Success Stories: This page is really all about you, and we’re dying to hear about all your successes and stories about how MAX has helped you. We want to share just a few of the success stories we’ve received during trials with MAX - and now, over to you!

Calm and controlled to resist the irresistible! - 18 October 2007

We were presenting the MAX concept to the senior team of a bank and we wanted to illustrate just one of the powerful exercises MAX uses. We asked whether anyone had experienced difficulties sticking to their guns when it came to buying things, and would they like to volunteer to be “helped” to overcome this habit. This caused great hilarity and everyone admitted that there were occasions when they went over the top, but they all seemed to be volunteering Helen, the most senior person, whose reputation for going a bit potty with the plastic was apparently legendary. Helen’s vice was visiting a certain department store. However sternly she spoke to herself before she went in, resolving to buy only the things she intended, she always came out with many more things, having spent a great deal more than she wanted. Helen agreed to try it out and twenty minutes and one exercise later, we challenged Helen to go to the department store as normal and report back. At the next meeting we couldn’t wait to ask what happened. Beaming, she told us the whole story of how she decided before she went to the store what she intended to buy, not believing for a moment that she would stick to it. She remembered standing at the checkout feeling so proud that the things she was buying were those she intended to buy. She described feeling much more in control and not so impulsive and felt that she had more space to make a considered decision. Helen was really amazed. Of course we weren’t. We expected exactly that result, but it’s always nice to be told again.

You’re all right Jack! - 18 October 2007

We’re understandably very proud of MAX and we love to share what she can do, and being a friendly bunch, we like to make our presentations interactive. During one presentation of MAX we were very surprised to find an audience led by a very sceptical ringleader, Jack. Interactivity was proving to be a challenge and we weren’t looking forward to the demonstration. We asked for volunteers – people who’d like to have more control over their spending. Yes, you guessed it. It was Jack. He told us that he doesn’t really have a problem controlling spending, but he didn’t mind having a go. The worst kind of volunteer – you can’t prove it works. Well, we went ahead anyway, as we love a challenge. How glad we were that Jack volunteered. He turned out to be a real convert. Apparently he did have a problem he wasn’t consciously aware of. He couldn’t resist buying lavish presents for his nephews and nieces, and they had come to expect it. He now felt that the gifts dominated the relationship, and he wasn’t appreciated for himself, yet he felt stuck in this role. The longer this went on, the worse he felt and the more that gifts seemed to substitute the relationship. What a gift for us! Now we could really show off MAX! One of the exercises MAX uses is to create ground rules and look at the things you really want and really value. Jack was very different after the exercise, almost moved. He said he realised he was using gifts to buy affection, instead of giving himself and spending time. He decided to go and see his family this week end and start a new type of relationship. Wow! Not even we expected that turnaround.

Learning by osmosis? - 18 October 2007

One demonstration of MAX gave us an unexpected secondary benefit – someone who was watching a colleague doing an exercise ended up being helped themselves. When we spoke to her a few days after the presentation she told us that a weird thing happened. Previously she’d felt really guilty about spending so much money on groceries and blowing the budget. After the exercise, she found herself thinking from a different perspective: When she was next in the supermarket and she felt this guilty feeling, she looked in her trolley, and realised the reason that the bill would be so big was because she’d bought loads of things that were on offer. So what’s the problem? it was going to be cheaper in the long run, yes? No! She realised that a lot of the stuff that was really great value for money was perishable, and she would end up throwing it out. So she found herself coming to her senses and putting more than half of it back on the shelf, and saving a packet.– she realised that her eye for a bargain meant she was literally throwing money away. Not any more! By being more conscious of what she was doing, she was balancing her money saving tactics with MAX’s easy "no regrets" decision making!

Balance in all things - 18 October 2007

We went to show MAX to a careful and cautious Scot. We knew Kenny was very interested in MAX for his staff, as he understood that there were “a fair few people” had money worries and “cars that looked a bit flash for their salary”. We took Kenny through some of the exercises and the results were very unexpected. He was very measured and unemotional throughout the demonstration, and thanked us very much as we shook hands at the end, saying how interesting he found MAX. We’d left Kenny a license to try the MAX program in his own time to assess how useful it would be for his staff. A few days later we had a phone call. It was Kenny, he sounded uncharacteristically animated telling us how wonderful he had found MAX and how it had helped him. We were listening to Kenny on speakerphone, and looking at each other baffled. MAX had helped Kenny in a way in a way we had not focused on at all – after all, he seemed to be the sole of control when it came to money. Well that was just it – he was too controlled! He described how spending money was so uncomfortable it was almost painful to him, and buying even quite necessary things made him feel guilty and wasteful. MAX had helped him feel better about spending money on things that were appropriate, by helping him realise he could reset his own ground rules to make decisions that are best for him. He sounded elated. He’d experienced the MAX program for himself far better than we could have hoped for. And we’d learnt something in the process - getting the balance right doesn't always mean spending less!

An easy subtle and enjoyable way to learn! - 18 October 2007

One of our testers, William, was going through his MAX debrief, when the subtle way that MAX works MAX was very clearly revealed. As he was telling us his findings, he stopped mid sentence, and after a pause, chuckled and said, “I’ve just realised. I was making out my list earlier before going shopping, and I said to myself – “That’s all I’ll get.” Usually I put just a few essentials on my list, end up buying loads of things I didn’t mean to. This time I found myself making a proper list and, later, when I went shopping, if it wasn’t on my list I didn’t get it! My bill was about half the usual amount, and I’ve got everything I need. I wasn’t aware of MAX helping me – I was just testing the program, and actually enjoying it. This is an easy, subtle and enjoyable way to learn!

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