Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind
How Long Does It Take To Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind?
In a world where we have barely any time and want fast results, this question is likely to arise: “How long does it take to reprogram your subconscious mind?”
Unfortunately, there are so many factors, many of which are unknown to us, that there is no single answer to this question.
Some factors that play a role are:
The current state of your subconscious mind (beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, etc.)
How traumatic the events throughout your life have been
If there is any substance abuse
How much effort you put into reprogramming
How much of your subconscious mind you want to reprogram
Let’s say you want to reprogram your subconscious mind to attract money. The speed at which you can change your subconscious depends on your existing beliefs about money, how you talk about money, how you spend money, how you feel about money, what money means to you, and so on.
Depending on where you start and your commitment, first results can happen faster than you think. But to uncover and change every limiting belief may take some time and investigation.
As a ballpark figure, some say it takes between 22-66 days to reprogram your subconscious. Others may experience results after 7 days. Depending on your limiting beliefs it may take months or even up to a year or more to see results.
How to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind Fast
For the best success, a combination of the following techniques and exercises is a starting point.
Don’t make this an arduous task. You shouldn’t feel as though it’s an unpleasant commitment. Most people don't know where to begin and decide to have either a therapist or coach guide, support, and encourage them in every step of their journey.
Subconscious reprogramming is the most powerful way to create the life you want – so be happy and excited about it! We will make a plan that's tailored to you and your goals.
Observe Your Thoughts, Language, and Emotions
Your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and visual imagery create your reality, so it is vital to create a mindset that is in alignment with who you want to be.
The first step is to become a diligent observer of your thoughts, language, and emotions - they can give you the first hint about your subconscious beliefs. How do you talk to yourself? What specific words do you use? Which emotions come up in which situations?
Write these things down.
For example, you might find yourself frequently saying, “Better safe than sorry.”
This would suggest the limiting belief that “it’s better to refrain from taking action than to suffer through the pain of a potential mishap or mistake.” However, part of living a fulfilled life is taking risks, and most things worth pursuing require some degree of risk taking. Furthermore, you will encounter trying circumstances whether you take risks or not. And lastly, trying circumstances are not necessarily bad things – in fact, these are the only circumstances from which you can and learn and grow. Becoming aware of your repeated use of this phrase would enable you to reduce your use of same and rewrite that belief into a new, empowering one: “Taking risks is part of life and behind every risk is a great opportunity – either to succeed or to learn from a mistake.”
Make a commitment to pay attention to your thoughts, language, and emotions for at least one week and you will be surprised by how much you uncover.
Write New Beliefs
Whenever you find a limiting belief, write it down and then write down a new, empowering belief to replace it.
Observing your thoughts and emotions is a good way to uncover your limiting beliefs.
For instance, you might find you have the belief that “bad things always happen to me.” Now what you do is question this belief. Do bad things really always happen to you?
Think about all the good things that have happened to you. Think about all the things you are blessed with. Think of everything you have accomplished and overcome. And imagine all the awesome things you could do if you rerouted your perspective by seeing yourself as a determined and strong individual that tackles all obstacles with ease. Train your mind to see the solutions to problems or challenges that arise.
Whenever you uncover a new limiting belief go through that same process.
Use Positive Affirmations
Now use your new beliefs as positive affirmations, preferably before bed and after waking up.
Using positive affirmations at these times is especially effective because your rational mind is not completely awake.
Positive affirmations are a powerful way to reprogram your subconscious. Many successful people including Oprah, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jim Carrey attribute part of their success to positive affirmations.
Research in neuroscience suggests that positive affirmations increase activity within the self-processing and valuation neural pathways of the brain (Cascio et al. 261). In addition, research in psychology shows that practicing positive affirmations promotes a broader perspective of the self and diminishes the negative effect of threats to one’s self esteem (Critcher and Dunning 3).
Make your affirmations your mantra. Think them, say them, write them, feel them.
Some examples of positive affirmations are:
I am whole and complete.
I am enough.
I have a purpose.
I trust myself.
I can overcome anything I put my mind to.
I embrace challenges as opportunities.
Every day I take action and move forward in my life.
I attract abundance and wonderful things.
Use Visualizations
Another powerful way to reprogram your subconscious mind is by using visualizations – visualizing what it is that you desire.
Although the technique is called “visualization,” for the best result you should do more than just see your desires. Imagine what you would hear, smell, and most importantly, how you would feel in this (imagined) experience.
Here are a few ways to use visualizations:
Visualize a short scene repeatedly
Create a short scene in your head where your desires are fulfilled. You can, for example, imagine yourself on your porch at your dream house.
Now repeat your visualization of this short scene. The benefit of this technique is that it’s easier to maintain focus when the visualization has less information (as opposed to, say, an exercise where you visualize a whole day or life – that is an exercise you will work up to – baby steps!)
