HOW many times, in the most recent years of your life, have you experienced a sense of power? Not often enough, I venture to suggest, and then it probably was a vicarious experience. You can remember moments of having this feeling of power from the time you were a youngster. Memories of those earlier years include times when you skated, rode a bike, a coaster wagon or a sled and you pushed yourself until you were going faster and faster. For a moment or two, your speed would be so excessive that you were just on the edge of being scared. But, my, what a sense of power it gave you!
• A new kind of personal power
Such moments had more grown-up flavor to them in your ‘teen years. Perhaps the sense of power came when you shot a rifle for the first time, or when you were the starring participant in competitive games, when you were the “big” sister or brother to some “little kids.”
All of these incidents came from environmental opportunities, a sense of power coming from the outside. There was no lasting quality to it. A transition of this kind of power to adult years is sought by some people, but it is nothing to be recommended. Some people, for example, get behind the wheel of a car and induce a momentary sense of power by seeing how high they can push the speedometer and get away with it. The feeling of power fades as the car slows down. No one is entitled to this kind of power. However, everyone seeks some sense of personal power, because it is a form of recognition of ourselves. There is a kind of personal power you should seek in acknowledgment of your importance to yourself.
• You have used this power at times
As an adult, you have already had some manifestations of this kind of power. You may not have sought it because you didn’t know how, but each time it came to you, it had a lingering, desirable after-effect. And each time it came, it came from within you, not from the outside.
If you are a mother, this sense of power came to you at the birth of your child. You had the feeling that you had surpassed any other accomplishment in your whole life by being an instrument of the ultimate in creativeness. The power of creativeness gave you a transcending feeling of personal power. Perhaps, like thousands of men and women, you have had religious experiences that have caused a welling up of courage and strength within you. Perhaps, like many others, you are able to renew this sense of personal power consistently.
There have been times when the acquiring and the possession of knowledge has given you that sense of inner power. These have been times when specific knowledge has made you better prepared and more confident in the face of a specific requirement in life. Sense of power from this source is inherent in your experience with this book.
And there should have been times in your life when a sense of power came because of the effect of your influence on other people. We have already discussed the existence of negative power by which some persons usurp the lives of others. You, of course, have never been, or ever will be, a supporter of this kind of power. But there have been times, I am sure, when your influence has powerfully and positively affected the lives of others and you have rightfully felt that inner, personal power.
• This power was demonstrated just yesterday
Your “biography” would undoubtedly record many such manifestations of feeling this inner sense of power; if your personal history is up-to-date, it will record that you had such an experience just yesterday and that you are still feeling the effects of it. Just yesterday (if you have been faithfully using your book as a guiding light), you made that demonstration to yourself of the effectiveness of your subconscious in creating a positive attitude. Today you have a clear, bright picture of your plans, which gives a sense of readiness to put them into action. This readiness gives a sense of power, the power to act, the power over circumstances and environment, as these might affect your plans. This power came from within you. It was created through the work of your subconscious and it is maintained as a feeling of power by your subconscious.
• Only one source of inner power
The same basic pattern that covers your experience of yesterday and today covers all of the experiences you have had with the feeling of inner power. The feeling of power seemed to well up from nowhere. In each case there was action involved, but it was all physical or mechanical conscious action, intrinsically resembling many other actions in your life which did not bring on this sense of power. You didn’t press a button and suddenly have this power turned on! There is no such button that anybody can press. You can’t force this power to appear. You can only let it appear, after you have set the stage with proper conscious preparation. Only the power of your subconscious can bring this desired feeling of inner power to you.
Was this as true with the other experiences in your life as it was with the one you were guided into yesterday? The answer is “yes.” With a mother, the physical preparation of pregnancy and the physical act of giving birth are overtoned by her love and anticipation of the coming child. This love and anticipation grows as her period of pregnancy advances. Her subconscious mind is anticipating the birth as well as is her body. With the child finally in her arms, her subconscious lets that love literally overflow and turns that anticipation into fulfillment. Without that subconscious preparation, the birth could be as emotionally devastating as it is physically arduous. The power of the sense of fulfillment was already within her, subconsciously. She had only to let it be felt.
• Inner power from knowledge
The acquiring of knowledge, of course, is related to books, classes, courses or experience. Possibly only a relatively small portion of what you have learned through these processes has given you a feeling of power. When it did happen, it was not the “facts” that you had learned that in themselves gave you this feeling; it was the personal use you related them to. It happened when you related them to a goal or objective and particularly when you anticipated the use of them during the learning process. It happened when you were motivated to learn by saying to yourself: “These facts, in my possession, will enable me to do a certain something better.” Thus, while the memory “departments” of your subconscious were helping you assimilate the facts, other “departments” were remembering your high anticipation of their use. With the facts acquired, your subconscious played back that anticipation in the form of satisfying accomplishment and that sense of personal inner power.
