The Genie Within: Your Subconscious Mind (21 page)

Think of the ads for Pepsi and Coke. They contain young, lively, active, energetic, happy people. Drink Pepsi and imagine yourself having the “good” life. Just by drinking Pepsi you will have good-looking, active, vivacious friends like the ones you see in the TV ads. You will have constant companionship and fun. And, how about the use of imagination in perfume ads? “There is a little of Eve in every woman.” “All my men wear English leather, or they wear nothing at all.”

An article on shampoos in a consumer magazine
¹
, opens with: “Shampoo merchants sell dreams. ‘Use
Herbal Essence
and step into a garden of earthly delights, where every bubble smells of mysterious green herbs and freshly picked wild flowers. You’ll feel alive with the clean of a mountain stream and the shine of the morning sun in your hair. And beautiful thoughts of far, faraway places in your head. Experience Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo…your hair will get very excited.’ Shampoo merchants have to peddle dreams. How else can they get consumers to differentiate among the multitude of shampoos on the market?”

CONDITIONED REFLEX SUBSTITUTION

At the pretext of suggesting cures, ads actually suggest sicknesses. Before advertisers can promote their product, you must have some symptom their product can cure. Examples are:

       •    “It’s coming...the flu season.” Of course, that means you are going to get a headache, runny nose, etc.

       •    “When the flu strikes this year...” Everyone gets the flu, especially you!

       •    “The next time you get a headache...” Everyone gets headaches regularly.

       •    “Excedrin Headache number 34...” Getting headaches is natural and you should expect to get one. It is a status symbol.

A company can sell more aspirin by selling headaches. I read that aspirin manufacturers spend an excessive amount on advertising. It is hard to sell aspirin; it is easier to sell headaches.

The terrible thing about this is its influence on children. Children are even more susceptible to TV ads than adults. Children grow up to become part of our headache culture. They are led to believe that headaches are normal, everyone gets them, and whenever there is stress, a headache is inevitable.

At certain times of the year we are reminded that it is allergy season and we better be ready. We better have some of a specific medication on hand because we should
expect
that we will need it. We are bombarded with animated diagrams of pollen invading our sinuses and beautiful well-known personalities advising us to use a certain allergy medication.

IMAGES

Your subconscious mind communicates mostly with images rather than words. Advertisers use words to invoke images, as in the shampoo ad presented above. Images are particularly effective in TV ads. For example, there are animated cartoons, diagrams of a cut-away of a stomach depicting exaggerated heartburn, and driving a certain car into a cartoon paradise. In other words, drive this car and it will be like driving in paradise.

SYMBOLISM

Awhile back, Karl Malden made a lot of TV ads. Malden was effective because his image was a respected police lieutenant, a man of strength and in a powerful position. He always wore a hat. The hat was a symbol of authority. Catherine Deneuve and Elizabeth Taylor are symbols of glamour and sex. The Jolly Green giant is a symbol suggesting that if you eat these foods you will be strong, healthy, and happy. Cigars are the symbol of success and importance.

Robert Young, because of his TV roles in
Father Knows Best,
and as Marcus Welby, was a symbol of authority, integrity, and one who knew best. So if he said so, then it had to be true. If he said you could drink all the Sanka coffee you wanted, than it must be so.

REPETITION

Ads use of repetition to the point of nausea. Do ad men care that your conscious mind gets tired of the same old ad? Not at all. First, the ad is not aimed at your conscious mind and, second, when you get tired of it, you are more likely to consciously ignore it. When you consciously ignore it, the suggestion is more likely to be accepted by your subconscious mind.

INSTANT REPLAY

Some long ads, say 30 seconds, tell a story. After about a week, the ad is condensed to five seconds. The story is already wired in your subconscious mind. All the ad has to do is trigger your recollection of it. The advertiser has only to run a five-second ad and the entire 30-second ad plays in your subconscious mind. The advertiser just saved the cost of 25 seconds of airtime.

POLITICAL ADS

Political ads are not much different. Look for symbols of patriotism. The candidates in the last presidential campaign had a contest of who could get the most American flags in the background during their speeches. Are candidates logical? Unfortunately, not often. Emotion wins the most votes, not logic. Candidates cannot hold the attention of most voters long enough to present a thorough, logical analysis on any given topic. This is a quotation made by a political campaign consultant during a panel discussion: “You don’t move people with words that are scholarly or judicious. You move people emotionally.”

CONCLUSION

Now you know enough to defend yourself from being unduly influenced by advertisements. When the TV shows a sickly person blowing her nose, and the announcer says, “It’s the flu season. . . ,” replace that image with healthy thoughts and images.

