How often have you tried to break a bad habit? Have you found yourself attempting new behaviors only to revert to old ones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many authors have tackled this common struggle. They agree that habits are unconscious decisions\u2014that is, they\u2019re decisions you make without actually thinking about them. The only way to change these unconscious decisions<\/a> is to address them at their source: your subconscious mind<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading to learn about the link between the subconscious mind<\/a> and habits and how to leverage it to make lasting changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n What’s the connection between the subconscious mind and habits? You can train your subconscious<\/a> to overwrite unwanted habits with wanted ones. We draw on research and methods from a range of authors, including self-help guru Tony Robbins, journalist Charles Duhigg, holistic psychologist Nicole LePera, and developmental biologist Bruce Lipton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll cover this information in four parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many authors agree that habits are unconscious<\/em> decisions that influence many of your daily behaviors<\/strong>. However, their opinions differ on the extent of this influence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the numbers may differ, the conclusion is clear: Habits significantly influence your behaviors and have an enormous impact on your life<\/strong>. When your habits align with how you want to live, they impact your life positively. However, when you’re entangled in habits you’d rather avoid, your life is controlled by negative influences<\/a>. This impact can take a negative turn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step to changing habits for the better is understanding why<\/em> you engage in them in the first place. In this first part of the guide, we’ll cover three key principles of habit formation<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n This information will clarify why altering your subconscious mind is key to effectively changing your habits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Duhigg clarifies why habits form and evolve into automatic behaviors: Every time you learn or do something new, you have to apply conscious effort to do it right. This process takes up a lot of mental energy<\/strong> and restricts your ability to think about other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He explains that your brain is designed to save mental energy on the things you do most often<\/strong><\/a> to avoid information overload<\/a> and function efficiently. It does this by learning the sequence of actions it takes to achieve something. It then converts this sequence into an automatic routine<\/em> and stores it so that you can perform your daily tasks automatically (without conscious thought). The more often you practice doing certain things, the easier it becomes for you to do them without thinking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Joseph Murphy (The Power of Your Subconscious Mind<\/em><\/a>), your mind is made up of two parts: the conscious mind<\/a> and the subconscious mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Your conscious mind is your <\/strong>active<\/em><\/strong> mind<\/strong>. It contains all of the thoughts and feelings<\/a> that you\u2019re aware of at any given moment. You use it to judge your environment and to make choices and decisions based on these judgments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Your subconscious mind is your passive<\/em> mind<\/strong>. It\u2019s a reservoir of thoughts, feelings, and memories that lies beneath your conscious awareness. It regulates all of your bodily functions, and it records and stores your every<\/em> experience even when you\u2019re not consciously paying attention\u2014over 90% of your brain\u2019s activity takes place in your subconscious mind<\/a>. Murphy explains that your subconscious mind is responsible for creating and storing all your automatic routines<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we\u2019ve clarified why your subconscious mind creates automatic routines to dictate your behaviors, let\u2019s explore how it also influences your thoughts and decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holistic psychologist Nicole LePera (How to Do the Work<\/em><\/a>) says that, in addition to creating automatic routines for what you do<\/em>, your subconscious mind creates automatic routines for what you think<\/em>\u2014how you perceive and interpret all of your experiences<\/a>. It creates these routines based on what you think and feel most often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Murphy, your subconscious mind creates these routines impersonally<\/em>\u2014it doesn\u2019t judge what you habitually think or feel. However, though your subconscious mind doesn\u2019t judge <\/em>your habitual thoughts<\/a> and feelings, it does create<\/em> associations<\/em> between them.<\/strong> These associations enable your subconscious mind to quickly identify and classify everything it perceives in your environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maxwell Maltz (Psycho-Cybernetics<\/em><\/a>) adds that, once it\u2019s created an association, your subconscious mind influences you to automatically think and behave in ways that reflect and reinforce that association<\/a>. It does this by creating feedback loops: It triggers your emotions, which colors your perceptions and interpretations of your environment, which leads you to react in specific ways to stimuli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The feedback loop continually reinforces the association:<\/strong> Your subconscious mind\u2019s interpretation of your environment justifies your habitual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors\u2014and your habitual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors reinforce the way your subconscious mind perceives your environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While automatic associations and routines (we\u2019ll refer to both as \u201croutines\u201d) offer many benefits, such as keeping you safe and saving your mental energy, Duhigg points out a significant drawback: Your brain permanently stores these routines<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n LePera adds that, once your subconscious mind creates and permanently stores a