The Power of Learning from DAD

Lesson 14 – Mind – Part 1

In a diagram of the mind drawn by Dr. Thruman Fleet, the mind is divided into two parts. There is the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. These two parts of the mind are then connected to the body. In these lessons we explore this image of the mind, paying close attention to the character, function and operation of the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is a collection of thoughts and habits that have become automated through a process of repetition or emotional engagement. For example, I will routinely eat an apple without having to think to open my mouth, to place the edible object in my mouth, to bite and so on. I do not have to think about the process of eating the apple, as the process is stored in my subconscious mind. It is a form of automated or habitual behaviour. Similarly, having had a traumatic experience with a house spider in my formative years, I no longer think before running for dear life when I see a spider. Here it is the emotional impact of the event early on that has been stored in the subconscious mind. Once again, this means that when I see a spider I act, immediately and without thinking.

In both of the examples above, I do not need to think about the response before I behave, I just do it. Notice that all of this “programmed” or habitual behaviour is based on prior conscious experiences that have been encoded into the subconscious mind, either owing to their frequency (I must have eaten 1000 apples, so I know how to respond) or through their emotional impact (a traumatic event). Thus the subconscious mind is the storehouse of those conscious experiences that have been sufficiently repeated or sufficiently emotionalised. To understand why these two points are important, we need to take a few steps back. What does it take to be successful?

In order to achieve success, we must do certain things consistently. You cannot achieve any success if you simply sit at home thinking about how much you want to be successful, you must go out and do something. It is estimated that as much as 98% of our actions are habitual. This means that in order to achieve success, we must transform our habits; habitual behaviors are the source of the bulk of our actions. We should now begin to see why our subconscious mind is enormously important. It is in the subconscious mind that our habits are formed as unconscious scripts or programmes. More explicitly, the subconscious mind is a powerful tool for success creation because it is the home of habit.

The question therefore becomes, how do we take charge of our subconscious mind? The answer is that we must replicate the activities that got thoughts and habits embedded there in the first place. We change our subconscious mind by

• Constant paced repetition (i.e., repeated exposure over a period of time to the new idea or habits we are trying to embed)
• Emotional impact (i.e., a severe emotional response associated with the new idea or habit that we are trying to embed)

To sum up, in order to influence the subconscious mind we must take full control of our thoughts and it is only if we have control over the subconscious mind, that we can take control of our actions via our habits. It is in the power to take charge of conscious thought, via the two methods above described, that we can take charge of our ability to create whatever result that we wish to achieve. We must therefore insure that our thinking is always congruent with those things that we wish to create, and we must remember that it is only by means of our thinking that we can direct the behaviours required to achieve the results we desire.

“Humans create nothing that they do not first conceive of in thought; if you can have it in your mind, you can hold it in your hands”

Lesson 14 – Mind – Part 2

The tools that we use to influence the subconscious mind are repetition and emotionalisation of the specific set of thoughts that are congruent with the goals that you have set yourself. Any idea frequently repeated and mixed with emotions of desire or faith will take root in the subconscious mind. This is why you may have noticed that thoughts that are backed by strong desires or faith are more readily acted upon.

It is here worth saying a few words about positive and negative emotions. While negative emotions may be strong we must be careful to guard against negative emotions and negative ideas, by consciously committing oneself to positive emotions. Negative emotions such as fear, doubt and worry can undo a lot of the work that you are currently embarked on to shift your mindset at a subconscious level. In fact, the presence of a single negative emotion may be sufficient to destroy all of the positive ones. It is like adding poison to an otherwise nourishing glass of water. To explain this further, let us take the example of fear.

Negative emotions like fear, is simply a script or a programme in the subconscious mind. Circumventing fear, and its associated thoughts, is absolutely critical to your success. We overcome the fear script in the same way as we might overcome any script within the subconscious mind that is either obstructing or simply not congruent with our set goals. To overcome fear, we simply need to install the script of the brave. We do that by, repeatedly reframing the fear, implanting the new idea of brave conduct, and emotionalizing that new idea. Practically, this might mean when we are conscious of situations in which we are afraid, we reframe the fear as an opportunity to be brave, and having worked on establishing positive associations with bravery, we have faith that we really can be brave, and are motivated to act differently over time.

Your mind is under your control, and you do have a choice whether to put in positives or negatives. If you invite positive emotions, such as strong desire, faith, excitement and gratitude, they will multiply themselves and more positive emotions will be at your command. What is actually happening in mastering these emotions is you are creating a positive frame of reference with which to view your experience. If we allow negative emotions to flourish, a new negative framework emerges. Every challenge will become too hard, opportunities, should you spot them at all, will be too far out of reach. With a negative attitude embedded in the subconscious mind, you scupper your chances of success.

The final point to note in this lesson relates us back to our previous lesson, on wisdom. When we take charge of the subconscious mind, and root out negative ideas and influences such as limiting beliefs, we immediately experience more flashes of insight, more aha! moments, and more intuitive pulls towards this or that person or activity. In other words, we activate the sixth sense, which we have previously discussed as being integral to success creation. Through these intuitions, these internal hints and direction, it is almost as if the universe itself is lending itself to support the advancement of our desires. Thus, by taking charge of the subconscious mind, we are tapping into that power within us that allows us more readily to translate our desires – or thought impulses – into reality and we are connecting with a higher power. This is the power that separates us from animals: the power to create. Hence Napoleon Hill wrote:

Through a method of procedure, unknown to man, the subconscious mind draws upon the forces of Infinite Intelligence for the power with which it voluntarily transmutes one’s desires into their physical equivalent, making use, always of the most practical media by which this end may be accomplished.