're unwilling to forego the fried chicken from Kentucky Fried or the MSG from places, you know, I mean, they're unwilling to do that. So how do we explain this in a way that somebody can say? I'm going to do that, because that sounds a lot better than having my organs eaten from the inside out, right? So yeah,

Norman Plotkin 18:13  

I deal with people who smoke cigarettes in the in the package on it says Surgeon General says this could kill you. And they do it anyway. So. So that's one of the chapters to the subconscious mind. I'll get to that in a second. But because you know, change is hard to change. One thing in your life is hard to change seven things is nearly impossible for some so radically, change your diet, learn to meditate. getting control of yourself, talk is super important, because you're listening, and so is every cell in your body. So meditation, and getting control of your active mind, the mind can be the master or the slave. And so, you know, we we have a tendency to externalize that our power. And when we realize that, internalizing our power gives us much more likelihood that we can have exerts something on the external world because control is illusory. So that meditation and the self talk are super important. spirituality, it doesn't matter what, but all paths lead through the divine. Whether you go to a mosque or a church, whether you're Buddhist, Dallas, there's a belief in something larger than ourselves, is really, really important to connecting with humanity and connecting to something larger than ourselves. So spirituality, all paths lead through the divine. Then, you know, life is a contact sport. None of us get out of it alive. We get nicked up along the way. And oftentimes what we do is we start repress our emotions, and repress. And we have these defense mechanisms that we paper over these things. And if we don't resolve them, if they if they remain unresolved, we shut them down into our gut. And they accumulate. And the trauma, trauma is cumulative. And at some point, if you've had enough trauma, and you haven't resolved it, you haven't dealt with it. Your subconscious mind may perceive death as a way out of the pain, and start shutting down your immune system and creating dis ease. So releasing repressed emotions super critical, then communing with your subconscious mind, our programming, we believe that our conscious mind is in control with analysis, reason, logic, decision making and willpower, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. Our programming that was instilled from zero to eight years old, is what the conscious mind measures every decision against. And if it doesn't comport with our programming, we'll come up with a rationalization. Well, I know people who smoke cigarettes until they're 100 made and die, or I'm gonna die, everyone dies, I'll be old anyway. Right. So this conscious mind will come up with a rationalization. So learning to commune with your subconscious mind. And specifically, using hypnosis and hypnotherapy. To help tweak your programming is super important, then no one has more skin in the game than you do. It's important to listen to your doctors, it's important to show up for your appointments. It's important to do your research, but you really have to be the captain of the team. It means ask a lot of questions. And even if, even if they don't want to have questions, ask even if they only want to give you 10 minutes, ask for 10 more, and get to the bottom of things take charge. You know, you're gonna have specialists, a lot of them different ones, one pokes you with a big needle one, cut your organ out one, you know, manages your ongoing care one manages the the the application of therapeutics, whether they you know, cut, burn and poison is, is what I refer to it that because these are the high percentage therapies that allopathic medicine is, is taught to administer. But you are the one who needs to be the captain and don't let anybody push you around. And finally, you got to have a reason to live. Whether it's a grandchild, a child, the book you want to ride or a garden patch, having a reason to live and not just not wanting to die, is the love part, fear is not wanting to die. And the more you concentrate on not wanting to die and the fear that's associated with it, the more likely you are so having something to live for. We all do. If you just you know, fix on something that you need to accomplish. So diet, meditation, spirituality, subconscious,

releasing repressed emotions, taking charge, and having a reason to live. Those are the seven steps and I didn't make any of these up. None of them are groundbreaking. But the power of using each of them in concert, is the thing that is going to make the difference in your cancer experience.

Ari Gronich 23:33  

So did you find that when you were detoxing after the initial, you know, healing crisis that happens inevitably, with you know, the ups and downs of detoxification? Did you find that your mind changed? After you are already detox versus changing your mind and detoxing first? Or did they have to go simultaneously? But, you know, like, what was the major difference between before and after it just in your mindset, because I always found that for me. When I'm clean in my body, my mind is more clean. My thoughts are more clean, the things that I think about myself are more clean. And when I'm dirty in my body when I'm toxified then my thoughts are toxic. And my things are you know, right? So what did you find was at the stage in which your actions and your mind made made up, right? Because at first your actions are not going to be in alignment with your mind. We get that just get that off the shelf right at the beginning. At first, your mind and your actions are not going to be in alignment. When did you find that they became an alignment.

Norman Plotkin 24:56  

It's a process. So initially, when getting back Back to normal wasn't, you know, the old normal, the realization that the old normal made me sick and I needed to find a new normal that was and that's when I use the power of the mind. And so it was a will thing. And as I use the power of the my mind and opened up to new teachers and move my way into cleaner living, that then the mind, it became less of a struggle. So mind body, in concert, and you add in spirit, mind body spirit, then there's a flow, you know, we get into the flow state. And each, it becomes progressively easier. And as Dyer said, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. And it's, it's really is true. As I clean my by stop drinking, I started eating healthy and mindful of portions and what it is I'm taking in, and I guard my thoughts. And my self talk is always very positive. And if I catch myself, I'm not, I don't, I'm not mad, I'm not attached, I just dismiss and move on. And so you know, living in such a way it's self perpetuating. And the clean body, the clean mind, the clean actions follow and it gets easier. So then there's less resistance, you know, we resist these things, because of our programming and the conscious mind may have every desire in the world to eat healthy. And the subconscious mind is going to put up a whole bunch of resistance because it doesn't comport with the programming. And so, so it's the resistance melts away. When our mind body and spirit are in concert. But for me, it began with the will, the strong line and the will. And then as I and then as I learned, and I added the the clarity, the clean living in it aidid. The it wasn't, it was mind, it didn't have to be so strong, right? And then the actions and the resistance falls away and the actions become easier. Okay, so

