P H A S E II
Today's Big Ideas & Your Daily Checklist
Day 12 Theme
In Day 12, The Subconscious Mind Solution, you concluded your in-depth review of The Sobriety System with a deep dive into the world of the subconscious. You learned how to tap into the power of your subconscious mind to make thriving in sobriety come easily and naturally.
The Sobriety System Super Glue
Beliefs are formed and changed throughout your life; however, your most powerful beliefs are formed in early childhood, since your subconscious is easily programmable at a young age.
By the age of four, it is estimated that 50 percent of your beliefs are formed. Between the ages of five and nine, another 30 percent are formed. That means by the time you are nine years old, 80 percent of your beliefs are shaped and "super glued" to your subconscious-beliefs about love, security, learning, generosity, and sometimes even drinking.
For example, an event from Dave's childhood clearly shaped one of his lifelong beliefs. When he was five years old, his parents were sitting in the living room after putting the kids to bed and heard a faint noise from the kitchen. To their surprise, they found Dave on the kitchen floor drinking from a large screw top bottle of wine, which they kept in one of the lower cupboards. They learned that Dave's older brother had told him about the wine and taught him that to feel better he should drink it. We don't know if this happened once, or numerous times, but at a very early age Dave created a belief that drinking would make him feel better.
Sometimes we have to "unglue" our subconscious beliefs in order to "glue" something stronger in their place. And Dave has done just that by replacing this core belief about drinking that he formed at a very early age with a new belief that thriving in sobriety is what truly makes him feel better.
Remember, your beliefs lead to your actions and behaviors. That’s why it's so important to change your beliefs at a subconscious level before your subconscious "super glued" beliefs kick in. The good news is that the more you work on this, the stronger your new glue becomes!
95 Percent
There is simply too much going on around you at all times for your conscious mind to process everything, so your subconscious mind often kicks in and takes over. In fact, 95 percent of your behavior is unconsciously chosen, which means that your addictive behaviors are operated by your subconscious, without you even being aware of it.
So, if deep down your self-concept and self-image revolves around being a "drunk" or high-functioning alcoholic, then your subconscious will always work to bring you back to this core identity. Until you can change your limiting beliefs at the subconscious level, you will never thrive in sobriety. To counteract this, you must change your limiting beliefs that reside in your subconscious mind.
DVR of Your Life
Since many of your beliefs are hidden in your subconscious, it makes them harder to change. The DVR of Your Life is a subconscious recording of everything that happens in your life and it is always playing back your most powerful programs-or recordings from your life-which are your limiting beliefs. But don’t worry-all of this can be changed! The good news is that you have already started reprogramming your subconscious and creating a new DVR of your life.
Say 'No' to No
The Elephant in the Room (Say No to No)
The subconscious mind doesn't understand negatives, so if you tell yourself "I will not drink," your subconscious only hears "Drink." Instead, tell yourself, "I will be sober and happy." Whatever you consciously and repeatedly think about, accompanied by strong emotions, will reprogram your subconscious over time.
Day 12 Checklist
Day 12 Action Steps
When you get into bed each night, take 5 minutes to visualize all of your goals, dreams, and desires-and make sure you include your thriving-in-sobriety goals. Doing this right before you fall asleep is one of the best ways to reprogram your subconscious.
Think about when you used to drink and write down any situations, times, places, and emotional states you were in. Then recall any incidents from your childhood that helped create these links, such as Dave’s story about drinking wine when he was five-years-old.30-Day Search Engine
Daily Bonus Content
To read Bruce Lipton’s interview “Mind, Growth, and Matter” from Succeed Magazine, June 7, 2012, see www.brucelipton.com/resource/interview/mind-growth-and-matter.
For the full definition, see www.merriam-webster.com, s.v. “subconscious.”
Joseph Murphy, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, 1963).
To read more about how the subconscious mind records life events, see Dietrich Klinghardt, “Applied Psycho-Neurobiology,” mercola.com, www.mercola.com/article/applied_psycho_neurobiology/apn.htm.
John A. Bargh and Ezequiel Morsella, “The Unconscious Mind,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3, no. 1 (January 2008): 73–79. To read the full paper, see www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440575.
Bruce H. Lipton, The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2008).
Steven Kotler, “Learning to Learn Faster Part II: How to Read Faster and Solve Problems Like MacGyver,” Forbes, July 3, 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/stevenkotler/2013/07/03/learning-to-learn-faster-part-ii/2.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, “Keynote Address by Dr. Drew Pinsky” (presented at the Fifth Annual Luncheon for the Arapahoe House, Denver, September 18, 2014).
To read more about the lottery and bankruptcy study, see Amy Wolf, “Lotteries: From Big Bucks to Bankruptcy,” Research News at Vanderbilt, July 7, 2009, //news.vanderbilt.edu/2009/07/lotteries-from-big-bucks-to-bankruptcy-83864.
Leonard Mlodinow, Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (New York: Vintage Books, 2012).
Debra Ollivier, “Leonard Mlodinow on Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior,” Huffingtonpost .com, last modified August 7, 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-ollivier/leonard-mlodinow-on-subliminal-how-your-unconscious-mind-rules-your-behavior_b_1575795.html.
Bill Wilson, “The Next Frontier: Emotional Sobriety,” Grapevine, January 1958.
For more studies on the development of the personality in early childhood, see Linda Carroll, “Personality May Be Set by Preschool,” Msnbc.com, last modified January 15, 2008, //www.nbcnews.com/id/22554554/ns/health-childrens_health/t/personality-may-be-set-preschool/#.VQdRxI7F-Sq.
For more information on how the brain develops in early childhood, see Judith Graham, “Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn,” Bulletin #4356, Cooperative Extension Publications, The University of Maine, //umaine.edu/publications/4356e.
For studies on thought suppression, see Jeremy Dean, “Why Thought Suppression Is Counter-Productive,” PsyBlog, May 22, 2009, www.spring.org.uk/2009/05/why-thought-suppression-is-counter-productive.php.
For more about the subconscious mind and negatives, see Abdallah Nacereddine, “How the Subconscious Mind Functions,” Unspecial.org, www.unspecial.org/2011/12/how-the-subconscious-mind-functions.
