The Iceberg

In spite of the size of the ship, an iceberg managed to destroy it, proving that what is hidden is far more powerful than what is revealed.

Just like our mind, which is a replica of an iceberg. About ten per cent of our brain is conscious, however ninety per cent is subconscious or remains hidden. We tend to use our subconscious mind for day-to-day life – such as thinking, working, processing information etc. When we are asleep, the conscious mind sleeps with us and when we are awake it helps us to go through our daily routine. Since the capacity of the conscious mind is limited, it retains the information that you need immediately and dumps everything unimportant into the subconscious mind for processing. The subconscious mind stores all your experiences, beliefs, past memories, traumatic events, skills acquired, all situations you’ve been through in your life and all images you’ve ever seen. Just like a computer, it neatly stores all the files in different folders hidden away from the conscious mind.

The best way to understand the subconscious mind is to look at the example of learning how to drive a car. For a new driver, it is not possible to hold a conversation, drive and listen to music in the background all at once. He only focuses on driving and is not able to multi task. However once a few weeks have passed and his conscious mind has learnt the ropes of driving, his subconscious mind takes over the driving and he is able to multi task. Subconscious mind works like the autopilot system for our lives. It controls how you feel, how you react and the decisions you take. To be able to create a life change you need to work with subconscious mind.

Over the years I have worked with many clients who wish to lose weight or boost their self-confidence, change a habit or just be more relaxed. Some of them have tried for years and failed. However most of them do not realise that working with the conscious mind leads to failure when it comes to changing a habit. The more frequently you do something; the more likely you are to form a habit of performing that task. Eventually information of the newly acquired habit is stored in your subconscious mind and it becomes a way of life. Therefore any big changes in life can be achieved by working with the subconscious only.

So if you are looking to make a life change, form a habit of performing the new task every day at a certain time. Eventually it will be part of your subconscious mind and you will then be able to perform that task without any hesitation. Learn to work with your subconscious and your Titanic will sail through!Shivani Adalja is an Abu Dhabi-based well-being expert. She runs the Alignment Insitute which offers unique solutions that focus on stress management and overall well-being (align@shivaniadalja.com)