The Subconcious Mind

The Subconscious Mind 
Our subconscious mind automatically run programmes which keep us functioning on an unconscious level. The following analogy explains how over 99% of our thinking is unconscious. 

For this analogy the captain of a ship represents the conscious mind and the crew represents the subconscious mind. The captain's function is to plan a course to a particular destination and to give orders to the crew to proceed to that destination. 

The crew's function is to take the orders from the captain and carry them out accordingly. This all works well as long as there is a well-trained crew that is capable of taking and correctly following orders. 

The crew has been trained to go to one port and one port only. The captain now gives orders to go to a new and different port. The crew acknowledges the orders and proceeds to carry them out to the best of their ability i.e. they go to the one and only port they have been trained to go to. 

Being unaware of this, the captain, believing that his orders are being followed, goes to his cabin to sleep (unconsciousness). The result is the crew brings the captain and the ship to the same old port. 

The function of the conscious mind (the captain) is to decide objectives. The function of the subconscious mind (the crew) is to realise these objectives. 

When properly trained, the subconscious mind is capable of taking instructions from the conscious mind and following them through without any further instruction. However, when the subconscious mind has been poorly trained, and is running the only programme it knows, the results can always be predicted i.e. when the conscious mind sets a new/different objective, the subconscious mind, being unable to deviate, automatically keeps to its original programming and brings about the same old results. 

A poorly trained subconscious has to be consistently monitored by the conscious mind in order to achieve a desired outcome. 

Example: A person decides to go on a diet. 

The conscious mind sets a goal to reach a certain weight by a certain date. To insure the success of the diet, exercise is started and calories are watched. Meanwhile, the subconscious, having a pre-programmed set-point on weight that it is unable to change, will always work to return to that setting. 

The diet starts to work; the weight begins to fall off. The subconscious sensing this is contrary to its programming, starts to present to the mind reasons to abandon the diet, using desires to instigate self talk such as, "another little bit will not matter", "I am entitled to an extra slice", "I can start again tomorrow", etc. 

The conscious mind, believing the subconscious mind understands its instruction and will follow through to realise the new goal, feels no necessity to supervise the progress and drifts into unconsciousness. 

The subconscious mind, being unable to deviate from its programming, produced the same results that it has always produced i.e. the diet fails. 
(The result is the crew brings the captain and the ship to the same old port.) 

Even when the diet appears to have been successful and the target weight has been achieved, unless the subconscious set-point on weight has been changed, the subconscious will continue working diligently until it has succeeded to restore the pre-diet weight. This cyclical process is why weight loss programs that do not take this process into consideration are problematic. 

The subconscious mind is diligent in finding our weakest point of resolve to get its own way. It uses the imagination incessantly through our senses, e.g. "that apple pie smells delicious", and then justifies its belief, by presenting the thought that it is deserved. 

The conscious mind uses logic, such as, "eating the pie will ruin your diet", to make its case, but the imagination is far more persuasive than logic. 

Imagination will always win, except when we have made a conscious decision and consistently monitor and be aware of our thoughts and behaviour. 

We have set points in all areas of our lives that our subconscious programming strives to maintain. 

In finance this is revealed in the number of lottery winners that return to their original financial status, or worse, after a few years. On an unconscious level the winner's subconscious belief is they are undeserving, and so feel ill at ease with money. This causes them to unconsciously act in a manner that repels money. This process works both ways; when a person's subconscious feels deserving of money it will steer them to behave in a manner that will attract money. 

Knowing that imagination is the vehicle the subconscious uses to get its way, we can use this knowledge to our advantage in overcoming our limiting beliefs and programs, to bring about our desired outcomes. 

The function of our subconscious is to serve us, it will create the reality that it is programmed to create. If it is not monitored it will perform this function to the best of its ability, and will manifest, through our behaviour, our hidden beliefs, whether these beliefs serve us or not. 

Like the captain of the ship, that stays conscious and monitors his crew, we can, by monitoring our thoughts and using the gift of imagination with consciousness, project our desired outcomes from our imagination into our world, and have them realised effortlessly. 

"I am the master of my fate; 
I am the captain of my soul." 
William Ernest Henley