Author Scott Schmaren: Getting An Upgrade; How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus

Creating simple daily routines that are done consistently, establishes new habits that will last a life time. The greatest habit that I have taught myself is that I do not have to be perfect. Think about that. Most people (I used to be) want to do everything perfectly and when they can’t be perfect, the give up, quit and think that they aren’t good enough or what they are doing does not work. For example, there were many times in my past where I went on a “diet” and I would be “perfect” for several months and lose many pounds, then I would have one moment where I varied from my rigid program and in that moment because I wasn’t perfect, I had failed. Because of that one moment, I would take all of my hard work and destroy it and gain all the weight back. We are human and perfection is not obtainable. In fact, we are perfect in our imperfection.

As a part of our series about “How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Schmaren.

NeuroPerformanceologist, Scott Schmaren is an internationally known hypnotist, speaker, coach and author. He co-wrote the book, “Stepping Stones to Success”, along with Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra and Dr. Denis Waitley.

He is also the creator of, “The Quatric Formula for Success” which is the life transformation program he created to literally transform every area of his life, including helping him lose and keep off almost 200 pounds.

Scott has appeared on “Oprah” and Oprah said, “If Scott can do it, I can do it and so can you!”. Scott is a regular guest on The Howard Stern Show and Daily Mail. He has also appeared on Fox News, Coast to Coast Radio and has been featured in Reader’s Digest and The New York Times. Scott recently appeared on the television show, “Moving America Forward”, with William Shatner and Doug Lewellyn and was honored for his work.

Scott has also spoken for many organizations including the women’s organization “Dress for Success” at their “Leadership Conference” and their “International Success Summit”. Scott has also presented two Ted Talks.

Scott’s process of transformation is being used to help cancer patients, children and adults from all walks and areas of life.

Scott has committed his life to helping others overcome the obstacles and challenges in their lives and to help them create and live the life of their dreams.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

Even as a kid, I always had this little voice in my head telling me, “You have to help people because that is who you are”. You would have noticed me when I was a kid, you see, I was the fat kid. Most of my life I was called names, teased and bullied. Being sensitive, it hurt and I began to withdraw from the world. My best friends became the TV and the refrigerator. The more I was teased, the more I ate and the heavier I got. It was a horrible and vicious loop I could not get out of. There were so many times in my life I had lost weight and then put it back on. It was literally hundreds of pounds.

As an adult I became desperate and I gave up on myself. I had lost my desire and my will to live. In that moment of desperation, I decided to end my life. I took entire bottle of sleeping pill and pain killers. By some miracle I survived without medical intervention. It was a life changing moment when I woke up still at home. I realized that I was a live for a reason and I set out to find out how my mind worked and why I was always sabotaging my success. I began to read, study and develop techniques and skills to change the pictures in my head (subconscious mind). I have now lost and kept off almost 200 pounds now for more than 10 years. My entire life has been transformed and I have now committed myself to helping others to discover their greatness and to create and live the life of their dreams.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.

Abraham Lincoln has and still is my greatest hero who has inspired me to do what I do and to keep going and moving forward no matter what happens in my life. He is a man that overcame so many obstacles in his life, like; failing in business, having a nervous breakdown, the death of his sweat heart and being defeated many times for political office. Through all of that he kept going and he became one of the greatest presidents the United States of America has ever had. He is the model of perseverance.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?

I have three sons (all of them are now grown up) and they inspired me to keep going. I did not want them to live a life like mine, being overweight, sad and lonely. I wanted for them to have what I did not have as a kid. They helped me persevere because I wanted to be a good role model for them.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

I have made many mistakes over my life time and most them have taught me great lessons and have helped me move forward in life.

The funniest moments have occurred when I was on “The Howard Stern Show” and I used my hypnosis skills to have some of their staff members to do some incredibly funny things (to embarrassing and adult rated for this article).

The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?

Whatever your journey is in life, if you bring your three best friends with you, you will not fail. Who are you three best friends? Patience, Persistence and Faith.

Patience is knowing that however long it is going to take you to achieve what you want to achieve; you will keep going no matter how long it takes.

Persistence is knowing that there will be obstacle and challenges and on your journey (perhaps even setbacks) and regardless what happens, you will learn from them and keep going.

Faith is knowing that you do not know everything you need to know to get where you want to go. Your faith keeps you going, knowing that you will learn what you need to learn along your journey.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I have ready many books through my years and I have learned something from all of them. Instead of recommending a particular book a better idea would be to look for only one or two things that could help you move forward in your life from any book that you may read. There is always something there, a lesson or an idea that could help you, if you look for it.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

This is easy. Many years ago when I was in my early twenty’s a very successful man said this to me. He said, “Scott, if you want to be successful, the minor adjustments and changes you need to make, will be so simple and basic that the average person will see them as being ridiculous and they will never do them.”

This is so true. Most people are looking for a big “Aha” in their life to change them and most never find it. It is the small and simple things you can do and then keep doing them consistently over a long period of time.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Right now I am working on taking my life transformation program, “The Quatric Formula for Success” and making into an online training program that people can use at use at home, to change their lives. It is the culmination of my life’s work and it can help so many people.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to create good habits? Can you share a story or give some examples?

Whether you know it or not, we are all creatures of habits (good and bad). Some of our habits benefit us and some don’t. It is how our minds are wired. We like familiarity. That is why you see people pass on the same habits, beliefs and mannerisms from generation to generation in a family. If you want to change the course and direction of your life, you need to change your daily habits and develop new habits that move you in direction of your goals.