Ari Gronich 27:16  

I'm going to, I'm going to take this back a second, you're a Marine, you have a will that's been bred into you trained into you different than somebody who's not a marine. Right? So how does somebody get that will to start? What is that like? So I always ask questions, right? So my question is, is, do I want to live? You know, do you want to live? Are you happy with your life? Do you know like, these are the kinds of questions that I would ask if and then it's like an if, If yes, then what If yes, then what if no then what? Right? So that way we break kind of it apart into little pieces. But if somebody had doesn't have that innate will and discipline, because they haven't been bred into it, like you were then what? Like, how does somebody get that? beginning?

Norman Plotkin 28:20  

Well, that's your that's what led me to the hypnotherapy. Because even even with my strong will, and yes, it was I had a strong will. And I was attracted to the Marine Corps because of that. And then they just upped my strong wheel game, because as you know, you're going to Marine Corps boot camp, and I'm going to I'm going to get through this, it's three months of very, very difficult intense stuff, and they train you into mental toughness. So I saw I was predisposed to it. And I, you know, I accelerated it. And here's what happened, though, let me let me tell you that you can, it can go in the other direction, I was determined to keep living. I'm going to beat the saying, you know, I'm going to keep doing I'm going to live the way I want to live. And it came back and it scared me. And I knew fear for the first time because that hardheaded thing that I was just going to Will my way through it, I didn't change. I didn't make any changes. And I knew fear for the first time in my life, kind of like this, you know, the mother of all esophageal reflux, it comes up into your mouth and you know, getting rid of that taste of fear. Right? And, and that's where that's where I needed to learn subtlety around that will, which was, you know, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Well, we all know what, what Albert Einstein said about that. So there are those who need help. I've needed help, too. And getting to a place where you ask for the help getting to the place where you invest in yourself to bring in like all the best coaches have coaches. So when it came time to get serious about writing my book, I got a coach, when it came time to be serious about changing behavior, it's, you may want to see a hypnotherapist because you're worth it. Alright. And so this is that I didn't just seek a therapist, I sought to capture that modality to use it for myself and in service of others. So while we don't all have that, metal, me TT le have the mental toughness of a Marine, it is within our reach. And it's, you know, a matter of deciding whether we're worth it to. So seek that out.

Ari Gronich 30:46  

Yeah, I just want to say to the audience, if any of you are going through this, or any trauma, any kind of medical, emotional, financial, psychological trauma, have people that you trust, connect with them, because it is so important. This is one of the biggest lessons I always had in my own life is I wanted to do it all alone, not because I had an ego about it. But because I had a massive fear of people disappointing me taking advantage of me not treating me the way I needed to be treated, treating me the way they were comfortable treating me. And so I never asked, so I've got a brain tumor. I've had it since I was at least seven, I've been a medical mystery my entire life. And and I was raped and molested. And I mean, I was, you know, I might, my history is crazy. Let's just put it out. It's crazy, the the history that I've had. And so therefore my training was, anybody I love is going to either let me down or abused me or think of me as a burden. And so if I love you, I can't ask you for help, because I'm going to be a burden, and then you're not going to want to be around me. Right? This was the programming that I was suffering through. So I'm sure a lot of the audience members have similar kinds of questions about asking for help men, as you said, we just in general, it's not something that we're taught. It's not something that we don't have tribal living anymore, where we're taken out by the men in the tribe, on a vision quest, where you know, where we learn how to be in a tribe, tribal society, we're trained to be individuals in an individual society doing individual things. And hopefully, maybe they help the collective right. But it's not collective, designed. It's not designed for the collective. So how do we get people and an audience I'm listening, I'm talking to you, and I want him. I want Norman to talk sheet to you right now. How do we get people who are suffering? to ask for help. And the only thing that I have ever come up with is, I need you to call me not the other way around when I'm in the place of despair. Because if I'm in despair, I'm not calling or reaching out. So it's not just the asking of asking for help, but it's the loved ones offering to sit with somebody who's suffering and not trying to change them, at least for me not trying to change me or change where I'm at just sitting with me. So I know that they frickin love me, right? So for you like, what it was, what what do you suggest, especially for men, but men and women? Asking for help? How do we get them to do it?

