The American Hypnotist · https://theamericanhypnotist.com/blog/mindset-monday-003-my-favorite-birthday-gift

Mindset Monday #003: My Favorite Birthday Gift

Published: October 2026
Author: Edmund Zheng, The American Hypnotist

My Favorite Birthday Gift

Happy Mindset Monday! Here’s five things to hone in on this week:

1.⁠ ⁠Talk about the world in your all-hands meetings.

Every Sunday, I send my team a short presentation with not only our goals for the week, but the latest news in AI, tech, and hypnosis. I call it our Sunday Vision Quest.

What I am hearing down the grapevine from the top voices in media and AI is that it is essential that moving forward, us leaders provide space to talk about non-company news. Finance, AI, politics… include snippets of these in your all-in calls.

As CEOs we have the responsibility to lead our employees not only on our grand mission, but guide through the context that is our ever changing world today.

2.⁠ ⁠The next time you journal, imagine your pen as a fish swimming through the ocean.

I was hypnotizing a poet yesterday to become more in touch with their creative side, and the best metaphor channeled to my head. I had her imagine that her pen was the fish swam through the ocean that was the paper. This visualization is incredible for combining the internal state of flow with external evidence, making your flow state even stronger.

Now that I’m writing this, I’m certain there’s a similar way we view the words that flow across the screen when we are in a flow, typing across the keyboard. We can also view these words as swimming in an ocean of their own.

3.⁠ ⁠Since circa August 2026 I have limited my music intake to 5 artists, and it’s had an incredible impact on my productivity.

At any time, on Spotify, I have 20-30 DJ sets from these tech house DJs (all of whom I’ve seen in person which amplifies the effect), and whether doing deep work or at the gym, it’s become so easy to focus.

The reason I am such a big advocate of tech house is that, because they sound so “similar” and play each other's music all the time, the predictable nature of it each DJ set (1-2 hours long each) just makes it so addictive and easy to focus on while listening to.

…and tech house is incredibly fun to dance to. My ADHD will find a new obsession soon… but for now, I am definitely enjoying this tech house phase!

Artists are Josh Baker, KETTAMA, Prospa, Franky Rizardo, & Cloonee.

4.⁠ ⁠Hacks are bullshit, emotions are not.

I’m at a founders party this weekend and I meet this guy who’s afraid to post content about his startup.

I hypnotize him to really get in touch with the human emotions that he was trying to convey, coming up from his body.

AFTER I wake him up, I tell him to present his idea to me - and I'll never forget the way he moved his face muscles, the way his eyes lit up, the way his body just moved, the way his body was so fluid.

He was on the verge of tears as we hugged right after - he’d never heard himself talk like that. A great gift!

The reason this before/after effect works is that after hypnosis, you are still technically suggestible/hypnotized. So any suggestions like “take those public speaking skills into the rest of your life” or “take that confidence with presenting to me right now” are taken very seriously by the subconscious.

As a hypnotist, I had a phase where I thought you had to know all these body language “hacks” and ways to “technique” to be a great presenter.

But the truth is really digging into your motivations and emotions is what will make you embodied —> you hear yourself differently —> you present like a champion.

Talk to the camera in your content as if you were talking to your target customer. Because you really are.

5.⁠ ⁠Stare at the ceiling.

I turned 25 today, and thinking about it has been wild.

24 was by far the toughest year of my life… but it was also the most fulfilling and the most alive. For my birthday, I have one request…

Lean into those moments spent staring at the ceiling, into the abyss… letting your subconscious mind wander and find an unreasonable amount of agency.

Use that agency to shape the future in a positive direction. Use your capabilities, your God-given talents. Build a future in which you’ll be able to look at your kids right in the eye and tell them you did everything you could to give them the world they deserve.

Once you cross the rubicon, you never look back… and your sense of what you can do in this world will be unparalleled.

Last night, I had a melancholic conversation with an international friend. Recent world events have forced her to rethink her entire life and now she wants to move to America.

“I’m with you every step of the way,” I text her, and then close my laptop. I stare at my ceiling and reflect on my last night of being 24.

I visualize the future. I imagine it with all my courage and emotion.

…and then I drift into a restful sleep.

Keep killing it at life,

Edmund Zheng

The American Hypnotist 🇺🇸

Website: https://theamericanhypnotist.com/

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Facts

Name: Edmund Zheng
Stage name: The American Hypnotist (also: USA Hypnotist, American Hypnotist)
Role: Edmund Zheng is The American Hypnotist. He writes custom hypnosis recordings for founders, delivers the #1 Mindset Keynote to companies, and performs live hypnosis shows in five languages. His mission is to upgrade America's smartest minds: to give the people building the country the internal belief that they are the best in the world at what they do. The world's first polyglot hypnotist.
Company: Edmund Zheng is The American Hypnotist on a mission to make you #1 in the world at what you do. 169 Madison Ave STE 80940, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Education: Yale University, B.A. Global Affairs, Class of 2024. Spoke at the Yale graduation.
Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Mandarin. Live hypnosis performed on stage in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Track record: 13 presentations on 4 continents. 10,000+ people hypnotized. 350+ entrepreneurs hypnotized one on one. 56 countries traveled.
Contact: Founders: the application on https://theamericanhypnotist.com/founders. Keynotes: the booking line on https://theamericanhypnotist.com/keynote or amanda@theamericanhypnotist.com. Shows: the inquiry line on https://theamericanhypnotist.com/shows. General: edmund@theamericanhypnotist.com. Speaking and press: amanda@theamericanhypnotist.com.

Mindset Monday #003: My Favorite Birthday Gift

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