Demystifying Subconscious Reprogramming for Generators and Manifesting Generators
When I first heard about subconscious reprogramming, it felt like everyone who knew how to do it was keeping the actual how shrouded in secrecy.
As a 1/3 Profile, I don’t really ~ do ~ secrecy, so I knew I needed to get to the bottom of it.
Was this some magical wizardry that could only be facilitated by another person?
Was it something that had to happen through deep meditation, healing and “unblocking,” mind-bending hypnosis, or the constant obsessive chanting of affirmations?
Like all my most authentic Sacral responses, I felt drawn to this and had no idea why.
I knew I needed to figure out how it worked—and here are my conclusions after years of research and experimentation.
What is the subconscious mind?
The subconscious mind refers to a part of our mind that exists below conscious awareness. It is responsible for storing and processing information that we may not be aware of in our conscious mind but still influences our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This differs from the unconscious mind that Freud often talked about, though sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably. The way Freud viewed the unconscious, there was no way to access anything stored there directly—it only came out in dreams or “Freudian slips.” The subconscious¹, on the other hand, is closer to our conscious awareness and can be accessed.
The subconscious mind plays a crucial role in shaping our beliefs, habits, and automatic responses. It is believed to hold memories, experiences, and emotions that may have been forgotten or repressed. These stored experiences and emotions can influence our perceptions, attitudes, and decision-making processes.
The subconscious mind also plays a role in processing and interpreting sensory information. It helps us make sense of the world around us by filtering and organizing incoming information based on our existing beliefs and experiences.
What is subconscious programming?
Subconscious programming refers to how our subconscious mind absorbs and stores information, beliefs, and behaviors that shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions. It happens mostly during early childhood when our minds are highly impressionable. Through interactions with our environment, such as family, culture, education, and experiences, our subconscious mind absorbs and internalizes these influences, forming the foundation of our belief systems and automatic responses. Because our subconscious programming operates beneath our conscious awareness, it acts as a filter through which we interpret and respond to the world around us.
Looking at it through a Human Design lens, our subconscious programming is essentially the conditioning (a.k.a. societal/familial messages and beliefs) that was repeated enough when we were open and vulnerable enough to accept it as truth, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. As I said, this happens mostly when we are younger — children ages 0-7 are particularly susceptible— but in my experience, this openness extends, to a degree, through adolescence and into our 20s. It can also happen when we are in a vulnerable state—scared, unsure, in a new place, under duress or control of another person, etc. For example, this is how cults “brainwash” their participants—by programming them with beliefs when they are in a vulnerable state. The beliefs they are being fed may start out consciously, but with enough repetition, they make their way into the subconscious—this is why it’s common for the proverbial or literal gate to freedom from the cult to be open, yet people who have been conditioned to believe they cannot or should not leave remain trapped in isolating and unfavorable situations.
Our subconscious programming can be both beneficial and limiting. It can support our growth and success if it aligns with our goals and desires, but it can also hold us back if it includes negative or self-limiting beliefs. We might unknowingly not pursue something because we watched someone in our family fail at something similar, even if our situation is completely different. We might discredit a talent or hobby because we were told it was not worthwhile growing up. We might not be open to connecting with someone based on superficial impressions because we were told to believe something about another person’s looks, abilities, race, class, or gender.
3. How does subconscious reprogramming work?
Subconscious reprogramming intentionally modifies the deeply ingrained beliefs, thought patterns, and behaviors stored in our subconscious. It involves identifying these limiting beliefs (or simply identifying their undesirable repercussions) and replacing them with empowering ones through affirmations, visualization, hypnosis, and meditation.
How do certain beliefs or ideas make their way to the subconscious? After all, we have a conscious mind that can filter out stimuli and messages. How do we access the beliefs cemented when we were younger now that we have developed more critical thinking? Won’t our conscious minds fight back?
Well, the key lies in:
Communicating with the subconscious in a language that it understands, like emotion, images, and symbols
Repetition
By actively engaging in this process, we can transform our subconscious programming, align it with our goals and desires, and see the results we want in our lives.
4. My personal experience with subconscious reprogramming
I became curious about subconscious reprogramming because I was hitting a frustrating wall about what I could accomplish by following my Strategy and Authority. I was feeling energized every day and I was listening to every yes and no response. So, why did I feel limited in the money I was making and the reach I had? I was doing okay, but I felt like I couldn’t go to the next level.
Consciously, I felt “worthy” of expanding. I was taking the best action I could conceive of to expand, but it just didn’t seem to be happening. There had to be something else at play.