routine, it categorizes it as a part of your internal makeup<\/a>\u2014when your subconscious mind must make a decision<\/a>, it uses the routine like an instruction manual instead of appealing to your conscious mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maltz points out the problem with this setup: Your conscious goals often differ from your internal programming<\/strong><\/a>. In other words, you may decide to adopt a new habit, but deep down, your subconscious mind may not be programmed to sustain that habit <\/em>because it has stored conflicting routines. <\/em>This conflict between your conscious goal and your internal programming traps you in a loop of attempting new habits and reverting to old ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why does this incongruence between your conscious goals and your internal programming occur? Self-help guru Tony Robbins (Awaken the Giant Within<\/em><\/a>) suggests that, at some point, your subconscious mind associated your conscious goals with pain<\/a>. For example, previous attempts to adopt healthy eating as a habit left you feeling deprived. Your subconscious mind categorized this feeling as painful and something you should avoid. On the other hand, each time you indulged in junk food, you felt satisfied. Your subconscious mind categorized this feeling as pleasurable and something you should move toward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n LePera argues that, since your subconscious mind believes<\/em> that your automatic routines keep you safe (away from pain), it resists any attempts to change them<\/strong><\/a>. This resistance takes the form of mental and physical discomfort that you experience each time you attempt to deviate from your default patterns. Your subconscious mind creates this discomfort to convince you to revert to your automatic routines\u2014even if those routines cause you emotional or physical harm, the subconscious mind considers them \u201csafe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you can\u2019t delete unwanted automatic routines from your mind, Duhigg argues that, through self-awareness and conscious control, you can override them with new automatic routines that align with the habits you want to practice<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In The Law of Success<\/em><\/a>, Napoleon Hill explains that your<\/strong> subconscious mind is malleable and adapts to reflect your habitual thoughts<\/strong>. This means that, by consciously<\/em> controlling your habitual thoughts, you can retrain your subconscious mind into alignment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Murphy clarifies why taking control of your thoughts can retrain your subconscious mind<\/a>: Your conscious mind is active<\/em> and your subconscious mind is passive<\/em>. Even though your subconscious mind creates your automatic routines, it can only follow the habitual conscious thoughts\u2014or in other words, instructions\u2014from your conscious mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maltz adds that thoughts are subjective and may or may not be true. But, the more often you think specific thoughts, the more your subconscious mind accepts them as truth<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, what about your subconscious mind\u2019s resistance to change? Though changing your beliefs<\/a> and behaviors will create discomfort, LePera suggests that you can minimize and overcome the discomfort by taking small <\/em>daily steps to consciously address your thoughts and behaviors<\/a>. <\/strong>Small daily changes will add up and eventually lessen your subconscious mind\u2019s resistance to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hill suggests that cultivating a positive attitude helps overwrite unwanted automatic routines with more productive ones<\/a>. He explains that your attitude toward life determines the nature of your habitual thoughts<\/strong>\u2014that is, whether they\u2019re negative or positive\u2014and the overall impression they make on your subconscious mind. This impression then influences your ability to act in alignment with your chosen habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Murphy adds that your subconscious mind operates according to your expectations<\/a>: If you cultivate a positive attitude<\/a>, you\u2019ll naturally form positive expectations about adopting your chosen habit, and your subconscious mind will amend your automatic routines to reflect these expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Certain methods, when combined, will help you think more positively about your chosen habits\u2014and make your subconscious mind want<\/em> to adopt them. You should use affirmations<\/a> repeatedly, imagine the benefits of your new habits, adjust your beliefs to reflect your new habits, and relax your mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, you should behave in ways that reflect your chosen habits. Your subconscious mind creates routines based on what you habitually do<\/em> as well as what you think and feel<\/em>. Dispenza puts it like this: Doing things the same way every day trains your subconscious mind to always expect the same things and to reinforce the status quo. This means <\/strong>nothing in your life can change unless you change your behaviors<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Subconscious Mind and Habits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Part 1: Why the Subconscious Mind Is Key to Habit Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Principle #1: Your Subconscious Mind Forms Automatic Routines to Save Mental Energy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Where Does Your Brain Store Automatic Routines?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Principle #2: Feedback Loops Reinforce Automatic Routines<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 2: Why Unwanted Habits Are Difficult to Break<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why Conscious Goals Conflict With Internal Programming<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How Your Subconscious Mind Steers You Away From Pain<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Part 3: It Is<\/em> Possible to Change Your Automatic Routines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Take Small Steps to Overcome Your Subconscious Mind\u2019s Resistance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 4: Align Your Subconscious Mind With Your Chosen Habits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n