“As you sow in your subconscious mind, so shall you reap in your body and environment. Imagine your subconscious mind as a bed of rich soil that will help all kinds of seeds to sprout and flourish, whether good or bad. Every thought is a cause, and every condition is an effect. This is the reason it is so essential that you take charge of your thoughts. In that way, you can bring forth only desirable conditions.”
- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, page 8
"What you write on the inside, you will experience on the outside.You have two sides to your life, objective and subjective, visible and invisible, thought and its manifestation."- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, page 46
Your subconscious can be thought of as your book of life. The thoughts, beliefs, opinions and theories you chose to write and impress on your subconscious mind is what you will experience through physical circumstances and events.
There are two parts of your mind: the conscious mind (objective), and the subconscious mind (subjective). Your conscious mind is the one which reasons and deals with objects. It gains its knowledge through your five senses and through its contact with the external world. You can think of it as your guide and director in the external world and environment.
Realizing that your subconscious mind is always working, during the day and night, is the first step in working with it. Murphy outlines three tactics that you can use to cultivate a relationship with your subconscious:
Repetition: Feeding your subconscious mind with repeated constructive and harmonious thoughts will lead to the formation of new, healthier, habits for your subconscious mind. Make an effort to think positive thoughts about yourself.
Suggestion: We all have our own fears, beliefs, and opinions. These are the inner assumptions that govern and guide our lives. Through the power of suggestion you are able to suggest thoughts to your conscious mind. Proactively suggest new beliefs to your subconscious. If you are afraid of flying, for example, continuously think about statistics regarding the safety of air travel. Eventually your subconscious will start to believe you.
Visualizations: Mental visualizations are powerful way to convey an idea to your subconscious. Once you can feel and believe what you are visualizing you can create it. To apply this, create a vivid mental picture of yourself successfully performing a task. Repeat this frequently to effectively imprint it on your subconscious.
"All your experience and everything that enters into your life depends upon the nature of the mental building blocks that you use in the construction of your mental home. Your word is silent and invisible; nevertheless, it is real. You are building your mental home all the time, and your thoughts and mental imagery represent your blueprint."- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, page 93-94
Murphy shares several techniques that he has studied which are effective at constructing a mental home, that he has studied and used to to communicate and imprint the subconscious mind. Thee notable examples are:
The Baudoin Technique
Baudoin was a psychotherapist who discovered that the best way to impress the subconscious mind was to enter into a drowsy, sleepy state, in which all effort was reduced to a minimum. Chose a thought or idea you want to imprint and convey it to your subconscious in a passive and receptive way through reflection. Condense the thought or idea in a brief phrase which can be readily etched on the memory, and to repeat it over and over again as a lullaby.
The “Thank You” Technique
Practice expressing gratitude and and giving thanks before you achieve success. When you create this feeling of thankfulness in your mind and heart, what you desire will be attracted to you.
The Affirmative Method
When you affirm something, you state that it is true. Repeating an affirmation will lead the subconscious mind to a state of receptiveness, and will begin to accept it.
"Success means successful living. When you are peaceful, happy, joyous, and doing what you love to do, you are successful."- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, page 175
When it comes to your subconscious mind and achieving success, the thoughts and ideas you imprint on your mind are vital. Murphy believes the true inner meaning of success is to be successful at the enterprise of living. He believes that by implementing the three steps, anyone can obtain “success.”
Step 1 – Find the thing you love to do, then do it.
Loving your work is the first step of obtaining success. If you do not love your work it will be very difficult to be successful: you lack the drive required to pursue a level of achievement. When you do love your work you will constantly be striving to be successful.
Step 2 – Specialize in some particular branch of work.
When you specialize your work, you can strive for excellent in your niche. Your enthusiasm paired with a desire for excellence will help you to surpass other generalists in the field.
Step 3 – It must benefit humanity.
When you are certain that your work is serving the world, it closes the circuit on a successful, happy life.
Murphy goes on to explain that although some people seem successful with material wealth, when money is at the centre of success we create a mood of lack and limitation. This influences the subconscious, and manifests in our bodies, homes, and relationships with others. What we think and feel we end up creating. What we create, we believe.
All in all I really enjoyed learning about the subconscious mind and the different techniques and exercises described in this book. I believe the main theme of this book is still relevant and applicable today, although some of the stories and religious verses were not to my tastes.
Dr. Murphy wrote, taught, counseled, and lectured to thousands of people all over the world, as Minister-Director of the Church of Divine Science in Los Angeles. His lectures and sermons were attended by thousands of people every Sunday. Millions of people tuned in his daily radio program and have read the over 30 books that he has written.
