Line BreakAuthor: Steven Aitchison (433 Articles)
I am the owner of this blog and write about personal development with my passions being belief formation, thoughts, perceptions and emotions. You can get my FREE video course to help Change Your Life at www.AlterYourJacket.com
There are two types of mind: The unconscious mind and the conscious mind and we use them in different ways to go about our daily lives. All is well with the world, but what if we could learn to harness the power of the unconscious mind as well, and cross the line between the unconscious and the conscious? Well, here is a 3 minute task you can do to show you that this is entirely possible.
We’ll come to the task in a second, for now I wanted to discuss the unconscious mind.
Unconscious Mind
We all know we use the unconscious mind every day for essential tasks such as driving, walking, working, and as I type this article, my unconscious mind tells me where the keys are on the keyboard and I don’t have to look for them every time I want to type. So the unconscious mind is a the guide that makes living easy, if you know what a macro is you’ll know that is how we sometimes go about our life: as if we have pressed the macro play button and we just get on with it.
What if we could access the unconscious for much more than going about our daily lives. What if it was possible to reach out to other minds and connect with them, we don’t put names to these other minds we just connect and go with the flow. They are not just ordinary minds we are connecting with they are more spiritual, more energetic, purer, for the sake of argument we will call this the Over-Mind.
The Over-Mind
The over-mind connects us with an energy that is not yet known and we can dip our toe in the river of energy to receive insight. You have more than likely experienced this at various times in your life without knowing it. It’s the moments when there is a sudden flash of inspiration or clarity and it happens at the strangest times. I have experienced it when looking at the beautiful architecture in Glasgow City Centre, I have experienced it when looking at my wife and children laughing together, I have experienced it just after a meditation session. It’s untouchable and it’s hard to recreate at will but we will try it today.
Am I an expert on this over-mind? Absolutely not! I haven’t a clue, all I am doing is putting these feelings and thoughts into my own words and labeling them.
Exercise
To connect with the over-mind, very briefly, I am going to give you a phrase. Try not to think about it, just let the words sink in and let them go, you will start to notice that you get images, thoughts and just start writing these down or automatically write down what comes without thinking too much about it. The phrase is:
To be able to live the life I want, I need to ..
It might only be a few words that come up, it might be a novel that comes up, just write it down in the comments section and let me know how it felt, if your felt anything, were you connected? Anything at all that comes up just let me know.
If after doing this exercise you are thinking ‘I don’t want to be the first to comment’ just be brave and go for it, there is no right or wrong way to do this.
We can have a discussion after a few people try this.
Tess The Bold Life (25)
Christopher Foster (22)
Axel G (19)
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Farouk (16)
Colleen (13)
Chris Akins (12)
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{ 84 comments… read them below or add one }
In order to live the life that I want I need to
Have more faith
Prioritize
Focus
Let go of comparisons
Judge less love more
Be me
Tess The Bold Life´s last blog ..Born To Run
That’s great Tess, thanks for being so bold and being the first. Did you get that automatically, without thinking about it?
Dear Steven,
Thank you very much for this wonderful post.
As an answer to your question, well, in order to live the life that I want to be happy, I want to enjoy every moment and every breath, I need to love and to be loved. I need to find peace within me and I need friendship and the human presence in my life.
Thanks again.
Have an amazing day.
Zeina
Zeina, that’s wonderful, coming from the heart that is very powerful stuff, if you ask similar questions again you can find out how to get what you want in order to attain this.
Steven,
In order to live the life i want, i need to ALLOW MYSELF TO EXPERIENCE EVENTS.
Christopher Kabamba´s last blog ..Why the Science of Success Theory is Flawed
Beautiful! how does that make you feel?
In order to live the life i want, i need to learn to control my mind, get my heart and mind in sync with each other, stop judging people, offer unconditional love to my near and dear ones
Hi Ganesh, thanks for joining in with this. There’s been some great writing so far
Be healthy
Smile
Laugh
Work
Love
Love my work
Be unafraid
Not worry
Relax my thoughts
Have fun with Andy (my BF)
Have a baby!
