Psycho-Cybernetics - See Yourself at Your Best

Matt Furey's Super Human Success Blog

The Picture in Your Mind

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“Pictures are more impressive to your automatic mechanism than words.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D. Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded

Many people are taught to recite positive affirmations as a means of ridding themselves of limiting beliefs. They are taught to use affirmations to think positive and to achieve their goals. These same people are left wondering when these affirmations will start working.

Why? Because most of the time they don’t work.

As Dr. Maltz taught in Psycho-­ Cybernetics, positive thinking or positive affirmations that aren’t rooted in a mental picture are not sending a clear message to your mind.

You can recite “I am rich” all you want, but if you’re seeing poverty and lack in your mind’s eye as you’re reciting these words, or if you have the feeling that you’re “lying to yourself,” this practice cannot work because the picture is predominant.

The mental picture creates the feelings you experience, and if the feeling is off, the imagery is most certainly off.

On the other hand, if you do not use positive affirmations but have a mental picture of what you want and the feeling of having what you desire, a simple word or partial phrase will do.

In fact, if you use the words “I am going to…” while picturing what you want, just as you do every day before eating, this will work magnificently well for you.

This is why I encourage people to begin their goal statements with “I am going to” or “I will.” As you use these words, though, make sure you are picturing getting what you want as well as activating the feelings you will have when you have accomplished the goal.

Note: Today’s message was from Psycho-Cybernetics 365: Thrive and Grow Every Day of the Year – now available in softcover, e-book and audiobook formats.

Matthew Furey

Crank It Up – Wind It Down

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I’ve been mentally preparing for a Zoom class this evening. Going over in my mind what I’m going to cover. Picturing key points I want to make.

As I do so, I can get so amped I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s a somewhat unrestrained, jittery type of anxiously excited energy.

I know from experience it’s a good idea to tone this emotion down a bit, so I go for a walk beforehand. A walk in reverse to unwind my mind and get grounded.

As I walk, I picture and talk to myself inside my own mental movie house. I play out how I could say this, that, or a dozen other things.

When my reverse walk is over, I take a seat in a chair and marvel at how the world feels so different, so much more relaxed. I breathe deeply and let the energy I am feeling settle in.

Now I’m still excited, but not too much. I know from experience where the “sweet spot” is. What is too much and what isn’t enough.

Doing something physical to blow off excess steam was written about in Psycho-Cybernetics, and it’s vitally important.

Keep this in mind as you roll through each day. Find the balance point, the sweet spot within energetically. When you need to raise your vibration, picture what you want. And when you need to take the excess edge off, to blow off steam, move your body.

By the way, I cover a lot about various types of high vibrational walking, but the method I used tonight, Dao Zou, may be your ticket to mastering your energetic levels. You can read more about it here.

Matthew Furey

What to Do Before You Take Action

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Many times throughout my life I have jumped into action as soon as I got an idea.

This has worked out well for me many times, so I’m all in favor of spontaneity. But what to do when the results aren’t so good?

You slow the process down. You take a seat, close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply. You inhale through your nose and fill your lower belly, then you let the air out by opening your mouth. You repeat this cycle at least nine times.

After this you picture the action you want to take along with the intended result. You imagine and feel what you want to accomplish. You play it BIG on the movie screen of your mind.

You do this with a playful rather than a forceful energy. You do not “try” to make the result happen. Instead you are merely picturing that it will.

Your face is soft, your body is relaxed. You see and feel the result, and you breathe life into it. Then you get up and do what you were attempting to do previously.

With this approach, it doesn’t take long for you to be stunned by the difference it makes.

Many years ago, I was working with baseball players who were having trouble throwing strikes. Instead of throwing more pitches that didn’t hit the target, I had them stop and do what I have outlined for you here. Within a matter of two to three minutes, these pitchers were putting the ball where they wanted, and with ease.

Last weekend, a man told me he could never throw a football with a spiral. His passes would wobble all over the place.

He took a break and watched a video on how to throw a football with a perfect spiral.Then he relaxed, breathed and pictured doing so. After doing so he went outside with his boys and to his amazement, for the first time in his life, he was throwing spirals with ease.

