Table of Contents
The laws of mathematics must be obeyed to get correct mathematical solutions. A correct solution might be obtained on occasion even though a law is disobeyed, but it will not happen often. It is no different with the subconscious mind. If you obey the laws of the subconscious mind discussed here, you will always be successful, but no one can make such a promise. However, if you disobey these laws, you will be much less successful than if you do obey them.
“The reason man may become the master of his own destiny is because he has the power to influence his own subconscious mind.”- Napoleon Hill
Some of the laws are simple and their explanation is short.
#1 Law: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
New programs accepted by the subconscious mind must be nurtured. When programming the subconscious mind, it is necessary to repeat the conditioning often until it is totally accepted by the subconscious mind. After it is accepted, the program should be repeated periodically to ensure that it remains dominant.
#2 Law: Emotion
Attaching emotion to a suggestion makes it more effective. Emotion is the power in the subconscious mind. You must use it when programming your subconscious mind to be successful.
#3 Law: Present Tense
The conscious mind lives by time as we know it, namely past, present, and future, whereas the subconscious mind only lives in the present. In the subconscious mind, the past is merely present recollections and the future is present predictions.
The following example explains the significance of using the present tense. “I will be happy” infers to the subconscious mind that you are not now happy; but you will be happy in the future. First, the future never arrives. So do not ask for something in the future. The future is like the carrot held out in front of someone as something to chase but never catch. Second, the “not happy” implication is the goal given to your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind then obliges by keeping you unhappy.
The correct phrasing is in the present tense: “I am happy.” But you say your pet dog just died, you flunked an exam, you received an letter from Income Tax, and you are not happy! Okay, but if you want to pull out of the doldrums, then you need to say and think, “I am happy—now.” “Being happy now” will be the goal given to your subconscious mind. Neurotransmitters travel both ways, from mind to body and body to mind. Once your subconscious mind accepts the concept of “being happy,” that message, in turn, is sent to the cells in your body and then your body responds by acting happy.
Using the present tense does seem awkward to the conscious mind, but it is necessary. For example when you programmed your mental alarm clock, you said to yourself, “I am wide awake at seven o’clock,” not “I will be awake at seven o’clock.”
#4 Law: One Dominant Concept
The subconscious mind will accept only one concept to be true at any time. More than one concept (thought, habit, program) can be held in the subconscious mind at the same time, but only one will be binding. Thus, when the subconscious mind recognizes a concept as true, that concept guides and dominates your actions.
The subconscious mind will only give up on the dominant concept when a stronger, opposing concept is impressed on it. The significance is that a concept cannot be eliminated; it is imbedded in your subconscious mind and your subconscious mind does not forget. A negative concept must be overpowered with a stronger, positive one. The good news is that the source of the concept does not have to be known; it just has to be overpowered with a positive one.
Imagine you are a large balance. Extend both arms out sideways and parallel to the ground. In each hand you hold a balance pan. Imagine you are a “flip-flop” balance—as soon as anything is put on one pan, it drops down all the way. This balance weighs each binding idea you have of yourself on a particular subject. Your right hand has the tray that holds negative concepts, and the left hand has the tray that holds positive concepts about yourself. The balance will flip one way or the other depending on the dominant concept.
Two Scenarios
Suppose you were brought up in a healthy family environment. Your parents gave you lots of love and nurturing. The self-image you develop is poise and self-confidence. So, these positive concepts go on the left tray and the left side of the balance goes down and stays down. You grow up self-confident.
Conversely, suppose John was brought up in a dysfunctional family environment. John was bombarded with negative stimuli about himself. “You are no good.” “You will never amount to anything.” “You are a bad boy.” “You never do anything right.” “You never learn.” For the twenty years he lived in this family environment where he was constantly (REPETITION) given these negative affirmations, and much of the time they were said with anger or sarcasm (EMOTION).
Years later John knows (in his conscious mind) he is smart, educated, and good-looking, but for some unknown reason, he has a low self-esteem (subconscious mind). When conscious mind and subconscious mind are in conflict, the subconscious mind always wins.
To change this low esteem to self-confidence, John does not have to determine where he got his low self-esteem. He simply has to overpower his concept of low self-esteem with one of poise and self-confidence. He must give himself positive, healthy, esteem-building affirmations. And he must feed the left balance pan until, one day, the balance flips, and voila! His subconscious mind has accepted the positive concept. Now self-confidence is the dominant concept guiding John’s actions.
John was exposed to years of negative affirmations. How can he overcome this negative trait, which had built up over years, in a short time? He can accelerate the process by programming his positive programs in the alpha state.
William Glasser, M.D. wrote a book, Schools Without Failure, suggesting this concept be used in schools. He recommended emphasizing positive and eliminating negative feedback. He suggested there be no condemnation by teachers and no failing grades. Also, he held that children would graduate with higher self-esteem and they would learn faster, easier, and joyfully. This concept has many merits but it was not accepted by school systems.
This technique for teaching is not used on our children, but it is used on animals. Animal trainers are most successful when they ignore negative behavior from the animal and reinforce positive behavior when it occurs. Dr. Skinner, a famous psychologist, was one of the pioneers of this technique.
Real-Life Examples
When the subconscious mind expects something, it makes that thing happen. Here are a couple of examples:
Example#1 Volunteers were inoculated in the right arm with tuberculin from a red syringe. Tuberculin causes redness and swelling. Consequently, each time the right arm reacted with redness and swelling, as expected. At the same time, the volunteers were inoculated in the left arm with a salt solution from a green syringe. No reaction occurred in the left arm, also as expected. After three months of inoculations, the tuberculin and the salt solution were reversed in the red and green syringes without the volunteer’s knowledge. When they were inoculated with the switched solutions, as expected by the volunteers, the right arm reacted with redness and swelling, while the left arm exhibited no reaction. Contrary to medical science, the body reacted according to the expectation in the subconscious mind.
Example#2 Sociologists studying the culture in the Torbiand Islands found that premarital sex was considered okay, but premarital pregnancy was not. The natives did not use contraception, yet premarital pregnancy was virtually unknown. The ingrained culture conditioned them so that they absolutely did not expect to get pregnant until they were married.
Example#3 You have probably known or heard of a couple that could not conceive. They adopted a baby and soon after the wife got pregnant. One could argue that having a child unblocked her belief that she could not have a baby of her own.
(Excerpt is from one of the outstanding books ‘The Genie Within: Your Subconscious Mind’ by Harry Carpenter)