LAUGH!
HI Bre. That’s great that you’ve done this and all this has come up from the unconscious. Now you work on each in turn e.g. I can ‘Laugh’ more by…., I can worry less by…and do it with all the others on the list.
Wow, what a very insightful and interesting article, Steven.
When I said the sentence to myself the words that immediately came out were “let go”.
“To be able to live the life I want, I need to…let go”.
I have no idea where that came from (I guess my subconscous) and wasn’t expecting that phrase. I will have to really think about what that actually means. It must mean something right, otherwise my subsconscious mind wouldn’t have immediately filled in with those words?
Thanks for this.
Karen
Hi Karen.
Perfect! that sounds as if it came directly from the unconscious mind and it’s a big statement to make to yourself, so it’s came up for a reason and I would follow it through. You call follow it through by doing the same thing and asking something like ‘I can ‘let go’ by…..’ and hopefully another insightful answer will follow. Be great to know how you got on with this.
Dear Steven, in order to live the life I want I need to find out why I can not figure out what my reason is for not prospering, as I have a fantastic life as far as love an happiness go. I have a great wife and to awsome boys, a geat life but no money, lost my job when the econamie went down and have not been able to bring it back in to my life no matter what I try the law of attraction, positive affirmations, subliminal videos, writting my goals down or any of a number of other things I have tried. I am trying to do meditation to calm my mind which I am finding very hard, but slowly making progress hope this works. Thanks for listening God bless have a great day.
Hi Ralph. It’s a pretty shitty situation you’re in just now by not having a job.
Have you ever dated someone who has been so into you that she would do anything for you? she wanted to be with you all the time, she hung on every word you said, she was clingy and just worshipped the ground you walked on, you could have had affairs right left and centre and she would have still taken you back because she was so in love with you? – How did or how would that make you feel? – more than likely you would feel suffocated and she was strangling you with her love.
Sometimes we do this in life as well, we want something so desperately we are almost choking the life out of it. Once we learn to ‘Let go’ of the thing we desire most, that’s when things start to happen.
I don’t dare presume to know you or your situation, it’s just what came up as soon as I read your words. You can read Letting go to get what you want for a better explanation.
I sincerely hope it works out for you ralph
Hi Steven – Lately I find I access my unconscious through images rather than words. So as I sat with your sentence string, I tried to pay attention to the images that arrived. And up came a winding coastal road and a huge blue sky with puffy clouds. Now the blue sky is probably showing up because that imagery was coming up in the comments on my blog today, but the winding road, that feels very right. Something about going with the twists and turns, but enjoying the view at the same time.
What a fun activity! I love anything about opening the conduit between conscious and unconscious. Thanks for this.
Patty – Why Not Start Now?´s last blog ..Getting Comfortable With I DON’T KNOW
Hi Patty, I was hoping this would come up. We all have different ‘representational systems’, some people hear their thoughts, some see them, touch them , taste them, some sense, and some even smell them.
I am glad you liked this and I hope the image of the winding road tells you something. You could keep going with this and ask ‘The winding road will lead me to …….’
Thanks for joining in.
Hi Steven,
Beautiful topic! It is amazing how often we are not aware of how limiting our thoughts can be. The interesting thing is that these limiting thoughts in turn prevent us from seeing the possibilities in life.
As for your question, I recently asked myself that exact question and found that as I go about creating my new career, I have to believe that I can make it happen. I know intellectually that I can but I need to feel it with every ounce of my being. Some days it is easy and other days it is not. Part of the joys of being human!
Nadia – Happy Lotus´s last blog ..Closing an Old Book & Starting a Brand New One
Hi Nadia.
The problem with thoughts are they are limited to 6 senses, when in fact life is so much more than the 6 senses we perceive. Thoughts provide us with an insight into our life and we keep questioning until we get to where we want to be. A lot of people ask one question and stop there – but because our thoughts are so limited we have to keep digging deeper for the deeper meaning.
