Let Your Subconscious Mind Go To Work for You – Part 2©

Author’s note: Special Note of Thanks to All of You!

Thank you for all of your feedback and support of the column I posted last month, “Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ – The Law of the Garbage Truck™!”

You can see The Law of the Garbage Truck™ on the Google/YouTube news program, The Watercooler Diaries. Kate Bohner, a former CNBC Journalist and co-author with Donald Trump of the best-selling book, The Art of the Comeback, is the creator and host of this show. Kate did a two-part series on the TheMomentumProject.com. The first show aired on Wednesday night and the second one aired this evening. I would love your comments!

The Momentum Project, Part 1

The Momentum Project, Part 2

This month on Positive Psychology News Daily, I want to return to the power of the subconscious mind. Today’s article is a follow-up to the one I wrote earlier this year (http://PositivePsychologyNews.com/news/david-j-pollay/20070502224). I have also posted below a number of other great articles by my fellow writers on Positive Psychology News Daily.

Have a great month! And thank you as always for your support!

Best to you,

David
 

 
Let Your Subconscious Mind Go to Work for You.© by David J. Pollay

My Dad’s father understood the power of the subconscious. When I couldn’t figure something out when I was growing up, my grandfather used to say, “Take a walk. Clear your mind.” He believed that if you set aside your issue for a little while, you would allow your subconscious mind to bring forth new and better thoughts, not just the few you already had. As a result you would come up with a better idea. It turns out that my grandfather was right.

In his book The Biology of Belief, cell biologist Bruce Lipton reported, “…the subconscious mind…processes some 20,000,000 environmental stimuli per second v. 40 environmental stimuli interpreted by the conscious mind in the same second…”

Ap Dijkersterhuis and Loran Nordgren of the University of Amsterdam demonstrated in their research the power of subconscious thinking. “Conscious thought is constrained by the low capacity of consciousness. Unconscious thought does not have this constraint because the unconscious has a much higher capacity. It follows that conscious thought by necessity often only takes into account a subset of the information it should take into account.”

I have a challenge for you. Think of five things right now. Keep them in your mind. Try it. You can do it. Concentrate on these five things.

Okay. How’d you do? If you’re like most people, your head is still spinning from trying to hold onto those five thoughts. Why? It’s because your conscious mind attends to one thought at a time.

Now think about your day. You’re busy. You’re moving from one activity to the next. And to get things done you have to focus on each activity as you’re doing them. A great day is when you get through your “to do” list. But how often is that?

Here’s the challenge. What if you want to improve your life in some meaningful way? How can you? Your schedule is maxed out. You don’t have time to think about making a significant change in your life. You know that from experience. So you find yourself saying that you cannot make the change, at least not while you’re over-booked.

Now, if you can only think of one thing at a time and your daily agenda is already full, how are you ever going to make the changes necessary to help you achieve your best possible life?

Here’s the answer: Let your subconscious mind work for you. Tell yourself what’s important to you. Focus on what you want to achieve in your life. Make this the first thing you do every morning. By doing so, you will give direction to your subconscious mind.

Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz of the USC Medical School wrote, “Perhaps any behavior change brought about by leaders, managers, therapists, trainers, or coaches is primarily a function of their ability to induce others to focus their attention on specific ideas close enough, often enough, and for a long enough time.”

When you begin your day thinking about what you want most in your life, you are training your mind to seek opportunities to fulfill your intention.

Theoretical Physicist Henry Stapp wrote, “By virtue of the quantum laws of motion, a strong intention, manifested by the high rapidity of the similar intentional acts, will tend to hold in place the associated template for action.”

Make the start of every morning an intentional act. Give your subconscious mind the opportunity to help you construct the life you want to live. If you do this every day, just think what good things could happen in your life.
 

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References

Dijksterhuis, A., & Nordgren, L. F. (2006). A Theory of Unconscious Thought. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2): 95-109. Abstract.

Maymin, S. (2007). How to best have your intuition work for you. Blog.

Lipton, B. (2008). The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles Hay House.

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Image
Take a walk courtesy of Jonathan Camuzo