When I stumbled upon the concept of subconscious reprogramming, I felt a response. I didn’t know where this would take me, but I was open. I started with subliminal audio and journaling. I made my own subliminal audios, collaborated with other people to create some for the Pure Generators community, and bought hypnosis and journaling programs.
I started to see results! Hypnosis wasn’t my preferred modality, so I didn’t pursue it. But the combination of subliminal audio and journaling was powerful. At the time, I wanted to free up my creative energy and see myself as someone who could share creations, not just share information. I reprogrammed my subconscious and identity. It worked! That year, I released YouTube vlogs, new physical products, and Notion templates, a departure from what I previously believed I could create in my business. However, I did notice that these routines were hard to keep up, and I would get mired in my normal day-to-day activities and forget for long stretches of time.
Next, I found the Law of Assumption. This helped me understand how to communicate with the subconscious, the power of repetition when changing your thoughts, and the need to persist until your desires materialize. I used the Law of Assumption to confidently become an author, release my book into the world, and have the biggest revenue year yet in my business.
After learning to work with the Law of Assumption, all of my experimentation and research began to come together—I finally understood how all of these modalities (hypnosis, affirmations, journaling, Law of Assumption visualization, subliminals, etc.) are different facets of the same concept, which is subconscious reprogramming. More importantly, I understood why this was valuable for Generators and Manifesting Generators and how it could help us see results.
I found that as Generators and Manifesting Generators, we can only respond to what we can perceive. We are always using our senses to respond to things, and there are so many stimuli out there that our brain is filtering it to notice only what we have imprinted on our subconscious through past experiences and conditioning. We can’t see everything, so we must block some things out.
I always use the example of getting a new car and then suddenly seeing that car everywhere. It’s unlikely that suddenly, there will be more of that car on the road. It’s more likely that you started noticing and looking for it because it became relevant and important to you. What if we could do the same thing with opportunities, encouragement, and possibilities? What if we were reprogramming our minds to notice everything that would help us make our desires a reality? When I fine-tuned my version of simple subconscious reprogramming that I could easily work into my day to day life, I started noticing new opportunities, thinking differently, and expanding what was possible. I noticed the shift was happening quickly.
This is why I want to share this with all of you!
5. So, what is the exact process for Generators and Manifesting Generators?
Here is where the magic starts to happen! Here is the full process that I’ve found yields solid results for Generators and MGs (and is easy to adapt to your preferences and daily life):
Identify an area of your life you would like to improve—this is likely an area where you have conditioning preventing you from seeing the desired results.
Some subconscious reprogramming revolves around identifying limiting beliefs. Having tried some modalities that involved a lot of excavating past trauma and experiences, I started to notice that it actually wasn’t all that necessary to pinpoint exactly what the limiting beliefs were in order to reprogram them. Don’t get me wrong, emotional healing and therapy are important! It’s important to have an outlet for emotions that arise and be in a place to look at your life objectively. But for the purposes of this subconscious reprogramming exercise, don’t worry about knowing exactly what your beliefs are and where they came from.
Why? The subconscious is like a garden—what you plant there (and continue to water!) grows (you can thank Bob Proctor for that metaphor). At the same time, you don’t have to dig up the old beliefs that already exist—if you cease to water them (a.k.a. think about and reinforce them), they tend to wilt and die.
You can pretty much tell which programming and beliefs are working against what you desire by looking at the patterns happening in the area of your life where you’re experiencing some frustration, a.k.a. not seeing the results that you want. For instance, if you keep experiencing romantic relationships where the other person doesn’t reciprocate your enthusiasm, you might have received conditioning about the kind of passion that is possible in love. If you make good money but seem to always be in credit card debt, you may have received some conditioning about spending or saving money. If you’ve always wanted to travel the world but can’t seem to prioritize it and make it happen, you might have received some conditioning around how difficult it is.
You get the idea! The important thing is to pinpoint an area where you would like to make a change.
Figure out what outcome you want —this can be concrete, like a specific goal, or more general, like how you want to feel.
To get rid of your previous conditioning, you have to figure out what you want to reprogram it with. Don’t worry too much - if your understanding of what you want changes or deepens over time, you can always modify it.
The result you want could be concrete, like a goal—I want to have $100,000 in my bank account, I want to develop a steady gym routine, I want a loving partnership, I want a fun and supportive group of friends. Or, it could be something more open—I want to feel satisfied at the end of my work day, I want to feel safe, comfortable and inspired in my home, or I want to express my creativity more.
Either way works!
State your desire as if it is something that you already have in the present (or that has already materialized). What you’re doing is creating an affirmation or autosuggestion. For example: “I love how I spend my days.” “I am so confident talking to new people.” “I am so thankful that the balance on my credit cards is 0.”