WORRY

Worry incorporates most of the factors for planting a suggestion in your subconscious mind. The problem is that when you worry, you plant the suggestion in your subconscious mind of the thing you least want to happen! Your worry is your foremost thought and your foremost thought is the goal given to your subconscious mind. You are programming your subconscious mind for the thing you do not want. And that thought is emotional and repetitious! The thought keeps going around and around in your mind. And likely, it is exaggerated. Most worries are overblown.

Moreover, triggers constantly bring the worry to mind. For example, say your worry is losing your job and, consequently, your home, to which you are emotionally attached. Every time you think of your home, which is often, the thought acts as a trigger to rev up the worry emotion. Remember, your subconscious mind does not know real from imagined. So it is acting like the worst has happened. Your health will even be affected if the worry is allowed to persist.

Worry is a great way to program your mind if you want the worst for yourself. But you want the best, not the worst. Here are a couple of simple ways to allay worries.

PERFORM DIRECTED ACTIVITIES

Remember the Natural Energy Cycle in Chapter Four.

The cycle is:

Worry breaks the cycle because it is expression by undirected activity. Undirected activity impedes complete
relaxation and, in addition, it is usually wasted time and energy. The emotional energy needs an outlet. If a dominant thought, such as a worry, is not expressed as directed activity, it is expressed as nail biting, fidgeting, etc. If the thought persists, it may be expressed as ulcers, high blood pressure, etc. So to maintain the Natural Cycle by using directed activity. Instead of worrying, do something constructive.

BRAINSTORM THE IMAGINED PROBLEM

Clearly define the problem and then think of as many solutions as you can. Do not reject any. After giving all solutions consideration, select the most sane and doable ones. Take action. Work on these solutions. For example, if you are worrying that you will lose your job; get your résumé up to date; discretely make inquiries about job openings at other companies; look into going back to school for an advanced degree. Use that emotional energy in a directed way. And when you have done all that you can, know just that: You have done all you can, so quit worrying.

Another important aspect of doing directed activities is that it gives you a feeling of being in control. A large part of the damage in worrying is the feeling of helplessness. Several studies in the health field have shown that patients who take an active roll in decision-making with their doctor do far better than those who let the doctor make the decisions unilaterally. When a patient participates, he feels like he has some control over the situation. When a patient does not actively participate with his doctor, he is more likely to feel helpless.

“
I AM...”

“I am” is a powerful phrase. What you say after “I am” is an affirmation sent to your subconscious mind. Use these words wisely, because you use them dozens of times each day.
You use the “I am” phrase every time you exchange a greeting. Every time you pass a friend or colleague, they likely say, “How are you?” This is a friendly, customary greeting that most people use. What are typical responses?

       •    “I’m
fine.”
One meaning of “fine” is something of high quality, but it is an overused adjective and has a dubious meaning to your subconscious mind.

       •    “I’m okay.” Just okay? Don’t you want to be better than just okay?

       •    “I‘ve been better.” If you have been “better,” then you are telling your subconscious mind that you are not very good now. Why leave your literal, emotional subconscious mind to interpret these banal responses?

When someone asks you how you are, use this as excuse to zap your subconscious mind with a positive affirmation. Respond with “I am...

       •    “Having a wonderful day.”

       •    “Marvelous.”

       •    “Wonderful.”

It would be even better to say, “I am...

       •    “Healthy.”

       •    “Successful.”

       •    “Joyful and prosperous.”

       •    “A beautiful person.”

       •    “Intelligent and articulate.”

       •    “A loving person.”

       •    Etc.

Most of us do not have the audacity to say these affirmations aloud when someone asks how we are. That is
okay. You do not have to say them out loud; just shout them to yourself. Use these greetings as a reminder to feed positive affirmations to your subconscious mind.

Even if you do not adopt this suggestion, you must not respond with something you do not want to be. You do not want to be just “okay,” just “fine,” just “fair to middlin’,” or just “better than some.” You want the best for yourself. So affirm it!

The same is true for “I’ve got...,” “I have...,” and “I feel....” There are times when you may have a cold, but do not keep affirming it by repeating, “I’ve got a cold, my nose is stopped up, and I have a headache.”.

There are times you have to describe your symptoms. For example, when you call your school or office to tell them you are sick, or when you are talking to your doctor. In these cases always preface your affirmation, even if it is only just to yourself, with “Until now....” This tells your subconscious mind that it has been a temporary condition and it is time to heal.

“IT WORKS!”