Norman Plotkin 34:07  

So one of the one of the symptoms of the thyroid cancer that I had was depression. And I had a family member said, well just go outside and get some sunshine. I'm like, Oh, just go get some sunshine. Oh, of course. Why didn't I? Why didn't I think of that? I, I didn't want to ask for help. Because like, sometimes I would get crazy stuff like that. And many of us don't. My suggestion, and this goes across the board for many different things, but especially in this case, get out of your head and get into your gut. You see we have discernment. You have a gut feeling. Like we try to overthink things. And as soon as we started overthinking things for now we're going to compare it to our programming and the subconscious mind is going to derail us once again based on you know, the experiences There's a lot of, you know, a lot of folks who have that those early traumas that they have fear of abandonment, you know, these type things, and so they push people away before they can, you know, let me rip the scab off now before you do it, right. So if if we get to a place where we sit quiet and still so that I teach meditation, you know, sitting quiet, and still the beginning of the day before the 75,000 thoughts that you have every day that 90% of them are the same that were yesterday, sitting quiet, and still, you see, when we pray, we talk to our God, whoever our notion of God is, or divinity. But when we meditate, we listen. And that's when we get answers could come from God come from our higher self, or guardian angel, whatever you want to think of it as. But when we get out of our head and stop trying to steer it, and we get into our gut, and we, we open the door to discernment. I feel like crap. I don't trust anyone. I, you know, the walls are closing in. When we if we're gonna try and think our way out of it, we're gonna get into trouble. But if we go down deep into our gut, and we say to our stuff, what do I need right now? What do I need right now. And just leave that the subconscious mind, the higher self will come to answers. That friend that you can call, I was in the second round of radiation. I was sequestered for three days, because I was radioactive, couldn't let the meat into clean, I was shut in for three days. Now my marriage is failing, my kids are afraid, I waved at them through the window out in the parking lot. And to see the fear on their faces was difficult. But I had my friend john. And john and i talked, I said, john, you know, there's always been a trail has always emerged, I've always been able to see the trail, you know, I don't see a trail. And he talked me through it. So, you know, find your john. Go within and discern from a gut level.

Ari Gronich 37:12  

That's a really good advice. And I hope that, that the audience that's listening will take that advice, because it's so important to find your tribe to find the people that are there for you, in the darkest of your pain, let alone the light that you shine on them. Right. And, you know, I'm not a very religious person. I was raised, studying religions. And I I'm a Jewish, Buddhist, Peruvian Catholic, Native American, you know, practitioner, I mean, I practice I studied the Quran, I've studied Buddhism, I've studied Native American ceremony. And you know, what's funny about Native American ceremony, and I was thinking about this when you were talking about meditation, because I used to do a lot of sweat lodges. And in a sweat lodge, it's completely dark. It's like being in the womb, and extremely hot and uncomfortable. So the only thing that you can concentrate on is trying to keep yourself cool. And then allowing everything else to happen. But in Native American, you know, culture, they say, we want to make the ceremony as hard as possible, so that your life will be easy in comparison. And I really took that to heart when it came to considering the ritual, the ceremony of meditation, the ritual to Sarah, it's hard, it's hard to meditate, we had a Zen master, who used to go to the sweat lodge, because he said that he could get into a meditative state like that in the sweat lodge, where it would take him 20 or 30 minutes, you know, and this is a practicing Zen master for over, you know, a couple decades. And, and so, you know, I use a candle. As a focal point for meditation I use, sometimes I'll go in the shower, and I'll sit down in the shower, and I'll close my eyes and I'll just let the water pour over my head. And my meditation is anything that's not necessary. Anything that's superfluous is washing away, it's just washing down the drain everything you know, like, that's kind of my, my mantra in there. But let's, let's talk about some suggestions that you might have for somebody who's going through traumatic experiences, doesn't know how to meditate. They don't know how to take their brain and turn it into a focus on a focal point because it's so erratic. Right. So give us some, just some quick techniques for that. Sure.

Norman Plotkin 40:08  

Box breathing, we've covered it a second ago, five seconds into your nose, five seconds out through your mouth, five seconds into your nose, five seconds out, they teach it to Navy SEALs when they're in combat when they're in the middle of it. That's what they're doing to reset their autonomic nervous system. That's a simple one. Now. How about the Course in Miracles, it's a three volume, tome, you know, about lots of different stuff. The Reader's Digest version is this love is your birthright, it resides in your heart center. its opposite is fear. At any one time, you cannot be in love and fear at the same time. So I do regular check ins with myself throughout the day, am I coming from a place of love or fear? Fear is anger to the brain, the range of emotions that are associated with fear. You know, it's it's clear, you know, that, if it's not a happy emotion, it's a fear based emotion. So what I do is I, I teach people to have a icon of visualization, maybe it's a red rose, maybe it's a red heart, maybe it's a picture of their child or whatever it is fixed something that brings love and joy. And just visualize that in your heart center. And then fear falls away, because you cannot be in both at the same time. So these are simple exercises, breathe, bring yourself back to love. The other thing is a little more complex, but easily understood. Viktor Frankl psychiatrist, Jewish psychiatrist, concentration camp, he wrote the book mankind's Search for Meaning, and and develop the the logotherapy. But his quote, between stimulus and response between action and reaction is a space and in that space, lies your power, because you get to decide what kind of human being you want to be. Now you can be reactionary, and, and leak and bleed your power out to someone who just got said something to you. Or you can take a moment and decide who you want to be in that moment. and maintain your power, keep your power, and show up who you want to be your higher self knows who to show up as. So these are three very simple concepts that you can do. Because look at our world today. People externalizes their power to prisons, paid places and things left and right. He said, she said he did. She did. The news said the president that I mean you're leaking power to everybody. And so the notion that we can control our outer world is illusion, the outer world is illusion, the only thing that is real is your inner world. And when you take stock, and bring love into your heartspace, and define your inner world, based on your higher self understanding, this is how we maintain our sanity, and live our highest our highest possible. So this is this is five D stuff where the 3d world is dragging us down into fear. And the five D world transcends time and moves into energy. And we go there through love and compassion and unity instead of duality that transcended that individuation that connects is we're all connected. This whole thing about six feet, social distancing, this is where our heart energy picks each other up. You know, we're all connected. We can have non local experiences, where we call it synchronicity or, you know, these type of things. But we are all that tribe, that human tribe, we're all connected energetically. And we forget that and we externalize you know, we we recover ourselves out from the our humaneness. And we separate ourselves and to a dual experience. And that person outside of me said that she can you believe he said that? Oh, who cares? Who cares what anyone says? Or does, ultimately we have control of our inner world. And this is where our happiness and our peace and our humanity reside.