• Strength from inner power
So it is with church attendance, or with prayer. These acts seem to bring about passive reactions. But the repetitious relationship with them also conditions your subconscious mind. When, at some time in your everyday life, you have the need for courage and strength beyond the normal, your subconscious will remind you that the source of this courage and strength lies in your faith. Your subconscious was storing up this inner power so that you could feel it at the time you needed it most.
And so it is in your relationships with others. When you act to be of service to others, those subconsciously stored traits of graciousness and understanding influence your actions. Your subconscious intentions are of the best and the other person responds accordingly. The fact that your influence affects another person gives you a sense of personal power, but it comes about only because of the release of that positive subconscious power to act graciously and with understanding.
• How to turn on inner power
There is one fundamental difference between experiences such as these and the recent one concerning your plans. It is that the latter was done with great deliberateness, with one hundred per cent predetermination of the results! And that is the secret of using the power of your subconscious, by deliberate preparation and by conscious predetermination of the outcome. Beyond that, you do nothing; you can do nothing to cause its power to be a major factor in your life. And this brings us to the first and only time we shall consider anything like a “formula” or “rules and regulations.”
I did not dream up this formula. Science did not invent it, although science can be credited with discovering it. When the Creator gave you that two-part mind of yours—the conscious and the subconscious—He made this formula “part and parcel” of the fact that you are a human being. The formula has three steps to it.
1. Deliberately condition your subconscious by what you do consciously. You are always aware of what you are doing. Apply a personal “golden rule” to this awareness. “Do unto your subconscious as you would have your subconscious do unto you.” That is why the recording camera is in your mind.
2. Wholeheartedly want the best results from such self-influence action. Certainly this supports the creed of “do” that is now yours. This is why that priority “filing system” exists in your subconscious.
3. Let your subconscious have free reign in demonstrating its power. Let things happen to you and they will happen to you. That is why you have your will at the control panel in your mind.
The use of this formula will bring the power of your subconscious mind into full play. It is the only way to use it positively, and the word “positive” is the only thing that I would add to this formula. Of course, I don’t know why anyone would want to be deliberate about negative conditioning, or would want, or let, negative outcomes be predominate, least of all you!
• Go on a retreat to start right
Now we can add some practical “do it yourself” suggestions to this formula. You have heard of the “retreat” program that many churches have. Perhaps you have had the remarkable experience of attending one. In such an experience, a person spends many consecutive hours in silent contemplation with himself and the spirit of his Creator and, in a practical fashion, with his subconscious. The objective is for him to see himself, and his life, objectively. Frankly, the best way to make steps one and two of the formula most effective is to go to a “retreat” in preparation for them. The time you spend alone, if only a few minutes, in contemplation of deliberate action will start you off on the right track without the slightest doubt. Try to establish a pattern of brief but regular “retreats” in your daily life.
• Avoid trial-and-error ideas
Don’t use the trial-and-error method of finding the right material for your subconscious to work on. There is no need for you to do it. This pattern of action is a time and effort waster and unnecessarily delays achievement. Seek guidance, if you are uncertain of the best steps to take at any time. Books, courses, counseling, the experience of others are all resources for supplying yourself with usable knowledge. With such proven knowledge, you will follow the positive course of self-influence.
Your subconscious is a versatile powerhouse. It can, and is willing to, work on many actions and results at the same time. Give it the chance to work for you at its top capacity by having a variety of positive actions on your program at any one time. In fact, the more you use the power of your subconscious, the more it will appear to be a power in your life. Before you are through with your book, you will realize that here is one certain instance where practice makes perfect.
• Be positive! Be deliberate!
Deliberate guidance, positive guidance, is the key to using the power of your subconscious. The best use of this power is dependent upon this guidance. So strongly do we believe in this, at the Simmons Institute, that we guide students of our home study course into the ultimate in deliberate, positive self-guidance. We provide them with the tools for the guided influence of their subconscious minds, while they sleep. This guidance is directly related to the subject matter of the course. This is an extension of the type of experience you had, in relation to Chapter 11 of your book.
• Use your tireless subconscious
You know now, of course, that this is possible because the subconscious mind does not sleep . . does not need sleep. You know that it is willing to be influenced while you sleep. Because we help our students take advantage of this, their relationship with the course is stepped up immeasurably. Like them, I know you will take advantage of every opportunity offered you in the practice steps to increase the power of your subconscious, by influencing it while you sleep.
The Secrets, Mysteries & Powers of The Subconscious Mind
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