The subconscious mind is influenced very easily and if you don’t watch out you might find external influences can start to control you. Here are six ways that you can influence the subconscious mind yourself, so that you can take back control.

Affirmations

Affirmations are the second gateway to the subconscious. The repeating of a short statement or mantra will influence the subconscious as a command. There are some rules to this though. For affirmations to work, they need to be positive, specific and the present tense. For instance, “I am now a size ten”.
Belief is the foundation of all achievement. If you believe you can do something, you will. If you suspect that you don’t believe in your goal, you can change this by the use of affirmations. You can saturate your mind with positive expectation, until you believe.
If you think about it, we come into the world as babies with no beliefs, we are a blank page so to speak. Our beliefs are then formed by experience, repetition, indoctrination or suggestion. There are a thousand and one ways; such as throw away comments by well-meaning relatives such as:

“You’ll get fat if you eat that” (not necessarily)
“Clear your plate so you grow up big and strong” (what even when my stomach is full already?)

If you repeat something often enough it becomes a strong belief. Therein lies the solution. In my book on The Habits for Fat Loss, I go into how you can identify limiting beliefs. If can identify your limiting beliefs, then the next stage is to write out an opposing positive belief, in the form of an affirmation. For example if you identified a belief such as “I don’t like the way I look” the opposite would be “I love and value my body, I am perfect as I am”. Write out your positive affirmations on a card and read them out aloud as soon as you get up and just before bed. Read them throughout the day, as much as you can. Again, repetition is the key. Ideally repeat 50 times per day, for 60 days.
It may feel awkward at first, you may not really belief what you say, yet. You will believe soon. So how long should you do it for? You do it for as long as it takes.

Gateway NumberThree – Visualisation

The third gateway to the subconscious mind is visualisation. Visualisation is seeing in your mind’s eye the results you want to achieve, before they actually occur. It can also be mentally rehearsing a process.
The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. Picturing yourself achieving your goal or performing the habit will actually train yourself to do it. Next time you need to deliver a presentation or performance – visualise yourself doing it before the event. Then see how it goes.

Gateway Number Four – Acting as if

Acting as if, or fake it until you make it. Does this really work? Try this then:
Smile. Go on a cheesy daft grin. How do you feel? Are you happier?
The mind and the body are part of the same system. For this reason, we smile when we are happy, but we are also happy because we smile. But what about skills such as social skills and being outgoing. It can be uncomfortable and potentially embarrassing, to pretend to be outgoing. But if you force yourself to be a little more outgoing and sociable every time you go out, eventually your subconscious will learn that this is the new you. You will then become that which you pretended to be.

Gateway Number Five – Influence

External influence is very powerful, probably the most powerful gateway to the subconscious.
We have evolved to conform to the group, so that the group becomes stronger. In evolutionary terms, if the individuals in a group are like each other, they will stick together. If the group or tribe sticks together and the individuals are safe, then that group will survive.
If an outsider joins this group, there is a strong subconscious influence on that individual to conform. For instance if an overweight person starts to hang around with thin people, they will slowly start to change their habits. This is all at an subconscious level. The tip would therefore be to hang around people who you want to be like and avoid those that you don’t want to be like.

By the way if you are looking to lose weight contact me and I will show you how I did it.

Gateway Number Six – Authority or the Master and Apprentice

What do you do when you are driving down the motorway and you see a police car? You automatically slow down.
Or, what if a man in a white coat and stethoscope tells you to take a pill? Are you more likely to believe him? Yes, you subconsciously believe him. This is the power of authority and it has been used and abused since Adam was a lad. This is because we will unconsciously defer to those who we perceive have a higher status than ourselves, rightly or wrongly.
So how could we use this to our advantage? You can find someone who is already doing whatever it is you want to do. If you spend time with them, you will unconsciously learn their habits. This is why the old master and apprentice model and is also a very powerful way to change.

Gateway Number Seven – Therapy and Coaching

You could find a teacher or coach who you trust to coach you into changing. A good coach should be able to communicate to your subconscious. They should be trained to use language carefully, so that it has a positive effect. They may be trained to use certain techniques designed to influence the subconscious mind, such as hypnosis or NLP. If you would like to learn more about my coaching methods, then please do email me. My address is at the end of the book.
Do you have a goal you want to achieve or a habit you want to change? If you use as many of the seven gateways as you can, you will find that your success rates will increase.

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