When I met Wallace for dinner he looked very depressed and had for months. He is a singer/songwriter and had not performed in 4 years and had stopped even listening to music. He was also a massage therapist but developed carpel tunnel syndrome and went into real estate thinking it would stabilize his income.

He is a loving gentle man and the energy in his office, the aggression, the fear and competitiveness was toxic for him. He felt trapped and hopeless and he was not even making much money because he was not aggressive or competitive though he certainly was afraid.

We did some visioning work about what his ideal life would look like. He wanted to enjoy music again and go back to massage. He had learned a new technique that was easier on his hands but was afraid to leave real estate.

According to Robert Cialdini, author of The Power of Persuasion, by putting your commitments onto paper and signing your name on it, the chance of fulfilling the commitment increases 37%. I had Wallace commit to listen to music every day for a month. That was it.

Only a few months later Wallace had quit real estate and was back in his old job in a prestigious hotel doing massage full time making a lucrative salary and using the new technique which caused him no pain and his clients seemed to prefer. Not only that, he performed live before an audience, to rave reviews!