About The Practical Guru

Hi, I’m Gary Izzo, welcome to The Practical Guru. 

This is a site about learning how to befriend the unconscious mind.

Maybe this is you…

You know where you want to go, you’re working really hard but you just can’t get any traction toward getting there; or you have the momentum, but you’re not really sure you’re going in the right direction… for you. 

That’s why I created The Practical Guru.

I’m a director, teacher, creativity consultant, and master in communication and alternative behavioral therapy. 

I created this site for people who want to achieve their desired outcomes and find meaning and purpose in their lives, who feel like they’re working against themselves, and lack a sense of agency over their own potential. 

So, what is it that I do?

I help people with what goes wrong between their thinking and their results

I help people with what goes wrong between their thinking and their results.  Specifically, I help them get their unconscious programming congruent with their conscious wants, so that they can get their desired results. 

What does Unconscious Congruency mean?

Look at it this way, the relationship between the conscious mind (that is the part of your mind that is reading the text on this page right now) and the unconscious mind (which we can think of as everything else that you are NOT conscious of) is kind of like a man riding an elephant.

He can get the elephant to go this way or that momentarily, but the elephant is soon going to go where it wants to go. (cuz it’s an elephant) So, I act as a sort of elephant trainer.

You see, all of our emotions, our values, beliefs, and ultimately our behavior is generated and automatically run unconsciously, and those are the true drivers of our results. 

Because the conscious, thinking part of our mind does not run the behavior, feeling or response we don’t want, the first step in changing that behavior is learning to access the part of ourselves that does run it. Then we learn how these parts can become inner friends.

How does Unconscious Congruency change outcomes?

Alana was uncomfortable with her flareups of anger. In groups, whenever someone didn’t agree with her ideas, she became enraged and had to struggle not to shout them down. She discovered that the unconscious part of her that got angry really wanted to protect her sense of self. Getting angry was the only way this unconscious part knew to do it. Finding a fully satisfying solution meant assisting this part in preserving her sense of self in a different, more resourceful way.

Dave couldn’t find his car keys and was frantic because he was going to be late for an important meeting.  He kept repeating, “I can’t find them anywhere!  They were right here and now they are gone.  They’ve just disappeared!”  He finally gave up in despair and said to himself, “I just want to find my car keys.”  That’s when he noticed them, in a place he had walked by a dozen times.  He finally made the right request to his unconscious mind, who knew all along where they were.

We’re in a constant dialogue with our unconscious mind, but we don’t speak the same language.  I teach people to speak in terms it understands in order to shift its internal representations of our external world, in order to use it as the ally it was made to be. 

And a powerful ally it is! 

If you’re not getting the results you desire, whether it’s in your career or your personal life, guess what, it’s about your thoughts! 

Yes, the world throws up obstacles, but at the end of the day it’s about whether your unconscious programing is in alignment with your conscious thinking.

The unconscious mind is the wellspring of every new thought you have, that’s why I call it the “Creative Unconscious.”  Artists and innovators depend on it!  Your ability to engage with your unconscious mind is directly proportional to your abilities in creativity and innovation.

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

Carl Jung

Learning how to befriend the unconscious leads to extraordinary power for positive change.  

Is this therapy?

Nope. It is a way of managing your thinking.

I am a believer in fast, efficient change, which is why I use practiced, tested, actionable techniques for shifting unconscious programming and increasing our access to it.  And I will only give advice where I have seen the results. I’m, you know… practical.

If you’re looking for meaning in your life, you don’t have to climb a mountain looking to ask a yogi in a robe.  You can find it yourself.  You just may need someone to show you where to look. 

You don’t have to spend years in therapy figuring out why you are the way you are.  In fact, understanding the psychological details of why you behave the way you do, does nothing to change the way you behave.  That takes action, intention and focus. 

Benefits of Befriending the Unconscious

• Become massively creative
• Shift damaging behaviors to new resourceful ones
• Develop your intuition (and get your own answers)
• Reprogram the beliefs that limit you
• Get clear of your emotional baggage
• Adopt life strategies that will bring you success
• Discover what gives you meaning
• Find your true purpose and construct a life that brings you real happiness

You can be creative, effective, and make a difference.  You can be a true believer in your own potential.  Whatever you think you are now, you are more than that. You already have everything you need to make the changes you need to get the results you want. 

Most people just need a little direction… a better way to go.  That’s my gig. 

That’s what this blog and its trainings are all about.  I’ll cover topics from how to talk to your boss and get what you want, to how to get noticed at a bar, to major issues like resolving limiting beliefs or finding your true purpose in life. 

I LOVE this stuff, and I love helping people use it. 

This site is new, the project is only just beginning, which means you are right on time.  Please subscribe so I can update you on each new post, and notify you of free stuff like guides, worksheets, video trainings and mini courses. 

And as a welcome gift, I’m sending you a free downloadable PDF on the Prime Directives of the Unconscious Mind.  Kind of an introduction to a friend you’ve always had, but never knew too much about. 

Thanks for visiting The Practical Guru, and remember:

The Guru is YOU, I just work here.