NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The opening general session at the NACStech 2006 show was, in a word, hypnotic. Throughout the 90-minute presentation, some attendees quite literally found themselves on the floor.
In his opening address, speaker and psychotherapist Anthony Galie explained to NACStech attendees at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center that even though new technology may seem fascinating and mind-boggling, they can embrace it by visualizing and staying focused on what they hope to accomplish. The world's most successful people, he said, [image-nocss] envision their goals and reinforce them frequently. The ultra-successfulthe visionariesmake goal-reinforcement a daily practice.
The very successful are hypnotizing themselves into success, he said. They don't call it hypnosis, but they have cute little names for itlike vision, or getting focused. Athletes call it getting in the zone.' It's all essentially self-hypnosis.
High achievers such as top-tier athletes and CEOs internalize their goals and can actually alter their subconscious self-image, said Galie, who authored the book Take Control of Your Subconscious Mind and has a psychology degree from Rutgers University. Some people are better at it than others, which he proved by hosting five NACStech attendees on stage and hypnotizing each one of them.
First, he put his subjects to sleep and convinced them they were as loose and as limp as a handful of rubber bands. This caused one attendee to fall out of his chair; Galie termed such deeply hypnotized people as floppers. The comic display elicited fits of laughter from audience members in the packed ballroom, but the hypnosis had a deeper message: If retailers can picture something in their minds, they can make it reality.
If you don't see yourself hitting a goal, you'll be your own worst enemy, Galie said. Start to think of yourself as a 50-store operator rather than a five-store operator [if that is your goal], and your behavior is going to change. If you have this fear of technologyor this fear of failure, picture yourself achieving the goal.
If people really want to change and become high achievers, Galie suggested starting with the act of writing down specific goals three to four times a week as a means of positive reinforcement. This itself is a form of self-hypnosis, he said. Most people, however, don't take the time to do this because they are too busy being average producers to be one of those high achievers, he said.
In introducing Galie, Scott Hartman, president of Rutter's Farm Stores, York, Pa., told conference attendees they have good reason to be excited about new technology. He recently completed a trip to parts of Japan and Korea, where he and fellow thought-leaders toured the operations of leading-edge technology companies like Samsung and SK Telecom. The Asian tiger is roaring right now, Hartman said.
During his travels, Hartman saw what will one day be life-altering inventions, such as automobiles that can monitor a person's vital signs to prevent accidents, 80-inch plasma-screen TVs and networked homes in which residents can electronically inventory the contents of their touchscreen-equipped refrigerators. But what most excited him were new technologies that will ultimately alter the way convenience retailers interact with consumers.
E-paper, which is paper-thin electronic signage that can be changed multiple times daily, may one day help U.S. retailers do more daypart merchandising. Hartman also got a first-hand look at an array of new cell phone applications. Asian consumers either already have or will soon have the ability to use cell phones to store digital coupons that can be scanned at the point of sale, for example. Another handset application enables consumers to feed their pets remotely.
[The Asian marketplace is] doing things we're not quite ready to do, Hartman said. Then again, it's coming. We are about to enter the customer touchpoint' years.
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