How to Change a Longtime Habit

Nicholas PollakOP-ED

[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak||no_popup[/img]We are 100 percent successful in whatever we have put our minds to.

If we had not been, we would not be where we are today, wherever that may be.

The subconscious image that we have of ourselves was pretty well formed by the time we were 12 years of age.

For the logical among us, could it not follow, therefore, that we are all still acting as we did when we were 12. Only the circumstances with which we are dealing are now more adult, more complex?

Can we accept that everything we have seen from birth to right now is stored in our subconscious, and with amazing detail? With full sight, sound, smell, feel, could we also accept that all of this information went into the subconscious completely unfiltered?

Remember the  Oven?

As an example, when we were toddlers and we reached out and touched a hot oven, we learned that hot hurts. It was not assessed by the subconscious as a right or wrong. It just registered the fact that the oven, when it is in use, gets hot and burns.

The subconscious accepts everything it is given, never distinguishing what is right or what is wrong. It just registers things.

It is at about the same age that our behaviors have finally formed that our conscious mind is also fully developed,

It is the conscious mind that determines right from wrong, bad from good and so on.

As an example, if we see a habit pattern that we don’t like within ourselves, is there anyone out there who hasn’t tried to consciously change it, but with little or no success?

Of the total brainpower we have available, it is a known fact that we only ever use 5 percent of the total capacity available to us. Of that 5 percent, 90 percent is the subconscious mind, and only 10 percent is our conscious mind. 

A Prerequisite to Change

It would follow, therefore, that to affect a change within us we must change our subconscious so that a change may take effect. It is hard to change, as the body and the conscious mind will continually resist it. This is called Homeostasis.

Trying to change is hard. But it can be done with some effort.

Prove it to yourself. Try the following simple exercise:

The next time you come home, watch where you put your house or car keys. Pick a different location.  Then try to place them in the new location for 21 straight days. Watch how you begin to react to this small change.

At first it is a conscious act. As you become more used to it, you will stop thinking of it consciously because it has now become an automatic, subconscious reaction.

In fact the same automatic, subconscious habit you had place in the first place.

The point is, through a conscious, repetitive act, you have changed your subconscious habit pattern. Most important of all, you feel good about it.

How about changing which sock you put on first?

Watch what happens.

We can affect our subconscious mind by feeding it new images of behaviors, success, happiness and prosperity or any other goal we want to attain.  The key is to really see what you want in your mind’s eye.

Find a quiet space and sit down. Place your feet flat on the floor, your hands on top of your thighs. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, saying to yourself, “Breathing in relaxation and exhaling tension.”

Do this twice.  Then let your self breathe normally. You will begin to feel less tense.

Relax your whole body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head by consciously relaxing each part of your body.

Now, with your eyes still closed, see it to the last detail, the colors, the smells, the sounds, the feeling of success at having attained what you wanted.

Think of it in the present tense, and act as if it already has happened.

Over time, the subconscious mind will make the changes you want in spite of your conscious mind’s “objections.”

A clinical hypnotherapist, handwriting analyst and certified  master hypnotist, Nicholas D.  Pollak may be contacted at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net