Or if you are afraid of water, then you may not want to try and use the beach imagery to fall asleep with. So pick what sounds and imagery that will appeal to you and finally find the sleep you need. You will see that after using one of these self hypnosis audio tapes or Cds that you can get more things done during the daytime and are much more productive. As human beings the majority of us need a place to start. There are some great books out there that will give you a starting point and help you to expand on your knowledge of self hypnosis. Self-Change Hypnosis by Richard Mackenzie is a great book to help you get started in using hypnosis to rid yourself of negative thoughts and opinions of yourself. Say to yourself in your mind what you need to for your mind to make the distinction and to draw the line mentally between hypnosis and alert. One thing you can say to yourself is that I am going to count backwards from 5 and when I reach 1 I will become alert. Then proceed to count backwards slowly from 5 to 1. Mesmer had great fame and success until a group of people one of which was Benjamin Franklin began to investigate him. The group concluded that the people who were cured had done so with the powers of their own imagination and that their cure had nothing to do with Franz Anton Mesmer and his magnets. Then find the self hypnosis technique that will confront that road block. Realizing you have a low self esteem can be devastating. But with self hypnosis there to help you build your self esteem, you can look at the knowledge that you have a low self esteem as something you can fix easily. Just use the self hypnosis techniques that are designed to build your self esteem up and you will see a more self confident you in no time. Some phrases you can use are, "I am an interesting person", "I have much to offer people", "I am friendly, intelligent and people like me", "I am a great employee and they value my insight". Fit the phrases to the area where you need self confidence. This method does work for some people but not for all.