Realising Benefits – Programming Part 2

Previous Posts in this series:

This post directly flows on from part one. If you have not read part 1, check that out first…

Timely

Reflection and contemplation at the right time.

Our unconscious mind never sleeps. It is the part of our mind that manifests our dreams.

Imagine the unconscious mind being much like the bed rock and soil in a forest and the conscious mind being the flora and fauna. Our day is much like walking through a forest… we wake up in a grassy clearing close to the soil, and as we then embark on our day we set off in to the depths of the forest for adventure. The reality is that we are no less close to the soil during the day, we are just surrounded by the sensory input of the rich forest which makes us less perceptive of the soil. At the end of the day, we then return to our grassy clearing ready to sleep…

So, with this analogy in mind, the best times of day to offer up programming suggestions to our subconscious mind are either just before we go to bed, or right after we wake up.

Reflection before bed including making positive affirmations offers up the subject matter to be processed by our subconscious mind while we sleep. Reflection in the morning sows a seed which becomes an intention or you could say undertone of our approach for the day.

Use this insight to effectively plan your self-development approach to capitalise on these windows of opportunity to more easily influence our subconscious mind.

Repetition

Using self-discipline to build habits.

The more consistently you perform an action be that choosing specific thinking patterns, visualising your successful future, or filtering out unwanted behaviours, the quicker it will be installed as a habit.

Our habits define who we and they are a manifestation of our unconscious thinking – ultimately habits are called habits because we perform then unconsciously.

So, think carefully about the habits that you have currently got and the new ones you want to form – our habit formation programs our subconscious mind and our habits are a manifestation of our unconscious mind.

Build the thinking habit of expecting the best is a great place to focus.

Foresight

Proactively plan your programming time.

So, we know that certain times are more effective than others when it comes to programming your subconscious mind, and that repetition is key.

What this means is that effecting the changes you want will not just happen by accident. You need to be calculated and strategic.

Take time to plan when you will reflect, define your goals, create your vision, and check in with yourself. This starts of as planning to create the plan, then builds from there.

Remember: failing to plan is planning to fail.

Evidence

Providing evidence and reaffirming – making it real.

Through building awareness of our behavioural habits, we start to collect evidence to confirm or deny that we are who we say to ourselves we are.

Building awareness by taking time to reflect is key to programming our subconscious. When we look back on our day or week and identify either the conscious choices we have made, or the new habits we have formed, we are in essence capturing evidence which affirms our self-belief.

Our subconscious mind is listening throughout this process and every time you provide it with evidence to validate a belief, it strengthens this belief and makes it more prevalent in determining the unconscious choices we then make.

This feedback loop can be both constructive and destructive depending on the belief that is being reenforced in our mind. So, the key here is directing our focus towards the behaviours we want to promote which reenforce we are the person that we want to be.

Now I am not advocating that we blinker ourselves to our growth areas, we need to accept these too – the key point here is that we need to prove to ourselves that we are who we say we are before the rest of the world will see the light that shines within us.

Intuition

Listen to your gut.

The subconscious part of the human mind evolved before the language centres so it communicates using feelings rather than words.

These feelings are not just constrained to the brain though; the neural network of the body spans our spinal cord, organs and limbs too.

If you are ever in a situation where you need to make a choice, you subconscious mind will guide you if you know how to listen to it. Try this practice.

Spend a few minutes in mindful meditation to land yourself in the present moment. Now imagine option one, don’t try to think about the pros and cons, just imagine a vision of you having executed option one and tune in to what you feel like in that moment. Hold the image for a minute or so.

Now, switch over to option two and do the same.

It is important not to try to think or decide while doing this, just hold the images in your mind and observe the feelings that arise.

The option that makes you feel contented, and/or calm, and/or serene is the choice to make.

Listening to your gut is a skill. The more you practice it, the better you will get at it, and eventually you will be able to tap in to it in an instant.

Gratitude

Flow with the universe.

A state of gratitude is a state of acceptance and love – a cultivation of energetic serenity where you resonate at your highest level.

Think of gratitude as the secret sauce that will elevate all of the other insights shared for programming your subconscious.

Simply try it and find out for yourself.

To discover more insights, read the tool of Being Grateful.

Mindfulness – Cultivating and Embracing the Void

In a previous post: Intermittent Fasting for the Mind, I explore the practice of mindfulness and the benefits it can bring to our lives. The specific focus of this post was about how to develop the skill of focussing in on the present moment by filtering out the idle chatter of the mind.

The practice of mindfulness and present living aims to create a thoughtless state where we engage fully with, and as such are immersed in, the present moment. In essence, what we are doing is creating a void in our conscious mind – an empty space which can be filled wholly with the experience of the present moment.

The dualistic nature of the universe means that the presence of the void (nothingness) will equally give rise to that which fills the void – you cannot have yin without yang.

What will fill the void is the programming of your subconscious mind sprinkled on top of the experience of/action in the present moment.

When in this mindful state, your actions will be purely guided by the programming in your subconscious mind and be geared towards making manifest the vison of the future that you have created. A vision that you already perceive as real in your subconscious mind.

I offer this insight as a signpost back to earlier insights around the practice of mindfulness – search them out and consume this knowledge. Turn the knowledge in to understanding through action.

Mindfulness practice creates the blank canvas on to which you can conspire with the universe to paint the master work of your existence.