Tag: Self-Sabotage
How to Use the Power of your Subconscious Mind
Since being published in 1963, The Power of your Subconscious Mind (by Joseph Murphy), has sold more than 1 million copies and impacted lives the world over. A quick perusal of it’s Amazon page will reveal well over 2000 reviews, 78% of them 5 star and the kind of affectionate language usually reserved for a well loved relative.
There’s something magical about this book. It has the ability to sooth and simplify in a way that few others can. People’s lives change after reading it. Mine did. Alongside The Matrix and Fight Club, it was the catalyst for me breaking free from The System and pursuing my dream to become a best selling author.
Having experienced The Power of your Subconscious Mind’s life changing impact, I want to relay its secrets to you. As of this year, I’ve read the book five times, written a 4000 word piece on it for HiBooks and run a workshop covering its key points. I like to think I know it inside out and, to my reckoning, there are 3 key parts you must understand.
- First, we have the theory
- Second, having understood the theory, you’ll need to know some of the techniques for accessing the power of your subconscious mind
- Finally, I’ll warn you about what not to do so you can avoid sabotaging your success
The Theory
Let’s start with a quick definition. Your mind has 2 parts – the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious is the one you’re more familiar with. It’s the voice in your head. Rational in nature, it’s the part of your mind you can control.
The subconscious is the deeper part of your mind. It’s much harder to control and emotional in nature. It responds more to metaphors and images and is less influenced by language.
Joseph Murphy uses two metaphors to explain the relationship between your conscious and subconscious. The first is the captain and the ship. Your conscious mind is the captain, standing on the deck, giving the orders. The rest of the ship, from the crew, to the sails, to the anchor, is the subconscious, faithfully carrying out whatever order the captain gives.
The second metaphor is the watchman at the gate. Here, the conscious mind is the lone guard, deciding who and what can enter the fortress. The subconscious is everything beyond the gate. Therefore, it’s the watchman’s duty to determine the impact of what he lets pass.
Both metaphors emphasize the significance of the conscious mind. You must take responsibility, and be very aware of, your thinking. Your thoughts aren’t insignificant mental chatter. Instead, they are commands. Guard against negative self-talk and thinking about what might go wrong.
The metaphors also reveal that the subconscious can’t discern discern between good and bad. Sure, it’s powerful and will carry out whatever you request. However, it won’t help you in determining whether these requests are going to be of benefit (Present images of failure to your subconscious and it will just assume this is the direction you want to move in and carry out the order).
The subconscious draws its power from a connection with the infinite intelligence. You are not an isolated individual. Through your mind, you are connected with the intelligence that moves the tides, keeps the planets orbiting around The Sun and presents people with ideas for changing the world. Make use of this connection, and through your intuition, your subconscious will reveal the path to your best possible life.
Exactly how to do this, is the subject to which we’ll now turn our attention.
Techniques for Impressing your Subconscious
Murphy highlights two main techniques for impressing a belief on your subconscious. The first is based around visualisation. He advises playing mental movies over in your mind before going to bed and when waking in the morning.
The reason for this timing is that, in his words, there is “the greatest outcropping of the subconscious” upon waking and going to sleep. This is when you’re at your most impressionable.
Your mental movie should be about you succeeding. Perhaps, like me, you want to be a best selling author. If that’s the case, visualise the number of book sales you want to achieve. See a big fat 1,000,000 or 100,000. Also, imagine yourself signing books at a book launch and conducting interviews with popular podcasts. See yourself living the life of a best selling author.
The same principle applies to healing (much of Murphy’s book is concerned with this area). If you’re currently suffering from an illness, or experiencing an injury, imagine your body being healthy and whole. Visualise yourself moving around, being active and partaking in all the activites you did before your illness or injury.
When using the mental movie technique, you’ll want to both keep it fresh and rely on trusted favoruites. The subconscious responds best to familiarity. A repeated mental movie, with time, will be able to trigger an emotional response. Also, big bold numbers (such as book sales totals) or a repeated slogan (I am fit and healthy), easily sink in. However, at the same time, be mindful of the fact you might, occaisonally, get bored. Therefore, be ready to change up your regular mental movies and try something new.
The second technique for impressing your subconscious is called the written statement. Here, you write down a paragraph or two, stating what you want to achieve, as if it has already happened. For example, if you are looking to find your soul mate, you might write,
I am a in love. My ideal partner is with me and it feels amazing. We share incredible moments together and are perfect for each. I’m attracted to both their looks and personality (elaborate from here) . . .
Pay close attention to the language. There’s no room for ‘hopes’ or ‘wishes’. This is affirmative. It’s happened. You have done it. Therefore, be bold and assertive when creating your written statement.
Once created, you should read it out loud 3 times over, 3 times a day. Again, it’s suggested you should do this upon waking and before retiring. Fit the third time of day in whenever convenient for you.
Perform your mental movie and written statement with emotion. Both will be ineffective if you simply read off the script and run a few images through your mind. Instead, you must dig deeper. Why is this dream so important to you? How will it feel when you’ve achieved your desire? Whatever the answer, capture that emotion when performing these techniques.
If you can, amazing changes will occur.
First, new beliefs will form in your subconscious. Your beliefs set the boundaries for your world. The person who believes they can do anything, or that they can achieve their desire, has access to many more opportunities, and far greater information, than someone who believes something isn’t possible.
Second, your subconscious will hit you with insights (via the infinite intelligence) about how to progress. These will come in the form of ideas, usually accompanied by a feeling of inspiration.
Look out for these moments. What they reveal can lead to a new creation or connection that dramatically changes your life.
What NOT To Do
There are 6 reasons why you may fail to influence your subconscious in the manner you’d hoped.
1. Lack of confidence. We live in a world obsessed with the material. Therefore, it can hard to see the importance of the spiritual. However, if you doubt the effectiveness of Murphy’s techniques, it will only work against you. Remember, the subconscious realises your beliefs. This means your doubts will be manifested.
2. Too much effort. Willpower doesn’t work when it comes to influencing your subconscious. Struggling only implies an obstacle. Therefore, let go, and believe your mental movies and written statement will come to pass.
3. You get disheartened. If you get disheartened because your desires haven’t been realised in a week, a month or a year, the message received from your subconscious is that you don’t believe it will happen. How will your subconscious react to this message? Yep, you’ve guessed it, it will continue to deny you the thing you want. Therefore, keep believing until it happens.
4. Old negative beliefs dragging you down. Be aware of the baggage you bring to this book. If you’re like me, you won’t be working with a blank slate. I approached the book with a whole host of hang ups, doubts and fears. As a result, I was constantly sabotaging my progress by fighting with my old problems. It’s far better to let them go. Don’t think about them at all. Focus on what you want to move towards and, eventually, the past will fade away.
5. Imagining the change will happen in the future. This will always make the realisation of your desire something beyond your reach. Instead, know it happens now.
6. Setting yourself too many goals. This disperses your energy. Have one main goal. Focus all your mental energy on achieving it and then move on once complete. This avoids your ship being steered in too many directions and failing to get to its destination.
Final Thought
I hope you’ve found this post useful. Your subconscious can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. Spend time learning how to master its ways. While doing so, remember that emotion is the key. When you can feel the realisation of your desire, the physical equivalent won’t be far away.
Get your FREE Course
If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!)
EXTRA RESOURCE: If you want to learn more about your subconscious mind and how to use it, make sure you check out the article below from iNLP Center. It comes with a free 18 page workbook which guides you through different exercises to explore the deeper workings of your subconscious mind.
Subconscious Mind| 9 Facts you should Know [plus FREE WORKBOOK]