About your belief – I was speaking to a client about this the other day. beliefs are like a scientific hypothesis – You first make a statement, in your case it would be: I believe I can create this new career (it would be more specific to you) and when you make the statement you look for evidence to prove this statement. So, for example you might look for evidence and find you know your subject inside out, you have a qualification in it, it’s is your passion, you are good at the financial side of it, people tell you that you should do this as you as so good etc etc as long as you look for the evidence to prove you can do it all the time your mind will start to deep down believe it as well. Sure, there is always evidence to the contrary as well, but you won’t focus on that.
Sorry, went of on a bit of a rant there
This was a very good read and I like the way you engage your reader’s. Let me take a bite:
To be able to live the life I want, I need to …know what I want, define what it takes to get there, and remain mindfully persistent.
Thanks for sharing this!
Steven | The Emotion Machine´s last blog ..The Uses And Abuses Of Setting Deadlines
Hi Steven. That’s brilliant, and it sounds as if it came straight from the unconscious mind. Now you can leave it there or follow up and ask something like ‘In life, I want……..’, ‘To get ______ I need to’, ‘ To remain mindfully persistent, I need to…..’
Thanks for joining in Steven
In no particular order, I simultaneously thought ( and I know that sounds pretentious ) however…
relax
see
go with the flow
be less intense
float
float
float
I have no idea what float means – you DID say just write stuff down!
Hi Barb. this is great stuff coming out of this.
It doesn’t sound pretentious at all. I would ask one question just now: Do you feel as if you are sinking?
Hi Steven
This is a subject I find fascinating. I sometimes think of the unconscious mind as a big old-fashioned safe : there is a lot of valuable stuff in there BUT there is a big, complicated combination lock on the front. Getting past this lock to access the good stuff inside is not easy but its well worth the effort. Any technique that assists with this is to be encouraged. Every once in a while something will happen and it prompts a positive, optimistic thought in me that seems to spring from nowhere (but really the unconscious mind) – when this happens I could rearrange my brain so it happens automatically every time!
MESSAGE TO RALPH (post number 10)
Hang in there mate. Sorry I don’t have any easy solution to financial problems (I would definitely have a few more quid if I did) but please persevere and I’m sure things will turn around for you in time. I know its tough when you are struggling financially but at least you have a good grasp of what you DO have thats good in your life. Stick at it.
Hi Gareth. That’s a great analogy and thanks for sharing it with us.
This is what I love about writing this blog, everybody is so willing to help each other. I so appreciate your message to Ralph. Thank you.
hi steve,
how are you?
To be able to live the life I want, i need to put in the effort & work towards it.( that was the first thing that came to my mind)
hmmm!!! yes one more , ensure i carry the family along with the flow.
take care
ayo´s last blog ..46 Things To Do, When People Don’t Like You.
Hi Ayo. I am doing great, thanks for asking.
Thanks for joining in with this I really appreciate it. So what are you going to do about putting in the effort
Hi Steve,
This is actually my first comment!
While i construct my ideas for a post to contribute to your site and re-develop my own blog, i thought, no time like the present to get commenting and interacting with the solid community you have over here.
Hi, guys, my name is Luca. Im 25 and work as a consultant/mentor, teaching social media and business fundamentals to students aged from 16+.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to .. first understand who i it is that i am.
I find that days and weeks tend to go by where i am wrapped up in emotions or projects that i hope will lead to success, but yet i still question whether this is the direction i want to take.
I have decided to take a step back and try to understand what makes me tick, my strengths, my weaknesses and what my goals actually are.
Once i understand these, i can then be clear about the path i choose to travel and the life i wish to lead.
Brilliant post as always and i will be commenting regularly from now on.
Luca
Steve, you really cut through it with this one. Brilliant! My mind immediately started processing the possibilities here. I found the comments to be just as absorbing knowing that we were all going through the same process.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to remain consciously aware and fully engaged in the moment. Life happens in the present and that’s where we need to live it. The rest is either a memory or a fantasy.
Jonathan – Advanced Life Skills´s last blog ..Is More Success Always a Good Idea?
Thanks Jonathan, I always value your comments.
I loved it when you said ‘The rest is either a memory or a fantasy’ so so true.
