In my previous blog, I talked about mindset and how our thoughts can influence the direction of our lives.

I also shared that this is something I am still working on myself. I can recognise the difference between knowing something intellectually and actually living it.

That has led to explore something I find fascinating: the conscious and subconscious mind.

Because if we consciously decide what we want, why don’t we always behave like the person who is going to achieve it?

Why can we set a goal, genuinely want it, and then find ourselves doing things that seem to take us in the opposite direction?

I believe understanding the conscious and subconscious mind gives us part of the answer.

The Conscious Mind

In simple terms, our conscious mind is the thinking and reasoning part of our mind. It is where we make decisions, analyse situations and choose what we want. It is the part of us that says:

“This is what I want.”

“I want to be healthier.”

“I want to earn more money.”

“I want to build a successful business.”

“I want more freedom.”

“I want to create a life I love.”

We can consciously decide what we want and et goals to move us towards it.

The Subconscious Mind

Bob Proctor’s teachings place a great deal of importance on the subconscious mind.

One of the key ideas he taught is that the subconscious mind does not reason and analyse ideas in the same way our conscious mind does. it doesn’t sit there deciding whether an idea is sensible, useful or true.

It accepts what is repeatedly impressed upon it.

And this matters because many of the ideas we carry about ourselves and our lives weren’t necessarily chosen consciously.

We picked them up.

How we become programmed

From the moment we are born, we are constantly learning from the world around us.

Our parents.

Our family.

Our teachers.

Our friends.

Our culture.

Our environment.

And our experiences.

We observe what happens and form ideas about the world works and, importantly, what we believe is possible for us.

Sometimes those ideas are spoken directly:

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”

“Be realistic.”

“People like us don’t do that.”

“You’re not very good at that.”

Other times, nobody says anything at all.

We simply observe.

Perhaps we grew up around people who are constantly worried about money. Perhaps everyone around us believes that success only comes through working incredibly hard. Perhaps taking risks is viewed as dangerous.

Those ideas can become part of our programming. And some beliefs can even be carried through generations.

Not because anyone deliberately decided to pass them down, but because beliefs, attitudes and behaviours are often modelled from one generation to the next.

From programming to patterns

Then something else happens. We repeat.

We think the same thoughts.

We respond to situations in familiar ways.

We behave in familiar ways.

And the more something is repeated, the more familiar it becomes.

Think about learning to drive. At first, you consciously think about everything.

Mirrors. Signals. Gears. Clutch. Brakes.

Eventually, much of it becomes automatic. You don’t have to consciously think through every movement.

Our thinking and behaviour can develop in a similar way.

A repeated thought can become familiar thinking. Repeated thinking, leads to repeated behaviour. Repeated behaviour can become a habit. And familiar habits can become patterns that we follow without giving them much conscious thought at all.

This can be incredibly useful when the pattern supports us.

But what happens when it doesn’t?

When what we want doesn’t match what we think

We can have a goal and genuinely want to achieve it. But, what are we thinking about most often?

Let’s take money as an example.

You conscious goal might be: “I want to earn more money and create financial freedom.”

But your habitual thinking might be: “I can’t afford that.”

“There’s never enough money.”

“What if I can’t pay the bills?”

“Things are so expensive.”

Your goal is more money. But much of your thinking is focused on not having enough money.

Or perhaps your goal is confidence.

You consciously want to believe in yourself and put yourself out there. But the thoughts running in the background might be:

“What if I get it wrong?”

“What will people think?”

“I’m not good enough.”

“Who am I to do this?”

The goal says one thing. The habitual thinking says another.

And that conflict can influence the way we behave.

Your subconscious doesn’t know your goal

This is an important distinction.

Writing a goal down doesn’t automatically change the beliefs that have been sitting beneath it for years.

You might write: “I am successful.”

But if you’ve spent years thinking:

“I’m not capable.”

“I always mess things up.”

“Success is for other people.”

then there may be some internal work to do.

This is why simply setting goals isn’t always enough. And it is why I have become increasingly interested in what sits beneath our conscious thinking.

What have I accepted as true about myself?

What beliefs are influencing my behaviour.

What patterns am I running without even realising it?

We don’t have to stay programmed

This is the part I find encouraging.

If some of our beliefs and patterns have been learned throughout our lives, then we don’t necessarily have to accept them as permanent.

We have the ability to think, reason and choose.

And this is where Bob Proctor’s teachings around our higher faculties become particularly interesting.

Rather than simply reacting to what we see around us or automatically following old patterns, we have mental faculties that allow to think beyond our exiting circumstances.

We can imagine something different.

We can reason.

We can use our will.

We can begin to deliberately choose what we want to focus on and what we want to believe is possible.

I’m not suggesting that changing our thinking is as simple as saying a few positive words and everything magically changes.

I don’t believe that.

I think it is a process.

And, as I said in my previous blog, I’m very much learning this myself.

The question I am asking myself

The more I explore this subject, the more I realise that perhaps the question isn’t simply:

“What do I want?”

It is also:

“What am I currently thinking and believing about what I want?”

Because there can be a big difference.

I can have a goal in front of me and genuinely want it, while still finding my mind drifting towards everything that could go wrong.

Recognising that doesn’t mean beating myself up.

It means I have something to work with.

And perhaps that is the real value of understanding the conscious and subconscious mind.

We begin to see that some of our reactions, habits and behaviours may not be random.

They may be connected to beliefs and patterns that have been devloping for year.

Once we understand that, we can start to ask a better question:

“Do I want to keep running this programme?”

What happens next?

This is only an introduction to the conscious and subconscious mind.

This is much more to explore – particularly how we can use our higher faculties to deliberately change the way we think.

Because becoming aware of an old pattern is one thing.

Learning how to think differently is another.

And that is where I want to go next.

Our higher faculties – and the incredible ability we have to use them.