In the last article, we learnt how our default thinking keeps us stuck. In this article, we will learn how change is possible. To celebrate the arrival of the good news, lets visit a childhood scenario we all are familiar with.
Lessons from Learning to Ride a Bike
Consider the childhood experience of learning to ride a bike. Initially, the idea of balancing on two wheels filled us with uncertainty. The subconscious mind tricked us with fear, which we expressed as procrastination, laziness, and fear itself.
However, with the guidance of a trusted mentor, we eventually summoned our courage to cut through the fear and climb onto the bike seat.
We paid close attention to balancing our small body atop the frame while simultaneously learning to work the pedals and steer the handlebars in coordination.
It was a complex choreography that our conscious mind had to directly control and practice repetitively.
Within a few wobbly pedals circling the driveway or sidewalk, we started to get the hang of it. Before long, maintaining balance, pedaling, steering, and controlling speed all began to feel automatic.
In a remarkably short period of learning through trial and error, riding the bike no longer required conscious thought – we could just get on and go!
From this simple but real-life example, we can deduce the following mechanism:
- What we are not used to doing, the subconscious mind rejects.
- Whatever the subconscious rejects, we avoid doing.
- Whenever we consciously overcome the subconscious impulse to avoid doing and do it anyway, we have to do the work with a lot of effort and attention to detail.
- With enough repetitions over time, the subconscious mind starts accepting the complex issue.
- Once the subconscious mind accepts it, doing the thing becomes automatic, no longer needing our conscious efforts.
This principle extends far beyond bike riding. Those who excel in life often do so by overcoming the subconscious barriers that hold them back. Through relentless repetition, they become unstoppable.
Just as repeating old behaviors trapped us in our current situation, repeating the correct actions can liberate us.
Action Steps Based on this Mechanism
Whenever you want to do something big – start a complex task, lead a team, start a business, etc. – the subconscious mind will employ tricks to instill fear and prevent action. This could manifest as fear, procrastination, or laziness, all stemming from a fear of failure.
Step 1: Recognize that the emotions and thoughts in you are tricks of the subconscious mind.
Step 2: Understand that you are in no real danger, and all negativity is just assumed in your head. So, the emotional feelings are not accurate.
Step 3: Take action anyway.
Step 4: Over time, these emotions will start losing their control over you, and taking action will become automatic.
Cultivating the Right Mindsets & Emotional Control
But let’s not sugarcoat it: real-life challenges are far more complex than learning to balance on two wheels. Taking action towards one complex issue may raise a new complex issue. We automatically get the impulse to retreat when facing new unseen challenges.
Despite overcoming initial obstacles, a new challenge can set us back. The subconscious may intensify its tricks, encouraging us to give up.
The way around this is to develop a mindset that doesn’t allow the subconscious to play tricks in the first place.
By transforming our mindset!
Step 4 – Understand Why Transforming Your Mindset is Necessarry And How to Do it
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