I recently wrote about pain and how beneficial pain is to your success. In that article, I mentioned that we all make decisions based on one of two driving forces, avoiding pain or pursuing pleasure. As most of us can relate to, pain from doing something we don't want to do is far more intense at the time of the action than the joy we get for taking the action. That is why so many people don't do the things it takes to have success. The unfortunate truth is, the fact that people avoid pain actually creates pain. Stagnation is painful. We all have dreams and desires and must find a way to move forward to live a happy and fulfilling life.
Fear is our minds trying to protect us from pain. Letting fear stop you is making the choice to avoid pain, instead of the choice to pursue pleasure. Without this understanding it is easy to fall victim, but now that you understand what is going on psychologically, lets discuss some strategies to break through that fear so we can start making decisions that benefit us.
One strategy to break through fear is to start focusing on your inner voice. This is the voice in your head that is constantly talking. It is hardly ever quiet, and it loves to give you advice. Some of you are saying, "What inner voice? I don't have an inner voice!" That is your inner voice.
This is your subconscious mind speaking to your conscious mind. Think of your subconscious mind as a giant file cabinet. It is filled with files from experiences in your life or with files from things you use to condition it. For example, remember the first time you had a crush on a boy or a girl in your class? Maybe you built up the nerve to talk to them and they rejected you. As you got older and had opportunities to speak to others you got nervous. That fear is created by your mind to prevent that negative feeling you have had in your past. Different negative events have happened to all of us that shape our decision making as we get older. Another example is, a song that you love that makes you think about a specific time in your life or a specific person. That could be a positive or a negative feeling. The point is, those experiences created files that your subconscious mind relies on the rest of your life. If you are about to do something that you consider scary, your subconscious mind will likely start talking to you and giving you reasons to not move forward. That negative advice coming from your subconscious is what we are trying to control.
I believe that if you are willing to take responsibility for what your subconscious tells your conscious mind, you will have ultimate power. You see, most people do not understand the difference between subconscious and conscious thinking and they are not aware of the awesome power the subconscious has. It literally can make you successful if you work at conditioning it in the right way. Taking responsibility for this is not easy. It is hard work, and being honest with yourself can be painful. Here are five ways to start to condition your subconscious so you can control that inner voice.
Celebrate Fear: As long as you are in a safe place, I suggest you celebrate the fear that you are feeling each time you feel it. Shout out loud, "YES!!!" and say something like "I LOVE THIS FEELING" "I LOVE FEAR" By doing this each time you feel it, you will start to condition your mind that fear is positive, (which it is). You can work on conditioning your mind to understand that fear is only there to protect you and that in most cases, you can safely move forward with your task. The more you do this, the more the positive messages your subconscious will give your conscious when you are faced with fear. I know this sounds a little crazy, and it does take time and effort, but this is one way that I know works.
Exercise: I know this sounds crazy too, but when you exercise and push your body, your inner voice will tell you to stop. You feel pain, and you can stop feeling pain by simply stopping the activity you are doing, running for example. If you can hear the voice tell you to stop, but continue pushing, you will start to quiet that voice when you have challenges in other areas of your life. So am I really telling you to exercise and push your body until your inner voice says to stop? Yes, I am. Again, this is hard, and it hurts, and it is great for you to do. It is just one more way to accomplish what we are talking about.
Meditate: This one is much less painful but can be just as challenging. This is taking 20 minutes a day to yourself, and I know how hard that can be. Meditating helps quiet the normally loud and obnoxious subconscious mind. The best ideas in business will come to you when you meditate, because you create space in your mind. It is also positive energy and thoughts going into your subconscious mind, which is what we need to condition it. If we can fill the file cabinet with positive files, that is what we will use when we make decisions. I have found this to be challenging because my mind goes 100 mph. I have had the best results from putting on head phones and sitting on a comfortable chair with a guided meditation. You can find these for free on YouTube or through podcasts. You can also pay a little to get great guided meditations.
Affirmations: This is hands down my favorite, and no matter what strategies you decide to use to help you with your inner voice, I feel strongly that this should be incorporated into your plan. There are several ways to use affirmations to help, but the best way I have found is to simply write down what you want to accomplish, maybe a goal, and then repeat it out loud to yourself each morning and night. Using a mirror and saying it with conviction increases the results. By repeating this over and over, your subconscious mind will start to believe in it and will start to work on making it a reality. It is crazy the power you have over your life with this simple technique. You can literally have anything you want by convincing your subconscious mind that you have it or deserve to have it. Once your sub-conscious mind is convinced it will pull the correct files to give your conscious mind when the time comes. The correct files will push right through your fears. This too sounds crazy, but trust me, it flat works!
Self Development: This is the easiest of all of them to do, so it too should be incorporated into your plan. This is simply listening to educational, self-help, and self-development material instead of the radio in your car. This is nothing new. I am pretty sure that every mentor I have had has said the same thing. It is so easy to do, and you will be filling your mind with knowledge, hope, and inspiration. That is what you need for the inner voice to tell you to move forward instead of telling you to stop when you are faced with a challenge.
There are several other ways to bust through fears that I will write about, but controlling your inner voice is a great place to start.
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Use-Your-Inner-Voice-to-Reach-Your-Goals&id=9884608
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