Power of the subconscious mind

I recently wrote about preparing your next day before going to sleep. I’d like to add more to it. I challenge you to start exploring the power of your subconscious mind. Your mind is really powerful. Uncover it.

“Sleep over it”

In my other post I focused on preparing a list of things to do for tomorrow… so that our subconscious mind can “digest” it overnight while we sleep. It’s amazing how much clarity we have the next morning.

But it’s more than that - the same goes to any problem we have. The saying to “sleep over it” applies to almost any tough decision, that’s why it’s crucial not to let the emotions take charge and really “sleep over” some of the most important decisions in your life.

Learning new languages… subconsciously

I’m now studying Japanese. I know it sounds totally crazy. I speak my mother tongue (Polish) and English, German and Spanish… it’s just one more, right? Well, the problem is, that Japanese is so different. It doesn’t come in any way from Latin or Germanic languages, so it’s a totally new thing.

I started learning by listening to an audio-course (Pimsleur) and watching Hollywood movies I knew with Japanese audio-tracks (I didn’t find many of those, unfortunately). The cool thing is that although between my last two trips to Japan I didn’t find lots of time to actively learn, the listening part proved to be incredible.

When I came back to Japan in June, I started understanding more. Somehow listening to the conversations was more fruitful… I was very often able to figure out what the people around me were talking about (in Japanese!) and join in the conversation (unfortunately still in English) to the astonishment of my Japanese friends.

You see, although before my trip I was just listening without actively learning the language, my mind was learning. Subconsciously. Amazingly.

Projecting goals

The last thing I wanted to mention here is the thing about goals. Many “motivational books” tell you to project yourself in the future. To see how you want to be in a few years. What kind of life you’re going to have. I thought exercises like these were ridiculous. Now I know for a fact they are not.

These “gurus” ask you to project your goals - to picture them. To see them. Why? So that they become more real to you and they sink in your memory. Why? Because then your mind will help you make good decisions.

That’s right. Depending on what you want to be, your mind will subconsciously help you decide one way or the other. I know. I was surprised over the last few years how I was able to decide quickly on some really important things… because my mind new exactly where I was going.

Your subconscious mind is really powerful.

Use it, you’ll be blown away. Train your mind, let it do some heavy-lifting for you, let it work to help you become a better person. I’m still amazed how little we know about our minds and how great a work they do for us.

Do you train your mind? Do you let it work? How?