
The success principles tell us how to bring the results we desire into reality, but it isn’t always easy to understand without a visual image of how the mind works. One of the simplest to follow is a diagram created by Dr. Thurman Fleet, a chiropractor in Texas during the 1930s.
Dr. Fleet founded the Concept Theory that demonstrated that we think in pictures – for example, if I ask you to describe your car, you get a picture of your car in your mind. If I ask you where the salt is in your kitchen, you get a picture of your kitchen, whether you left the dishes in the sink, what’s on the counter, just where the salt should be. It follows that if we want to understand a complicated subject, we need to have a picture of it. So what picture do you get, when you think of your mind?
Did you see your brain? That would be a common response, however, the brain is not the mind. It is an organ. The mind is the activity that goes on in the brain. Following Dr. Fleet’s theory, you need an image of the mind in order to get the results you want. You need a picture of how the different parts of the mind relate to one another. For that, he gave us this Stickperson.
Voila! The Mind! A big circle on top representing the mind is connected to a smaller circle below representing the body. Notice that the Mind is bigger than the body. This is done intentionally to reinforce the idea that our focus should be on the mind, rather than the body, even though we are more aware of the body in our day-to-day experience. This is because the mind controls everything that we bring into our environment, our physical body as well as our physical surroundings.
Next notice that the mind is divided into two parts. The top half is the Conscious Mind where we do our original thinking. The lower half is our subconscious mind. It is the very powerful, emotional mind and stores all the thoughts, conditioning, habits, experiences, and paradigms that have been sent to it since birth.
When we have a thought that is energized by emotion, it causes us to move into action which then produces results. This causes no end of problems because in order to change the results we are getting, we have to be able to overcome the feelings in the subconscious mind. Those feelings determine everything that we do, all the actions we take and thus our results. This is really why we may know we should do something, but feel incapable of taking action. It explains why some people who are not as intelligent obtain great results while some people who are brilliant do not. They know what to do, they just don’t do it. And we don’t even have to understand to have it work. It doesn’t have to be logical.
When the Subconscious Mind is energized by feelings, it expresses itself through actions. The actions produce results. Good or bad. And that is very powerful. Fortunately, it is not All Powerful. We can use the power of the Conscious Mind to overcome the ideas that are stored in the subconscious memory banks.
Why? Because the Conscious Mind has the ability to accept, reject or neglect any idea which comes into it. Although we have been conditioned to react to what happens around us – with a corresponding roller coaster of emotions – we also have intellectual faculties that help the Conscious Mind respond, rather than react, to anything in its outer environment. We have perception, intuition, imagination, will, memory and reason. All these faculties assist us when we are making changes in our lives.
If you’re like many people, you frequently have an inner nudge that communicates to you that you want something. It could be as simple as reminding you to make dinner or it could be an intense battle over what is the healthy choice to have for dinner. Or perhaps you want something different. You may not know what it is, but you know that is not what you have right this minute. It’s an inner knowing that there is something more that you want to have. You may start to think about what you want.
However, if any hint of change comes into the subconscious that is outside its belief system, your actions will not match the new thought. You will not try sushi or chocolate covered ants unless you can overcome your subconscious feelings about ants and raw fish. You are dealing with a paradigm, a collection of thought habits that control your choices. If you really want to be daring, and keep up positive thoughts about ants and fish, you may overcome your subconscious, but you will feel uncomfortable through the entire process. Only if you eat the questionable food product with positive results will your original idea about these foods give way to new ideas so that you can eat sushi and chocolate covered ants whenever you choose with new results.
What if that inner nudge is about something far more important – say, making a career change or a major move to another part of the country? If your subconscious is sending messages that you don’t know how to do something or overwhelming you with a feeling that you are paralyzed by the “how,” you may find it impossible to move forward. That’s where tools and techniques are of value to you. In order to chart an effective course of action, you first need to know where you are, and then paint a clear picture of where you are going. You may feel its valuable to have someone like me help you stay on track, find appropriate models to work with, and move progressively forward in the right direction.
But a whole litany of thoughts can emerge from the subconscious mind. Remember those answers I mentioned to you earlier? “I don’t have enough time.” “I’ve tried to change before without any success.” “I’m too old.” “I don’t have enough money.” The list can go on and on. Just look at Wayne Dyer’s book Excuses Be Gone. If you allow those thoughts – the paradigms coming from your subconscious – to get in the way, they have enough power for you to give up any ideas about positive changes in your life altogether. Bob Proctor calls this sensation of extreme discomfort “coming up against our terror barrier.” I call it a belief barrier and help people pop the paradigms that block their progress. We can literally step through the terror barrier in a moment of fear and discover that anything is possible. Obstacles are just illusions.
What’s good about working with other people – privately or in a group like a master mind – is that paradigms are tricky. We use language that limits us every day. “I’ll have to wait to start until I have all the pieces in place.” No! You don’t! In fact, the opposite is true. Starting sets incredible energies in motion to help you accomplish what you want to do. “I don’t have the money!” No! It’s never about the money! It’s about quieting your Subconscious Mind so you can make a decision about whether this is what you want. We can use the power of the conscious mind to collaborate with the subconscious. We can influence the results we get through an inner thinking process.
May I ask you how many times you have studied subjects like this and not made any progress? It’s not uncommon. We all have good intentions when we start. We may read a book or listen to a tape and put it away on the shelf without achieving any permanent change. If that’s been happening to you, it may be of value of you to combine learning the concepts with personal coaching over a reasonable period of time. Over time, the interaction will help you alter old paradigms and expand your awareness. That’s what my work is designed to do.
You do not have to go after your goals alone. In fact, in order to achieve the results we want, we need to have Power – and in the really important things, we do not have enough power by ourselves. We have to access a power greater than ourselves. This may be Source Energy or the power that comes from our connection to others in family, community, self-help and Master Mind groups where like-minded people come together for the harmonious pursuit of a common goal. As you work with others, you create an energy that draws the resources you require for the creation of the results you want. As you work with others, you attract by law what you need, and you give back to them what they need as well. The giving exchange completes a cycle that enables you to go another round on the spiral of creation.
So what are you thinking? What do you want? Are you willing to change the way you are thinking in order to obtain the results you desire?
If you are, then the creative process has value for you to clarify what you want, develop a process and a plan, overcome paradigms that are in the way and develop the power to get results, personally, professionally and financially.
Embrace this information. Make a commitment to continue to study this information. Use the power of your mind to get the results you want.