I made it!

I thought as I arrived completely starving at a local seafood cafe about 10 miles south of my home in Tampa Bay.

They make the best fish sandwich I've ever eaten and I wanted to bike there to "earn it."

So I ordered my sandwich grabbed a spot outside by the ocean and was ready to finally indulge in my just reward. But as I opened the sandwich, I immediately became disgusted—there was a huge spoonful of tartar sauce on it.

All the sudden I lost my appetite. 

As you probably guessed, I cannot stand tartar sauce. If I even see something creamy like mayonnaise, it triggers this disgust reflex. This feeling isn't rational. The disgust response was developed as a defense mechanism to stop our early ancestors from eating poisonous foods,

But I knew for a fact that the tartar sauce on that sandwich is harmless. In fact, I can't even really explain why I find tartar sauce so disgusting–especially when the vast majority of people love it! 

That's because the difference between my disgust and their love comes down to the influence of our subconscious minds.

THE IMPACT OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS

The subconscious mind is powerful.

You have undoubtedly felt the exact same emotional reaction as my feeling of disgust in your life across a wide range of emotions.

• It could be a fear of the dark...even when you know you're in a safe area.

• It could be a feeling of trust...even if you don't know why you trust the person.

• It could be getting defensive about something...even if you know the person means well.

The reason this happens is because you have consistently reinforced messages to your subconscious mind about what to be afraid of, who to trust, and what you might be insecure about. 

You will communicate these beliefs, feelings, and ideas to your subconscious no matter what. You can't control exactly what comes out of process, but you can lead it in the right direction by sending it the right messages. 

By doing so on a habitual basis, you can change your decision-making to a point where it is automatic and effortless to make the right decisions. 

Unfortunately, the subconscious mind doesn’t understand language, making it difficult to influence. What it does understand are images, emotions, and feelings - especially under certain “brainwave patterns.” [1]

This is why athletes and high-performers spend time visualizing success.  It’s more than just a practice of building confidence, it is a way to influence their subconscious minds and help them make those split second decisions on the field.

To do this yourself, you want to get into a state of relaxation. When you’re fully relaxed, your conscious mind doesn’t need to respond to external stimuli and be on high-alert. This allows your subconscious to take over, and gives you an opportunity to influence it. 

Below you will find a practical 20min exercise that will guide you through this process. [2]

EXERCISE: ACCESSING THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND THROUGH RELAXATION

1. Move to a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.

Lie down on your back with your feet slightly apart, arms slightly extended from your body, palms facing down and make sure you’re as comfortable as possible. You don’t want anything to distract you from relaxing (i.e. sound, temperature, cell phone, etc). 

2. Fix your eyes on a point in the ceiling and begin by taking 3 long deep breaths. 

Exhale deeply and slowly and feel a wave of relaxation come over you as you let go of any worries or tension you may be feeling. On the third breath, let your eyelids close.

3. Take 7 more deep breaths, each time imagining yourself sink deeper into the bed.

With each breath, think to yourself “deeper and deeper” as your body becomes more and more relaxed. After 7 breaths, you should be in a state of deep relaxation. If you’re not, continue to breathe deeply and wait until every muscle in your body feels completely tension-free. 

When you reach this state of relaxation, your subconscious doesn’t need to work as hard on things like moving muscles, tracking motor functions and regulating temperature, so it is has your full attention. In scientific terms, your brain switches from producing Beta Waves–which are produced at your highly conscious state–and begins producing Theta Waves. These waves naturally relieve stress and allow us to influence our subconscious minds.

4. Once you’ve reached complete relaxation, begin to visualize your perfect day. 

One where you are the ideal version of yourself. You wake up and you are immediately on the top of your game. You have unshakable focus and determination. Go through your entire day and all of the important decisions you’re going to be making as the ideal you.

Imagine yourself as a top athlete going through your workout with intensity and focus....

Imagine yourself getting to work early, accomplishing your goals and getting results...

It’s your ideal day, those are just some examples, so do whatever you think the best version of yourself would do–but focus on making the right decisions.

WHAT WILL THIS EXERCISE DO?

This exercise will reinforce to your subconscious mind (which accounts for roughly 85% of your total brainpower) that you are the ideal version of yourself.

So when you get to the actual decisions in your day like accomplishing sales goals, or accomplishing your workout, your subconscious mind will begins identify with the best version of yourself.

This won’t happen overnight, but with enough practice, the decisions will become automatic.

Try to do this exercise for 20 minutes per day. There are 3 times that are optimal listed below, simply choose the one that's best for you:  

AFTER WAKING UP

Pro - Mind already in a natural Theta Wave state from sleep, so it’s easier to reach total relaxation.

Con - You could just end up falling back to sleep during the exercise.

AFTER WORK

Pro - Achieving this relaxed state after work will help you relieve your stress and feel refreshed for the night.

Con - It's harder to achieve the relaxed state because your mind is fully conscious. It's thinking about what you accomplished that day, and what you’ll be doing tonight.

BEFORE BED

Pro - Reaching the relaxed state right before bed will improve the quality of your sleep. It can also influence the subconscious mind before sleep which can help positively influence your dreams.

Con - Your mind is taking full inventory of what’s happened that day so it’s tough to stay focused when trying to visualize your perfect day. It will be harder to stop it from wandering.

*Sources