Years of doing it wrong were erased in minutes. He watched the video, then he pictured himself doing it, and then he did.

Does this same process work in areas that have nothing to do with sports?

Of course.

This is one of the reasons I say, “See it. Feel it. Become it.”

When you see an idea in your mind and immediately act upon it with good results, this means your mental picture was clear from the get-go.

But when the results aren’t good after you took immediate action, slow the train down. Take a seat and get an even clearer mental image.

After doing so you are now truly ready for action. Watch what happens and take note. The results will teach you that this process works wonders, whether you believe it will or not.

Matthew Furey

P.S. For even more advanced Psycho-Cybernetics techniques, I encourage you to get your hands on Zero Resistance Living and devour it. Lesson One alone in this 12-Lesson course is a major game changer.

About “Constructive Criticism”

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Much of what is passed along as “constructive criticism” is neither helpful or instructive.

When someone’s words are “constructive” they build a skill inside of you that is clearly visible.

The best teacher I have ever had looked at what I was doing and said one word, “No.” Other times he simply shook his head from side to side.

The word “no” was usually followed by a pause that lasted as long as 10 seconds.

The teacher now had my attention.

Then he showed me what to do again. And he continued to show me until I got it.

With this approach I learned far faster than ever before and began using the method myself.

No…

Pause…

Show it again. And again. And again.

Saying less is more.

Matthew Furey

Why You Should Never “Try” Anything

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The more you try the less you get done.

When you try harder you struggle longer.

Relax your mind and body. Picture the result you want. Get the feeling of it being a done deal. Then do.

Keep track of your results.

Where are you now compared to where you want to be.

Keep picturing. Keep feeling. Keep doing.

And never give up.

Picture yourself on the one yard line. One more play is all you need to cross the goal line.

Everyday, run another play, and you’ll be there before you know it.

Matthew Furey

The Winning Approach When You Do It Wrong

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“Negative feedback does not say, ‘Stop—­ period!’ It says, ‘What you are doing is wrong,’ but it does not say, ‘It is wrong to do anything.’” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D. – Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded

All of us have been the receivers and the transmitters of negative feedback. In the areas of our lives where we are successful, if someone says something critical to us, we usually take in the information and continue moving forward. Even when the criticism is brutal, we accept it because we want to get good at what we’re doing.

Now, let’s examine the areas of our lives where we are not successful. Suppose you formed an opinion of yourself early on that you cannot draw, that you cannot sing or play a musical instrument, that you’re not athletic, that you

can’t spell, or that you’re not good at fixing something that is broken.

Chances are excellent that you formed this opinion after encountering the same type of criticism that you received in areas where you continued to make progress.

In one activity, you either blocked out the criticism or used it to your advantage. In the other area, you listened to the criticism, told yourself, “I can’t,” and gave up.

The questions to ask yourself now are as follows:

1. What would have happened if I had continued to practice despite the negative feedback?

2. What would happen today if I used the same approach I used in the areas in which I acquired great skill?

It’s never too late to give yourself another shot at what you told yourself you couldn’t do in the past. Put yourself in learning mode and notice the world of difference it makes.
Matthew Furey

author of Psycho-Cybernetics 365

I Looks Stupid but I’s Surprisingly Smart

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One of the biggest hangups I used to have was the fear of looking stupid. I got over it when I accepted my stupidity as normal and predictable and let ‘er ride.

Many fortnight’s ago, I was out late on a Monday evening practicing Dao Zou on the street while a neighbor had guests over to watch a fake professional football game.

I was minding my own business, lost in space and time, doing my odd backwards walking patterns that give me a feeling of being more in tune with the cosmos than the Kardashians.

When I was halfway through my practice, out of the house came the guests who were done watching the outcome of their fixed feetball game. And just before getting into their cars to drive home, one of the inebriated guests yelled at me, “Hey, I thought Saturday was backwards day.”

Quite the comedian, he wasn’t.

I smiled anyway and kept doing what I was doing. I offered no verbal response as I have mastered the art of passive aggression. Believe me, I don’t think this nincompoop would really want to experience the art of “aggressive aggression,” at least not from me.

