Believe it or not, your unconscious mind is powerful and plays a more prominent role in your life than you ever imagined. While you can easily control your conscious mind, it will take a great deal of effort to control your unconscious mind. The thoughts in your unconscious mind shape the kind of person you are, and the thoughts are based on emotions and past experiences. Read on to discover how the unconscious mind works and how you can take advantage of it.
Also read:7+ Mindfulness Quotes to Inspire You Each Day
The Science of the Unconscious Mind
Sigmund Freud believed the unconscious and conscious minds are in constant communication. You could say your unconscious mind is your hard disk, while the conscious mind is your RAM. Programs are called from the unconscious to the conscious. When you act on reflex, you’re actually acting based on the signal from the unconscious. People act irrationally when they’re angry because they are being controlled by the unconscious. It contains processes in the conscious mind, and these processes occur automatically, devoid of your control.
To put it succinctly, the unconscious mind is a repository of old memories that can be recalled when needed. It is also the database of implicit knowledge. This type of knowledge is based on things you have mastered that you don’t have to think about. For example, answer the question: 4 + 2 = ?
Did you say, “The answer is 6.”? You didn’t need to calculate the answer because you have mastered simple arithmetic so well, and it has become implicit knowledge for you.
Also read:7 Productivity Exercises To Boost Your Tired Brain
The Power of the Unconscious Mind
The unconscious mind is powerful in two ways. First, whatever it believes usually comes to pass. For example, if you’re going for an interview and something keeps telling you that you’ll fail, you’ll get nervous, and that will impact your performance negatively.
Secondly, if you harbor unconscious negative thoughts, things around you will seem to confirm your thoughts. If you think your spouse is cheating on you, even if this is not true, your unconscious mind will try to confirm it. Things that may not have mattered to you before will begin to appear in different forms. You may begin to wonder about all the phone calls and late nights.
Hence, you must take control of your thoughts at all times. This is an art that successful people have mastered.
Have you ever received a message and been annoyed because you thought the message was rude? Yet, when you read the message again a few hours later, you wonder why you were upset. Your unconscious was in control the first time you read the message, but you were in control the second time you read it. In other words, if you allow your unconscious thoughts to control your actions and thoughts, it will. This doesn’t usually end well because negative thoughts will supersede positive ones.
Also read:How to Develop a Productive Mindset With 9 Powerful Tactics
How to Make Use of Your Unconscious Mind
Now that you have a better idea of how your unconscious mind works, how can you make it work for you? Here are some important tips for leveraging control of your mind.
Create an image of your goals
The images you see around you affect your conscious and unconscious minds. So to achieve a goal, it is a good idea to install the image of the goal in your unconscious mind. For instance, if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to form a picture of your slimmer self and stamp it on your mind. This will be a big motivation. Once your unconscious mind takes the image, achieving the aim will require less effort and struggle.
Tune your mind
You need to tune your mind to be in the same frequency as your goals. You need regular auto-suggestion to do this. State your goal repeatedly. The more you say it, the more it sinks into your mind. That way, you will unconsciously divert your energy and concentration to activities that will take you closer to your goal.
Another way your unconscious mind will aid you is to make you uncomfortable until you take certain actions geared toward actualizing your goals. If your mind keys into your weight loss goal, you may not feel fulfilled any day you don’t work out.
Practice meditation
When you practice meditation daily, you’ll be eliminating distracting thoughts from your mind, helping you focus on your goals. It is a good idea to start your day with a 10-minute meditation. To support this, you should make a habit of saying positive things to yourself always. Avoid saying negative things even if they’re true at the moment. Stating that you’re frustrated will only worsen your frustration. Instead, learn to say positive things into existence. It’s more like conjuring things into existence with your words and thoughts.
Mind your environment and setting
Your environment influences the thoughts in your mind. If the images around your environment are not in line with your goals, change your environment. If your aim is to quit smoking, stop hanging out with people who smoke. If your goal is to work out first thing every morning, don’t walk into the kitchen where you’re likely to start eating until you’ve worked out.
Final Thoughts
Consider your unconscious mind to be a tool that you can manipulate. Learn how to tweak it to work in your favor by applying the tips above. They’ll help you achieve your goals while also boosting your productivity. It may be difficult to remember to do them, but with time, the tips will work their way into your unconscious mind.