In this article, I will share with you three ways to reprogram your subconscious mind to reach your goals in plain English.
Why Is Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind Important?
The simple answer is because people are often afraid of not succeeding. Many times, the fear of failure may cause some to believe that failure in their lives will mean failure forever and cause them to a lead a life full of disappointment. I have to admit that I suffered from this when I came to the United States as an ESL student back in 1998. When I came to the United States in the late 90s at age 24, I was terrified about the prospects of having to learn the English language in six months and having to attend college in a second language right after and graduate within four years. Clearly, I had to work on reprogramming the subconscious mind and convincing myself to believe that engaging in such a daunting endeavor was possible, rewarding, and within my reach. It has been said that our conscious mind represents only 3% of our brain. The other 97% belongs to the subconscious mind. According to Dr. Collautt, our subconscious mind is one million times more powerful than our conscious mind, which leads me to believe that working on our subconscious mind is worthwhile. Check out an interview with Dr. Collautt on this very topic here: I’m not in favor of recommending anyone to engage in hypnosis, meditation, or anything new age. I’m in favor, however, of people realizing that they do have the power to work in harmony with their inner self from a scientific standpoint.
3 Ways to Start Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind
Reprogramming the subconscious mind isn’t as difficult as it seems. It won’t be done overnight, but it can be accomplished if you are serious about engaging in a series of well-known exercises. By doing this, you not only have a better chance of reaching your goals, but you’ll come to a deeper understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, identify your priorities, and grow into a more responsible, respected individual. To reprogram your subconscious mind to reach your goals, do these following exercises for a year and pay attention to the changes that begin to manifest. The following exercises are exactly what I did to conquer my fears of failure in academics, which lead me to complete a PhD in Instructional Systems from a big ten school in 2008.
1. Be Humble
Don’t assume you know everything, and listen to your subconscious resistance.[2] When I was young, I assumed that I knew everything, and I definitely didn’t listen to my subconscious, which led me to having to leave a country to find my place under the sun. I grew up playing golf in a country with no history in the sport. I was great at it, which made it very difficult to be humble. I thought I knew everything about life because I knew the intricacies of golf, but as early as 16 years old, my subconscious began to tell me, “Yes, you are a great golfer, but Brazil doesn’t have a healthy professional golf league. Shouldn’t you be studying instead of playing golf?” Long story short, my subconscious was right. I spent way too long dreaming of being something unattainable because I “knew” what was best for me, despite the fact that my inner self was skeptical about my prospects of being a pro-golfer in Brazil. Most of my close friends agreed with my subconscious mind, but I resisted and paid the price. When I came to Mississippi in 1998, I decided to do something different. I used to sit down for one hour or so alone a day and listen to what my subconscious was saying, which led me to have a much higher degree of humility. I embraced my subconscious resistance, which made all the difference. Once you acknowledge that you don’t have everything figured out and that there is room for growth, goals feel more interesting and attainable.
2. Define Your Fears
It is okay to listen to your fears and define what these fears are. When I was a student of Sports Management at Slippery Rock University, I wanted to be a sports agent. But in order to be a great sports agent, people need to go to law school. I wanted to go to law school, but the prospects of scoring high on the LSAT and reading law causes extensively made me rethink my future academic decisions. I remember going to the Duquesne University campus in Pittsburgh, PA for a day with a notebook in order to face my fears and define what these fears really were. This is a great exercise all around, as facing the unknown is an important exercise that is one step toward reprogramming the subconscious mind. I listened to my fears and defined what they were in order to help me to maneuver through life. I decided not to go to Duquesne Law School because of my fear of not speaking English well enough, along with the high cost. I thought harder and realized that going to another smaller school to pursue a Masters degree in Communication was a much better idea. Six years later, I completed a PhD Summa Cum Laude. I was able to reprogram my subconscious in order to pursue what was the most logical. If you don’t know specifically what fears your subconscious is facing, they will forever plague you and keep you from pursuing and reaching your goals. Take the time to sit with what you’re afraid of; by doing this, you’ll be able to develop a plan to face it head on.
3. Repeat What You Believe to Your Subconscious
You need to do affirmations or the action of affirming something. I convinced myself that I was going to be a college professor throughout my Bachelors degree experience. At Penn State University, where I completed my doctorate, I was studying among the very best students in the world in technology. I repeatedly told myself that I was a top student in instructional systems in the United States and visualized my career being a college professor in a teaching university. Repeating my beliefs through affirmations in graduate school have proven worthwhile, and today I’m a mid-career college professor in a teaching university on my way to senior status. It’s amazing what you accomplish when you convince yourself that you can do something multiple times a day. Affirmations work when you take the time to develop phrases that are specific to your goals and dreams.
Conclusion
Reaching your life goals are directly related to how much you believe that you can achieve them. It is possible to start reprogramming the subconscious mind in order to achieve your goals with distinction. It will take more than a couple of hours to change your state of mind though. Be patient and keep course, as harnessing the power of your subconscious and overcoming the limiting beliefs found there may be the difference between you achieving your goals failing in your long-term life pursuits.
More on Working With the Subconscious
How to Tap Into Your Subconscious Mind for Effective Problem Solving How To Change Habits By Using Your Subconscious Mind Conscious Mind vs Subconscious Mind: How to Improve Them?
Featured photo credit: Zulmaury Saavedra via unsplash.com