…take more action, and realize that I really can be what I will to be. Anything is possible.
—
Thanks, Steve! Really great article!
Lyman Reed´s last blog ..Twitter Updates – 2010-02-05
Hi Lyman, thanks for your comments buddy I appreciate them and yes you can definitely be anything you want to be.
“Let go & Move on” is the first thought that came to mind. Amazing exercise! I may not have ever realized there are still perceptions of myself that I’m holding onto that are keeping me complacent in one of the projects I’m working on.
“It’s not what I’m willing to learn that gives me the freedom I seek, but what I’m willing to let go of that will allow me to embrace the new with a clear mind.”
Great post my friend. Thank you!
Tony Teegarden´s last blog ..What I Let You See Is What You Get
Hi Tony, thanks for joining in with this and I am so glad you found it helped a little. The question now is: what are you going to do
Steven Aitchison´s last blog ..Working With Your Unconscious Mind
Haha THAT my friend IS the question. I’ve been working on it very diligently. Looking forward to sharing it, and my results here with you shortly.
Tony Teegarden´s last blog ..My Perspective On Your Perspective
Dear Steven,
In order to live the life that I want I need to
relax
worry less
have more fun
not take everything to heart
trust that everything will fall into place
Best,
Dorlee
DorleeM’s last blog: The Things We Take for Granted http://www.dorleem.com/2010/01/things-we-take-for-granted.html
Hi Dorlee, great stuff here and a lot of things you can work on straight away. I hope this helped you a little to see the pwoer of the unconscious mind as a tool for giving you answers.
Steven Aitchison´s last blog ..Working With Your Unconscious Mind
trust myself more
lighten up
worry less
celebrate more
accept what is
share the responsibility
prioritize love
Steven, I was intimidated when I read the exercise part as I’m not always comfortable when put on the spot. But as soon as I started typing, words pretty much poured out which I suspect are things I often think about. Looking at what I’ve written, I guess one can surmise that I might be a bit uptight! I wonder much mood factors in to what comes out. Anyway, I enjoyed this.
Hi Belinda, thanks for being brave enough to do this exercise and I am glad something useful came out of it. I think we can cut through the mood factor with this exercise, but it is a very interesting point worth exploring further.
Steven Aitchison´s last blog ..Working With Your Unconscious Mind
… focus
… set the timer
… believe in me
… smile
… go out in nature
… repeat all steps
Thanks for joining in Janine. Does it help at all, or did it throw up any surprises?
Oh, and how I felt or what came up? I feel very powerful in a calm way, resolute and called to action!
To be able to live the life I want, I need to ..
Forgive myself
Change my internal chip
Think better
Go after it
Thanks Al, I appreciate you joining in. I hope you get what you want in life. Did the exercise help at all?
To be able to live the life I want, I need to …
Stop worrying.
Stop blaming people and me.
Dragos Roua´s last blog ..How To Manage And Upgrade Your Life Device Drivers
Thanks for joining in Dragos. I hope this exercise helped in showing how we already have the answers deep within us, I know you of all people know this.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to…
spend more time enjoying the moment instead of planning fro the future and to trust more in the future.
Hi Roseanna that’s great advice you have given yourself. thanks for joining in with this exercise, I hope it opened your eyes a little.
Great post Steven, here are mine:
Focus on my goals.
Not be overcome by fear and worry.
Communicate with people and build relationships.
Be in the present moment.
Hulbert´s last blog ..The Problem with Verbal Affirmations
Hi Hulbert, thanks for joining in this exercise. Be good to know if you found it easy or what happened when you asked the question.
to able to live the life i want i must quit my day job
Hi Farouk, one day soon
Nice post! I tend to use little ‘mind movies’ of things I find motivating to get my sub-conscious on track.
Just be.
Craig´s last blog ..Who’s In Charge of Your Life?
Mind movies are a great thing to use for motivation, I’ve done a couple on Animoto and it definitely works. Thanks for joining in Craig.
Focus seems to be a big one, including myself. Also staying connected to who I am.
