
Do you want to change your behavior? What do you believe? Do you want to change how you respond to others and how they respond to you? Well, I do. The good news is we all can do this. Here is a graphic image from the New Zealand Immigration Association showing the relationship between our beliefs that I find very helpful when I try to understand how everything relates within my mind.
Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
George Bernard Shaw
Beliefs
As you can see our beliefs are where it starts. This also shows how we got these beliefs. Beliefs reside in our mind’s subconscious minds. Our mind has two parts, the conscious mind, and the subconscious. You can think of the subconscious part as the part of the iceberg that is hidden underwater. It’s the majority of the iceberg but remains unseen although always there. Aaron Surtees in a recent article How to Reprogram the Subconscious Mind states that great power resides in our subconscious mind. This is of course the area that hypnotists and hypnotherapists tap to help us delete our bad habits.
Our Conscious Mind
The conscious mind is that part of our mind that we’re aware of and can control. This is that part of our mind that we use to think, make decisions, and interact with the world around us. It’s like the tip of the iceberg that we see above the water. As you can see from the graphic our behaviors are how we interact directly with the world around us, but our subconscious mind influences our behaviors. So if we want to change our behavior, we have to start in our subconscious minds.
Our Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is that part of our mind that we aren’t aware of, and it controls our habits, feelings, and memories. The subconscious mind is always working, even when we’re asleep. The subconscious mind can be difficult to control, but it’s possible to change our habits and thoughts by changing the way we think about them.
The subconscious mind stores our memories, emotions, and behaviors, and influences our thoughts and actions without us realizing it. How often do we react from our emotions (subconscious mind) rather than from our thoughts (conscious mind). But we can change that.
How to Use the Power of the Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is a powerful tool and can help you manifest your desires and goals. The two techniques people use are visualization and affirmations. Here are a few tips on how to use the power of the subconscious mind:
Visualization
“You are more productive by doing fifteen minutes of visualization than from sixteen hours of hard labor.” – Abraham Hicks
Visualization includes things like vision boards showing pictures of what you want and where you want. The second way to visualize is to get comfortable, clear your mind, and picture yourself achieving your goal.
- The first step is to get clear about what you want. Take some time to sit down and write out your goals or desires. Be as specific as possible and make sure to include a timeline for when you want to achieve them.
- Next, you need to start visualizing yourself achieving your goals. Daily, take a few minutes to visualize yourself succeeding. See yourself accomplishing your goals and feel the emotions that come with it.
- Finally, you need to take action towards your goals. This means putting in the work necessary to achieve them. Don’t just sit around and wait for things to happen; take steps daily towards making your dreams a reality.
Affirmations
Affirmations are a way to tell your subconscious what you want to believe. One of the famous ones is “Every day in every way I’m a better person.” If you repeat your affirmations to yourself, several times a day your subconscious will begin to help you change your life. So, what is an affirmation? An affirmation is an act of telling yourself something is true. Your subconscious hears this and as you repeat it repeatedly your beliefs will change.
making personal affirmations
Think of some belief you hold that you want to change then write a short positive statement that becomes your affirmation. For example, if you want to eat healthier. Your affirmation could be “I will always choose the healthy food option.”
Note the structure of the affirmation starting with me or I and the positive nature of what you want your subconscious to learn.
Repeat your affirmations to yourself several times a day and you will begin to see a gradual change. To accomplish anything we must focus on it. So, if we focus on affirmations and visualization then they will happen.
Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.—Ruth Bader Ginsburg
GET Started
Google affirmation quotes and picks five, to begin with. Repeat them several times a day and just before going to bed. You will see change.