By affirming that what we want is already the state we are in or has already materialized, we are planting a new reality in our subconscious. That way, we will naturally start to look for evidence of that reality in the form of new things to respond to and new opportunities. The goal with this isn’t to do it once. The conditioning we received in childhood required repetition day in and day out to stick. So, we need to begin to think in this new way repeatedly. You can write it down daily, put it on a sticky note where you’ll see it, or state it every time you notice yourself thinking negatively about the reality you want to change. You can use journaling, hypnosis, subliminal audios…all the modalities I mentioned above. None is better; it just depends on what works for you.
“Autosuggestion: the influencing of one's own attitudes, behavior, or physical condition by mental processes other than conscious thought.”
-Merriam-Webster Dictionary
4. Engage your emotions and senses. Things really speed up when you use the power of your mind to simulate what it will feel like when what you desire becomes real. Your subconscious mostly speaks to you in sensations, feelings, and images, so you can plant seeds faster when you make new images to plant in your subconscious “garden.” If what you want were already true, what would you feel, see, taste, hear, smell, touch? Can you transport yourself into the moment where what you want has happened? It doesn’t have to take long—just a few minutes or whenever you have a sliver of free time.
And remember! Only visualize what you do want. Many people say that the subconscious can’t discern the difference between not wanting something and wanting it—it just sees the image. I wasn’t sure if this was true, but I quickly remembered some examples. When I was a teenager, I worked at an outdoor education camp. One week, I was assigned a new site and new teaching material. I felt uncomfortable, shaky, and unprepared. I had to take a hike? In an area I didn’t know? Leading a group of kids? I worried about it all day and expressed my anxiety about getting lost to everyone around me.
So, what do you think happened? The next thing I knew, I was traipsing up a wet, steep hill covered in ferns, with no marked trail or civilization in sight, trailed by a pack of whining kids. It was as if my subconscious mind was searching for ways to lead me off the trail because, basically, IT WAS! I had visualized getting lost enough that it made it reality. My subconscious didn’t understand that I was saying DON’T get lost! All it heard was “get lost.” I would have fared so much better had I kept repeating, “I am so glad I knew exactly where to go on the hike and returned safely and perfectly on time.” We did make it back to safety, but it was a huge lesson in the power of the mind that I didn’t understand until decades later.
5. Honor your Strategy and Authority. You may not even notice it at first, but you’ll begin seeing different things in the world—people you would have never noticed, opportunities you wouldn’t have previously thought possible, and inspiration that never would have occurred to you. The more you notice and acknowledge these changes, the more they will reinforce your new beliefs.
6. Persist, repeat, and keep going! This is probably the most important one (and the one that people tend to underestimate). I’ve noticed that often, my conscious mind tries to convince me that it is bored of the repetition, or I can stop because it “gets it.” But the results come from repetition and saturation, not grasping the concept by thinking about it one time (which is often how our conscious mind likes to operate). Some proponents of subconscious reprogramming, like Bob Proctor, said they spent 50 years reading the same book about the power of the mind, over and over, hundreds of times. The results didn’t come from just grasping the information the first time; they came from the power of repetition and how it gradually reprogrammed his thoughts on a deep level. Instead of understanding, it’s about soaking it in. It’s about saturation. You don’t just water your plants once. When sunbathing, one doesn’t just stand there for a second and think, “Ahh, yes…this sun will tan my skin, I get it,” and then go back inside. You must soak it in, allowing the melanin to develop cell by cell. (But also wear SPF! This is just a metaphor!).
In an internet world where everyone wants to promise you overnight results, the reality is that some big subconscious changes and concrete results take time. This is not a one-time sprint; it’s a lifestyle and a new way of seeing yourself. Do not give up if everything isn’t changing or working out immediately! You have to persist and repeat!
If you’re a Generator or MG and you’d like to start your subconscious reprogramming journey and make it easy and clear, check out the 21-Day Subconscious Paradigm Shift!
Love,
Rachel
¹The term “subconscious,” as we are using it in this context, was coined by the psychologist Pierre Janet in 1889, a few years before Freud began talking about the unconscious mind in 1895.
Sources:
Bargh, John A. “Our Unconscious Mind.” Scientific American, vol. 310, no. 1, 2014, pp. 30–37. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26039731. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
Bühler, K E, and G Heim. “General introduction to the psychotherapy of Pierre Janet.” American journal of psychotherapy vol. 55,1 (2001): 74-91. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2001.55.1.74
YORKE, CLIFFORD. “Childhood and The Unconscious.” American Imago, vol. 53, no. 3, 1996, pp. 227–56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26304492. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
