Paul McKenna: "I thought 'I'm going to die now'"

The hypnotist, behavioural scientist and author on how Simon Cowell changed his life and the day he thought he would die.

Credit: Getty Images
For more than 20 years now, Paul McKenna has been using his hypnosis to help people change their life, whether that’s tackling phobias or losing weight. However, things could have taken a very different turn for him.

Talking to our very own Saga Magazine, McKenna shared that he had a life-threatening experience in the Nineties, which required an incredible inner strength to survive.

“I lost sight of my instructor on a dive and got caught in a powerful current, getting dragged deeper and deeper,” he explained to Saga Magazine.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to die now’. I knew that if I didn’t find the strength to reach the surface, I’d run out of oxygen.”

Fortunately, the hypnotist summoned all his courage and managed to resist the force of the current.

“I don’t know where I found the strength from – it was superhuman – but at that moment, I managed to get back to the surface.”
By Pam Francis | Published - 23 Jan 2024

Defining success

In the past McKenna has released books on how to control stress or mend a broken heart, this time he’s looking at success.

Calling it his best book yet, Success For Life: The Secret To Achieving Your True Potential came about after working with big names such as James Corden and Roger Daltry.

“My new book deals with self-belief, clarity, determination, connection, creativity, health and happiness,” he said.

“It provides readers with a complete programme using the latest easy-to-use psychological techniques to achieve more success than they ever dreamed possible.”

In his interview the renown author also revealed how Simon Cowell helped him make a decision that changed his life and now, at the age of 60, he believes that genuine success entails having "good health, supportive friends, loving family, and a sense of purpose."
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