Subconscious Mind Power #4

Subconscious Mind Power Secret #4

The subconscious is the part of your brain responsible for
habits, and you can develop new habits, behaviors and
skills and put them on automatic pilot by “training your
brain” with repetition.


Just about everything you do repeatedly every day is on automatic
pilot and has a neurological basis, which is another way of saying
that we are creatures of habit. The bad news is, most people don’t
know it.

Most people are walking around like zombies, totally unaware of
their automatic behaviors. The good news is, we can take
advantage of what we know about repetition to develop new habits
and behaviors. The subconscious mind develops stronger neural
pathways and patterns with repetition of thoughts and behaviors.
When you practice something or repeat something over and over
again, that’s telling your non-conscious mind that you’re going to
keep doing this over and over and that your conscious mind could
use a little help. Repeat something long enough and basically
you’re telling your subconscious, “Hey, make it easier to do next
time and eventually make it automatic.”

How long does it take? Well, it’s been an old self-help cliché that it
takes at least 21-30 days to develop a new habit. Guess what?
Research from NASA and the Laboratory for Brain and Cognition
at the National Institute of Health has shown that this is accurate.
They used functional MRI scans to see what changes would take
place in the brain from repetitive practice of simple motor patterns.
Sure enough, with repetition more neurons were recruited.


Within 3-4 weeks of practice, there were changes in 3 parts of the brain—
starting with the prefrontal cortex, which is the part responsible for
the intention to carry out the movements automatically.
This tells us why a goal that’s set once, but not reinforced with
repetition, is hardly ever achieved. This is exactly what happens
with a lot of New Years resolutions, isn’t it? It’s also why learning any new physical skill takes time and practice. New Neuron patterns are being set up and strenghtened, so you can say that repetition re-wires circuits in your brain.