For example: When I was obese, I had been that way all of my life, it was my normal. The picture in my head said I was supposed to be obese and that it is good to be overweight (I know that sounds ridiculous but there is no good or bad filter in your mind, just familiar). Once I started changing the picture of myself, how I looked, felt and carried myself and my habits began to change.

How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?

Creating simple daily routines that are done consistently, establishes new habits that will last a life time. The greatest habit that I have taught myself is that I do not have to be perfect. Think about that. Most people (I used to be) want to do everything perfectly and when they can’t be perfect, the give up, quit and think that they aren’t good enough or what they are doing does not work. For example, there were many times in my past where I went on a “diet” and I would be “perfect” for several months and lose many pounds, then I would have one moment where I varied from my rigid program and in that moment because I wasn’t perfect, I had failed. Because of that one moment, I would take all of my hard work and destroy it and gain all the weight back. We are human and perfection is not obtainable. In fact, we are perfect in our imperfection.

Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?

The way to develop a good habit is to start small, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and then do that small thing consistently every day. When becomes comfortable and automatic, expand it and do a little more. That is the simple formula for creating a new habit. It is also the way to remove an old habit. Create a new routine that is the opposite of what you are doing bad and then do it over and over again and again. At some point the old habit will fade away, replaced by the new habit.

Let’s talk about creating good habits in three areas, Wellness, Performance, and Focus. Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimum wellness. Please share a story or example for each.

Here is a simple routine that you can use to develop good habits in all three of these areas; Wellness, Performance and Focus. It does not take much time and if done consistently, it will change your life. I cannot stress to you enough that the power in this is daily consistency done over a long period of time (I have been following my daily routine for more than 15 years).

Every morning upon awakening;

Go into the bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror and say these “10 words” ten times:

Thank you

I love you

I’m sorry

Please forgive me

This is a simple exercise however you may feel really uncomfortable doing it because you are not used to speaking to yourself this way (most of yourself talk is most likely, negative). Do it anyway.

Write out (must be hand written):

3 things you are thankful for

3 things you love/like about yourself

3 things you are good at

They have to be different every day. For many of you this will get hard after 2–3 days. Why? Because you are only used to finding these great things in the big things in life, when in reality these things exist around you every day, even in some of the smallest things.

Remember is has to be hand written. Why? Neuroscientists have learned that when we write things out in our own handwriting, we believe them to be true and they have a greater impact on our minds.

Evening routine:

Repeat “10 words” ten times in front of the mirror.

As you are lying in bed, ready to fall asleep, turn off your TV, close your eyes and imagine whatever you want to achieve, as if you have already achieved it. Make it like you are watching a movie. Use great detail. See things, hear things, feel things, maybe even smell and taste things. The more detail the better (This applies to any area of your life Wellness, Performance, Focus and anything else). Then allow yourself to fall asleep. This works incredibly well if you do it consistently. Why? Your subconscious mind (where all change takes place) does not distinguish between real and imagined. If you give it a clear picture of what you want as if it has already happened, it will begin to drive you towards that vision. It will drive you to change your habits, values and beliefs.

For example: When I weighed 360 pounds (I am only 5’6”) I created a vision of me being healthy, lean and strong and weighing less than 175 pounds. I burned that vision into my subconscious mind over and over. Today and for more than 10 years, my weight has and still is 171 pounds and I looked exactly as I do in my vision.

As a leader, you likely experience times when you are in a state of Flow. Flow has been described as a pleasurable mental state that occurs when you do something that you are skilled at, that is challenging, and that is meaningful. Can you share some ideas from your experience about how we can achieve a state of Flow more often in our lives?

What you refer to as a state of flow, is also known as a hypnotic state. Your subconscious mind is in control, time seems to stand still and you have access to all of your incredible resources. Whether you know it or not you are in and out of a hypnotic state many times during the day. For example: If you have every gone to a movie theatre and gotten totally lost in a great movie for 3 hours. You know the movie isn’t real, yet you experience real emotions and feelings and when the movie ends, that 3 hours seemed like 10 minutes. That is a hypnotic state.You can induce and experience a hypnotic state (flow) by taking several, slow and deep (breathe from your belly) breaths. After you do this 5 or 6 times your body and your mind begins to relax and you induce what Harvard medical professor, Dr. Herbert Benson refers to as “The Relaxation Response” (hypnotic state). Try it. It will help you relax, relieve stress and allow you think clearer and more creatively.

Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

That is an easy question to answer. If I could inspire everyone to do something that would change their lives and change the energy and direction of the entire world, it would be to have more Kindness and Love for yourself and share it with others (I did a TED Talk on this). Think about that for a moment. If we all acted with more Kindness and Love, how much better would our world be, how better would our lives be, how much easier would it be to solve the world’s problems? Kindness and Love, can change everything.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

You can check me out at www.ScottSchmaren.com

You can contact me directly at scottschmaren@gmail.com

Or call me at 847–331–5848

Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.

About The Author: Parveen Panwar a.k.a Mr Activated is an entrepreneur, angel investor and syndicated columnist, as well as a yoga, holistic health, breathwork and meditation enthusiast. Mr Activated’s life story is one of addiction, stress, depression, anxiety, failures, confusion, negativity, lack of purpose, resilience, and finally connecting with his true self. Mr Activated took a long journey of reflection and self-discovery and reinvented himself. He is now dedicated to helping others activate their own hidden inner powers and live the lives that they want. Mr Activated wants to use his knowledge, experience and inner voice to help awaken others to live happier, healthier, and more meaningful lives; To teach people how to reshape their mindset, uncover their inner strength and motivation, to create a life of higher purpose.