See the Change You Want to Be
by Michael Braunstein
You’ve tried to change before, tried to break old habits or establish new, healthier ones. What went wrong? Why was improvement short-lived or never realized in the first place? The answer is simpler than you might think.
To succeed at creating change, we have to admit a few things that we already know. Start by acknowledging that there are two basic parts of the mind: 1) the conscious, analytical, data-driven part of the mind; and 2) the subconscious part that actually runs the whole show. We know there are two parts of the mind because we experience that dichotomy every day. In addition, we must recognize that the subconscious is the part of the mind that really learns how to do things and keeps us doing things that are complex and amazing. That point isn’t open to discussion. Just try walking, driving a car, typing a word, playing a guitar or any number of bodily functions without your subconscious controlling the event.
Habits are based in the subconscious, maintained by the subconscious and ruled by the subconscious. If you want your body to change, your habits to change, your outlook to change, your behavior to change, then you have to engage the subconscious mind and make change therein.
So, remembering that the subconscious is the part of the mind we must use in order to really learn or make substantial change, let’s get to work.
Goal vs. Means Trying to micromanage change is futile. The blueprint for change is bigger than the sum of its parts, so working on isolated parts isn’t effective. The way we get somewhere in life is too complex (though simple), involves too many seemingly random (though actually not random at all) events and occurrences for our puny analytical minds to accomplish. Our best thinking and planning pale in comparison to events apparently beyond our control but nonetheless affecting our desired outcome. Once we commit to our goal, then chance meetings, occurrences, opportunities and acquisitions will pave the path. If you want the airy-fairy, metaphysical explanation, here it is: The Universe hears our commitment to a goal and provides all manner of support that would not ordinarily come our way without our clear, expressed goal-setting. Set the goal. Leave the means up to God/Universe. Just make sure you pay attention when solutions emerge. (Goethe, et al.)
Do the work. Recognizing that the Universe is on your side in making change does not mean sitting on your bum, stuck on your thumb and saying, “It’s cool. The Universe will make it happen.” No, the Universe provides a clear path with all manner of assistants and assistance but you must walk it. Part of that is providing the subconscious with thoughts to use.
The subconscious is a willing worker and readily accepts training. It learns and is accessed in a number of ways: repetition, high impact emotion, imaging, special techniques like hypnosis. You’ve trained your subconscious mind thousands of times since the day you were born. So now do it with intent.
For example, the first time you drove a car, you used your conscious, thinking mind to drive and you were a lousy driver. After repetition and practice, your subconscious mind took over the primary skills of keeping the car straight between the lines, knowing how much pressure to apply to the brake or accelerator, how to turn or observing traffic. Same goes with any athletic or musical endeavor. While your conscious mind controlled the action, you sucked. With training and practice, your subconscious takes over the heavy lifting and runs the show. Think less. Perform better.
Dawn patrol. We spend all day in our conscious mind. At night, we let it go and the subconscious mind is up front and center. The minute you wake up — before jumping into the conscious-mind gibberish of the day and its mundane plans — make a brief, positive statement of the day you want make real. Maybe if I want to stop smoking the declaration is, “Today I will breathe clean, fresh air all day.” Carve your own statement to suit your goal. But it’s important to keep it positive in syntax. When you tell the subconscious something like, “I won’t smoke today” all it hears is “smoke today.” Choose positive statements.
Affirmations Writing positive statements works, too. Maybe express something like, “I enjoy the taste of wholesome, nutritious foods,” if I’m trying to cut out sugar. Writing adds power to affirmations. Writing an affirmation engages both the physical and the subconscious. How many reps? I was told “seven times seventy.” At least make it a couple hundred a day. Get to where your mind is doing it quietly.
Visualize Used by virtually every successful athlete, visualization is best when the mind is quiet. Oops. Ran out of room for this column. (I saw that coming.)
Learn more ways at HeartlandHealing.com/change.html
Using tools to access the subconscious can help you create change and make your desired reality real.
Be well.
Heartland Healing is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com.