So I kept dawdling along, counting my steps and whatdyaknow these gentleman proved the Bible passage, “this too shall pass” to be correct. They left, I kept on with the practice and that was the end of them.

So you see, there is a time for passivity, to let things ride, to tune out those who don’t know what you’re doing, don’t know what the benefits are, or have their own issues of looking stupid.

Looking stoopid and writing stoopid are two of the most liberating things you can engage in. Let everyone else follow the so-called rules and get sub-par results.

And this brings me to yet another point: Everything I have put out, product wise, since I got started in this business 30 years ago, was stupid to a large body of people.

My first book, The Martial Art of Wrestling, was stupid.

My international best-seller, Combat Conditioning, was MEGA stupid.

Combat Abs, Gama Fitness and Combat Stretching, although not as stupid were right up there to lots of people.

Dao Zou was DAF. I’ll let you figure out the acronym. Then again, maybe I should give you the first two words. They are “Dumb as…”

Over the past three years I’ve come out with three idiotic courses that have helped a lot of people experience the amazing benefits of doing something stupid, something that might make the neighbors wonder about you.

Those who have no fear of what the others “might” think, those who aren’t afraid to look or do something odd are enjoying a ton of benefits, and that makes my day as well as theirs.

My new Badass Tai Chi program is a bonafide ground-breaker, as it will help you overcome any hangups you might have about your neighbors, or those who still think Monday Night Football is real. It will also add vim, vigor and vitality to every step or movement you make in life.

Now, I’m well aware that there are some people, perhaps tens of millions of people who will think I’m nuts (and stupid) because I don’t believe pro football is real.

Guess what? I don’t care. It’s a somewhat free whirld, ain’t it?

Mark my words, once you get past the hangup of what other people might think, the benefits to your mind, body, mental and physical health are unlimited.

This means that when you practice something that is “BADASS,” such as my tai chi course, you’re not an azz.

How about dhat?

Matt Furey

P.S. A good many of you had troubles ordering Badass Tai Chi yesterday as we had troubles with our “swerver.” The situation has been rectified and you can place your order NOW.

3 Ways to Rise Above Negative People

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“A lot of people need a thicker and tougher emotional skin than they have. But they need only a tough emotional hide or epidermis—­ not a shell.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D. – Psycho-Cybernetics, Updated and Expanded

How do you begin to cultivate thicker and tougher emotional skin without becoming a shell that blocks the positive and the negative?

The “skin” Dr. Maltz is referring to is an imaginary one.

It doesn’t exist physically, yet it acts as though it does.

In Psycho-­ Cybernetics, you will read about the effects that tranquilizers have on reducing the negative effects of stimuli on the nervous system. As a result of this type of medication, you can tune out the little things that bothered you in the past. The bothersome stimuli are still present, but you are no longer disturbed by them.

There are ways that you can shield yourself from negativity without tranquilizers or other drugs. One is to imagine, in full detail, an umbrella protruding from your chest and abdomen, then being opened to ward off negativity. If someone is saying something mean and nasty to you, the umbrella opens immediately, and their comments bounce back at them.

Another way is to mentally pretend there is a wall of impenetrable glass in front of you. The negativity that is directed at you hits this glass and splatters or falls to the ground. Keep in mind, you can build this wall as tall, as long, and as deep as you want so that nothing negative can find a way to you.

A third way is imagining that your skin is so thick that nothing can penetrate. This is even easier to do when you picture that you have “put on the armor of God,” as it says in the Bible.

None of these methods involve you surrounding yourself with a dark shell.

You still see and hear the negativity, but you don’t feel it because the imaginary protection you erect works to create emotional space between yourself and others.

Matthew Furey
author of Psycho-Cybernetics 365 – now available in softcover, e-book and audio book formats.

Q: “But Matt, what about self-criticism? How do I create a thicker skin when it’s not others criticizing me but me doing it to myself?”

A: Good question. I can go into all the positive details in a LIVE class over Zoom. Interested? Email me by clicking on the following link: LIVE CLASS: Turning Self-Criticism Around

Always Have a Place to Go

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October 20, 2025

North of Tampa, Florida

It was the rainstorm from hell. It was coming down harder and faster than when it’s raining “cats and dogs.” This storm was closer to raining cows and pigs.

