(This blog was originally posted on February 24, 2014)
Photo courtesy of Microsoft
No
matter what you do, even if you don’t try, you learn something new every day. The
question is: What will you do with this new information that you have just
learned?
For
example, imagine that your car’s gas gauge is almost on empty, so you pull into
a gas station to fill up your tank. You notice that the cost of unleaded gas is
up four cents from last week’s listed price, which triggers a familiar (known)
emotional response of anger/frustration and even anxiety about the cost of
fuel. What you do about or with this
information will depend on how badly you need the fuel right now and whether it
is/will be available when you are ready to make the purchase. Your actions will
also be influenced on how you have handled similar situations in the past: Just
fill up the tank and resolve this inconvenience, buy just enough gasoline to
keep you on the road for a few more days, or drive around to look for a better
price at a different station.
Your
subconscious mind likely knew exactly what you would do before you made the
conscious decision to just fill up the tank. Even though your first instinct
would normally be to look around for a better (cheaper) price, you decide to
just buy the gas right now. Southern California is in the middle of a
heat-wave, the Labor Day traffic is likely to be heavy today as people are
returning home after their long weekend. You don’t want to risk getting stuck
on the road in 100-plus degree temperatures. Also, if a lot of other nervous
drivers have the same idea, you might have to drive around forever looking for
a station that has a better price, but it could already be sold out of gas
before you get there. Even though you are still annoyed that you had to spend
so much more money to buy the fuel than if you had shopped around a bit more,
you are relieved that the tank is full, and
you no longer have to worry about getting stuck in bad weather.
Remember: Every
sensation you perceive provides a catalog of information about your environment
and how/where/why you fit into that situation. The conscious mind identifies
this data (stimuli) as a “known” or “unknown” message unit; the subconscious
mind is more likely to accept or reject the information/behavior if it is
already in your repertoire of knowns—and you will act accordingly. Furthermore,
no matter what you do, you will be creating a new and/or reinforcing a previous
known behavior in your repertoire.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense
Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
