Influencing Self Development – Suggestion, Anticipation, Belief, Hypnosis

We always feel that we are under our own control. Our thoughts, feelings, perceptions and actions are regulated by us and we are conscious of what we do and why we do what we do! How wrong we are should be seen to be believed. Or rather, verified objectively to know the importance of the subconscious mind on our behavior. There are three major aspects that influence the development of our “self”: suggestion, anticipation, and belief.

Suggestion

We rarely know how suggestible we are. Let us say someone tells us that a particular task is difficult. We accept the thought without questioning or even if we try to question it, we somehow allow us to believe that the task is difficult. How many times have we heard in our childhood that we cannot succeed? How many of us can say that someone told us that we are able to achieve something? Our suggestibility is there all the time and we still consider that we always make conscious decisions. Let us take a simple example stage fear. What exactly are we afraid of? People tell us not to be afraid and we know very well that there is no specific logical reason to have that fear. If we could have controlled our conscious so well how come we are still having those butterflies in the stomach?

Anticipation

The answer lies in our ability to anticipate the outcome. Whether we like to believe it or not our expectations are usually negative. We always think of what could go wrong and others do not minimize this thought process in any way. Let us say that someone tells us that it very painful to undergo surgery. Without question we accept this information and the next time there is even a minor surgery scheduled, we expect a lot of pain and it happens. Our brain is hardware that works according to the way it is programmed. What we inform the brain with our expectations is the software, which operates according to the program written. What we anticipate depends very much on what we believe in.

Belief

Let us say that a person believes that all his miseries are because of lack of money. With such a belief set in mind, whatever he tries to do, he finds out that he is falling short of money. This kind of reinforcement strengthens his belief and no one or no counter argument car shake his belief He is right because of what he thinks, but he does not realize that he needs to change his thinking and consequently his beliefs.

Cognitive Inconsistency

Even if we try to change our beliefs consciously, we are unable to do so because of what is known as cognitive inconsistency. Each belief system is a combination & opinions that we have farmed about a person, place or thing. Each opinion, in turn, is a combination of several ideas and impressions we have had about the issue in question. To change to believe we should change all these! else one idea or opinion may contradict another.

Self-Hypnosis

The best solution to overcome all these problems is to practice self- hypnosis on a regular basis to overcome negative programming and to initiate new positive programs. Contrary to the popular belief that hypnosis is dangerous, there is very little danger involved in self-hypnosis. You are under your own control and there is no one influencing your SELF except you. You do not have to go into a trance where you are unaware of what is happening! All it needs is for you to relax, give positive suggestions to yourself and see it change your life for the better. When we can be influenced by others in a negative way, is it not possible for us to influence our own mind positively all by ourselves?

Provided you use it as a tool to modify your existing programs, you can overcome shyness, fears like stage fear and exam fear, increase concentration and memory, improve your mental functioning, develop better interpersonal skills, reduce hurt, anger, frustration, guilt, etc. Rather than borrowing what others give us, is it not better for us have a hold over what our mind can conceive?