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PSYCH I-CYBERNETICS ·
The Original Science of Self-Improvement
and Success that Has Changed the
Lives of 30 Million People
MAXWELL MALTZ, M.D., F.1.C.S.
FDlTED AND UPDATED BY DAN S. KFNNEDY AND
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'I HE PSYCHO-CYBERNE FOUNDAIION. INC.
IIPI tice
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Copyright © 2001 by Penguin Putnam Inc.
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Cover art: Original watercolor by Salvador Dali used by permission of
The New Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc.
Cover design by Nicola Evans
Text design by Shelly Carlucci
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,
may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Prentice Hall Press hardcover edition published 2001
Prentice Hall Press trade paperback edition: December 2002
The Library of Congress has catalogued the
Prentice Hall Press hardcover edition as follows:
Maltz, Maxwell, 1899-1975.
The new psycho-cybernetics: the original science of self-improvement and success that
has changed the lives of 30 million people / by Maxwell Maltz: edited and updated by
Dan S. Kennedy and the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation, Inc.
p. cm. •
Rev. ed. of : Psycho-cybernetics.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7352-0275-3
1. Success-Psychological aspects. I. Kennedy, Dan S., 1954. II. Maltz, Maxwell,
1899-1975. Psycho-Cybernetics. III. Psycho-Cybernetic Foundation. Iv. Title.
BF637.S8 M25 2001
158.I-dc21 2001036799
Printed in the United States of America
201918 17 16 15 14 13
"Psycho-Cybernetics changed my destiny. From a small farm
house nearly· 2 miles from a major road in Chucketauck,
Virginia, to a successful career as an author, consultant, lec
turer to organizations like NASA, Disney, AT&T ... Dr.
Maltz's suggestions gave me the confidence to bring out my
talents and go for my dreams."
-LEE MILTEER, author, Success Is An Inside Job
"I was flunking out of college when I first read Psycho
Cybernetics, and it literally turned my life around."
-MARSHALL REDDICK, PH.D.
The late DR. MAXWELL MALTZ received his doctorate in
medicine from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Columbia University. After post-graduate work in plastic
surgery in Europe, Dr. Maltz headed several departments of
reparative surgery in New York hospitals. He was a prominent
international lecturer on the physical and psychological
aspects of plastic surgery, and published two book!! on these
subjects: New Faces, New Futures and Dr. Pyg;malion. The orig
inal ideas that formed the basis of Psycho-Cybernetics grew out
of ideas he developed in his very successful private practice in
New York, where he treated patients from all over the world,
including many celebrities.
DAN S. KENNEDY is a marketing consultant, popular pro
fessional speaker, and author of nine books. He is the CEO of
the Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation and author of The New
Psycho-Cybernetics audio program.
Contents
Introduction Xl
CHAPTER ONE
The Self-Image:
Your Key to Living Without Limits ... . ............... .. .. 1
CHAPTER Two
How to Awaken the Automatic Success
Mechanism Within You ................................ 25
CHAPTER THREE
Imagination-The Ignition Key to Your
Automatic Success Mechanism ....... . ' .................. 43
CHAPTER FOUR
How to De-Hypnotize Yourself
from False·B eliefs .. . .... '. . . . .......... . .............. 69
CHAPTER FIVE
How to Succeed with the Power
of Rational Thinking ..... , ............................ 82
CHAPTER SIX
How to Relax and Let Your Automatic
Success Mechanism Work for You . ...................... 101
v
vi Contents
CHAPTER SEVEN
You Can Acquire the Habit of Happiness .................. 117
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ingredients of the "Success-type" Personality
and How to Acquire Them ............................ 134
CHAPTER NINE
How to Avoid Accidentally Activating
Your Automatic Failure Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
CHAPTER TEN
How to Remove Emotional Scars and Give
Yourself an Emotional Face Lift ........................ 180
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
How to Unlock Your Real Personality. .................... 203
CHAPTER TWELVE:
Do-It-Yourself Tranquilizers that Bring Peace of Mind ........ 224
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
How to Turn a Crisis into a Creative Opportunity ........... 243
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
How to Get and Keep "That Winning Feeling" ............. 261
Contents vii
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
More Years of Life and More Life in Your Years . . ...... . .... 280
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
True Stories of Lives Changed Using Psycho-Cybernetics
The Case of the Least-Like1y-to-Succeed Stockbroker .... 297
The Case of the Professor's "F" ...... ................ 299
The Case of the Alcoholic's Daughter . ................ 300
The Case of the Rodeo Cowboys .................... 301
The Case of the Woman Who Could Not Walk ......... 303
Vocabulary ... ~ ....................................... 307
Recommended Reading .................................. 309
Additional Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 11
About the Authors . ........... . ........ . . .............. 313
The Artist's Gift ..................... ....... : ......... 315
Index .... .................. ........................ 317
Acknowledgments
The Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation's founding board members:
WIlliam Brooks
Matt Oeschsli
Jeff Paul
Jeff Herman, the Foundation's hard-working literary agent, Eugene
Brissie and Ellen Schneid Coleman at Prentice Hall Press, who have
been consistently and enthusiastically supportive of the "renaissance"
of Dr. Maltz's works.
lntroduction
~
.1 year 2000 was the 40th anniversary of the
~:blication
of Dr. Maltz's original Psycho
Cybernetics. The book has sold over 30 million copies in all of its dif
ferent editions worldwide, inspired a number of audio cassette
programs for individuals as well as complete training programs cre
ated for corporations, sales organizations, even sports teams. In the
2000 Olympics, for example, the coach of the U.S. equestrian team
used Psycho-Cybernetics techniques, as she has with other teams for
many years.