It took us four hours to travel the last 150 miles. Butchaknow, things could be worse. We’re here to experience life for yet another day and the good news is we made it back safely, thank God!

When we’re driving across country, I used to be a reflection of my dad, who never let me mom drive, probably because she didn’t learn how until she was in her mid-50’s.

I still prefer to handle the driving duties until it gets dark, then I still somewhat reluctantly hand the wheel over to Zhannie. She’s my closer. I hang in there for seven or eight innings, then she will inevitably ask, “Do you want me to drive?”

“Not just yet,” I reply. “I’m still good for a while.”

An exit or two later, “You sure you don’t want me to drive?”

“I’m sure. It’s not that dark yet.”

15 minutes later, “I can drive. It’s getting dark.”

“Alright, let me find an exit.”

So it still takes some prodding for me to hand over the wheel… but on this cross-country trip, it didn’t take nearly as much. In fact, the day before yesterday, when we were traveling from Lawrence, Kansas to Chattanooga, Tennessee, I let Zhannie drive in the fifth and sixth innings. I took over for the seventh and eighth to give her a rest before bringing her back in to close out the game.

Before driving each day, I give myself a goal, a place to go. The goal may be a measly 350 miles, or as much as 800. Either way, I begin with a destination in mind. A “where am I going to drive to today?”

Now that the 2,800-mile journey from there to here is complete, it can feel as though there is no place to go.

So at the beginning of the day, I find a place to go with daily goals here at home, such as practicing Theatre of the Mind, writing a couple emails, studying martial arts, outlining my next newsletter, working on my bamboo garden, and so on.

Throughout the day I refer to my list of goals, just as I would look at a map or GPS. The list of goals serves as a reminder of what I am going to do.

At the end of each day, when that list is complete… OH… what a great feeling.

Want to enjoy this daily feeling of accomplishment?

Then begin each day with a list of goals that you are going to get.

Regardless of whether you are traveling or staying home, always, always, ALWAYS have a place to go.

See it in your mind.

Feel it in your body.

And experience it in your life.

Not just some of the time.

EVERY DAY.

Matthew Furey
Author of Psycho-Cybernetics 365

What Mistakes Do to You

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“You make mistakes. Mistakes do not make you.” – Maxwell Maltz, M.D.

If you think that a mistake makes you or breaks you, recognize that this idea is nothing but a mental picture, and mental pictures can be edited, changed, and altered.

You can just as easily form a mental picture of mistakes “making you” and provide sound evidence that proves this to be true.

For example, you could begin to ask yourself the following questions:

Have I ever made a mistake that turned out to be good for me?

Have I ever made a mistake that turned out to be beneficial, auspicious, or lifesaving?

Have I ever made a mistake that turned out to be “perfect?”

Have I ever used a mistake I made as an opportunity to do something better?

These types of questions will help unlock your mind. They will begin to activate your Creative Mechanism to search for and find the truth.

With this in mind, it makes no sense to think of mistakes as only making or breaking you. Instead, they can also reveal the good that can and does happen as a result of making them.

Matthew Furey

The above is an excerpt from Psycho-Cybernetics 365, now available in book, ebook and audiobook formats. Many people I know got all three options. Order by clicking here.

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Hello and welcome to Psycho-Cybernetics.com - the official site for the original (and expanded) teachings of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the 35 million copy best-seller, Psycho-Cybernetics. I’m Matt Furey, author of the best-selling Nightingale-Conant audio book, Maxwell Maltz’ Theatre of the Mind.

When you subscribe to our Psycho-Cybernetics emails, I will immediately send you an email containing a FREE PDF ($100 value) of my Theatre of the Mind Masters Newsletter called Defeating the Failure Mechanism, which also features a Dr. Maltz piece, When Positive Thinking Doesn't Work. This highly regarded newsletter will show you how to apply the suggestions contained within it into your own life… and make changes for the BETTER!

Best,
Matt Furey
President, Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation

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