Ari Gronich 44:29  

Awesome. So I'm going to go back to something that is completely on a different topic now because i think that i think the audience has gotten this. So one of the things that you said just now is similar to what I say which is it's all an illusion. I say, we made this shit up. We can do better. That's really simple. This is Entire world, from the buildings that we see to the money that we think is so important. We created the things that we didn't create our bodies, the trees, the nature right around us, that was created by somebody else, or something else either way. But what we created is all of the systems that we live by all of the things that we think are so important that we get so riled up about as if it is the only an absolute way. So I'm going to go back to private lobbying, Norman Plotkin. And what I'm going to ask you is this, should we as a community, as a society, as people in general, try to do something about the policies and the government and the stuff that we're going through? Or should we stop trying to change the government? start changing ourselves? Because we are the freaking government? See, I think people think that this is some kind of outside entity that doesn't, you know, that's like away from the people. The government is away from the people. It's a separate entity from the people. But yet, the people are the people who make the government who make the laws, all that stuff. So this is this is where, where my questioning comes in, because I've like looked at, okay, do we want to change healthcare for the better? Or do we just want to create a new system, start as a small thing, and then put it right next to the big you know, honkin? You know, system that's ineffective? And wait, wait, wait for people to show up and say, Oh, hey, I like that one better, right? Or should we go through that lobbying and that policy change in order to force it to force the change, or let it happen organically. And that's for it doesn't matter if it's medicine or agriculture or systems right. Then

Norman Plotkin 47:33  

I used to believe you know, and the power and the power to influence and, and to develop policy. We have devolved into a quagmire, it's, the system is broken. There is no real distinction. The parties are the same. The corruption is across the boards. We the organic approach is far better. But look, we've been asleep. We've been entertained by television, and movies, and sports, and all of these things that really don't matter when we've been asleep, and we've left it to someone else. And while we'd love to do someone else, you know, the fox is guarding the henhouse. And now, all the hens are dead. Right, and all we have left is the boxes in the henhouse. And so it's time to wake up. But you know what, with all with this year, this year, we all began with vision boards and resolutions to have our own personal 2020 vision. But you know what? It wasn't about our personal vision, it was about humanity's vision. And so the whole COVID thing, this is waking people up, television will never be the same. Hollywood will never be the same. Sports will never be the same. Our government will never be the same. This is the this is a year I used to think you know, as we transition from Pisces, which was you know, patriarchal and duality, dual conflict into Aquarius, which is energy, feminine unity collaboration, I thought it was going to be rainbows and unicorns. But let's face it, any transition, any transformation is more like the subduction zone of a plague tectonic event, right? And so that's what we're seeing. It's happening, whether we like it or not, and so many of us are awakening many of us and so. So, I lead the weekly meditation of a group of folks who come because what, what do we know we know there are studies the Maharishi effect that when people get together and collectively meditate, they can reduce disease, they can reduce crime, there are non local impacts were from collective action, and so many of us are waking up into this fifth dimensional thing where love is in our heart space compassion for our fellow human beings, who cares about this, this pop culture stuff that has absolutely zero to do with anything but to lull us into asleep. And so whether we like it or not, it's happening. And when enough of us when we get to critical mass will lift the others who may or may not be aware of it. And institutions are changing. And at you know, as our social institutions and political institutions, the change must come from ourselves first, and we must open our eyes and become aware to the illusion and the corruption. They we weren't minding the store, while big banks are just robbing, you know, they're in bed with the politicians, the banks, corporations, I know, all of my worldview was destroyed this year. You know, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to help my parents in 2018 transition. Because I'm glad they didn't see this world, they grew up in a different world. My dad was in World War Two, my mom, you know, the depression, she taught me how to cook with very little more than bacon grease, and flour, and I can make all kinds of stuff. So you don't mean I'm glad, I'm glad they transition, they live long lives into their 80s and 90s. I'm glad they didn't see this because it's ugly and nasty and brutish. But on the other side is amazing. And what we what we have to do is keep loving our heart space.