Visualizing a short scene is something you can do in the morning and evening for five minutes.
Visualize a long scene
You can also visualize a longer, more elaborate scene with everything your dream life includes.
It is important to note, however, that it’s easy to drift off during this exercise into a state of daydreaming where the mind is automatically generating imagined situations and visuals, which will likely be emanations of your subconscious. Actively creating and sustaining your visualizations requires focus, especially in the beginning.
With time you’ll be able to include more details in your visualizations and sustain them for longer periods of time.
Visualize your perfect day
Ask yourself what your perfect day in your perfect dream life would be like. Visualize it from beginning to end.
Some questions that you can ask yourself to help you shape your perfect day are:
Where are you? Are you at home? Living in a foreign country? Traveling? Beachside? Lakeside? Mountainside?
What do you do the whole day? When do you wake up? What do you eat for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? What activities do you spend your time on? When do you go to bed?
How does your perfect day feel at every moment?
Once you have fully constructed your perfect day, you are ready to visualize it.
Keep in mind that if some parts of your visualization don’t feel right once you start to actually visualize them, you are free to make changes.
Feel It As Already Done
When it comes to reprograming your subconscious mind, including feelings is crucial.
Saying your positive affirmations and doing your visualizations while feeling what it feels like when your desires are already fulfilled will make them much more effective.
First, clearly define your desires. Second, ask yourself how you would feel if your desire were already fulfilled. Then evoke that emotion – embody it; be it.
In the beginning, it might be difficult to evoke the emotion, but the more you do it, the easier it will become. Sustaining the emotion requires focus.
For instance, while visualizing you might realize that the positive emotion loses intensity. Often the reason for this is that you are losing concentration.
Hence, you can see this not only as subconscious reprogramming but also as practice for focusing your mind – a skill that can come in handy in many areas of life.
Additionally, you may use the affirmation “it is done.” Everything already exists in the here and now, and the more your faith in this notion increases, the more you’ll feel that “it is done.”
Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind While Sleeping
Reprograming your subconscious mind while sleeping is not only effective but also effortless. All you have to do is play a recording of spoken affirmations while you are sleeping.
This works because the subconscious mind never sleeps – while you are in the depths of slumber, your subconscious hears what’s happening in the waking world.
Another reason reprogramming your subconscious mind while you’re sleeping works so well is that your conscious mind is asleep. When you say positive affirmations while you are awake, the conscious mind easily can swoop in as a critic.
For example, you might be saying the affirmation, “I am abundant, wealthy, and happy.” Suddenly your conscious mind crashes the party saying things like, “Have you looked at your bank account in the last few days? Doesn’t seem wealthy to me. What do you mean – ‘happy’ – weren’t you crying just yesterday?”
By using affirmations while you sleep, you are circumventing this inner critic.
There are plenty of videos of recorded affirmations on the internet. Some even use binaural beats to keep your brainwaves in the desired range.
Another option is to record your own affirmations and play them on repeat as you sleep.
Act As If
You probably have heard the phrase, “Fake it ‘til you make it.” The technique of “act as if” engages a similar concept - acting as though all your desires are already fulfilled.
Ask yourself what your greatest version of yourself would be like and behave like. Then start being and doing those things. If your greatest version of yourself owns a business, take the first step to start that business. Consider how grateful, generous, happy, or loving the greatest version of yourself might be.
If you are using the above techniques to reprogram your subconscious for wealth but act as though you are poor, you are giving yourself mixed signals.
I’m not suggesting that you spend money irresponsibly and put yourself in a precarious situation. However, your wealthy self probably doesn’t refrain from spending five dollars on a cappuccino if that purchase isn’t going to significantly affect your financial situation.
Be Present
Before you start getting caught up in your head, don’t forget to be present in the here and now.
All of the above-mentioned techniques should not be used as a means to dodge your current circumstances. Being present is a crucial step in reprogramming your subconscious mind. If you have been living in the past and/or future most of your life, take a look at where this has gotten you.
In the end, we all want to be happy. But to be happy, first you have to be. Focus on being present – existing in the now – only then can the rest follow. The present is the only time that you can notice your behavior and change it in real time.
In Summary
Subconscious reprogramming takes some faith, trust, and commitment, but the more you use the techniques mentioned above, the clearer the results.
Remember – it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or anxious when you start to take action towards fulfilling your dreams. You might feel strange or uneasy when you leave your comfort zone. See that discomfort as a sign that you are on the right track. Your capacity to feel uncomfortable is a good indicator of success.
Cascio, Christopher N., et al. “Self-Affirmation Activates Brain Systems Associated with Self-Related Processing and Reward and is Reinforced by Future Orientation.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 11, no. 4, 2016, pp. 621-629.
Critcher, Clayton R., and David Dunning. “Self-Affirmations Provide a Broader Perspective on Self-Threat.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 3-18.