Recently I did a post about Psycho Cybernetics. I was contacted by a man called Marc who read my blog post and had this to say:

“Dean, yes, “PC” is an outstanding method to train your mind. It has changed my life, that’s for sure.

When I was about to enter my junior year in high school (around 1965, I read Dr. Maxwell Malt’z book, then in paperback, called “Psycho Cybernetics.” Maltz was a plastic surgeon.

I learned about the book from an article I read in on the sports page by a professional baseball player that resurrected his career by following these techniques. When I bought the book, I also learned about other athletes whose careers were changed for the better.

I devoured the the book and have practiced the techniques since that time. With that training, I don’t believe I ever would have been as successful as I have been in life. I remember distinctly Dr. Maltz saying how fascinated he was by patients who were disfigured in some way, but the corrective surgery, although it changed their physical appearance, did not change their mental image of themselves. They still acted as if they were disfigured.

So, he devised this technique to change their image of themselves—and this important—to reflect the reality of their now changed physical appearance.

This is great stuff and I will look forward to your coming pieces on the subject. All of the modern spin-offs from this technique are mostly inferior renditions of Dr. Maltz’s approach—the key to which was you were training your mind to reflect the reality of your physical and mental capacity, not something false.”

I was now even more intrigued… someone who had been reading about Psycho Cybernetics for over 40 years. I was keen to hear everything Marc had to say on the subject.

So with that in mind I can exclusively reveal that Marc has kindly written an overview of Psycho Cybernetics for the StreetLessons.com readers:

An Overview of Psycho Cybernetics by Marc

The US Constitution remains the most revolutionary proposal for the relationship between individuals and their government. Capitalism is the same for our relationship with our fellow man. In 1960, Maxwell Maltz, MD, a plastic surgeon by profession, posed, to that date, the most revolutionary idea for a successful relationship with ourselves. He called it Psycho-Cybernetics (“PC”) and explained it that year in a book with the same name. It was not a “positive thinking” or “will power” approach, both in fashion at the time. Instead, he aimed directly at changing the only thing that matters about how we think about ourselves: our self-image.

Dr. Maltz noticed that some of his patients, after removing a hideous scar, still harbored a mental one, causing them to continue to act as if the scar was still there. The “inner scar” remained. Their “self image” was faulty. He used “creative imagination” to remove this delusion. He reasoned that if he could do that with his patients, he could also help others without physical scars, but with damaged self-images, none-the-less.

As a 15-year-old athlete in 1965, I was fortunate to hear about, and read, the book. It has made all the difference. Dr. Maltz theorized that the brain does not distinguish between real and imagined experiences as long as the imagined experiences are vivid. This is the heart of the PC technique. Since the brain does not distinguish between the real and the vividly imagined, he wanted you to create “in your mind’s eye,” with your imagination, a vivid “reality” wherein you act or perform something perfectly, flawlessly, without a shadow of doubt or fear, with complete confidence and success. See yourself doing this in a relaxed, tranquil state, but one that is “real” in every detail. And do it over and over for about ten to fifteen minutes.

This works. It’s scary how well it works.

Do you fear of public speaking? See yourself deliver the speech over and over. Visit, if you can, the site so you’ll see what it looks like, smells like, fells like. Get an idea of the temperature, where will you and the audience be, what does your host look like, how will the room be lighted.. Any and all details you can summons to make the image in your mind real. Trial attorneys in an unfamiliar forum often will try to visit the courthouse before the trial or oral argument. That way they can rehearse their opening statement or appeal to the court with vivid reality.

Is your golf swing giving you fits? Get an image of the perfect swing. A tape I found helpful for this is produced by SyberVision, (http://www.sybervision.com/Golf/indexg.htm) showing all-time great Al Geiberger swinging each club slowly, perfectly, flawlessly, you see every move. Then, it’s your turn. But don’t go out to the course, just yet. Sit in your chair, relax, close your eyes, and see yourself doing exactly the same thing as Al did, in every detail. You. Right on the first tee of your favorite course, but all in your imagination. Feel the club, the weather, the sun on your face. You get the idea. The same goes for any athlete in any sport.

Salesmen, managers, athletes, pilots, students, attorneys all can benefit by seeing themselves give the relaxed, confident, winning presentation or performance—cool under pressure. Teachers or profs, the perfect lecture. Presenting yourself for a raise or that great job. The possibilities are endless. You are practicing in your mind.

Studies have been done proving the worth of the technique. There are legions that have used one form or another of PC and credit it for their success. In one study, the participants were given tips on dart throwing technique. One group practiced actually throwing darts and another just relaxed, closed their eyes, and saw themselves throwing darts with perfect technique, but with their mind’s eye. At the end, a competition was held and the group that imagined their practice did better than the group that actually threw the darts!

The best thing about the PC technique is that you get better and better at it as you practice it every single day. Your imagination becomes more clear, more sharp, more focused and, therefore, your mental images more productive. For me, as a college athlete, it was indispensable for honing hitting and throwing techniques, footwork, and confidence. As a student, I couldn’t imagine how I could have survived law school without ten minutes each day, four or five days a week, imagining and practicing recall and the presentation of information—even job interviews.

You can get Dr. Maltz’s books at used book stores on the internet or at Amazon.com (Amazon). Or you can visit Nightingale-Conant, who now owns the rights to Dr. Maltz’s work (Nightingale-Conant). Either way, if you really want to profoundly change your life, how you look at yourself, how you define your limitations, this technique remains, in my opinion, the finest and most likely to work. And the best part is, you don’t have to stay in a Holiday Inn Express the night before.