Great exercise Steven. Isn’t it amazing how all the wisdom we need is always at our fingertips and all we need to do is ask and listen for the answers.
Lana, you are spot on saying that all the information is at our fingertips, we just have to trust the process. BTW your new blog design looks amazing
The very first thought that came to my mind was: “Be Available”. To live the life I want, I need to be available to discern what it is I want. I need to be available to decide how to get it. And I need to be available to do the work to make it happen. If you are distracted, preoccupied, in denial, or otherwise unavailable to yourself and your desires, then you can’t create what you want and you stay forever stuck in the land of Status Quo (a very boring place to be!).
Barrie Davenport´s last blog ..Listen and Learn
Hi Barrie, thanks for your thoughts on this I appreciate your time. I think to know what you want is a big first step to take, but when you’ve done it the ball has started to roll and it is difficult to stop.
Thanks for the post, Steven!! I’m not sure how I got to this blog post, however, it has helped a lot. My results were:
my calendar)
- Be organized (use calendar for to-do items)
- Synthonize with myself (meditate every day)
- Reduce clutter (get rid of unnecesary books)
- Concentrate and not multitask (obey
- Close the internet when working (just do it)
After this, I followed the advice you gave to BreRoz and drilled down a bit more on how to get to these (I have put my answers in parenthesis beside each one).
Thanks again!
Hi Denise, you clever cookie you, you have gone a step further which is brilliant
You answer is a book in itself, thanks for joining in, I hope you got a lot out of it.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to ..
Become more emotionally independent.
Find more inner peace so that I don’t work to assuage fear, I work as an expression of joy.
Learn how to fall asleep earlier and record my dreams.
Set one goal and work toward that one goal only.
Build a network of mentors.
Develop a deeper understanding of my sexual energy.
Use EMDR to release places where I am stuck.
Hi Mathew, that’s quite a list and a great path to self development. You have a lot of interesting work you want to do on yourself and it would be good to hear how you are going to go about starting the work on yourself.
Steve
The over-mind seems to be the same as what some people call the superconscious. Is this your understanding as well?
Im very interested in this topic as I do a lot of writing and research in mindfulness and hypnosis. Im actually writing the introductory module dealing with the unconscious mind right now for a 14 week course.
Chris
Chris Akins´s last blog ..The secret to hapiness…
Hi Chris, yes the super-conscious would be another name for it. I actually got the idea for Over-Mind from Paul Brunton’s book: Quest for the overself.
I would love to hear more about the course you are writing.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to …
BE POSITIVE – this is what came to mind. Negativity has been my struggle for years, but I have been focusing these past few months on being positive and looking at the positive aspects of life. Being positive is truly and literally changing and transforming how I live to achieve what I desire to accomplish. It creates a new vision to live through.
Hi Chrisena, thanks for joining in with this and I am so happy that positivity is helping you to change your life.
To be able to live the lift I want I need to keep doing what I do daily
Perfectly said Bhushan
To be able to live the life I want, I need to …
Learn to control my Thoughts and feelings, which influence my actions to retrieve the results I desired!
Ed
To be able to lead the life I want, I need to:
Be Me
Love Me
Release Not Self
Float
Clear
Empty
Ohm
Hi Steven,
I am finding more and more articles that are really enjoy here on change your thoughts. To be able to live the life I want, is to continue to ask the question “How do I produce the same results of a successful person?” If I want to be successful is to model success, and it starts with hard work.
Cheers,
-Brian
Brian´s last blog ..10 Remarkable Differences between Procrastinators and Go-Getters – Which Side Are You On?
Hi Steve,
This is fabulous stuff. I did the excersise and it was great to do!! Mine was:
Give up smoking,
Not be so hard on myself,
Not to be so hard on others,
Stop being lazy sometimes,
Follow my heart more,
Be selfish sometimes and do more for me rather than others
Listen to my inner voice as it is usually correct.
I am so glad I came accros this site as it has now helped me realise the things I need to work on in my life.
Thank you
Hi Steven,
What came out for me, immediately and just sat on the paper and wouldn’t expand:
Stop being scared.
