Unconscious: How much do you actually do unconsciously?

You receive information throughout the day and how you deal with it you do so subconsciously. In fact, you only consciously receive 5 percent of the information you receive daily.

In fact, a lot of information you filter first. You leave out a lot. Then you distort what does come in, to what you think is important. Then you generalize that too.

Looks like that, then it must be.

You do all this to make it easy on yourself.

What is awareness?

Most people agree that when you are awake, you are conscious. Even animals such as cats are conscious, but rocks and trees are not.

This already shows that there is something that creates an awareness. A filter that tells you something is real and causes you to have thoughts about it.

For example, a cat sees a mouse as food[1].

The filter that separates your conscious and unconscious

So you have all kinds of filters that work for (or against) you. That way, you see reality in your own unique way. That filter is because many unconscious processes happen simultaneously, while you often only go through 1 process consciously[2].

For example, when you and I look at something we see the same thing, but we may experience it completely differently. This is because of those filters.

Even in cats, this is the case. For example, I have an acquaintance who had adopted an older cat. And now she has two. One cat is like death to plastic bags, especially when you shake them and the other cat doesn't give a damn. The other cat again likes watching TV, but the older cat again finds TV scary. So even in animals with much smaller brains than us, you see that there are different beliefs about what is dangerous (shaking plastic bags) and what is not (the television being on).

It works the same way with people.

For example, we both see spin. Maybe you like it or I get scared, or vice versa. This is then due to our reaction to that spider. Maybe you generalize about how you used to be afraid of that spider and how you still remain afraid of that spider now.

Despite not being the same spider from before. After all, that spider is long dead. So that's not the problem, but why the current spider? Because you have generalized that one spider to all spiders.

You can also have a fear of elevators. If you fear only 1 elevator, then the fear is easy to avoid, but if you have generalized that one elevator to all elevators, or in the case of other fears to all highways, or to all people, men, women, animals or lions (although the latter might be a good idea), then that fear is a lot harder to avoid. Then you can do almost nothing because of your fear.

That's why it works so well. For example, you once learned to ride a bike and now you can ride practically any bike. These are all filters that make it easy to live and move through life.

That filter is often activated by what you see. For example, most people find that seeing a red square that evokes all sorts of feelings of pain is a phenomenon of consciousness, whereas general knowledge, such as that Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, is then not triggered and does not come to your consciousness[3].

You often get these kinds of filters from your upbringing as well. You are taught what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. You also receive precepts, which often become beliefs. These are also a kind of filter.

You often want to confirm those rules. For example, if I believe that all men are bad and can't be trusted (which I don't believe, by the way, because I'm a man), then I see only those men who are bad and can't be trusted. Otherwise, my rule is wrong.

When I do see a trustworthy man, I think, for example, it's not a real man or something. I then have to make sure somewhere that my unconscious rule remains intact.

That line is my religion. If you've ever tried to convince a Jehovah to believe something else, you know how stuck that is. It's a kind of cement that holds the bricks together. If you take that away, those bricks fall apart.

Then our entire foundation might fall apart (sometimes that's fine), but we'd rather not.

A kinder way to change this is to interact with people who have very different precepts about life than you do. Those have very different filters and beliefs about reality. Find people who have those beliefs that you would like to have.

Then you will naturally adopt those filters as well.

Because if there are people with certain thoughts and who think certain things about the same reality. Which you haven't thought about, for example, like "I haven't looked at it that way yet." Then that can influence you.

That thought can change your filter. That can change what you filter and what you distort. This gives you new possibilities, these are not necessarily better possibilities, but they are new possibilities.

It's just who you hang out with. Because the thought of how you had looked at it can sometimes make you feel worse and sometimes, on the contrary, give you a sense of relief. It can make you feel better, freer, like someone with more opportunities and possibilities.

This is why it is so important to interact with people who have already achieved what you want to achieve. This could be work, family or relationships. No matter what. Something you would want too. Then you hang out with those people because then you kind of adopt that way of filtering.

That's super interesting, take advantage of this.

Also listen to this podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/1780369-hoeveel-doe-je-nu-eigenlijk-bewust?play=true

Solving the metaproblem to change your behavior

You have a problem and a metaproblem is the overarching problem that causes the small problem. Usually the metaproblem is a belief that affects your behavior in such a way that it becomes a problem for you.

By solving the metaproblem, you also solve the problem[4].

Then a lot depends on the connection you make with the belief that causes the meta-problem. For example, some beliefs you feel very strongly, so that connection is very strong. If you then solve the meta-problem, it will pretty quickly solve the problem for which you are seeking help.

However, if you solve a metaproblem that is less strongly connected to the problem you want to solve, it still limits your ability to solve the problem. This may be because the belief you thought was causing the problem is not the belief that is actually causing the problem.

Language and thoughts create awareness

Unlike cats, humans also have language and thoughts as a means of bringing something from the subconscious to the conscious. For example, a cat sees a mouse and then thinks of it, but we can use language "think of a mouse" to evoke the thought of a mouse[5].

So somewhere, we also have control over what beliefs we want to bring from our subconscious to the conscious.

That fact is what hypnotherapists and people who apply neuro linguistic programming use to help you solve your metaproblem.

When you interact with people who have already achieved things you want to achieve, they can evoke thoughts in you during normal conversations that you don't achieve on your own and with your standard circle of friends.

Changing unconscious filters

As mentioned, we humans have some amazing advantages and those are our language and our minds. We can do an awful lot with our thoughts and imagination. If you have problems you want to solve that you can't and you think it's your subconscious mind that's keeping you from realizing the solution, you can get help.

Hypnotherapists, for example, can help you figure out where some of your filters originated, and with NLP, new filters can be placed in your subconscious.

That way, 95% of what your brain does for you is not going to get in your way, but rather help you find the solution to get life the way you want it.

For example, with the problem of having started smoking as a teenager: hypnosis can help you quit easily[6]. The research indicates that hypnosis influences the smoker's subconscious. For example, by removing the filter you have for not seeing all the negative consequences of smoking, so you are aware of the negative consequences.

Want to know how to use hypnosis to influence your subconscious and that of others? Then come to the free online master class on hypnosis.

Or enroll directly in one of our trainings to help people solve their metaproblem.

Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:

how much do you do unconsciously