The Subconscious - Secret weapon for personal change?

More and more of us have become interested in personal development.  There has been a surge to begin a  quest to transform  into individuals who are not only successful, but who are also content, joyful, spiritual and in harmony with the world and the people around us.

The problem  is in the sheer magnitude of information in the form of books, websites, videos and social network sites that seem to carry a few similarities but also just as many incongruities.  It is these incongruities that tend to confuse many of us.  Which train of thought is the best?  Can we be certain that the one we follow will indeed be the one that is beneficial to us and to our goals?

To this dilemma I have to say that each of us has within us a voice that often directs us (or tries) toward the best solution that matches our personality, our interests and our goals.  Yet, too many of us forget to listen to this inner voice or "gut instinct" as it's also known.  We tend to push this aside and choose to follow those trends that seem to be the most popular at the time.  The one that has the most followers, the most exposure or the highest level of interest represented by "celebrities" or other well known individuals.


Where should we really begin?

I believe that we should begin our inner journey to self discovery and development by turning within and exploring our emotions, reactions to various events in our life and our progress as it pertains to the road map we have both consciously and unconsciously laid out for ourselves. 

Something that each and every one of us has in common are two fears which each of us has been born with and those two fears are:  the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.  Verifying this is quite simple.  We need only observe an infant and there reaction when they are picked up.  Their little fists are clenched and their arms and/or legs may extend outward and shake as though startled.  This represents their fear of falling.  This same reaction can be observed if for instance a book falls unexpectedly to the floor with a loud thud.  The infant again reacts by extending their arms and legs and perhaps crying.  These are the only two fears everyone of us comes into this world with.

All other fears:  the fear of insects, birds, flying, high places, snakes, enclosed spaces, the dark, etc., are all learned fears that we have subconsciously tucked away and can recall without effort as the need arises.




Our fears and how they develop

I'll place this into lay person terms simply because that is what I am.  Our fears are those reactions that we observe by how others react to a thing, event, or from our own experience.  For example I am terrified of snakes due to an experience I had with a friend when we ended up exploring a mound of sand that had numerous holes perforating the surface.  After poking and prodding into a few of these we discovered the secret they hid - snakes, many of them.  My second difficult encounter with this fear was when I and the same friend discovered that the well they had been using to provide water to their home years later was teeming with snakes of all sizes!

This fear was my experiences being allowed to shape my reaction and my emotions and nestle within my subconscious to be continually brought to my attention each and every time a snake came within my view.  As I reacted to each experience the fear would grow and grow.  Today, I simply need to know that a snake image appears in a book and I will refuse to touch or be near it.  Snakes on TV will make me flee, regardless where I am - whether at home or in a store showroom.  Snakes may even cause me to bolt and almost push an elderly person to the ground to escape (this I know because it happened to me while taking a stroll in a forest one year collecting pine cones under which a snake had burrowed itself!)

If you take the time to recall your fears it is very likely that you can connect this fear with something or someone around you.  Either an experience that you have had that ingrained the fear within you or a reaction that someone else had.  Usually fears are born from your emotional reaction to stimulus either around you or directly involving you. 

If our subconscious can be trained - it can be retrained

One of the reasons that many of the great Law of Attraction teachers such as Charles Haanel, Napoleon Hill and today,  people like Bob Proctor and others believe that affirmations are an important factor in peoples lives is because it is these affirmations that allow us to actually begin to retrain our subconscious.

If you were a child  raised in a home where one or both parents or even siblings regularly instilled within you the thought that you were clumsy, that thought soon became an action and that action soon made you take on the appearance of someone who was clumsy even though prior to this being instilled in you, clumsiness wasn't so much a constant action it was perhaps an occasional and even normal incident such as spilling a glass of milk, tripping over a shoelace, etc.  In other words, these things could happen to anyone but for some people the emphasis is placed on these happenings by those around them who continue to emphasize the the clumsiness aspect and thus this makes the person who is considered clumsy more aware of their every movement.  In turn this means that the person is then overly concentrating on NOT spilling milk or being clumsy and just the opposite occurs!

Now, say that as this "clumsy" child you were able to overcome the reference that you were clumsy and instead every time you were told this you would reverse the action by stating to yourself, "I am careful and I am graceful or confident." you would have reversed the clumsy program with a positive program that would instill within you actions that your subconscious would "soak up" and refer to in future during similar situations/occasions.

Being able to retrain our subconscious is something that any of us can do but few of us ever attempt.  You know the type of individual for example who tells you repeatedly, "I can't do that." or "I'm no good at that." Their subconscious received this message long ago,  perhaps as a youngster, or maybe it is something that they have just "recorded" over time on their own.  Either way, if it is something that they can train the subconscious to accept they can also retrain it to accept something positive and different.

Why don't people do this?

Although there are many who are willing to go the extra mile and retrain their subconscious, there are more who do not.  This isn't a matter of stating a fact once and then being able to instantly see, feel or show gratification for the change.  Unfortunately, we as  human beings, like sameness known as homeostasis.  We tend not to want too much change either around or within us and we more often than not, return to those things we are most familiar with.  Regardless whether those actions, reactions or fears are good for us or not, they are "comfortable".  They are known to us.

Fear of the unknown is a fear that almost everyone has within them at one time or another.  Fear of change is another as is fear of outcome.  It is these fears that often stop people from moving forward and taking the opportunity - yes - opportunity, to reshape their world and their future by simply reprogramming/retraining their subconscious.

Ways to retrain the subconscious and benefit from the effort

There are numerous books that can assist with retraining the subconscious and a quick search via Google will reveal a number of references.  Another way to easily do this is to undergo Hypnosis.  There are a number of sites that offer free hypnosis mp3's and many of these are exceptional.

Another way to assist in changing the subconscious is of course to enter into a process such as a Mental Bank Journal.

Over the next few weeks, I'll delve a bit more into several of these methods and how each can assist you in changing the programs that exist within your subconscious currently and how they can be changed to allow you to progress toward the success, the confidence and the kind of life you know you deserve.

Until then, enjoy your week and consider checking out a few of the books I've included that relate to this post...and as always, thanks for visiting and of course, reading!

Savanna