Ari Gronich 51:33  

Right? I think it's absolutely necessary, what we're going through. I'm a little bit disappointed that it's taken us a little longer than Thomas Jefferson said, when it comes to the revolution, you know, 25 years, should be a revolution every 25 years. So I'm, you know, disappointed that that's taken us longer, and that we don't really pay attention too much. One of the people I was talking to said, you know, the thing is, is that people have created this, this world in which you have to be active 40 hours a week, minimum 40 6080 hours of work, and they don't have time for public service. They don't anymore, they don't have time, because both parties have, you know, family, both husband and wife are working. And so nobody has any time anymore, to pay attention anything other than survival. And when I hear somebody say I'm woke, or he's woke or we're woke, but they're not. And you know, I'm like, I i get i get the the thought of, I'm woke but there's 70 million people who thinks that they're woke up on one side, and another 70 million who think that they woke up on the other side, and none of them get that none of them are woke yet. Like they're not, they're still just preaching the same storyline that either echo chamber is uttering versus their own storyline based on their own beliefs, because they can't have their own beliefs anymore, because they've been programmed their beliefs based on their echo chamber, which is typically social media or news or whatever that is that they watch, right. And so, I look at this because, you know, as a hypnotherapist as a as a somebody who is well trained in the subconscious mind in the places that we don't like to go. Right. My question, Is it is it possible without massive destruction, which is typically what happens before a transition into something more beautiful. You get a fire before a forest is fertilized right? Is it possible at this point without massive destruction? To get people back to a place where critical thinking, nuanced thinking, common sense? Looking, you know, and being an active participant in our government, in our politics, in our society, in our block, I mean, you could go out my street, and nobody's hanging out on the block anymore. You know, I'm sure that that's happening all over the country, lock parties aren't happening, communities aren't getting together. Is it possible without massive destruction to get the subconscious mind to shift that drastically in time for what we need in order to shift this or is it just going to be played out as it plays out?

Norman Plotkin 54:49  

Well, it will play out as it's meant to be. And if we try and rush it, there's a great there's a great Chinese concept that Chinese Tao is concept of Wu Wei, it translates in not action, but it's not non action. It's no action until the action is right. And then when when you wait till the time is right, then you act in flow. And it's amazing, right? But if we rush, if we force, if we cajole, you're going to have a perverted outcome. So we wait until the time is right. And so it's going to be, we're watching it now. It's happening now it's crumbling around our feet. It's like the tower card and Tarot, it, but what the great what people miss in the Tarot tower card is the laser like focus with which we emerge, you see, so newspapers have been dying a slow, agonizing death for 10 years. And it's being sped up now. And so to is the news, what we consider the nightly news that or the even the 24, Seven News, it's devolved into a food fight. And it will not survive the current, it will not, it will not survive the current. And so you'll, democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1832, he marveled at Americans propensity to associate, we associate it all. So when, when to your, to your point about people are too busy, both parents are working, there is enough time to do what we want to do. We you can tell what's important to people by how they organize their life. You see, all the jabber in the world doesn't mean amount to a hill of beans, if your actions are showing something completely different. So there is enough time to do what's important to us. And as we, as we emerge, there's going to be some pain. And we're in the middle of the pain. It's not a pleasant time right now. And but people are awakening to the notion of that they've been asleep. And that, because they've been asleep, the the autopilot has flown us in a very bad direction. And we've abdicated our responsibility to people who are crooks, basically, who don't have our best interests in mind. And so there it will emerge through our association. So maybe it's maybe we identify with a certain group or, you know, this, but not what I'm not talking about is identity politics, what I'm talking about is, is things that you'd like to do. And so and you and you hang out with other people who like to do it, and this has been a thing about Americans since the beginning. And so it's through our associations that we will unite and, and emerge with a different with a different perspective, and a different way of going about things. I'm not sure what it's going to look like, I'm kind of excited to see. But I don't think we can rush it, nor should we. And I would I think if we remain with that, that gut feeling that that intuition, that that discernment, and have our heart space is filled with love. That's, that's our job. You see. And when enough of us do it, collectively, we'll write our course.

Ari Gronich 58:28  

Right? So you know, my, here's my suggestion to people in the audience, whether you're a church group, whether you're in a men's group, women's group, is this association, friendships, things like that. I'm going to give you a challenge. The challenge is to find five people other than yourself. Figure out what you guys are all passionate about equally. And then create a plan for how to actualize that. So I have a friend, her passion is to stop child trafficking. That's her passion. She's got a nonprofit, she's an amazing person. And she has collected a few people around her who also have that same belief, and then they've gone out to start making changes, right. But once you have that group of five or six, my next challenge is to find another group of five or six that have the exact same passion, maybe different skill sets, but the exact same passion. Connect with them and combine Efforts versus having to have the ego of being the only one who's doing it's getting the credit for making that change or making that shift. Because, to me, the thing that is, and it's a challenge, because it's so difficult for people to do this, I want the credit, they want the credit, he wants to credit, who cares who the credit gets, as long as child trafficking is gone, right? As long as bullying is done, as long as you know, we're not poisoning the water anymore, right? So get people you don't want you know, poison in your in your food. Okay, get five people, and then have them get five people and then have to get five people and create that passion together. That's my challenge. We've been we've been at this conversation a while. I'm enjoying myself tremendously, actually. And

Unknown Speaker 1:00:58  

as am I,

Ari Gronich 1:00:59  

I love these conversations. Do you have to go anywhere? Do you have any meetings? No. Okay, good. So lobbying. I just want to finish this before we go back to, you know, the other part. Politicians, you've had dealings with them all, all of them believe that they are. That they're the Savior, that they're that they're a good in the world? Right? nobody feels like they're the ones that are causing the policies, they think that the policies that they're creating are for the benefit of society, right. So you've been around them a lot? Is it malicious? Or is it just a matter of belief? That may not be optimal? Is it malicious for money? Is it you know, or is it just ignorance of, of factual reality? What is it

