“You are victim of the rules you live by”—Jenny Holzer.
Conscious Mind vs Subconscious Mind
Humans have a conscious mind and a subconscious mind.
The conscious mind is all the things you are currently aware of and thinking about. It contains all the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes. This also includes our memory, which is not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily and brought into awareness. It doesn’t fully develop until around puberty.
The subconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness. The subconscious mind believes everything . It doesn’t know the difference between true and what’s not true.
So if, for instance, our parents told us when we were kids that “money doesn’t grow on trees” once and again, and we believed them, most likely that now we wouldn’t enjoy spending them.
The Battle between Conscious Mind and Subconscious Mind
Ray Dalio, author of Principles, explains why the conscious mind is in battle with the subconscious mind:
“As with animals, many of our decision-making drivers are below the surface. An animal doesn’t “decide” to fly or hunt or sleep or fight in the way that we go about making many of our own choices of what to do—it simply follows the instructions that come from the subconscious parts of its brain. These same sorts of instructions come to us from the same parts of our brains, sometimes for good evolutionary reasons and sometimes to our detriment. Our subconscious fears and desires drive our motivations and actions through emotions such as love, fear, and inspiration. It’s physiological. Love, for example, is a cocktail of chemicals (such as oxytocin) secreted by the pituitary gland
Many people only see the conscious mind and aren’t aware of the benefits of connecting it to the subconscious. They believe that the way to accomplish more is to cram more into the conscious mind and make it work harder, but this is often counterproductive. While it may seem counterintuitive, clearing your head can be the best way to make progress.”
The Power of the Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is the powerful secondary system that runs everything in your life. It stores your beliefs, your previous experience, your memories, your skills. Everything that you have seen, done or thought is also there.
It is also your guidance system.
The subconscious mind is governed by many rules. So learning about these rules will allow you to make the best use out of your subconscious mind with the least effort.
Some of these rules are limiting subconscious beliefs, those negative beliefs about yourself that stand in the way of your real success and weaken your self esteem.
As Jen Sincero says in You are a badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life ” The first key to ridding yourself of limiting subconscious beliefs is to become aware of them.“
Once you become aware of, here’s a few things to reprogram your subconscious mind:
1. Write a gratitude journal
By expressing gratitude for all that you do have, you shift your mindset. There’s nothing more powerful than gratitude.
2. Have a quantum plan for your life
Ask yourself what’s your purpose, and why you are the one to fulfill it. Forget about the how for now.
3. Be aware of your resistance
Be aware of your excuses, and ask yourself “What limiting thought, belief, or pattern of behavior am I currently holding onto that is standing in the way of my desire?”
4. Use positive affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to overcome self-sabotaging, negative thoughts.
5. Take action to achieve your goals
Tasks are performed via the conscious mind, but most actions depend on the subconscious mind. You don’t need to do it all at once. Take the first step towards your goal.