THE MAGIC QUESTION How to Get What You Want in Half the Time One simple daily technique to change your life, get unstuck, attract wealth, be more creative, program optimism, and live your life with exuberant happiness. Bart A. Baggett Copyright © 2016 Bart A. Baggett All Rights Reserved ISBN: 1-882929-18-7 ISBN-13: 978-1-882929-18-4 Published by Empresse Publishing www.empressepublishing.com www.bartbaggett.com Other books and programs by Bart A. Baggett Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy: How to Design Your Life with Financial and Emotional Abundance. Handwriting Analysis: Secrets of Love and Fulfilling Relationships The Grapho-Deck: Learn Handwriting Analysis in 10 Minutes A Day Change Your Handwriting, Change Your Life Workbook (Grapho-therapy journal for ages 13+) Change Your Handwriting; Change Your Life - 30-Day Workbook Journal for Kids The Handwriting Analysis Certification Course The 501 Handwriting Analysis Mastery Certification Course How to Get 63 Authentic Amazon Reviews in 3 Days or Less: How to Market Your Book, Sell More Books on Kindle, Become a Best Seller Introduction ............................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Asking Questions ...................................11 Chapter 2: Test Your Brain ...................................... 14 Chapter 3: The Discovery ....................................... 21 Chapter 4: NeuroScience and Neuroplasticity ...... 27 Chapter 5: Thoughts and Memories ....................... 31 Chapter 6: R.A.S. ................................................... 33 Chapter 7: The Jimmy Metaphor ............................ 42 Chapter 8: The Happiness Radar ........................... 47 Chapter 9: How I Use the Magic Questions ........... 51 Chapter 10: Wealth and Goal Setting ..................... 60 Table of Contents Chapter 11: The Linguistic Structure ......................70 Chapter 12: Glossary of Magic Questions .............. 82 Conclusion .............................................................. 88 READ THIS FIRST Many readers enjoy hearing their favorite books in audio format. So, to say thanks for purchasing this book, I’d like to give you the audiobook 100% FREE! Download here: http://bartbaggett.com/books/magicquestion.html i Scan this code with your phone and download the audiobook 100% FREE! I Introduction The Magic Question is based on one powerful mental technique that I discovered over two decades ago. I have been using it and refining the process for my own personal growth ever since. This single process has helped me achieve numerous business successes, meet influential people, have adventures in foreign lands, and find happiness and joy in each moment, which otherwise might have eluded me. Now that I’ve fully come to understand how powerful this single technique is, I’d like to share it with you. I sincerely believe it will help you attract more opportunities for love, wealth, and adventure in a world where so many have lack and struggle. I have used it to get unstuck, make life decisions, and find creative answers which shifted the direction of my life in ways beyond words. If nothing else, using the Magic Question on a daily basis will help program optimism and provide a sense of hope, which might have been missing. In the best circumstances, it will engender a lifelong shift in your thinking, and will open doors to a more fulfilled life. Furthermore, I have no doubt that any professional trainer, counselor, coach, or public speaker can begin to use this technique in live seminars and one-on-one counseling sessions 1 right away. It is my hope that this technique will become as common as the idea of “Visualization” in the personal development field. As far as I know, I was the first to use the terms “The Magic Question” in my seminars and workshops. The term “direction question” was coined by Rex Sykes in the 1990’s and was probably the logical ancestry to this idea is it germinated in my brain for two decades. Feel free to teach it to your friends and family as they look for simple tools to change their thinking patterns. I’ve intentionally kept this book concise so you can read it in one sitting. The strategies and ideas are clearly explained, easy to implement, and highly effective. You needn’t take my word for how powerful this technique is. If you put it into practice for just 21 days, you’ll prove it to yourself and the people around you. How Brian’s Magic Questions Turned His Finances Around I’ll tell you a quick story about my friend, Brian. A few years ago, he made some poor business decisions while experiencing an emotionally-draining divorce. Suddenly he found himself $50,000 in debt. Many people would have filed for bankruptcy, but Brian decided to take the high road and pay back his debt. Given his current income, it would have taken him 30 years to dig himself out of this financial hole. 2 Instead of complaining or giving up, he started with some key questions. He asked these questions of himself and those he respected. Here is the series he asked himself for weeks, before a plan came into view. “How can I pay off this debt within three years?” “What needs to happen for me to pay off this debt quickly and easily?” “I wonder where I can earn extra money to pay this debt off even faster.” “How good will I feel when I am debt-free?” What Brian was doing was challenging his unconscious mind to find solutions to his problem. Sure enough, Brian began attracting the right opportunities, and was smart enough to take action on them. He ended up getting job offers to travel the world editing high-end corporate videos. He did pay off those credit cards and loans within three years. Furthermore, the opportunities that came because he kept asking well-structured direction questions took him to a new level of career success and income. As a bonus, his integrity and strong work ethic took him to the far corners of the globe as part of his career. He has been using the same formula inside the Magic Question to transition from a video editor to a ful -time fiction writer. This technique works. It is something you will use to solve problems, find solutions, and guide your mental state on a daily basis. 3 There is always an Option C One of the most useful problem-solving techniques I’ve used over the past 30 years is a concept I now call “Option C”. Before I explain how this works, let me tell you a story. As I was writing the final chapter of this book, I found myself driving in Santa Monica, California, on a bright, sunny day. On the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Ocean Park Avenue I sat waiting at a traffic light, observing a slightly out-of-shape homeless woman in her early 30s, digging through a garbage can. I was immediately overcome with sadness and compassion. Then, to my surprise, she picked up a Styrofoam cup and drank the remaining beverage with a straw. She grinned with a moment of pleasure and placed the empty cup back into the trashcan, replaced the lid, and wandered off. I imagine she was continuing her search for more food. In that moment, I recalled a belief and concept that might be useful to you, the reader. I have a belief that people make the best decisions they can in any situation, given the choices they see in front of them. Even given two terrible choices, people choose the lesser of two evils. I imagine that nice homeless woman was walking the streets, seeing a very limited number of options from which to feed herself. I speculate she was asking the question, “Does that trashcan have any food or drink?” Perhaps she was asking herself this morning, “Should I stand on the street and beg for money or dig through trashcans?” 4 What I wish I could have explained to her, and you, and the entire world, is the idea that, in any situation, no matter how dire, there is always an Option C. Here is what I mean. In any tough decision, we often narrow down our choices to A or B. Should we pay rent or buy groceries? Should we buy a Mercedes or a Lexus? Should I go to Pepperdine or USC? Should I leave and get a divorce or stay? Should I rob a bank or be poor all my life? Should I invest in gold or silver? Should we move to Bel Air or Pacific Palisades? We tend to narrow down our choices to two, and sweat out the details of the pros and cons of those two choices. Here is the most enlightening belief I have ever created for myself. Regardless of the content of your Option A and Option B decision, there is always an Option C. The problem is that we simply don’t see an Option C when we are focused on deciding between Options A and B. What do you think would have happened if she had thought of an Option C, which netted her $50 a time? What if she walked up to every person in a nice car and said, “Excuse me, I’ve got a job interview tomorrow and don’t have clean clothes or new dress to wear”? Could you help me buy a new dress so I can possibly get my life back together?” I can tell you know, if she had asked me that question, I would have handed her $20, $30, or even taken her shopping. Whether it was a lie or not, the frame of the conversation would have 5 moved me to give a $20 bill, not a few quarters. That is the point. Many times in life, we settle for loose change when $20 bills are only inches away.