In many ways, Psycho-Cybernetics is the original science of self
improvement. I make that statement for three principal reasons:
First, Dr~ Maltz was the first researcher and author to under
stand and explain how the self-image (a term he popularized for cer
tain processes within the subconscious mind) has complete control over
an individual's ability to achieve (or fail to achieve) any goal.
Second, everything written, said, recorded or taught about self
improvement since Maltz wrote has derived from his work. Try and
find any book on success or self-improvement written since 1960,
right through to yesterday, that does not include a discussion of self
image and the techniques for improving and managing it-notably
including visualization, mental rehearsal, and relaxation-and you'll
realize how crucial the work of Maltz still is. The relatively young
"science" of sports psychology, relied on heavily by professional
golfers, sports franchises, coaches, and Olympians, owes an enormous
debt, occasionally acknowledged, to Psycho-Cybernetics. .
Third, unlike philosophical musings about success, Psycho'
Cybernetics is, in fact, scientific: It provides practical things to do (not
just think about), that yield quantifiable results. "What is unique about
Psycho-Cybernetics is that it offers techniques that help make what
ever was once difficult easy.
In short, whether you set out to lose weight and keep it off,
lower your golf score, double your income in selling, become a confi
dent public speaker, write the great American novel, or achieve any
other· imaginable goal, in order to succeed, you will use Psycho
Cybernetics techniques, either directly from Dr. Maltz or some other
xii Introduction
source influenced by his work. By acquiring this book, you have gone'
to the first and still foremost source.
It is significant that, with very little publicity or marketing, the
original Psycho-Cybernetics book has had such amazing longevity, and
is now a classic in its field. Today, just as ten, twenty, and thirty years
ago, sales managers tell recruits, coaches tell athletes, consultants tell
clients: Get and read this book.
Now I dare to update the classic. Indoing so, I have set out to
preserve much of the original content; much of it, in fact, is
unchanged; some has been modestly updated in language or example.
To integrate it with other works of Dr. Maltz, I have added my own
observations and lessons learned from teaching Psycho-Cybernetics
techniques along with examples and stories submitted by many users
of these techniques and culled from others' books referencing these
techniques. Throughout, I have tried to maintain Maltz's original
voice. Over the years since 1960, Dr. Maltz and those who followed
him devoted increasing emphasis to translating the principles and
concepts of Psycho-Cybernetics into actual, practical '~mental train
ing exercises," and I've included a number of those as well. All things
combined, this is the most complete Psycho-Cybernetics work ever
published.
* * *
My own experiences with Psycho-Cybernetics began in child
hood, when I used it to conquer a stubborn, rather severe stuttering
problem. I've gone on to enjoy a 20-year career as a professional
speaker, in recent years addressing audiences as large as 35,000 and, in
total, over 200,000 people annually. In adult life, I returned repeatedly
to these techniques in my sales, consulting, and business activities, to
assist me in my prolific writing career:...-....nine published books, a
monthly newsletter, over 50 different audio cassette programs, and as
an advertising copywriter, my primary vocation.
For example, using Psycho-Cybernetics, I am able to give my
subconscious mind certain instructions and put it to work on a writ
ing assignment before going to sleep at night or taking a nap, wake
up, instantly put fingers to keyboard and "download," pour out what
the subconscious wrote while I slept. Not long ago, I climbed into a
Introduction xiii
sulky and became a harness racing driver (at age 46), and found myself
relying heavily on Psycho-CybernetiCs.
In my business life, I have worked with many millionaire and
multimillionaire entrepreneurs, including some who have risen from
poverty or financial disaster and others who have started from scratch
and rapidly built empires. Most of them use these techniques. Many
trace their understanding of them directly to Dr. Maltz, as I do.
I first began working directly with Psycho-Cyb<;rnetics as a
writer, editor, and publisher in the late 1980s. At the time, I worked
with Dr. Maltz's widow, Anne Maltz, and a university associated with
her, to develop a collection of audio tapes featuring Dr. Maltz's lec
tures, radio broadcasts, and interviews. Since then, I've been directly
involved in the first book ever written featuring Psycho-Cybernetics
specifically for salespeople, titled Zero Resistance Selling, an audio pro
gram The New Psycho-Cybernetics, book-on-tape programs, a 12-week
home study course, and a monthly newsletter as well as special edi
tions of programs for certain professions, industries, corporations,
and international translation.
My point is that I've lived and worked with-and benefited
from-Psycho-Cybernetics my entire life. I was told by Anne Maltz
that she had difficulty telling my writing on this subject apart from
her late husband's. That was an enormous compliment. I hope she was
right, and that this expanded and updated version of the original
comes across to you seamlessly, in one voice, Dr. Maltz's, as if he were
here to prepare it himself. .
If you have comments, I would enjoy hearing from you via fax at
602-269-3113, or mail clo The Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation,
5818 N. 7th Street, Suite #103, Phoenix, AZ 85014. If you would like
to read back issues of the Foundation's newsletters, you may access
them at www.psycho-cybernetics.com.
I sincerely believe that you hold in your hands one of the most
powerful tools for self-improvement and goal achievement available
anywhere, at any time, at any price. It has been my privilege to have
a small part in bringing it to you.
Dan S. Kennedy