Norman Plotkin 1:02:09  

it's some are corrupt every fiber of their body. Most are people who were popular in school that they networked heavily. They, they believe in the right thing. And they're asked to, to, to serve. And that's how it's done. And most of them arrived, bright eyed and bushy tailed. And it doesn't take long before they're believing their own press releases, and the self aggrandizement. You know, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. You know, we've created a professional corps of elected officials, who get very used to entitlement. And if they only learn grace, you see the self justification melts away in the face of grace. But they are all about self justification, they're doing the people's business now. Now, I'm, you know, the end justifies the mean, because, you know, I'm helping people. Well, you're helping yourself first. I mean, this whole entitlement thing, this professional class of politicians, it's, it's toxic, and they, they believe they're good people. But in order to survive, it requires corrupt action. If to look the other way, you have to, you have to subordinate your own beliefs and your own conscience for the party and the cause, and the money and the highlight, it's just, you know, it's corrupt. And it's both sides. And, you know, every two years I would campaign and I'm like, it's gonna be that we're gonna win this time. It's gonna be different. Whenever they get in, they play the game,

Ari Gronich 1:04:16  

right? So as a Marine, and I'm, I'm bringing it back to this. Because I've had a lot of friends in the military. One of my close friends was a POW for five years in Vietnam, and ended up in prison for 15 years thereafter because of police brutality on him. Mind you, he you know, he learned how to do OPM really well in in Vietnam. So you know, he wasn't perfect, but he led a team of five men into Cambodia. And just You know, an amazing human being. But when I used to talk to him, I would ask him the question, is this the country that you fought for? And so I'm going to ask you as a marine. Because there's a lot of military people who who might listen to this, and I want, I want them to have a voice. Because I've dealt with a lot of VA, I've worked at the VA and LA, PTSD work a lot of deep emotional release. So is this the country as a marine that you fought for? And if it is, or if it's not? What about it is or not? And how do you see service in the military, or for any government position, whether it's Peace Corps, or charitable work, or whatever, as a place where we can come back to creating a country that would be worthy of fighting for. And I'll just preface it with one more thing, if I remember, because it was just on the tip of my tongue. But if it's worth fighting for what needs to happen now, so that our military members who are sacrificing everything can feel in their hearts like they're doing this, not for the paycheck, not that it's much of a paycheck. But they're doing it for a country that's worth fighting for.

Norman Plotkin 1:06:55  

If you've traveled the world, you know that there are people who are dying to get here. That hasn't changed. The ideals that this country was founded on are still the ideals that this country was founded on. We've been asleep and allowed gangsters to take over. And it is the country that I wrote a blank check for up to an including my life for it's the country that my father served in World War Two for well we need to do is return to the sense of belonging that the greatest generation didn't need to be taught.

Unknown Speaker 1:07:47  

We,

Norman Plotkin 1:07:49  

we've become selfish and distracted and asleep. And as a result, we've lost our way. The corruption, I mean, the pay to play, you know, I, I could go into details. But you know, everyone has their own politics, if we get if we devolved into politics, you're gonna offend somebody, and but, you know, the pay to play, and it's on both sides. But that that has severely tarnished our institutions. And it's based on greed. And the back to the notion of power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So there are millions who have served, and they continue to serve, you know, part of part of the problem is geopolitical dynamics. You know, we made a deal. In the 70s, we went off the gold standard. And petroleum was traded in the dollar. And in order, and what does that do? What do we get for that, that strengthens the US dollar and our currency is strengthened, because the world trades in it? But what did we have to put up for that we had to put up our military and become the top of the world to trend to safeguard the transportation of petroleum? Right. And so people?

Ari Gronich 1:09:24  

I don't think a lot of people know that. That was the beginning of of that it was also the end of the draft, which is the other question I had for you, which is, I believe that we should have some form of public service be mandatory, whether it be a draft, whether it be you know, Peace Corps, whatever. I believe that some kind of service when you're 18 1920, you know, in those that age range ish area, in order to teach people reteach people about service to their fellow man.

Norman Plotkin 1:10:02  

Totally agree. You know, I hated every minute of the Marine Corps. But I wouldn't trade it for the life of me. And I, maybe I didn't hate every minute of it. But you know what I mean? It wasn't, it wasn't the most pleasant

Ari Gronich 1:10:17  

knowing, oh, it's not. But how many people do you still know that were your brothers back then?

Norman Plotkin 1:10:23  

There's a handful, and we're tight. And, and even if I didn't know them, then all they got to know is that they were marine. And it did. That's all it matters. But and listen, when I when I got out, and I and I went into the, into the professional working world, my suit was pressed, my shoes were shined, my hair was cut, and people walk with a bearing that people recognize immediately. I didn't need to tell people that I was prior military. It just you could just tell. And it behooves me immensely throughout my career. I believe a national service of some sort doesn't have to be military. But so, so many people like to learn how to be a man or a woman, for that matter, you know, a little sewing kit. I sew buttons, I get the self sufficiency that goes you know, from is

Ari Gronich 1:11:24  

I, I found it really fascinating. That Gillette, and this single use razor was a military requirement for all soldiers in World War Two, because they needed to be able to shave because their their helmets and their things weren't fitting on them properly, like the gas masks and stuff. And so they had to have a shaving kit, it was required part of the gear. You know, it's not how much is good.

