Getting Myself Consciously and Subconsciously Aligned
I know my goals – short and long term – now I just need to get aligned.
When I was 9 years old, I wrote my first work of fiction. It was 50 pages and illustrated – and I got a tremendous sense of accomplishment from creating it.
Over the years, I continued to write in fits and starts. While I knew my passion was writing, I bought into a whole lot of the notorious lies about it.
Most writers make no money from writing. Do you want to be a starving artist? It’s super hard to get published. For every successful author, there are many more failed writers. Do you think you’re good enough to get noticed and make it? Shouldn’t you focus on a real job?
When you are bombarded with the above and similar, it’s very hard to break free of that impression. Then, once you do, it’s still a challenge to get yourself aligned on every level.
What does that mean? When you know what you desire to have, find, and/or create for your life – and it defies the “norm” – you need to align all aspects of your self.
In other words, I need to get my conscious and subconscious aligned with one another.
There are 3 states of mind in everyone
Everyone has the same 3 states of mind.
- Unconsciousness is that which you do purely automatically. Overall breathing, swallowing, digesting, and similar things your mind and central nervous system do unaided.
- Subconsciousness is where your habits, beliefs, values, and overall sense of self exist. It is subconscious because you CAN access it — but largely don’t. Subconscious is passive, doing things by rote and routine.
- Consciousness is here and now. It’s your inner being, specifically your mindset/headspace/psyche sense of self. Consciousness is active, choosing and deciding things in the moment.
For the most part, you can ignore the unconscious mind. But the conscious and the subconscious are what make you, you.
The conscious mind is where your overall inner being and mindset/headspace/psyche self lives. It is who you think/feel/know yourself to be, here and now, as you read these words.
Getting in touch with your conscious mind is done via mindfulness. Mindfulness, of course, is your conscious awareness of sensory input coupled with thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions in the present.
All you must do to be mindful is ask yourself (preferably aloud) these and similar questions:
- What am I thinking?
- How am I feeling?
- What am I feeling?
- Why am I doing what I’m doing?
These questions will put you in the present moment – which is how you be mindfully aware of your conscious mind.
That awareness, then, opens the door to align your subconscious mind.
The deeply rooted aspects of you
Within your subconscious are all your beliefs, values, and habits. You are likely aware of many. But there are also, quite probably, many that you are not so aware of.
Your subconscious takes in all that you experience, learn, see, think, feel, and whatnot. Then, because it lacks the filters of the conscious mind, many things it absorbs sit there and leave a lasting impression that you would not have consciously chosen.
For example, as a kid, I was told often that it was important I get a real job – preferably a money-maker like a doctor, lawyer, or business mogul. What’s more, with my “smarts” I should be at the top of whichever of those fields I should choose to pursue.
Then we get to reality. I have had zero interest in becoming a doctor or a lawyer, and naught but a passing fancy to be a business mogul (certainly not the implied form of business mogul I was expected to be as a kid).
I pursued several different arts in addition to writing. Music to a lesser degree (I was and still largely am a 4-octave baritone), theatre (which is what my college degree is in), and radio (in the early 90s when Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, and the like were still on broadcast networks).
Because I subconsciously had taken in and accepted the notion that the arts are not a “real” job, I always have accepted an inability to make sufficient money from that form of work. Yet, here I am now, actively writing full-time in pursuit of that goal.
Hence, there is a conflict between my subconscious and conscious mind. One that requires them to be aligned. Which is an ongoing challenge.
Practices to get it all aligned
I recently wrote about how health is not simply physical, but also mental, emotional, and spiritual.
As such, all four of these aspects together contribute to getting your conscious and subconscious mind aligned.
This is, overall, a conscious process. But better awareness of my consciousness is how I can get in touch with and alter my subconscious beliefs, values, and habits.
These are the practices I am currently working at to help me align my conscious and subconscious minds.
- Physical – I am exercising on a far more regular basis, maintain a healthier sustainable diet, and getting more sleep.
- Mental – I am reading every single day. A minimum of 1 chapter each of fiction and nonfiction (mindfulness, self-improvement, consciousness-focused work). I am also keeping a spreadsheet of daily activities to stay on top of it all.
- Emotional – I’ve been journaling daily to keep ahold of my thoughts and feelings and express honestly with myself where I am at. I’ve also been writing out 5 gratitude statements every night before bed, plus five positive “I AM” statements.
- Spiritual – I am meditating daily. Generally, this is a 20-minute practice, though there are days I only get in 10 minutes. But this has been every day for the last 5 months or so.
Working on my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health is a conscious act. That means I am more aware of my mindset/headspace/psyche self. That awareness, in turn, opens me to getting in touch with my subconscious and working to alter, change, remove, or otherwise control the habits, beliefs, and values I hold.
But there is one more, super important step I need to address with myself.
To get aligned requires kindness, compassion, and forgiveness – of myself
There have been any number of poor attempts, half-assed schemes, false starts, and various failings on my part. I’ve spent a lot of time at the crossroads between this, that, or the other thing. I spun around in a circle looking at various paths and choosing none.
Most of my 20s and 30s were spent this way. It is only in the last 10 years I’ve been my most genuine, authentic self. And then, over the last 2 years, I’ve focused on realizing both my short and long-term, goals.
For the two decades of “wasted” time, I have a sense of regret. I mean, honestly, between all the homes I lived in; jobs I held, left, and lost; and relationships I did poorly with – a part of me is ashamed of who I was.
Shame doesn’t do a damned thing, here and now, for who I am or who I desire to be. This means I need to be compassionate with myself, treat myself with kindness – and forgive myself for the “wasted” time.
Given how poorly society frequently handles kindness, compassion, and forgiveness for others – it’s no wonder most of us are bad at this directed towards ourselves. But when I look into my subconscious and find the habits, beliefs, and values I desire to change – it’s imperative I be kind, compassionate, and forgiving of my past self.
The past has passed. I can’t change it. Nobody can. The best thing to do now is to learn from it and use those lessons in the present. Being present and aware – here and now – is imperative to aligning who I am consciously and subconsciously to be the best me I can be.
And that is how my goals – in both the short and long term – can be realized.
Are you doing things to be aligned consciously and subconsciously?
This is the four-hundred and ninety-second exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.
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