Autosuggestion: Why It Is Weird and Why It Works

Autosuggestion has often been quoted as one of the pillars of achieving great goals by those who have demonstrated huge results. What are the magic mechanisms that underlie this concept and why is it that so many people are reluctant to actually put this into practice?

Autosuggestion makes us feel uncomfortable

To understand the efficiency of such a method, we need first to understand the principle it is based on. Autosuggestion is directly related to the duality of our mind: conscious and unconscious. We act mainly according to our unconscious mind even though it’s our conscious mind that makes all the decision. To profoundly change our actions, we first need to reset some patterns of our unconscious mind. To do so, we have to act upon what we can directly control, that is upon our conscious mind. By voicing positive ideas (it’s a conscious action), we are redirecting our unconscious mind. Because some ideas may feel alien to us, we might experiment with a feeling of awkwardness. We can overcome that very sensation by simply repeating this act over and over. Then, we may start accepting that new picture in our mind and change our focus and aspirations.

In order to lessen the discomfort, we should split one big idea into several smaller ones. Thus, they can be more easily digested by our subconscious mind. For example, you want to lose 50 kg because you’re overweight – instead of saying “I’m a slim person”, you could start by saying “Day after day I become slimmer and slimmer”.

Repetition is the key to results

Like any other discipline, autosuggestion needs to be practiced continually to reveal its full efficiency. The results of such a practice will not be instantly apparent; you have to be patient to expect tremendous results. Your autosuggestion will lead you to different actions and you’ll be able to measure the results of it.

Just give it a try

Even if you are sceptical about the outcome of including autosuggestion into your daily routine, why not simply give it a try?

Identify a goal that you’re failing to achieve even though you’ve been working on it for months and even years. The lack of result may be due to a psychological blockage. Create a simple sentence to help you achieve it despite the past lack of success, and just repeat it whenever you feel like it (or not), in the queue at the supermarket, in your car, in front of a loading webpage etc. Commit to trying it for at least two weeks and then observe if you have created any changes in your life to realize that very goal. If not, you might need to rephrase your motto, but if you commit to a longer period of time, you will see major changes.

Try it, and give me your feedbacks if you want!