Norman Plotkin 1:12:01  

Do you know that I have, I shave every day, not very much. But with my Gillette track to that it was issued to me in the Marine Corps boot camp, it still works. Anyway, it's kind of funny. It's It teaches you how to adult. And, you know, it's a lost art. So I think, you know, we could benefit immeasurably from it.

Ari Gronich 1:12:25  

Awesome, thank you so much for that I I know, I kind of go on these conversations off the tangents in here and there. But I do that because I actually don't want it to be just an interview, I want it to be a conversation that can uplift that can, you know, put a fire under somebody's asked that can make them know that there's actionable things that they can do to change their life today. I mean, so many people feel so hopeless, helpless. I know, in my life, suicide was always an option. I had 28 friends commit suicide in my life. And that was always an option. My brother asked me once why I believe in God, I said, because if I didn't, I'd be dead. Because if I didn't believe that there was something higher than me, I wouldn't believe that there was a purpose for me. And therefore there's no reason to experience the amount of pain that I've had to experience in my life. Right. And I know that that's not an unusual way of looking at life right now. That especially during some of these times, there's been such a spike in the mental illness and abuse in the house in suicide and all these things. And so, towards the end of this conversation, I just wanted to lead it back there because I want people to have tricks and tools and tips and things that they can do to make their life better, to make their communities better to make the relationships more rich and vibrant and lively. So that suicide is not even in their consciousness as an option. Because they always know there's somebody out there to help there's some kind of hope, some kind of thing that they could do. And so I wanted to bring it back there and I want you to just talk about that a little bit. You know, as a subconscious, mindfulness healing coach person, I know that that this is some of the stuff you have to deal with every single day. Love.

Norman Plotkin 1:14:53  

Love is our birthright. Love is God energy. Love energy equals God, energy, whatever, by whatever name you call God, the divine. Having love in your heart space is your birthright. It's why you're here. And so, so often people wonder, why am I here? Why? These are all lessons, we're here, we signed up our soul. souls are eternal. We live we are eternal souls living a temporary biological existence in this very dense frequency that's known as Earth, an emotion that lives here and people, souls come here to learn about emotion, because this is the only place that exists in the universe. And so each of these things are a lesson. I often find myself when I'm in my next embarrassing moment, let me learn the lesson quickly. And, you know, what's, where's the lesson? Let me learn it quickly find the lesson, learn it quickly move on to my next embarrassing moment. But as long as we see it that way, you know, I mentioned earlier about the, the email I got from the guy who read my book and, and credited the book with, you know, having five months of chemo holiday, and I, I asked myself, why did I get cancer? Why, why me? at all, this is great live, I thought that was great. Like, why did I have to get cancer, what's the meaning of the cancer was to push through to find my true essential purpose in life, to be in the service of others using the power of the subconscious mind, leading with love. And when I realized that the message of my cancer was to pull me out of a cesspool, and put me into a loving space, helping others, when people leave my office, they float out of here, feeling that and that is that lifts me up. That's, that's my reason for living. And so the, the pain of the cancer, emotion, emotional and physical. The fear was to direct me to my essential purpose to my soul's purpose. And once I realized that I stopped asking why. Why did this happen? Well, it was a lesson that I needed to learn and look when I learned it. I think goodness, I did. And I did I learned it, and it brought me to my soul's purpose. And so when you see that, the pain is a lesson. Then you dedicate yourself to learning what is the lesson here? making a game? Now it's a game, what is this pain? teaching me? What What should I learn so that I can move to the next lesson? That's what life is. It's a series of lessons. And if we get hung up on one, and give up, then what is this is what leads us to what's the purpose of life? Well, you forgot what the purpose of life was, you forgot that it's a series of lessons. So get in the game, and learn the lesson and move on to the next one. It may be painful, you may skin your knees. It may hurt your feelings. But do you know your life? And you do then what's the lesson here? Let me learn it quickly so that I can move on to the next lesson. That's why we're here. We're here to learn lessons so that our souls can evolve. If you get hung up on this is painful. You missed it, there's a lesson. And you missed the point of life. And when you remember, if you just fix in your mind that the point of life is to be here and to learn lessons and for our soul to grow and expand. And in so doing it expands others by our example. Right. And so it's in this way that we give meaning and value to our life. By understanding that this pain, there's some there's a lesson remember my favorite, oh, my favorite. The little boy who goes down the hallway and opens the door to his room and is full of horse poop. Nobody said there's a pony in here somewhere. So you see what I mean? Right? So, so bringing it bringing the discernment from your gut, to discernment. From your gut, what to then ask the question, what's the lesson here? Let me learn it quickly so I can move to the next lesson. The next lesson may be painful, accept it, accept that it may be painful, and learn it too. And at some point, the sun begins to rise. And the lessons are less painful.

But now you're a teacher. Now you've had your shamanic journey, and now you're become a teacher for others. And that's what mine and yours I hear your story. And I've similar, you know, there was a there was pain, there was pain and i've i've surveyed all of the all of the major religions I've tracked in, in Nepal and studied Buddhism at the monkey temple I, I, my, my girlfriend is from China, and we study Taoism, you know, talk about wanting to come to this country I have, she's a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. And you know, she came here from China. And I know a lot of her friends who come here from China, they, people are eager to come to this country, it's still the things that it was founded on, are still so using our discernment and keeping love in our heart space. And understanding that what may seem painful is a lesson and asking to learn the lesson quickly so that we might move on to the next. This is the meaning of life.

