Why do so many books on how to be successful recommend affirmations and visualizing best outcomes?
Turns out there’s science at work here too. The conscious mind is volitional: Remember, this is where the will resides (although most of us have realized that New Year’s resolutions are usually short-lived). The nonconscious mind, however, is servile. It sets no goals of its own. It's job is to execute the goals it's provided with. It doesn't judge the merits -- only whether the results match the goals. If you believe (conscious mind) that you'll always be broke and struggling, your nonconscious mind will go right to work confirming that belief -- scurrying around finding evidence that this is true, reinforcing this faulty, disempowering belief.
I’ve heard a BELIEF defined as a thought that you think over and over and over again. So why not repeatedly recite some thoughts that set our powerhouse nonconscious minds to work finding ways to confirm that we are confident, prosperous and happy?
Why is it recommended that we declare our affirmations in the present tense?
To the nonconscious mind, everything is happening now. If we say, "I want to make $200,000 annually by 2017" or even "I plan to make $200,000 annually by 2017," the response of our nonconscious mind is, "Okay, wanting and planning on the way, Captain!" Wanting -- not having -- is the order that's being executed.
Despite the uncomfortable feeling that we are just flat-out lying -- we are instructed to say, "I make $200,000 annually" -- or at the very least, "I'm on track to make $200,000 annually by 2017."
Assaraf describes the nonconscious mind as not only running all our basic operating systems, but also all our programmable software. Our habits of thought, our beliefs about the world and ourselves are often hidden from us in our nonconscious minds.
This is why it's so crucial to systematically impress the beliefs we consciously design on the nonconscious part of our brains.
To follow:
IN THE ZONE: HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND--AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
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PART FOUR: IN THE ZONE -- HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND -- AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
Pre-creation is the process of seeding the nonconscious mind.
Jim Rohn said, "Rarely does a good idea interrupt you." We have to go searching for inspiration -- in books, seminars, workshops, Ted talks, audios.
Introduce small changes. Change how, where, when you do things -- Shake up your neural pathways so you're not living life on automatic pilot. It's a first step in pulling out of the entrenched neural pathways that keep us stuck.
How do we carve new pathways, and put our nonconscious brain crew to work on our behalf?
*Say it: Affirmations -- your nonconscious mind NEVER loses focus. It’s listening!
*Write it: Write your future diary. Write what you choose to believe. Committing the life you design to paper (or screen) has a motor-neural power of its own.
*Visualize it. Post photos representing what you want. Build a model and place it where you see it often. Close your eyes and see yourself enjoying an exotic locale. Five years ago on a camping trip, I built the home we were looking for out of blocks on the picnic table. Big front porch, great room, garden space, a secret attic getaway space. We walked into that home the following Monday morning. That’s where we live today.
*Visit it. Tangible -- your dream house might be open for viewing Sunday morning. Or intangible -- your freedom Be creative. When I still had a job, I would sit with my small children on the deck and make acorn people or oobleck on a Sunday morning, and pretend it was a Monday or Tuesday morning.
*Shield your state of mind: Don't absorb what you don't want to project. Try taking a hiatus from the evening news for a week or two, and see if you feel any different. I did.
*Stick to positive self-talk. There's a very impressionable nonconscious mind waiting to prove you right! Make it a game to identify something everyday that you like about yourself!
*Decide to be happy: Sing a new song. Collect evidence that life is good.
Turns out there’s science at work here too. The conscious mind is volitional: Remember, this is where the will resides (although most of us have realized that New Year’s resolutions are usually short-lived). The nonconscious mind, however, is servile. It sets no goals of its own. It's job is to execute the goals it's provided with. It doesn't judge the merits -- only whether the results match the goals. If you believe (conscious mind) that you'll always be broke and struggling, your nonconscious mind will go right to work confirming that belief -- scurrying around finding evidence that this is true, reinforcing this faulty, disempowering belief.
I’ve heard a BELIEF defined as a thought that you think over and over and over again. So why not repeatedly recite some thoughts that set our powerhouse nonconscious minds to work finding ways to confirm that we are confident, prosperous and happy?
Why is it recommended that we declare our affirmations in the present tense?
To the nonconscious mind, everything is happening now. If we say, "I want to make $200,000 annually by 2017" or even "I plan to make $200,000 annually by 2017," the response of our nonconscious mind is, "Okay, wanting and planning on the way, Captain!" Wanting -- not having -- is the order that's being executed.
Despite the uncomfortable feeling that we are just flat-out lying -- we are instructed to say, "I make $200,000 annually" -- or at the very least, "I'm on track to make $200,000 annually by 2017."
Assaraf describes the nonconscious mind as not only running all our basic operating systems, but also all our programmable software. Our habits of thought, our beliefs about the world and ourselves are often hidden from us in our nonconscious minds.
This is why it's so crucial to systematically impress the beliefs we consciously design on the nonconscious part of our brains.
To follow:
IN THE ZONE: HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND--AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
******************************************************************************
PART FOUR: IN THE ZONE -- HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND -- AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
Pre-creation is the process of seeding the nonconscious mind.
Jim Rohn said, "Rarely does a good idea interrupt you." We have to go searching for inspiration -- in books, seminars, workshops, Ted talks, audios.
Introduce small changes. Change how, where, when you do things -- Shake up your neural pathways so you're not living life on automatic pilot. It's a first step in pulling out of the entrenched neural pathways that keep us stuck.
How do we carve new pathways, and put our nonconscious brain crew to work on our behalf?
*Say it: Affirmations -- your nonconscious mind NEVER loses focus. It’s listening!
*Write it: Write your future diary. Write what you choose to believe. Committing the life you design to paper (or screen) has a motor-neural power of its own.
*Visualize it. Post photos representing what you want. Build a model and place it where you see it often. Close your eyes and see yourself enjoying an exotic locale. Five years ago on a camping trip, I built the home we were looking for out of blocks on the picnic table. Big front porch, great room, garden space, a secret attic getaway space. We walked into that home the following Monday morning. That’s where we live today.
*Visit it. Tangible -- your dream house might be open for viewing Sunday morning. Or intangible -- your freedom Be creative. When I still had a job, I would sit with my small children on the deck and make acorn people or oobleck on a Sunday morning, and pretend it was a Monday or Tuesday morning.
*Shield your state of mind: Don't absorb what you don't want to project. Try taking a hiatus from the evening news for a week or two, and see if you feel any different. I did.
*Stick to positive self-talk. There's a very impressionable nonconscious mind waiting to prove you right! Make it a game to identify something everyday that you like about yourself!
*Decide to be happy: Sing a new song. Collect evidence that life is good.
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