Monday Motivation: The reason why your affirmations aren't working

When I started on my personal development track, one of the techniques I was implored to use were affirmations.  Affirmations are when we make declarations about our selves or situations in our lives that speak to an outcome we want.  For example, when I used to tell myself "I have clear, flawless skin" even though I suffered from cystic acne, I was stating an affirmation.

The premise of constantly repeating affirmations to ourselves is to impact our subconscious mind into believing the stated reality.  The reason we need our subconscious mind to believe us is because it is the primary driver in our actions.

For the longest time, I looked from the magic formula to impact my subconscious mind.  I thought  that if I stated affirmations daily, wrote down my goals over and over again, and listened to recorded messages as I slept, I would influence my subconscious.  While these actions have some impact on the subconscious, I've discovered that they aren't nearly as powerful as one specific behavior that, when repeated, can make a lasting impact on my subconscious once and for all.

I once believed that my subconscious could never be tamed.  I felt as if I were engaged in a battle that I was destined to lose.  My enemy was too great.  How many times have I told myself that I wouldn't do something and ended up doing it anyway?  I've heard it said that throughout our day, up to 95% of our actions are driven by our subconscious and only 5% of what we do is done consciously.  Basically, this means that we do the same things day in and day out based on patterns written deep within us.

It wasn't until I listened closely while watching videos on Youtube from Dr. Bruce Liption and Joe Dispenza that I came to the understanding that only one thing truly impacts the subconscious mind. That one thing, my friend is consistent action.  Dr. Bruce Lipton described our subconsious mind as a "tape player." Those of us who remember tape players understand that unless a tape was inserted, the tape player was useless.  If someone inserted a blank tape, nothing could be played. Our current actions are the result of pre-recorded messages being played by our tape player. It keeps laying the same thing over and over because it only knows one command--play recorded messages.  Bruce equated stating affirmations to telling a tape player to "play a different song."  Simply telling a tape play to change the music doesn't work (that technology didn't exist back then). If we wanted to hear something different, we would remove the tape, insert a new one, and press play.   

As far as the subconscious mind is concerned, a new action is the equivalent to inserting a new tape.  Oh, but simply taking a new action once isn't enough.  I liken it to playing a new artist for the first time.  We're not  familiar with any of the songs so it doesn't feel as natural as when we listen to our favorite artist.  Why? Because our favorite record has been played dozens or even hundreds of times before. We can sing along with every one without so much as a thought. That is why we seem to take the same actions over and over again even though we affirm ourselves to be different. We've taken the old action so much that it has become engrained in us....in our subconscious mind. 

With that said, we must use our conscious mind to impact our subconscious.  Our conscious mind is employed in our decision making and when we make a choice to do something differently.  If we want to create a new habit ( a behavior that we repeat without putting in much thought) we must use our conscious minds to do so.  Making a choice once of twice isn't enough, just like the new songs on the album, the action must repeat itself over and over again.  Whenever we say that we're creating a new habit, we must purposefully choose to do this action day in and day out.  Soon the action becomes embedded within us and we no longer have to use our conscious mind to complete the action.  

This, my lovelies, is the true secret to impacting our subconscious mind. I'm not telling you to stop saying affirmations.  In fact, I believe affirmations are important in declaring where we are headed.  But, to make them powerful, think of one or several actions that you can pair with your affirmations to move your forward in your progress.  When I affirmed beautiful skin, I worked feverishly to create habits that supported my outcome.  If I affirm financial abundance, I will create financially sound rituals that will help me achieve it.