And as Tess pointed it out, I’ll add ‘Find Faith’ as my uncon bit of mind wasn’t willing to throw that up.
All I desire is either spoilt by fear or avoided, yet still I won’t give up on the prospect. Its not an easy existence, I can tell you! And now I am reminded of the song ‘Moments in Love’, only saw the video for the first time about a week ago, it ends with score cards that are reversed to reveal the statement ‘Don’t be afraid’ – my unconscious mind picked up on that.
Annette
To be able to live the life I want, I need to ..
Believe in the positive evidence I have collected about myself in relation to my beauty, intelligence, personality, self worth and personal power. I also need to get rid of the jealous voice that invades my mind and tries to contradict the positive evidence I have collected. I know this jealous voice is useless and shouldn’t be listened to because it will do anything to prevent me from moving forward and succeeding. This voice is useless and will never be more worthy or valuable than the evidence I have about myself. I know that ignoring this voice will destroy it completely because it preys on the attention I give to it and becomes bigger and louder as a result. No attention, no voice. Sounds simple to do but very hard. I really look forward to the day when my mind is completely purified from this jealous voice and only my beautiful mind exists inside my head. With a beautiful mind will come a new identity. I can’t wait till this happens because this is exactly the state that will let me live the life I want.
Hi Shazia, sounds like your on a tricky path where your doing well. It reminded me of a story someone called Orina once told me called, “Dances with Wolves.” Thought I’d share it with you:
A white-haired Cherokee is teaching his grandchildren about life. He tells them, “A fight is going on inside me. A terrible fight, and it is a fight between two wolves.
“One wolf represents fear, greed, hatred, anger, envy, false pride, self-pity, resentment, guilt inferiority, arrogance, deceitfulness, superiority and selfishness.
“The other wolf stands for peace, love, kindness, joy, truth, compassion, humility, transparency, authenticity, friendship, respect, integrity, benevolence, generosity, faith, sharing, serenity and empathy.
“The same fight is going on inside you, and in every other person too.”
The children thought about this for a while. Then one little girl asked her grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee held a long silence. Then simply said, “Whichever one you feed.”
believe.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to ..concentarte on one thing at a time..
stop taking drugs
make friends
discover a new leisure activity and pursue it
improve my self respect through work
be more confident
act rather than just think
to live the life i want,i need to be a millionaire, a movie star , president, writer tht too good one.i don’t knw i want a good life wid good home cars pets n lots of love.i don’t knw anything else. i see myself some place all green with a big house kids n pets n lots of laughter.thats all i want or need from my life
In order to live the life that I want, I need to….. simply live the life that I want.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to set myself free from my fears. I need to reconnect with my inner self, once again feel protected by the universe to give me the courage to release everything that I am scared of.
I need to be more confident in myself, to be more aware and alert of my actions, so that I can then take responsibility for them in order to make the positive changes I need to.
I need to stop worrying and start believing, and I need to stop being so lazy in thinking that it will somehow just all fall in to place without doing anything.
To live the life that i want to live, i need to start fresh. I need to accept the bad with the good, the ugly with the ideal and find a balance to make everything work out. I need to finish what I start and not let the small things bog me down.
This is a wicked exercise and I’m glad I came upon this blog; I hope everyone else finds it as mind-clearing as I have.
To be able to live the life I want, I need to let go of imperative ‘oughts’ and ’shoulds’, and just experience things the way they are and the way I am. I need to accept and understand others for being themselves just as I would myself. I need to value my imagination and trust in the validity of my intuition without overtly second-guessing myself. I need to be honest with myself and with others about who I am and what I want. Above all, I need to have faith that I know what’s best for me.
Interesting exercise, thanks
I saw an image of myself…on a bridge of some sorts surrounded by wilderness.. lush green trees and I’m having fun doing some adventurous thing with my loved friends… I think I’m thinking about or actually jumping off the bridge. Excitement, adventure and adrenaline is rushing through my veins. I know I look good. Am also in peace with the way I am…something I really need!
Would love your feedback on this!
nahl´s last blog ..Protected- ‘’ is my most hated punctuation mark!
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