Ari Gronich 1:20:55  

That's awesome. All right, three, count them three tips, tricks, actionable steps that can be immediately implemented. For anyone listening to this.

Norman Plotkin 1:21:12  

Well, I have to apologize. We we covered them in this wide ranging, but I'm going to recap them here for you. Cool, Bri Bri, Bri breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, do the box breathing if you need to. These are tactics that they teach people who are in high stress. And so breathing resets the autonomic nervous system. So anytime you're in a moment of stress, a deep breath into your nose. caveat out your mouth,

Ari Gronich 1:21:41  

I have a caveat for that breathe in hose, not in through your mouth. When you breathe in through your mouth, you excite your adrenal glands. When you breathe in through your nose, you calm your adrenal glands, thereby taking yourself out of fight or flight and into a more balanced, relaxed state. It's really good, by the way for people who have massive anxiety disorders.

Norman Plotkin 1:22:05  

Absolutely. And through the nose out through the mouth. Number two is love. Love is your birthright, it resides in your heart center. And if at any moment you don't feel that you're feeling loving in your heart center, you're feeling fear. And that fear can be get so many other negative emotions and all it's really as simple as fixing in your mind, an icon that represents love for you, and then just imagining it in your heart space and bringing yourself into a place of love. Now, I in my spiritual journey, I have I have done, I have done a number on my ego. It used to be pretty big when I was a lobbyist. And I have reduced that ego to a very, very small now I just want to help people in the shortest amount of time. And that's because I wouldn't be really good at what I do. But so in moments where I feel that ego creeping back in, I just come back to a place of love, I see a red rose, I see my little girl's face, you know, there are these things that just bring me immediately, my holding my mom's hand as she breathed their last breath at night, I was able to take her through hospice, and that just that moment, she brought me in, I escorted her out, and I was so grateful for that opportunity. But these are the things that represent love. And I bring that and fear melts away. So fear, love, not fear. And it's really as easy as that. And the third thing is back to Dr. Frankel, you are so powerful, and you leak your power, the moment you react to somebody without thought. So remember, between space, the space between action reaction, stimulus and response is your power. Because you get to decide what kind of human being you want to be those three things. They don't cost any money. They're easy to remember. And the upside for you is immeasurable.

Ari Gronich 1:23:59  

That's awesome. I have I like to add caveats to things. I have a thing about ego. Because I don't think that ego is this nasty thing that everybody seems to think it is. To me the nastiness is when the ego is above the commitment thereby pushing the commitment down. When you have it the other direction and your commitment is here and your ego is pushing your commitment to me that's where you want to be because you want that ego that identity to push your passion to push your commitment forward. To be competitive with yourself not with others but with yourself to be better you every time. And your commitment is here. So that ego is is the power that's underneath it's like the wind beneath my wings right? So the egos that wind, but my wings is the commitment

Norman Plotkin 1:25:01  

Absolutely everything. Everything serves a purpose. And so, I mean, my business is Norman black and hypnotherapy. I mean, you can't remove myself from my ego and I'm pushing, I'm pushing my commitment. It's the same thing with liberty and responsibility, right, my Liberty ends where yours begins. And I I enjoy Liberty because I have the responsibility to, to, you know, use it in a positive way. Right. So, absolutely. I we don't want no ego. We just want it in check. Under our commitment,

Ari Gronich 1:25:34  

and so, Norman, how can people get ahold of you if they want to get ahold of you?

Norman Plotkin 1:25:39  

I'm at Normanplotkin.com. I'm on LinkedIn. Norman Plotkin Inc. Facebook. Norman Plotkin Inc. Instagram Norman PlotkinChT. All at Norman Plotkin for Twitter. I don't use that one very much. But

Ari Gronich 1:25:59  

is there a lot of you because I know there's no more Oregon itches on the planet other than this one. So there's Is there any potkins?

Norman Plotkin 1:26:08  

There are, believe it or not, there's a dentist in Monterey. There's a couple of attorneys. Yeah, there are other Norman Plotkin. You know, my grandfather came from the Ukraine in 1903. It turns out it means fisherman you know, the Black Sea there. You know that a lot of them. So at any rate, yeah, there are but none of none of them are hypnotherapists. Gotcha.

Ari Gronich 1:26:30  

All right. So audience if you'd like to get ahold of Norman, you can reach him at Norman Plotkin got anywhere.com basically anywhere you. You want to look social media wise, Facebook or Norman plotkin.com. So I really enjoyed this conversation. Norman, thank you so much for being here. And you have given a tremendous value to our guests or to our audience. And I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And this is Ari Gronich. This has been another episode of create a new tomorrow where we are teaching you tips and tricks to create a new tomorrow today. Thank you so much for being here. I look forward to the next one. Thank you for listening to this podcast. I appreciate all you do to create a new tomorrow for yourself and those around you. If you'd like to take this information further and are interested in joining a community of like minded people who are all passionate about activating their vision for a better world. Go to the website, create a new tomorrow.com and find out how you can be part of making a bigger difference. I have a gift for you just for checking it out and look forward to seeing you take the leap and joining our private paid mastermind community. Until then, see you on the next episode.