The 10-sentence method by Klaus Bernhardt

The following five rules will help you optimize the internal language of your thoughts, allowing your brain to rewire itself most effectively. Once you master and apply these rules, your life can change for the better at a pace that many psychiatrists and psychotherapists still consider impossible. However, the thousands of grateful emails we receive each year from former anxiety patients allow us to confidently say that all anxiety sufferers have a real chance to finally heal using the 10-sentence method—even if they’ve been struggling for decades or are considered treatment-resistant. However, this will only work if you adhere to the following rules:

Rule 1: Formulate Your Ten Sentences Without Negation

Without negation means that your sentences must not contain any negative phrasing. “No fear” and “WITHOUT worries” are typical examples of negation. But why is this a mistake? Because your brain is not capable of thinking in negatives. Let’s try another small test to illustrate this:

Please do not think of a bear riding a bicycle. He’s not wearing dark sunglasses, and he’s definitely not carrying a yellow backpack.

Were you able to avoid picturing the bear in your mind? Of course not, because you can’t “not think” about something. In order to process the information about what not to think, you first have to imagine it. And this is exactly how your brain becomes wired. So, every time you tell yourself, for example, “I don’t want to have panic attacks anymore,” you’re actually making it easier for your brain to feel panic afterward, as you’ve reinforced the association with “panic” even more.

Throughout this blog post, we’ll encourage you to do small tests like this because we don’t want you to blindly believe everything we say. Please stay critical and verify our statements for yourself. You’ve probably relied on so-called experts and advice long enough without being freed from your anxiety. That’s why we encourage you to take full responsibility for your life again. Learn about your own personal mechanisms of fear, and in doing so, get to know yourself better. As you do, you’ll start to develop a sense of how you program yourself daily through your own language. These self-programmings influence every area of your life, without exception.

That’s why the techniques developed by Klaus Bernhardt and his team don’t just help transform fear into ease; they also enable you to attract far more success than failure into your life. Success, too, is largely based on how your parents, social environment, and even you yourself have programmed your mind, often unconsciously, over the years.

Rule 2: Formulate Only Positively

This rule naturally follows once we adhere to Rule 1. Instead of saying, “I don’t want to feel fear anymore,” from now on say, “I am brave and confident.” Just as your brain inevitably recalls a situation where you felt fear with the first sentence, it will similarly search for references where you’ve already been brave and confident with the second sentence.

Be careful not to use hidden negations like “worry-free” or “debt-free.” Not only do these phrases contain negative words like “worry” and “debt,” but the word “free” in these contexts is equivalent to “without” or “no.” Instead of saying “worry-free,” try: “I live fully in the present moment and enjoy every second.” Similarly, instead of “debt-free,” you could say, “I always have enough money to afford what is important and good for me.” Incidentally, even the seemingly positive word “relaxed” contains a negation, as it means “without tension.” It’s better to use words like “easy and light” or “joyful.”

At this point, you might be thinking, “How is merely rephrasing my thoughts going to ensure that I, for example, suddenly have more money?” This is a common question, so let’s explain it briefly. By thinking differently, you activate different capacities in your brain. Until now, you’ve likely spent much of your time and energy figuring out why life is so difficult. However, if you used those same resources daily to find new ways to make life easier, you’d achieve different results much faster. This might sound a bit esoteric right now, but it can be scientifically explained:

Your subconscious mind processes over 80,000 pieces of information per second. This is comparable to having 80,000 helpers who wake up every morning waiting for your command on what to focus on for the day. As long as you keep instructing them to find all the obstacles to your personal success and a brave, confident life, your 80,000 subconscious helpers will deliver exactly that. Now, imagine how different your life could look if your brain, every second of the day, subconsciously sought 80,000 ways to quickly make your life more enjoyable and pleasant.

Rule 3: Formulate Your Ten Sentences in the Present Tense

Thanks to modern neuroscience, we now know that our brain forms many new synapses when we experience something in real life. Even more fascinating is the fact that we establish almost as many neural connections when we vividly imagine something. When we mentally act as if we have already achieved what we aim for, it becomes easier to reach that goal with each repetition.

This effect has been used successfully in professional sports for years and is a key component of mental training. For example, when a figure skater is learning a new, complex move, her coach may ask her to repeatedly visualize the perfect execution of the move. Sometimes the focus will be on what the movement looks like; other times, the attention will shift to how her body feels. How does each muscle feel at the moment when she performs the move flawlessly? The key is that she mentally acts as though the desired outcome is already a reality. Studies have shown that mental training can speed up physical training success by up to 40% compared to relying solely on physical repetition.

If this strategy works so well in sports, why not apply it to your health as well? Therefore, always write your ten sentences in the present tense, even if you think it might take years to achieve your goal. Your sentences don’t necessarily have to focus solely on your physical or mental well-being, either. Everyday desires and goals are also great for helping your brain rewire itself. Sentences like “I’m enjoying a dream vacation in the Maldives” or “I’m in a wonderful relationship” are just two examples of what a truly amazing life could look like.

Rule 4: Formulate Your Sentences Very Specifically

The more specific you are in describing what your life looks like when it’s perfect, the faster your brain can create the necessary neural pathways. General statements like “I feel good” or “I am happy” provide too few opportunities for your brain cells to rapidly and widely interconnect. Instead, find sentences that specifically describe future situations you want to experience once you’ve fully overcome your anxiety. Focus especially on areas of your life where avoidance has become routine.

For example, if you haven’t driven a car in a long time, a good sentence would be: “I love driving my car spontaneously to different places.” Here are a few more examples of how such specific sentences might look: